{"id":599,"date":"2002-03-12T08:50:11","date_gmt":"2002-03-12T08:50:11","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2002-03-12T08:50:11","modified_gmt":"2002-03-12T08:50:11","slug":"the-show-and-the-reality-of-the-brutalizing-of-tens-of-thousands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/?p=599","title":{"rendered":"The show and the reality of the brutalizing of tens of thousands"},"content":{"rendered":"
Gush Shalom<\/div>\n

The show and the reality of the brutalizing of tens of thousands<\/h3>\n

GUSH SHALOM 11\/3 2002. pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 – http:\/\/www.gush-shalom.org\/<\/P>

On Second Channel TV tonight – an unexpected interview with a young Jerusalemite who spoke frankly about his wish to leave the country, as soon as he could find a country willing to accept him as an immigrant: “Not because I am afraid, but because the moral atmosphere makes me suffocate”.<\/P>

Suffocating indeed. The images were there the whole day, on Israeli as well as international TV networks alike. Soldiers preparing for entry into Qalqilia on the West Bank, being issued with plastic handcuffs by their officers; the soldiers inside Qalqilia like those already at Dheishe Refugee Camp using the handcuffs to tie up hundreds of Palestinian men – young to middle-age – and then cover their eyes with strips of cloth before marching them into a building where they are subjected – outside the cameras’ field of vision – to “interrogation.” What is also not shown: the one by one searching of the houses where women and children have to face without the men being present how their home is overhauled – if not destroyed. These are families who all of them live with the stories of how they became refugees in 1948.<\/P>

The continuous stream of pictures of ever more blindfolded prisoners appearing on all the TV networks should worry the Israeli government, one would think. On the contrary: it seems that the<\/P>

TV crews have been especially invited. Sharon’s only worry: how to show a “tough” image to his right-wing constituency while making some diplomatic gestures under US pressure.<\/P>

The army is reportedly trying to cram as much “action” as possible into the days before the arrival of US envoy Zinni, when a cease-fire is supposed to go into effect. But why are Bush and Powell waiting a whole week with sending Zinni over?<\/P>

Without the illusion that it can help immediately, we did participate in an urgent letter for UN intervention which was signed by 500 Israelis (intellectuals, academics, artists, and peace activists) and was sent today to UN Secretary General Koffi Anan.<\/P>

In Jerusalem, Peace Now took the initiative of a permanent protest vigil at the PM’s residence with a sign continuously updating the number of casualties, Israelis and Palestinians. It is just around the corner of the coffee house which was the scene of the most recent suicide bombing…<\/P>

In Tel-Aviv there are today and tomorrow protests on the university campus. Also tomorrow a protest of the Physicians for Human Rights coordinated with simultaneous protests in Ramallah and Geneva – about the IDF’s targeting of ambulances.<\/P>

The combat officers and soldiers refusing to take part in all this have reached the number of 322 (link on our website http:\/\/www.gush-shalom.org<\/A>).<\/P>

Meanwhile, we now hear of the army invading Jabaliya Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip where already near to twenty Palestinians got killed. Where they making an effort to resist the overwhelming force of the army with its tanks and helicopter gunships? Or did Sharon need more proof against the ultra right-wing crowd whose weeks-long prepared demonstration happened to takeplace this evening.<\/P>

Following is a report from Muna Hamse in the Dheishe Refugee Camp<\/P>

================================= <\/P>

600 Rounded-Up in Dheisheh, House-to-House Searches Underway<\/H3>

Israeli Defense Minister, Benyamin Ben-Elazar in Dheisheh<\/P>

By Muna Hamzeh<\/P>

Monday, March 11, 2002<\/P>

At about 6:30 a.m. Palestine time today, Israeli troops called on all male residents of Dheisheh Refugee Camp between the ages of 14-50 to assemble in the courtyard of a stone factory at the western edge of the camp. Six huundred men are being detained. The majority of men between the ages of 14-40 have been outside the camp since Thursday. The men who were rounded-up today have been blindfolded and their hands tied. Some western camera crews were able to film the men. Local Bethlehem TV stations have broadcast the photos and the women and children in the camp are watching their loved ones on their TV screens being mis-treated by the soldiers. The children are in a state of hysterics after seeing their fathers and\/or older brothers in this state on TV. As the soldiers approach each blindfolded man, they are spitting on him and beating him. One by one, the men are being taken into a side room inside the factory and interrogated. Masked Palestinian collaborators are at hand to tell the soldiers which of the men is an active member of the resistence. This is what Oslo has given us.<\/P>

The latest news from the camp is that the men who have been interrogated and will be released have been placed in one room and the plan is to release them at the end of the day. But the release won’t take place until Israeli troops finish the house-to-house searched currently underway. About ten minutes ago, I called my friend Hourieh. “The searches are taking place about three blocks from my house. My only hope is that they will get to my house before it gets dark. All we can do is sit and wait our turn.” Only women and children are inside the houses and according to one woman whose house was searched less than an hour ago, the soldiers aren’t leaving anything inside in tact. The contents of all closets, cupboards, shelves, everything is being turned on the floor. The soldiers are destroying any furniture or belongings they feel like destroying.<\/P>

About three hours ago, Israeli Defense Minister Benyamin Ben Elazar was in Dheisheh to inspect the site where the men are being held. An exchange of gunfire was reported during his visit, but it is all quiet now.<\/P>

Dheisheh’s entire civilian population is being subjected to the horror of Israel’s military might. Every woman in the camp now does not know whether her husband will return home today or will be taken away. The detained 600 men have not had anything to eat or drink for the past 10 hours. Nor have they been able to relieve themsevles. The number of those who will be taken away remains unclear.<\/P>

Yesterday (Friday, March 10, 2002), the Israeli military dynamited four houses in the camp. All four houses being to families who lost sons in this Intifada. Another family was notified that their house will be dynamited today. The close proximity of the houses – many houses share a wall with a neighbor, means that the destruction of the houses has caused extensive damage to neighboring homes. Keep in mind that the Palestinians have no insurance on their homes and there are no government funds to compenstate anyone for their loss.<\/P>

The pictures of the round ups in Dheisheh were on al-Jazeera.net (www.aljazeera.net) this morning – I recognized some of my former neighbors, all blindfolded.<\/P>

There is the picture “Palestinian males betwee ages 14-50 being rounded up in Dheisheh Refugee Camp (Monday, March 11, 2002)”<\/P>

Third man from the right (in grey shirt) is Nasser Hamash, my ex-neighbor.<\/P>

—- NB: Full transcript of the war crimes panel available on the Gush site<\/P>

For English http:\/\/www.gush-shalom.org\/archives\/forum_eng.html<\/A><\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gush Shalom The show and the reality of the brutalizing of tens of thousands GUSH SHALOM 11\/3 2002. pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 – http:\/\/www.gush-shalom.org\/On Second Channel TV tonight – an unexpected interview with a young Jerusalemite who spoke frankly about … L\u00e6s resten →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[507,69],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.danpal.dk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}