Issue No. 595
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18 - 24 July 2002 Issue No. 595 Region |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
'In constant fear'
Alongside continuing the crippling curfew on the West Bank, Israel dealt a direct blow to Palestinian higher education when it closed Al-Quds University's Internet service provider. Khaled Amayreh reports from Hebron
Palestinians and foreign human rights activists working in the West Bank are saying that recent Israeli oppression defies description and is crippling nearly all aspects of Palestinians' life at the individual as well as collective levels.
Click to view captionPalestinian journalist Imad Abu Zahra bled to death after he was hit by Israeli army fire in Jenin. He was the second reporter to die since Al-Aqsa Intifada started nearly two years ago One foreign peace activist based in Jenin, Justine Podur, described the impact of Israel's reign of terror. "This is a society that's slowly being choked to death. It is marked by fear, random violence and irrational destruction. No one is allowed peace of mind. Even the relatively well- off -- those with jobs and some money -- live in constant fear. The poor, of course, are the hardest hit."
A French activist remarked, "I wonder how the Palestinians can withstand all of this oppression. I'm sure no other people on the face of earth could endure what the Palestinians are going through."
Life in Palestine these days sees entire cities, many of them home to hundreds of thousands of people, come to almost a complete standstill. People are completely confined to their homes for as long as 10 days at a stretch; respite comes in the form of lifting the curfew for a few hours, during which there is a frantic dash to purchase foodstuffs before the virtual incarceration begins again.
The consequences of failing to return to one's home as soon as the curfew ends can be fatal, as several Palestinian children have discovered at the hands of trigger-happy Israeli soldiers manning armoured personnel carriers who enforce the curfew.
On 10 July, Israeli soldiers opened fire at a group of youths and children who were walking in the vicinity of the Askar refugee camp near Nablus. As a result of those shots, 16-year-old Rami Al-Katash was killed on the spot, having been shot in the neck. Two others were wounded, namely, 12-year-old Mahdi Fadel, who was shot in the leg, and 10-year-old Sami Al-Rimawi, who was shot in the head. The Israeli army attributed the "incident" to "confusion regarding the lifting and reimposition of the curfew".
In Nablus, on the following day, an Israeli armoured personnel carrier drove into an electricity pole, knocking it down and subsequently causing the live wires to land atop the military vehicle, said foreign civilian eyewitnesses. In response to the blunder, soldiers in accompanying tanks and jeeps opened fire indiscriminately on Palestinians who were stocking up on food during the lifting of the curfew.
As the shooting proceeded, an Israeli tank fired at Palestinian photographer Imad Abu Zahra for taking a snapshot of the personnel carrier. The shell opened a grapefruit-size wound in Abu Zahra's right thigh, ravaging more than five centimetres of his femoral artery. "It was a very big wound, he had lost a considerable amount of blood," said, Nihal Sawalah, the surgeon who operated on him.
Said Dahla, a fellow photographer who was with Abu Zahra during the tragic episode, described what happened. "We both wore vests marked with the press sign. We thought that it [the armoured personnel carrier] was a good picture; there was no violence, things were quiet and we began taking photographs of the stuck vehicle. Suddenly, the soldiers began shooting at us without any warning, a bullet grazed the left side of my jaw, but Abu Zahra received a direct hit in his right thigh."
Abu Zahra's heart and breathing stopped as he arrived at the hospital. A few hours later, his wounds proved fatal.
Abu Zahra's name is only the latest on the list of Palestinian and foreign journalists and cameramen killed by the Israeli army since the outbreak of the Palestinian revolt against Israeli occupation just short of two years ago.
On the same day that Abu Zhara died, the Israeli army shot dead two more Palestinians, a child and a man in Dir Al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses said Israeli troops who had stormed the small central Gaza town on 12 July opened fire on Palestinian children who were watching the soldiers as they were leaving the town on the same day, killing 12-year- old Mouin A'daini.
A policeman, identified as Khaled Al- Khatib, was also killed. On 14 July, the Israeli army killed two more Palestinians, including a teenager in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, ostensibly for "violating the curfew". Soldiers also killed a 27-year-old man at Beit Lahya in northern Gaza.
After each of these killings, the Israeli army issued coolly routine statements saying: "the army is investigating the incident."
Also on 14 July, Israeli warplanes, including an F-16-fighter, attacked a building in Gaza, claiming it was used as a venue for Hamas meetings. The building, it was later revealed, was a cloth factory run by a local charity. At least five people were injured by flying shrapnel, but none seriously.
As Israeli missiles were raining down on the factory, a trial was underway in an adjacent building for Abdel-Hay Al-Sababi, who was alleged to have acted as informer for the Israeli Shin Beth.
During the attack, and as everybody in the court sought cover from the bombing, some militants, taking advantage of the chaos, entered the court and shot and killed the alleged informer. The evidence against Al-Sababi was apparently quite strong, and speculation was rife that a conviction would have spelt a death sentence.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army has begun to move against Internet service providers (ISPs) in the West Bank. On 15 July, Israeli troops shut down an ISP serving Al-Quds University, whose East Jerusalem offices Israel closed last week.
The purpose of the Draconian measure was apparently to deprive Al-Quds University students from continuing their studies and taking their exams via the Internet, having been barred from entering the university's campus.
Another reason may be to undermine the Palestinians' ability to communicate to the outside world just what is being done to them.
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