Witness: Israelis' goal to terrorize
By DeeDee Correll
May 8, 2002
The word on the street today is that the Israeli army is coming back.
In Ramallah, West Bank, people believe that Israeli troops, camped nearby since their retreat last week, will return Thursday to reoccupy the city, two Coloradans reported Tuesday from the West Bank.
"It will be worse than the last time. They want to either kill (Palestinian Authority President Yassir Arafat) or remove him," said Marilyn Robinson of Denver in a telephone interview with the Daily Times-Call.
More often than not, rumors here turn out to be true, added Robinson, who traveled to the region to serve as an observer and protester of Israeli actions.
In a meeting with Arafat at his compound Tuesday night, Robinson said the Palestinian leader did not address the speculation but discussed the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
As of Tuesday, Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to most terms for ending the 36-day standoff, including the deportation of 13 suspected militants holed up inside. But Arafat expressed doubt the deal would go through, Robinson said.
"He said, 'Every time they think it's final, new conditions are brought on by Israel,'" she said.
Among those inside the church is Larry Hales of Colorado, who reportedly slipped past Israeli roadblocks with another group of international observers and got inside Thursday.
Contacted Tuesday in the church by the DailyTimes-Call, Hales said he was not able to talk. However, Robinson said she reached him by cellular phone the same day.
Hales told her that contrary to reports that Palestinian militants have defiled the fourth-century basilica built over the traditional birthplace of Jesus, the only damage to the structure was done by those outside, Robinson said.
The people inside - who hid there April 2 as Israeli troops invaded the town, searching for gunmen - are very hungry, Hales told Robinson.
"They're living off grape leaves, boiling them and drinking the water," she said.
Claims that Israelis provided the people inside with food are not true, she said.
"They gave them one carton of chocolate milk and a couple of slices of pound cake," Robinson said.
Meanwhile, in Ramallah, the people already have had more than they can bear, said Ida Audeh of Boulder, who comes from the neighboring town of Bireh.
"The town looks tired. It looks weary, grimy," said Audeh, who arrived Sunday.
Many roads and sidewalks are destroyed, and it is clear that Israeli tanks rolled over vehicles parked in the streets, she said.
"The cars are mashed. A lot of people here lost their cars," she said.
Throughout the siege, Audeh said she could not reach her mother, who lives across the town square from the compound where Arafat was held.
But she did periodically hear from others that her mother was OK, she said.
"For a few days, she didn't have water," she said.
The residents of Ramallah are traumatized, Audeh said.
"Every person has a story of Israelis coming in and trashing their homes," she said.
Some have described to her how soldiers entered their homes through windows instead of simply walking in the front door.
"They were happy to open the door," she said.
At the building her mother owns, Audeh said soldiers broke down the door to one apartment, even though her mother told them she had the key.
Soldiers also searched through her mother's bedroom, and one of them cut up her housecoats to make blindfolds, she said.
But he stopped when his commander showed up and demanded to know what he was doing, Audeh said.
"They're totally running amok," she said.
In some cases, it is not clear whether soldiers are acting under orders from their superiors or doing so because they want to, she said.
What is clear, Audeh said, is their goal is to terrorize Palestinians until they are too afraid to resist.
"They want to psychologically terrorize people," she said, adding that roadblocks make it very difficult for Palestinians to commute to their jobs. For example, a trip to Jerusalem that should take about 20 minutes now takes several hours, as people pass through checkpoints, she said.
Arafat has lost his moral authority over the Palestinian people, Audeh said.
"People resent him. They think he's playing games," she said.
Many suspect that Arafat promised to drop demands for a thorough investigation of a reported massacre in Jenin in exchange for his own freedom.
"He'd be released and in exchange, he wouldn't press hard for an investigation," Audeh said. "He valued his personal safety more. He has very, very little support. For these people, they think he sold out."
Audeh said she plans to leave May 20, but that she probably will not be taking her mother with her.
"She won't leave. She's convinced that if she leaves, she'll lose her home," she said.
Like others, Audeh said her mother also is defiant.
That defiance and sense of outrage is what makes her feel that hope remains. But what will happen is anyone's guess, Audeh said.
"God knows how it's going to end."
DeeDee Correll can be reached at 303-776-2244, Ext. 211, or by e-mail at dcorrell@times-call.com .
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