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Subject: Fw: [pttp] This is a must read
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2000
Forward from mart.
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Clement <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: October 6, 2000 8:23 AM
Subject: [pttp] This is a must read
http://www.arabia.com/article/0,1690,News|30332,00.html
It takes more than man to torment a nation
"It's a war zone, it's a war zone, the only difference between what's
taking place here and a real war is that it's a war from one side,
Israel's side" By Ramzy Baroud
October 04, 2000, 04:03 PM
SEATTLE (AROL) - "Listen ..listen.. can you hear that?" My friend
cried out with a trembling voice as I waited on the line, trying to
make sense of the rush of sounds coming from the other end. "That's
an Israeli helicopter firing missiles at Khan Yunis refugee camp,"
he screamed, "there's another one... I have to go, I must wait with
the people outside."
Cries From a Battle Zone
He hurried outside to gather in the camp's
graveyard, south of Gaza City. It seems that
gathering in the graveyard has become a ritual for
them, a graveyard that is now riddled with scars left
by random shooting. They also gather there to bury
their dead.
Another friend, a nurse at Makased Hospital in
Jerusalem's Intensive Care Unit appeared more
content as his experiences seem to have become
a devastating routine. "I worked in the intensive
care Friday," he began. "Six injured young men
were brought in the morning. None survived." he
lamented.
A third, "it's a war zone, it's a war zone, the only difference
between what's taking place here and a real war is that it's a war
from one side, Israel's side" adding "Israel is shelling us with
missiles, can you believe it? They are shooting rockets at
the refugee camps in Gaza. They bombarded Gaza's community college.
No space is left for the injured, they had to operate on people in
small clinics. They barely have aspirin in these clinics.
Our children are filling the streets like slaughtered sheep. Are you
writing this down? Like slaughtered sheep.."
Who's to Blame for the Violence?
Most of us find it comforting to hold one reason or one person
responsible for such tragedies. Others prefer the "both are
responsible" approach, a diplomatic way to escape the burden of
accountability that comes with confronting the truth.
Unlike what many have concluded, the continuous violence is not
simply an outcome of Israeli hard liner Ariel Sharon's "visit" to Al
Haram Al Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), one of Islam's holiest sites.
Yes, Sharon is a well known war criminal, that's uncontested. It's
also true that a trail of blood seems to be accompanying the champion
of the Jewish settlers. But it's utterly unfair to give the man all
the credit for the deaths of nearly 70 Palestinians and well over
two thousand injuries. Many others share the crime, and they too must
be recognized.
Would Sharon have succeeded in assembling 1,000 Israeli soldiers and
police to accompany him on his disgraceful visit to the Muslim sites
in Jerusalem if it wasn't for the Israeli government's approval?
Supposing that Sharon succeeded in ordering 1,000 heavily armed
Israeli soldiers and police to join him on his controversial trip,
and then ordering them to kill 5 worshipers and injure hundreds more,
how can one explain the violent events developing in the West Bank
and Gaza?
Sharon, a Criminal Face Among Many
It wasn't Sharon who ordered the killing of scores of
Palestinian protesters, many of whom were children. It isn't Sharon
who is shelling Palestinian refugee camps with Apache helicopters,
nor is he the one who killed 12-year-old Mohammed al Durah, while he
clung to his father's knee and wept. What about the shoot-to-kill
policy carried out by the Israeli army throughout the West Bank, Gaza
and Arab towns in Israel? Though such a policy might be denied
verbally, medical statistics in the Palestinian territories prove
its validity. 80 percent of injured Palestinians received bullets in
the upper parts of their bodies according to the Palestinian Minister
of Health, Riyadh Zanoun, in an interview with Voice of Palestine
radio.
Israeli Lieutenant-General Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli Chief of Staff
who oversaw the Israeli army's retreat from Lebanon, appeared to be
determined in recent months to deploy heavy armories into Palestinian
territories, anticipating a unilateral declaration of
Palestinian statehood. Israeli settlements were flooded
with supplies, even sand bags were brought to Gaza's Jewish
settlements.
Israel's muscle flexing was aimed at instituting fear in the hearts
of Palestinians, as the option of armed struggle reemerged following
Israel's defeat in South Lebanon. Israel wanted to reinforce its
tainted image of the undefeatable army at any cost, and as quickly
as possible. Recent Palestinian protests in May were dealt with
swiftly by the Israeli army. Six Palestinians were killed and
nearly 900 hundred were injured. With the suppression of protests by
the PA police, the violence would have carried on, and Israeli
soldiers were fully equipped and ready "to teach a lesson".
A Political Message is also Being Sent
But the Israeli message was also political. PA Charmin's Yasser
Arafat's position at the intensive negotiations at Camp David last
July appeared to Israel as too stubborn. Arafat was immovable when
the talks narrowed down to Jerusalem, perhaps because
of his knowledge that Jerusalem is too complex, too emotional and far
too sacred to simply return to Gaza without it.
In order to support Israel against the PA's seemingly firm stand
which demanded the implementation of UN resolution 242 fully, the US
began it's own scare tactics, launching a verbal war against Arafat
for not being "courageous enough" as Ehud Barak was during the talks,
according to Clinton. The US Congress also participated in the mental
war by passing bills vowing to cut aid to Palestinians if they dared
to declare a state unilaterally. The latest of these measures was
September 27th, when a 385-27 House vote decided withhold diplomatic
recognition and aid from any such Palestinian state.
As Israel's "diplomatic options" were exhausted one by one, time was
ripe for the military option to conquer what peace has failed to
uphold. With every missile fired at Palestinian protesters, with
every bullet, tear gas granade, tank being deployed or tank pulling
into a Palestinian town, Israel is sending a message: it's my way and
no other way.
Sharon's role in what is clearly a well orchestrated Israeli
government scheme is to initiate the conflict, and in the end bear
whatever responsibility may be put on Israel. So in the end, the
responsibility of the violence is equally shared between
the Palestinian Authority as a whole, and Sharon, not the Israeli
government.
No Room for Innocence
The crying face of Mohammed al Durah, who died in the springtime of
his youth, was a tragedy that was seen all over Palestine, as
innocent faces were gunned down one by one. Yet amongst the many
faces covered with blood and sanctified with the sand of a land that
Palestinians will always refer to as their homeland, one could see
the real face of Israel, inhumane, unmerciful and relenting as ever.
If you look deeper at the images of al Durah as he is fades away at
his father's side, you will see much more than a face of one killer
named Sharon, you will see a government with a hostile policy, an
occupation army, an apathetic international community, billions of US
government dollars and dozens of vetoes, and a destiny that's has no
place for the innocence of a twelve year old boy.
Arabia on Line � 2000 all rights reserved
**********
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Subject: Fw: [pttp] Eye Injuries from Israeli Bullets - The Union of
Palestinian Medi cal Relief Committees
Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2000
Forward from mart.
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Clement <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: October 6, 2000 8:23 AM
Subject: [pttp] Eye Injuries from Israeli Bullets - The Union of
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees
this is UPMRC's latest report
The Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees
SPECIAL REPORT
Eye Injuries from Israeli Bullets
October 5, 2000
Ziad Ahmed Farrah clearly remembers being 100 meters away from
Israeli soldiers at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem when one of them fired
a rubber-coated steel bullet into his left eye. "I was hit in my eye
and my arm," Ziad says, "my friends carried me about 50 meters to the
ambulance. I arrived at the eye hospital at exactly 5:30 PM on
Saturday."
Ziad is one of eighteen patients who have come to St. John's
Ophthalmologic Hospital in East Jerusalem since Friday, September 29,
with eye injuries sustained in Israeli attacks against Palestinian
civilians. Seven patients here, including Ziad, have lost their left
eyes. The hospital report on Ziad states that the bullet "caused
multiple scleral lacerations, and the contents of the eye had already
been expelled when he was admitted. He also sustained fractures of
the lateral wall of the orbit and frontal sinus." One of the nurses
explains, "All we can do for him now is to repair the fractures and
fit him for an artificial eye. We will try to match the color of the
other eye."
Ziad is twenty years old. He will have only one eye to see through
for the rest of his life. Yet his spirit is far from broken. A
plumber from Deheisheh Refugee Camp near Bethlehem, he wonders where
peace is when Israeli settlements continue to expand while
Palestinian refugees here and abroad are forbidden to return home.
He went to Rachel's Tomb on Friday and Saturday to protest the
Israeli army and police attacks on Palestinians in the Haram Al-
Sharif. Those attacks killed six Palestinians and injured hundreds
of worshippers who had been praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque. "Our soul is
in Al-Aqsa," Ziad explains.
Despite his injury, Ziad does not feel sorry for himself. He follows
the news closely, and his heart is with Palestinians who have lost
even more than he has in Israeli attacks. "I saw the 12-year-old boy
who was shot by the Israeli army in Gaza while his father tried to
protect him," he says, "This is criminal, dirty." Showing his
compassion, Ziad gets up from his bed to cheer up 12-year-old Shaadi
who has been in the hospital since Thursday. Shaadi's parents cannot
get from Jenin to Jerusalem to visit him since the army has closed
off the roads.
Another 12-year-old child, Ala' Imad, is at St. John's after being
shot in the eye with a rubber-coated steel bullet. The hospital
report states that his left eye "was perforated twice, with the
contents expelled, and the bullet caused fractures in the medial
aspect and floor of the orbit. It has lodged in the maxilliary sinus
and could be seen in the upper jaw, protruding behind the teeth."
This is the kind of catastrophic damage that 'rubber' bullets inflict
when fired from close range at a person's face.
The Ophthalmologic Hospital of Gaza is seeing similar injuries
among children hit with rubber-coated steel bullets. Eight children
are currently in the hospital with injuries from Israeli bullets, and
a total of nine patients have lost their eyes. Among them are 15-
year-old Ramadan Salwat, who lost one eye while the other was
seriously injured by a rubber-coated steel bullet. Doctors are
trying to repair the injured eye, but it is likely that Ramadan will
remain blind. Other patients shot in the eye include 12-year-old
Abdel-Rahman An-Nadi, 12-year-old Ibrahim Abu-Mursa, 12-year-old
Amjad Mazeed, 13-year old Taher Awad, and 14-year-old Ahmad Abed. In
all of these cases, the doctors say that the injuries could only have
been inflicted by bullets aimed directly at the heads of these
children.
Back in Jerusalem, Ziad Farrah is upset over the loss of his own eye,
but even more offended by the continued military assault on
Palestinian civilians, many younger than himself. He appeals to a
rule of justice and morality that ought to transcend any one
religious or nationalistic code. "I want to say to the soldier who
shot me, 'You would not want someone to shoot your son, so you should
not shoot a young person who is someone else's son.'"
One should not need eyes at all to see the justice of Ziad's
statement and the massive injustice of hurling brutal and often
deadly force against civilians. Yet as the indiscriminate use of
military force against Palestinians continues, one wonders if the
Israeli army is not blinder than the children who have lost eyes to
their bullets.
To view all of the UPMRC's Emergency Appeals and updates regarding
the Israeli army's use of force against Palestinians over the past
eight days, visit the UPMRC website at http://www.upmrc.org. For
further information please contact Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi at 050-
254218 or the UPMRC office at 02-583-3510/ 02-583-4021.
P L E A S E F O R W A R D T H I S N E W S L E T T E R
T O E V E R Y O N E Y O U K N O W
"Some call them radicals. Others call them the Opposition. President
Clinton referred to them on various occasions as the "enemies of
peace". Yet, for many Palestinians, they represent the non-
compromising segment of the living conscience of Palestine. So before
we rush to judge and to condemn, before we describe them as radicals
and enemies of peace, we must listen to their story. The story of
suffering through Black September, South Lebanon and the Intifadah.
Once we listen, I believe, all that we can do is to stand for them
and salute, salute them for a heavy price they have paid, rather
than those who took the easy way out." - Ramzy Baroud
Knowledge is Power!
************
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Subject: [CrashList] Condemnation of Israeli genocidal assault on
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This is a Press Release/Statement from the Black Radical Congress
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Current Conflict in Israel and the Occupied Territories
Statement by the National Coordinating Committee (CC)
of the Black Radical Congress (BRC)
October 7, 2000
The current situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories
is fast breaking, and circumstances change with every
passing moment. As we write, on the eighth day since extreme
right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon's provocative visit
to Jerusalem's Temple Mount -- called by the Palestinians,
Haram Al-Sharif -- triggered a Palestinian uprising, blood
is still flowing in the streets of many cities and towns,
overwhelmingly the blood of Palestinian men, women and
children.
We comment on the current events in northeastern Africa
(usually called the Middle East) as people of African
descent. We comment as people living in the United States
who have endured several hundred years of unpunished crimes
against our humanity, abuse of our rights as human beings
and as citizens, and state-sponsored and state-sanctioned
violence against our persons and homes. Only a few days
prior to the eruptions in Jerusalem, several articles in
the Israeli Arab paper Kull Al-Arab documented racist and
contemptuous treatment of Arab citizens by the Israeli
police. The subject has a familiar ring. Reading and viewing
reports of police suppression of demonstrations by Israel's
Arab minority, which has mobilized on an unprecedented scale
in solidarity with its Palestinian brothers and sisters, we
nod in recognition. These pictures, along with the picture
of Israeli soldiers' and police officers' disproportionate,
murderous response to the Palestinian protests, are pictures
we know well from the lived experiences of our own history.
First and foremost, in this moment when children are dying
>from rubber-coated bullets and live ammunition in the chest
and head, the Black Radical Congress condemns these actions.
We join representatives of the Palestinian people, others
within the United States and in the international community
-- including Al Haq, the European Union and freedom fighters
throughout the world -- in an urgent call for the United
Nations to stop the bloodshed, and for a United Nations
investigation into the Israeli military and police forces'
excessive use of deadly force against Palestinian and
Israeli Arab demonstrators. We are also angered by reports
that journalists and medical personnel in ambulances have
been targeted. Further, The Black Radical Congress, reflecting
the sentiments of thousands of African Americans, demands that
Israel be held to account for the armed actions of its agents
under the Geneva Conventions and all other appropriate
provisions of international human rights law.
The most stunning of the many ironies marking the history
of Israel is that this State, established in the wake of a
holocaust of monumental crimes against the Jewish people by
the Third Reich and its allies, has itself inflicted upon
generations of another great people the pain of conquest,
occupation, displacement, statelessness, exile, subjugation,
national oppression within its borders and violent death.
Aiding and abetting Israel in this oppressive project has
been its principal patron and benefactor, the United States,
which, in recent years has also been party to a "peace
process" that can only be seen as deeply flawed and
inadequate through the lens of Palestinian interests
and aspirations.
The Oslo agreement of 1993, successor to the Camp David
Accords, falls woefully short of actualizing the Palestinian
dream of independence and equal sovereignty. Rather, it provides
for limited "self-rule" with a negotiated transition to greater
autonomy -- not independence -- and it leaves fundamentally
intact the conquering Israelis' supremacy over the vanquished
Palestinians. It also effectively perpetuates Israel's U.S.-
sponsored role as the nuclear-armed northeastern border guard
of a resourceful continent. Not only do the conditions of
Israeli occupation remain virtually unchanged under Oslo,
but the Black Radical Congress is appalled that the march
toward a stillbirth of Palestine as a bantustan, surrounded
by Israeli settlements and subject to the total political,
economic and military control of Israel, continues unabated.
In short, nothing but legitimate rage and frustration could
be expected to flow from the Palestinians' awareness that
Oslo promises not a peace with justice, but a peace of might
over right, of supremacy over the principle of equality, a
neo-colonialist peace, an apartheid peace, a peace of the
grave.
Into this context stepped Ariel Sharon, the former
defense minister who presided over the infamous slaughter
of innocents by Israeli Defense Forces under his command in
Lebanon's Sabra and Shatila refugee camps during the 1982
Israeli invasion, condemned worldwide for that episode and
ever since the premier symbol -- for Palestinians and for
the world -- of Israeli intransigence and brutality. How
else to view Sharon's taking his aggressive show to the
Temple Mount, under armed escort of the state, than as a
deliberate provocation intended to spark exactly what it
sparked: an uprising. Instructing posterity on what happens
to "a dream deferred," the great African American poet,
Langston Hughes, wrote, "it explodes." What else to conclude
than that the government presumed to be custodian of an
alleged peace process on the Israeli side is bent on arresting
that process, insufficient as it is. Let those who would demand
"restraint" from the Palestinian people in the face of outrageous
provocation redirect that demand to the occupiers. We view as
inescapable the conclusion that the Israeli government bears
full responsibility for the present disturbances, and as the
world watches we are reminded that rank injustices in any
part of the world, left to fester and metastasize, with
nuclear weapons lurking in the wings, threaten all of
humanity.
Several visions are competing for the resolution of this
conflict. Some Palestinians (and some Israelis alike) uphold
the ideal of a democratic, secular Palestine in which Moslem,
Christian and Jew enjoy equal rights of citizenship, equal
religious and cultural expression, equal protection under
the laws. The majority favors an independent Palestinian
state that enjoys equal sovereignty with the State of
Israel. Unfortunately, successive Israeli governments,
though never all of the Israeli people, cling to the
vision of a fortress Jewish state, its citizenry
divided into de facto first, second and third
classes, reigning supreme and dominant in the
region.
The Black Radical Congress calls upon the United States,
which consistently promotes itself globally as the foremost
defender of human rights, to end its silence and its
hypocrisy in the face of the slaughter of Palestinian
children, by demanding that Israel cease and desist
immediately its brutal conduct.
The Black Radical Congress further calls upon the
progressive sectors of the Israeli populace, those who seek
a safe and honorable future for their own children, to demand
that their government embark upon the journey toward a true
peace with justice and equality, a peace founded on the right
of self-determination for the Palestinian people, a peace that
respects the national and human rights of all the people of
the Middle East.
The Black Radical Congress
National Office
P.O. Box 490365
Atlanta, GA 30349-0365
Phone: (404) 768-2529
Fax: (404) 614-8563
-----
BRC-PRESS: Black Radical Congress - Official Press
Releases/Statements
-----
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