2 - 8 May 2002
Issue No.584
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2 - 8 May 2002 Issue No.584 |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Civil society under attack
As the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians continues under the pretext of rooting out terrorism, civil society in the occupied territories -- under siege throughout the Intifada -- is making public the devastation wreaked against it
The following is a report by Palestinian NGOs in Ramallah on the damage to non-governmental organisations caused by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) between 29 March and 21 April 2002.
Introduction
Our preliminary report of 13 April was written at a time when the Ramallah offices of many NGOs were in buildings still occupied by soldiers of the IDF; others were unapproachable because IDF tanks or armoured personnel carriers blocked the street, and those, which were accessible, could only be visited during the brief hours when curfew was lifted. We also had limited time to gather information.
This update to the preliminary report includes information on a greater number of NGOs. It also updates the information on those NGOs, already covered, but which have since had further damage inflicted upon them, or which have had further opportunity of damage assessment. These NGO offices were either visited during subsequent breaks in curfew, or after the withdrawal of the IDF on 21 April from most of Ramallah, and the vacating of many occupied buildings.
This update is still not comprehensive. The need to circulate the report as soon after the withdrawal of the IDF as possible has meant that there are still many organisations from which we have not been able to gather information. We have made every effort to be as precise and as accurate as possible in the information we include. We have given more space to some NGOs than to others. This does not necessarily reflect the severity of damage inflicted on their offices, but rather the comprehensiveness of the reports we have been able to gather.
The information we have collected indicates certain patterns in the causes of damage, and in the type and severity of damage inflicted. We have grouped the organisations covered by this report accordingly:
A. Institutions that were deliberately and systematically targeted for destruction as a sector. These are primarily independent radio and television stations. They also suffered the most severe damage or total destruction.
B. Institutions that were located in buildings occupied by IDF soldiers, possibly due to their being viewed as strategic military locations. These do not seem to have been deliberately targeted for destruction, but in the course of their occupation, were severely vandalised. However, the nature and degree of vandalism clearly indicates that occupying troops deliberately and systematically damaged the premises.
C. Institutions that suffered severe and deliberate damage although they were neither part of the media nor occupied by IDF troops.
D. Institutions that were searched by IDF troops and hence, as a result, suffered limited damage.
E. Institutions damaged by IDF shelling.
A. Institutions that were deliberately and systematically targeted for destruction
Independent private radio and television stations. These suffered the most severe or total destruction.
The following is based on an on-site visit when the curfew [was] lifted and interviews with station managers undertaken by technical consultant to Al-Quds Educational Media, Wassim Abdullah, and excerpted from an extensive report that he wrote which is now posted at a Web site along with pictures of the destruction. See www.geocities.com/wramallah
There are five private TV stations and five private radio stations in Ramallah, as well as the official Palestinian Authority (PA) radio and TV stations. Most of these stations are located in and around the town centre, an elevated area suitable for maximum broadcasting coverage. In the entirety of the PA areas there are almost 50 TV and radio stations -- more than in any surrounding country. This independent media was contributing to the building of civil society by fostering an appreciation of free media, training in technical skills and reporting and creating local programming. The stations benefited from grants and support from the international and local community.
Al-Quds Educational Television
(photos: AFP)
Location: On the third floor of the College of Nursing in Al- Bireh, near the entrance to Ramallah.
Contact: Aiman Bardawil 050 201 221
The TV station, which is part of the Institute of Modern Media of Al-Quds University, broadcasts children's programmes in addition to public service announcements, medical information and emergency services contact information. The institution was open and broadcasting a cartoon show when Israeli soldiers broke in. Two staff operators were held for several hours, and although they were eventually released they were warned not to return. Tanks and armoured carriers are still on the campus of the college, preventing anyone from entering. The station has remained off the air since the takeover.
External destruction: The 40-kilowatt relay TV transmitter and microwave receiver atop the Bakri Building in Ramallah's Manara Square (the city's main square) was destroyed.
Internal destruction: It is presumed that the studio and operations centre have been completely destroyed, since soldiers systematically destroyed almost all other TV stations in Al-Bireh, which is on the outskirts of Ramallah. When the director was able to return to the studio on 21 April he provided information on vandalism, theft and predicted impact.
Vandalism: The studio and offices were in complete disarray, with files and equipment scattered across the floors. One computer (the only one not stolen from the premises) had been dismantled: its parts were found in the bathroom. Computer printers and a fax machine were damaged and not functioning. Personal photos of staff members were destroyed or defaced. The walls were defaced by graffiti including drawings of a skull and crossbones. One message on the board of the main administrative office slogan read, "Instructions: 1. Eat 2. Drink 3. Destroy."
Confiscation or sanctioned theft: Staff are still in the process of making an inventory of missing equipment and files. The following is a very preliminary report of items definitely removed: studio cameras and cameras for filming, the transmitter, the microwave link, digital receivers, some mixers, a DVD player, speakers, CD players and 17 computers. Two petty cash boxes had been broken into and about 3,000 shekels were stolen.
Impact: The television station has lost all of its digital data. At the time of writing 23 April, the director had just reassembled the only remaining computer and was trying to establish a signal.
Al-Nasr TV
Some of the station's equipment was completely destroyed and the premises suffered extensive vandalism. Microphones, tapes, CDs, monitors, mixers, players/recorders, etc were found spread over the floor of the station and had been smashed to bits by sledgehammers.
Manara Radio Station
The station's equipment was completely destroyed and the premises suffered extensive vandalism.
Ajyal and Angham FM Radio Stations
Location: Bakri Building, Ramallah centre
The doorman of the building was forced to open the station to soldiers who used sledgehammers to destroy the two studios, the Internet streaming and editing computers, the 10- kilowatt and three-kilowatt transmitters and the entire music and programme library.
Love and Peace FM Radio Station
All station equipment was destroyed and premises were extensively vandalised.
Al-Quds FM Radio Station
The building in which it is located was bombarded and set ablaze. No one has been able to enter the building to assess damage.
Also feared destroyed are: Amwaj TV, Amwaj Radio and Al-Watan TV. The buildings where they are situated are still occupied by Israeli soldiers and no one has been able to enter to assess damage.
LINK Productions
Location: Al-Mughtaribin Square in a building occupied by IDF soldiers from 29 March to 21 April.
Contact: Ghasoub Alaaeddin
Total destruction of equipment/extensive vandalism. (Information on LINK was provided by organisations that have offices in the same building.)
Watan Television Station
Location: Al-Mughtaribin Square in a building occupied by IDF soldiers from 29 March to 21 April.
Contact: Omar Nazal
Total destruction of equipment/extensive vandalism. (Information provided by organisations that have offices in the same building.)
B. Institutions that were located in buildings occupied by IDF soldiers possibly due to their being viewed as strategic military locations
These do not seem to have been deliberately targeted for destruction, but in the course of their occupation, were severely vandalised. However, the nature and degree of vandalism clearly indicates that occupying troops deliberately and systematically damaged the premises.
Al-Haq Human Rights Organisation
Location: Main Street, Ramallah, at the intersection with Kuliyya Ahliyya Street.
Al-Haq shares with the Mattin Group the top floor of the three-storey building in which the Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute (HDIP) are also housed.
Contact: Randa Siniora 295-6421, 050 399-746
The offices were searched by Israeli soldiers at 11.30pm on 30 March. A member of Al-Haq's staff, Yasser Deisi, who was in the office at the time, was arrested and is now under administrative detention for three months. The building was re-entered by IDF soldiers on 31 March and occupied until the night of 20 April, when the army began its withdrawal from most of Ramallah.
The occupying soldiers took over Mattin and HDIP's offices as their base and, consequently, these suffered much more serious damage than Al-Haq's office. The director of Al-Haq said that the organisation's office may have been spared more serious damage, such as that inflicted on Mattin and HDIP, because immediately after the first search on 30 March, Al-Haq's director contacted the Israeli military authorities and informed them that Al-Haq was a human rights organisation and that its files contained important documents. The answer she received was that no one was exempted from being searched, but that the office would not be vandalised.
Our preliminary report of damage to the office (dated 13 April) was based on the account given by a courageous member of Al-Haq's staff, who was able to steal into the office unnoticed on two occasions when the curfew was lifted and whilst soldiers were still positioned in Mattin's adjoining office. The staff member was able to rescue a laptop computer from the office.
The director returned to the office after the organisation was able to repossess it on 21 April and was able to give more precise information, although this is still only an initial assessment.
Vandalism: The director confirmed the initial assessment of vandalism: furniture was broken and overturned, the contents of drawers and filing cabinets was scattered across the floor, three computers and a printer had been thrown across the room and damaged. She added that the catalogue cards for the library, which contains the city's only collection on law and human rights accessible to the public, had been removed from their boxes and scattered across the floor. As with files and papers, she does not know if any have been removed from the office.
Confiscation or sanctioned theft: The hard drives of a number of computers as well as other internal components were taken, leaving only the frames. One digital video camera, one radio, one laptop computer and its printer are missing.
Structural damage: Two internal glass partitions were broken, one window was smashed and 3 inner doors were damaged. The false ceiling in places has been broken from inside.
Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute (HDIP)
Location: The Latin Convent Building, second floor Kuliyya Ahliyya Street
Contact: Mustafa Barghouti 298-5372
The Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute (HDIP) was established in 1989 by a group of experienced researchers and health practitioners committed to improving the status of health care for all Palestinians. An independent, non-profit organisation, HDIP specialises in policy research and planning concerning development issues and health care in Palestine and its publications are widely used by international and local development agencies and planners. HDIP also advocates on health care issues relevant to marginalised groups like women, youth and the disabled.
The HDIP is located on the second floor of a three-storey building in which Al-Haq and the Mattin Group are also housed.
The building was occupied by IDF soldiers from 31 March until the night of 20 April. No one was able to obtain access to the office during this period. Israeli soldiers were based in Mattin and HDIP offices.
The director of HDIP staff visited the office on the morning of 21 April, a few hours after the Israeli soldiers had vacated it. The following is based on the report by another staff member who visited the same afternoon.
Vandalism: It was difficult for the person on whose account this report is based, to find the words to describe the state of the office. She reported that the floors were covered with garbage (refuse from food and beverage), mud and dirt, coffee grounds, shaving cream, newspapers, shredded documents (the office has a paper shredder), books, broken furniture, and the dismantled office equipment -- even a stapler had been taken apart and left in six pieces. The main computer server had been completely dismantled, and its parts scattered about. Within the piles of rubble were furniture and equipment from other offices, including items of clothing from Mattin's office, some of which had been torn apart, and others used to block the windows.
Office walls had been smeared with what looked like coffee or mud; the same substance had been used to make hand and foot prints on the walls. Staff members' personal photos and pictures had been ripped off the walls. In some cases the photos of people had been shot at (including that of HDIP's director).
All furniture had been removed from the director's office, except for his desk, which was piled high with papers and documents. Piles of electric cables, shaving cream, video cassettes and parts of dismantled electronic equipment covered the floor. A rancid smell pervaded the office.
In the bathroom, which was filthy, the sink had been pulled out of the wall. Underwear and toilet paper was strewn across the floor.
Confiscation or sanctioned theft: Because some items may be discovered in other offices, what follows is a preliminary assessment. The hard drives of 12 new Pentium computers, still in their boxes, were removed and some of their casings broken. A new digital video camera appears to have been stolen.
The hard drives of all computers in use in the office (total 20--23) were removed from the computers. They may yet be found in the piles of rubble.
Mattin Group
Location: The Latin Convent Building, Kuliyya Ahliyya building
Contact: Charles Shammas 583-0493
Mattin Group is a voluntary partnership specialised in international human rights and humanitarian law enforcement. Mattin shares with Al-Haq, the top floor of a three-storey building in which the Health Development Information and Policy Institute (HDIP) is also located.
The building was occupied by IDF soldiers from the first day of the reinvasion of Ramallah, 29 March, until 11.45pm on 20 April (neighbours report that Israeli soldiers returned to the building briefly at 3am on 21 April). No member of Mattin's staff had been able to visit the offices during their occupation; even during the lifting of the curfew access was prevented by IDF forces. Tanks and armoured personnel carriers blocked the street.
Two members of Mattin's staff visited the offices for the first time on the morning of 21 April, after the IDF had withdrawn from the building. The following is an eyewitness report given by one of them, who was clearly shocked by the scene that had met her eyes.
Vandalism: The offices were in total disorder: papers, components of office equipment and the remains of food were strewn across the floors. A mix of broken furniture, destroyed equipment, Hebrew newspapers, dismantled computers, files, papers, and rotting food was piled high in the store-room across the stairwell and dumped in piles against office walls (one huge pile blocked the door connecting to Al-Haq's office). A smell of rotting food pervaded the offices, which appeared to have been used as sleeping and eating quarters by the occupying soldiers. It was difficult for the two staff members to sort through the piles to discover what was missing and what destroyed, as parts of the same equipment or item of furniture had been thrown in different piles. To add to the confusion, items from HDIP's offices downstairs had been brought up to HDIP's offices and mixed with their own. Some items from Mattin's office were found in HDIP's office.
Notes in Hebrew were left in the office and one appeared to be the name of an IDF unit. The message left in English read, "F****** Arabs don't mess with us again."
Confiscation and sanctioned theft: Under these circumstances, it is impossible to make anything approaching a comprehensive assessment of what has been taken from the offices. Neighbours have reported seeing large quantities of items being removed from the building, but could not identify what those items were. What was clear was that the petty cash box had been broken into and the $900 within removed.
The following NGOs are located in the same building, which was occupied by Israeli soldiers from 29 March until the early hours of 21 April. They experienced very similar devastation to their offices. Their reports are therefore combined.
Location: A seven-storey building, near the Casablanca Hotel.
Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC) (First, second, and third floors)
Contact: Ismael Deiq or Judeh Abdullah 583-3818
Network of Palestinian Non-Governmental Institutions (PNGO) (basement)
Contact: Rana Bishara or Renad Qubej 296-3847
Palestine Hydrology Group (PHG) (fourth floor)
Contact: Abdel-Rahman Tamimi 656-589/87
LINK Productions and Watan Television (fifth and sixth floors) Reported under section A
Also located in this building are:
Palestinian Farmers' Union (basement)
Centre for Rural Development and Research (ground floor)
Time constraints prevented our gathering information from these two organisations.
During the period of the building's occupation (29 March to 21 April), obtaining access to the building was impossible. The following report was given by members of PARC, PNGO and PHG following the repossession of their offices on 21 April.
Vandalism: All offices have suffered extensive vandalism. The contents of drawers and filing cabinets were strewn on the floor amongst rotting food, underwear, blankets and office equipment. Some papers and files had been thrown out of the windows. A photo of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat that was in PNGO's office was removed from the wall and torn into shreds. Personal photos in other offices were removed or destroyed. Items of office equipment were shuffled among offices. Some furniture, in particular chairs, had been broken. The bathrooms were filthy and human excrement was found in the main office of the PHG. The occupying soldiers also left behind in the PHG office a message in English, that read, "Drink, Eat and Destroy" -- the same message that was reportedly left on the premises of Al-Quds University.
Confiscation and sanctioned theft: The organisations are still searching through the disarray in an attempt to discover exactly which documents and pieces of office equipment had been stolen or confiscated. PHG, however, is certain that laboratory equipment for the analysis of water had been stolen. This equipment is easily recognised and was not in other offices in the building. PHG is also sure that two computer monitors and a fax machine were stolen.
PNGO's cash box was broken into and 200-300 shekels taken. A computer monitor is missing.
Structural damage: The main door to the building has been destroyed; the main doors to each office were broken in, as were any locked internal doors.
Al-Quds University, Ramallah Campus, Al-Bireh
The Ramallah campus of Al-Quds University includes the Faculty of Health Professions, the Institute of Modern Media and Al-Quds Educational Television. The campus was occupied by Israeli forces from 2 April to 20 April, and the building was turned into a prison for people arrested in the town.
Four people were working in the building when Israeli soldiers entered it. Those people and the building's porter were made to stand outside for several hours whilst the building was searched. They reported hearing the sound of equipment and/or structures being smashed as the soldiers systematically searched the building, floor by floor. At least three armoured personnel carriers were positioned on the campus, another armoured carrier was stationed at its entrance and a sniper positioned on the roof of the building. The director of Al-Quds TV managed to take photographs of the occupied campus during the first lifting of the curfew, but soldiers prevented his second and third attempts.
The Israeli forces withdrew from the campus on the night of 20 April and the campus was repossessed by Al-Quds University the next morning. We have been able to obtain a report on the damage to Al-Quds Educational Television (section A) but time constraints have prevented us gathering information from the Faculty of Health Professions.
Mandela Institute for Political Prisoners, Ramallah
Location: Hotel Odeh Street
Contact: Ahmed Al-Sayed 295-5756
The institute, named after Nelson Mandela, was established in 1990 to provide assistance to political prisoners. Its activities now include the provision of legal and material aid to prisoners detained by both the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, and to their families, and the training of Palestinian police forces in human rights issues.
Type of Damage: The premises of Mandela were occupied for a few days by the IDF. The following was reported by a member of Mandela's board of directors, who was able to make one visit to the office during the lifting of the curfew.
Structural Damage: The external metal doors to the building were destroyed by explosives. The IDF soldiers used Mandela's office to fire into other buildings. As a result, five office windows were completely destroyed, including the aluminum frames. All internal doors, which were locked, were broken down and badly damaged.
Vandalism: The offices were vandalised and filthy. Computers (three counted) were thrown on the floor, broken furniture and files from cabinets were strewn across the floor. Soldiers blocked the toilets causing sewage to overflow and ruin wall-to-wall carpets. Human excrement was found in a number of rooms.
Confiscation or sanctioned theft: A full assessment has yet to be made. The hard drive of the main computer has been removed. Its contents included the organisation's main database.
C. Institutions that suffered severe and deliberate damage although they were neither part of the media sector nor occupied by IDF troops
Addameer Prisoners' Support Association
Location: Isra' Building, Al-Irsal Street, Ramallah
Contact: Khalida Jarrar 296-0446
Addameer Prisoners' Support Association assists prisoners through prison visits, providing legal aid, assisting in the reintegration of released prisoners, and by undertaking research and providing information on Palestinian prisoners.
The organisation is located on the seventh floor. When the first check of Addameer's offices was made on 12 April, the first five floors of the building had been damaged extensively and doors had been removed using explosives. However, the upper floors of the building sustained much less damage. The handle on the main door of Addameer's office had been damaged and the window above the multi-lock had been broken. The office had not been entered.
On 18 April, the director made a second visit to the office and found that the main door to the office had been blasted open and the office had been vandalised. She reported that she saw the following:
Structural damage: The main door had been blasted open and glass in internal doors smashed.
Vandalism: Three computers, a fax machine and photocopier had been smashed and files and documents were strewn across the floor.
Confiscation and sanctioned theft: One video cassette recorder was stolen.
A full assessment of damage has yet to be made.
MA'AN Development Centre
Location: Chamber of Commerce Building, Al-Bareed Street
Contact: Sami Khader 295-4451, 298-6796, 298-6698
MA'AN Development Centre undertakes research and offers extensive training programmes in rural development, in particular in agriculture, community development, women's empowerment and NGO capacity building.
On 31 March, Israeli soldiers blew open the main doors and entered the five-storey building which houses the offices of a number of organisations, including MA'AN. They caused extensive damage to offices on the third floor (Chamber of Commerce, Labour Union and PFLP offices). People living nearby reported that a fire smoldered in these two offices for two days and the fire brigade was refused access. MA'AN staff visited their offices on the second and fourth floors of the building on 3 April and found that they had not been entered or damaged.
However, on 20 April at 12.30pm, Israeli soldiers again entered the building where they remained for four hours. Neighbours heard the sound of explosions and the fire alarm system. They saw lights in MA'AN's offices.
The following is taken from a press release issued by MA'AN on 21 April, after staff had returned to the office and made an initial assessment of damage.
Structural damage: MA'AN's main doors, both to the training halls and the administrative offices, were blown off their hinges. All the doors and windows to the computer lab and the training rooms were broken.
Vandalism: The floor of the training hall was covered with shards of glass and empty bullet casings: paper and other debris covered the tables and floor. The storage closets, which were filled with MA'AN's publications and books, were in a state of chaos; everything had been removed from the shelves. All drawers and cupboards that the soldiers could not open were shot open and permanently damaged. One of the computers was damaged by bullets.
The equipment used for the Food Processing Programmes was also damaged. The walls, upon which framed pictures of the Old City of Jerusalem and Palestine prior to 1948 were previously displayed, were covered with anti- Palestinian slogans written in Hebrew and the pictures lay on the floor amidst the broken glass.
The administrative office was in similar disarray. The alarm system was torn out of the wall and thrown into the reception area. The central telephone system was dismantled and destroyed.
The plaster walls in the entry halls were filled with holes. The metal filing cabinets were damaged and were overturned and faxes, e-mails, and other MA'AN documents littered the floor. The records of MA'AN's activities since its establishment were strewn about the entire office. CDs, tapes, and stationery were also strewn across the floor.
The damage to the staff's individual offices was severe. Files, personal belongings, furniture, and bulletin boards were strewn across the desks, the floors, and filled the garbage baskets. The tops of some desks had been torn off, apparently when the soldiers were unable to open the drawers. The colour printer was destroyed.
The library, one of the best resource centres in the West Bank for training and development had also been vandalised; training videos, training CDs and other resources were smashed or damaged.
Confiscation and sanctioned theft: Although MA'AN cannot give a definite estimation of the total damage, staffers have been able to determine that the following equipment was stolen: one new Liesing LCD projector, two overhead projectors, one new Sony digital camera, one video camera, one camera, one new Dell laptop and CDs.
The damage and losses is estimated at approximately $20,000-22,000. This figure may change once staff have sorted through their own offices and made a complete inventory.
During the first attack on the building, the Labour Union's offices were set ablaze, and left to burn for two days. The third floor of the building, where the Labour Union is located, is now completely destroyed and represents a hazard to the staff of organisations on other floors.
Thalassemia Patients' (Mediterranean Anaemia) Friends Society
Location: Al-Mughtaribin Square, Burj Al-Sa'a Building, sixth floor
Contact: Amal Daoud, volunteer 059 835-347
The Thalassemia Patients' Friends Society was established in 1996 by a group of volunteers. The society's aim is to provide services for Thalessemia patients (most of whom are children and have an average life expectancy of 15 years) and their families, to raise awareness about the issue and to work towards the elimination of Thalassemia in Palestine.
Thalassemia is an inherited condition, which afflicts about three per cent of newborns annually. Prior to the reinvasion of Ramallah, the society was serving about 450 patients from the West Bank, of whom about 400 need monthly blood transfusions at local hospitals.
First assessment visit, 11 April:
One of the society's volunteers was able to visit the office the first time that the curfew was lifted following the reinvasion of Ramallah. The office was in such disarray that she was unable to make anything but the most provisional assessment. She reported the following:
Structural damage: The external aluminum door was damaged. IDF soldiers destroyed one internal wall to gain access from an adjacent office.
Vandalism: Medical and office equipment had been strewn on the floor and broken. Medical infusion pumps, used by patients to take their life-saving medication (Desferal), were torn apart, and medication vials were found broken on the floor.
The society has three computers: one monitor was broken, the hard drive of one computer was destroyed, while another was damaged. It is not known whether the computer network is working. A TV and a VCR were damaged and a scanner had been thrown onto the floor and broken. Two office desks were broken apart and used to board up the two windows of the only room with outside windows. Some shelves were pulled down and patients' files and records scattered about the office.
Confiscation and sanctioned theft: The premises were in such disorder that it was impossible to assess the full extent of theft or confiscation. The volunteer who visited the office fears that computer back-up disks may have been removed.
Money was taken from donation boxes (about 200 shekels). A new computer and new printer, both donated to the society, were stolen.
Second assessment visit, 19 April:
After neighbours' reports that soldiers had re-entered the office, a volunteer visited the site during the lifting of curfew on 19 April to assess any further damage. She found food and garbage in the office, suggesting to her that soldiers had entered the society again and spent the night there. She also reported that the society's office, as well as offices in the building had been further damaged:
Further structural damage: A wall that divides the office from the inner stairwell had been torn down. (The volunteer could not understand why this had been done since the main door had been blasted open.) The boards on the two windows (torn from a desk) had been removed and the glass in the windows smashed. The double insulation ceiling had been torn down in places, suggesting that the ceiling had been searched.
Immediate impact: The society is filling a gap in the Ministry of Health's (MOH) services by providing Thalassemia patients with life-saving medical equipment and drugs in scarce supply or unavailable through the MOH. It will be very difficult for the society, which is sustained by donations, to replace the damaged or destroyed equipment, which it has gradually acquired over the years. In the meantime, the lives of Thalassemia patients are at risk.
In addition to medication, about 400 of the society's West Bank patients require blood transfusions to prevent severe medical complications to their condition. The society has trained nurses to supervise and follow up on patients' blood transfusions. At least three of these nurses, two from the Ramallah area and one from Tulkarem district, are unable to reach their hospitals due to curfew. It is not known how many of the patients have likewise been prevented by curfew from receiving blood transfusions, or how many, having reached hospital, are receiving blood transfusions without sufficient monitoring.
BISAN Centre for Research and Development
Location: Ramouni Building, Police Street (not far from the PA compound)
Contact: Ezzat Abdel-Hadi 240-7837, 050 311-643
(BISAN has two offices in Ramallah. The other office in Star Street was searched by Israeli soldiers, but the site was not damaged.) BISAN is located on the fourth floor of a five-storey building. The building also contains the offices of the following NGOs: Our Product is our Pride, Continuous Education Centre, Zakat Committee and the Teachers Union.
Neighbours reported that Israeli soldiers entered and searched the building on 16 April. They did not occupy it. Since the building is located in a military area, near the Muqata'a (the PA compound), it was impossible to gain access to it until 21 April. The following report is based on an oral account given by one of BISAN's staff members, after BISAN had returned to their offices on 21 April.
Structural damage: The main door of the office had been broken in.
Vandalism: The offices were in bad disarray, with papers, files and used bullets strewn across the floors, which were covered with an unidentified thick black substance. The hard drive of one computer was removed and left damaged in the office.
Confiscation and sanctioned theft: Three computers, one fax machine, one scanner, one printer, one laptop computer, three telephones and a considerable quantity of stationery was missing.
Because of the disarray, it is impossible to tell if papers or documents are missing.
The member of BISAN's staff reporting on BISAN's offices also stated that the Teachers Union, located in the same building, had been entered by Israeli soldiers and had sustained much more serious damage. Because of time constraints, we were unable to contact anyone from the union.
Ramallah YMCA (a branch of the East Jerusalem YMCA)
The YMCA's offices in Ramallah serve not only young people in the town but also young people in the surrounding villages through its extensive field programmes. Among its youth programmes are vocational training for young women, vocational counselling for girls in high school and career guidance for young people entering the job market. It also assists in constructing community youth centres in surrounding villages.
The following is based on preliminary reports issued by the YMCA Main Office in East Jerusalem and based on accounts of people who witnessed some of the destruction and staff who visited the premises briefly during the lifting of the curfew.
YMCA premises in Ramallah comprise three offices and the building housing these is marked by a large sign. On 8 April 2002 a contingent of IDF forces blasted open the main entrance to the YMCA building and the guard's office. They badly damaged the elevator and offices had been vandalised. Office equipment, computers in particular, overhead projectors and other training aids had all been destroyed. Reporters for NBC Television living in a nearby building tried to prevent the destruction, by repeatedly telling the IDF forces that they were damaging YMCA premises, funded largely by USAID. The soldiers ignored the reporters and detonated explosives in the garage, destroying its contents including a car and a large van containing valuable educational material, which was used to tour villages for educational work.
D. Institutions that suffered limited damage in the course of being searched by IDF troops
Khalil Sakakini Centre
Location: Next to the Lutheran Church, near Ramallah Municipal Park
Contact: Mazen Qupty 627-6667
The Khalil Sakakini Centre was established in 1996 and hosts a variety of art activities and events, as well as undertaking special projects on Palestinian narrative. It is housed in a beautiful old building. Israeli soldiers broke into the centre on 13 April. The director and other staff members visited the centre when the curfew was temporarily lifted on 15 April. The following account is taken from a report written by the director the same day.
Structural damage: All of the windows on the second floor of the centre and all the glass on the verandah was shattered, seemingly from the explosion that blew up the two side doors of the building. A radiator was also damaged by the blast. The walls and ceilings were pockmarked by the impact of shards. An internal wooden door was broken.
Vandalism: The contents of the drawers of antique built-in cupboards and of the desk drawers in all offices were emptied onto the floor. The telephone switchboard was destroyed, the alarm system damaged. An antique, original, ornate iron door, and some artwork have been irreparably damaged.
Confiscation and sanctioned theft: The hard drive of the main computer and a mobile phone had been stolen, the organisation's safe had been broken into and "a few thousand" shekels stolen.
Muwatin: The Palestine Institute for the Study of Democracy
Location: Said Haifa Building, Irsal Street
Contact: George Giacaman 295-1108
Muwatin's office was searched by Israeli forces on 3 or 4 April. The director visited the office during the first time the curfew was lifted. Muwatin's premises are located in the vicinity of Arafat's compound and are still under curfew. Staff have therefore not been able to repossess the building and to assess the damage fully. From his brief visit, the director reports the following damage:
Structural damage: The metal door of the main entrance to the building is completely destroyed, as is the internal metal door to the two apartments that house Muwatin.
Vandalism: The office is in great disarray with drawers having been forced open and papers scattered on the floor.
Confiscation or sanctioned theft: So far it appears that nothing has been taken, but staff have not been able to assess the situation fully.
Al-Nahda Women's Association
Location: Jaffa Street, near the Ramallah Municipality building
Contact: Bediyya Khallaf 295-3772
Al-Nahda Women's Association works with children and young people who have speech disorders or who are mentally retarded. The Jaffa Street premises serve children and young people with speech disorders. The premises include the administrative office and speech pathology and audiology clinics.
Neighbours reported that soldiers occupied the premises for three days. Staff cannot recall the exact dates, but think it was around 7-10 April. Unlike other occupied offices, the offices do not appear to have been systematically vandalised.
The following report is based on oral accounts by the director and one of the association's doctors who visited the premises on two occasions after the soldiers had left the building.
Structural damage: The main doors of the building were blasted open and destroyed and some internal doors and walls were damaged.
Vandalism: The offices were in disarray: furniture, files and children's needlework were strewn across the floors. Equipment in the clinics had also been thrown on the floor, but does not appear to have been damaged.
Confiscation and sanctioned theft: Nothing has been removed from the premises.
Impact: The siege and curfew on Ramallah and other areas of the West Bank has prevented patients and staff from reaching the premises. Annually, approximately 1,500 children and young people from all areas of the West Bank receive diagnosis and/or treatment of speech disorders in the Jaffa Street clinics. Since there are no speech therapy services for Arabic speakers in East Jerusalem, the clinics are particularly important for those living in the city. Before the last reinvasion of Ramallah, Hadassa Hospital used Jaffa Street clinics as the referral for East Jerusalem patients requiring speech therapy.
The Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights (PICCR)
Location: Mukhmas Trading Centre, Al-Irsal Street, Ramallah
Contact: Said Zeidan 296-3228
The Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights (PICCR) undertakes monitoring and publicising human and civil rights violations.
The following report is taken from the director-general of PICCR and the director of the Gaza office. The seven-floor Mukhmas Trading Centre was raided by Israeli forces on either 1 or 2 April. The electricity supply and telephone lines to the entire building were affected. The building guard was forced to accompany the soldiers to the door of each office they raided. The guard and two journalists (from CNN and Ha'aretz) who visited the site a few days after the raid, reported the following to the PICCR:
Structural damage: Main door broken open, internal glass door smashed. The only locked internal door, that of the office of the financial and administrative manager, was broken open.
Vandalism: Drawers had been broken open and papers and books thrown on the floor. However, no equipment appeared to have been damaged.
Confiscation and sanctioned theft: Two cartons of documents and papers, including those of the financial department, were removed by soldiers.
E. Institutions damaged by IDF shelling
Al-Mawrid Teacher Development Centre
Location: Arisona Building, Main Street
Contact: Ismail Njoum 298-1842
Al-Mawrid Teacher Development Centre was established in 1992 and undertakes the training and continuing education for teachers and the production of educational material.
On 1 April, the premises of Al-Mawrid centre were struck by IDF shells. Either before, or after the event, Israeli soldiers entered the building. The director has given the following account of the resulting destruction:
Destruction: Two administration rooms were directly hit by shells and set ablaze. One external wall was partially destroyed and the rooms themselves completely destroyed. The two rooms had contained: six computers, three laser printers, one scanner, one fax machine, one photocopier, one video camera, one digital camera and two telephones. The room used for computer training had been badly damaged by intense heat to the extent that all equipment, including the nine computers have partially melted and are unusable.
It is clear that at some point Israeli soldiers entered and vandalised at least some rooms in the centre: drawers and filing cabinets in the conference room and in the library were opened and their contents -- files, documents, educational video cassettes -- were strewn across the floor.
Books from the centre library, a collection of educational material built up over 10 years, had been removed from their shelves and thrown on the floor and in the corridor. Many books were burnt and all 300 educational video cassettes had melted in the heat.
All equipment in the conference room -- one TV, one video machine, three slide projectors and two overhead projectors -- had been severely damaged or destroyed. Some of the equipment had been smashed by a heavy implement, while there are bullet holes in the overhead projectors.
The Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, Ramallah
Location: Ramouni Building, Ramallah, off Main Street
Contact: Mustafa Barghouti 298-5372
The (UPMRC) is a community-based health organisation founded in 1979 by a group of Palestinian doctors and health professionals to address the problems of the decaying and inadequate health infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza under Israeli military rule. One of the largest Palestinian non-governmental organisations, UPMRC runs 25 permanent primary health care centres, 14 labs and numerous mobile health units. Its approach is preventive, with an emphasis on education and participation. In February 2001, UPMRC won an award from the World Health Organisation.
On 1 April 2002, Israeli tanks shelled the building housing the UPMRC and soldiers ordered all the inhabitants out of the building (Ha'aretz reported this action on its Web site the day it occurred.) Doctors, staff and about 14 Italian volunteers, including Member of the European Parliament Louisa Morgantini, were detained by soldiers; television footage showed some staff being made to kneel in a nearby parking lot. Soldiers entered the building and searched offices. Damage: At least one shell entered the office of the UPMRC causing a wall to collapse. The director of UPMRC, Dr Mustafa Barghouti, reported that most of the centre's equipment was destroyed, including computers and a photocopier.
For further information on this report contact:
Elizabeth Taylor:
067 241-849
lptaylor2000@yahoo.comThe area code for Ramallah telephone numbers is 00972.
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