If only there were more people in the world like this...

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,37743,00.html

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 18 2000

Jew risks bullets to help Palestinians

FROM SAM KILEY IN HARES

A JEWISH woman has turned herself into a human shield to protect Palestinian
olive pickers from Israeli soldiers and armed settlers.
For the past month, the 3,500 residents of Hares have watched their olive
crop spoil on the bough. When they nip over the earthworks erected by the
Israeli Army  which has sealed them into their village  to try to pick the
fruit, the Jewish settlers from the nearby West Bank colony of Ravava, shoot
at them. And when the Palestinians want to move the barriers which suround
their village, Neta Golan is there to stand between them and the Israelis,
daring them to shoot a Jew.

On Wednesday night at the end of a day in which she endured threats of rape,
a settler sent her a message wrapped in a full metal jacket. The bullet from
his M16 automatic rifle struck close enough to blast a piece of rock into her
face. She had been shouting at them with a loudhailer and demanding that the
group of 40 to 60 settler vehicles, which had gathered at the entrance to the
village, should leave.

The army stood aside as some of the settlers marched towards Hares carrying
their guns. When they opened fire, Ms Golan kept her nerve. That is a crime
and I will lodge a complaint with the military courts and you will go to an
army jail, she yelled.

That did the trick, she said. They didnt like the idea of the stockade, so
they got the settlers to go away. But as soon as I am gone, theyll be back.
Ms Golans sympathy with the Palestinians and the publicity she had generated
about the military noose around Hares  where at least 25 have been injured
and one boy of 14 killed by the Israeli army  has enraged the authorities.
The military said that Hares has been sealed off and olive groves close to
the main road bulldozed because stone-throwers have been attacking cars, an
accusation that is true.

Ms Golan, 27, a therapist specialising in Chinese medicine, and her friends
are part of a small but growing number of Israeli lefties who have been
horrified by the Palestinian death toll since the start of the al Aqsa
Intifada.

Last week they came to the West Bank to help the villagers of Hares to
harvest the olives which form the basis of their economy, especially as they
have been banned from travelling to their jobs in Israel and elsewhere by the
army.

If we were not here, these people would not be able to go into their fields,
its as simple as that. If we leave, theyll get shot at straight away, Ms
Golan said.

Harun Daoud, the Mayor of Hares, which is sandwiched between the town-size
settlement of Ariel, home to 20,000 Jews who settled on the West Bank in
violation of international law, and the religious hamlet of Ravava, said that
the presence of Ms Golan has saved lives and brought us hope that the
Israelis might be able to live with us in peace one day.

Gadi Kind, the head of security in Ravava, whose heavily armed men stood
scowling as Ms Golan and her friends joined the Palestinians in picking
olives in a field, said he would be happy to live in peace with his
neighbours and denied that settlers had attacked anyone from Hares.

Rabbi David Mivasair, 48, who heads the Or Shalom congregation in Toronto,
Canada, joined Ms Golan in the olive groves, skipping a days Talmudic studies
in what he said was a gesture of support for the Palestinians who have lived
there for centuries.

They have the same rights as us, or should do. Without someone like Neta
leading the way, people like me might not even be aware of what is going on
here.

I dont deny theres some danger (from the army or the settlers) in being here.
But its vital to stop the steady encroachment of the settlements on the
Palestinian land, he said.



Copyright 2000 Times Newspapers Ltd.

-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~>
<FONT COLOR="#000099">eLerts
It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free!
</FONT><A
HREF="http://click.egroups.com/1/9699/0/_/7016/_/974608638/"><B>Click
Here!</B></A>
---------------------------------------------------------------------_->

==============================================
 SPY NEWS is OSINT newsletter
 and discussion list associated to
 Mario's Cyberspace Station
 http://mprofaca.cro.net/mainmenu.html
==============================================
*** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
 Section 107, this material is distributed
 without profit to SPYNEWS eGroup members
 who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
 the included information for non-profit research
 and educational purposes only.

 For more information go to:
 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

 ----------------------------------------------
 To subscribe SPYNEWS send a blank message:
 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

 To change your subscription mode to Daily Digest
 (one message a day) send a blank message:
 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

 To unsubscribe SPYNEWS send a blank message:
 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

 Mario Profaca, SPY NEWS eGroup
 list owner, editor & moderator
 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

 SPY NEWS home page:
 http://www.egroups.com/group/spynews

 Spy books, handbooks and manuals:
 http://mprofaca.cro.net/manuals.html
=============================================




Reply via email to