U.S. lights Mideast explosion, activist says
By Barry Bortnick
February 3, 2002
DENVER - When hijackers crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center on
Sept. 11, peace activist Val Phillips feared the attacks would bring harsh
retribution upon Palestinians living in the occupied territories.
"My initial response (to Sept. 11) was that the Palestinians would pay for
this," said Phillips, an activist with the Colorado Campaign for Middle East
Peace. "I think to a large extent they have (paid), because (President) Bush's
war on terror has given Israel the opportunity to claim the oppression they
subject on Palestine is justified."
Phillips, fresh from a three-week tour of the West Bank and Gaza, is filled with
contempt for America's policy in the Middle East. She, along with a handful of
other Denver peace activists who traveled in the occupied territories, said
America has created a powder keg among desperate refugees.
"We need to look beyond our borders and understand what our trusted government
representatives are doing with our tax dollars," she said.
Phillips was among a crowd of about 50 who protested a recent speech in Denver
by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The former Israeli leader
said his country is fighting terrorism on the front lines.
Netanyahu said innocent Palestinians have died in clashes with the Israeli army.
But he added that, unlike Palestinian-led terror groups, Israel does not target
civilians.
The Arab-Israeli conflict has intensified in the past 16 months.
Suicide bombings by Palestinians at discos, on buses and in crowded streets have
increased recently. Israel has responded by bombing suspected terrorist sites
inside the occupied territories.
Phillips, a 33-year-old Quaker, wants the violence to end. She lived in Israel
and taught in a Palestinian school several years ago. Israel recently bombed her
old school. She pointed out that Israel relies on U.S.-made tanks, helicopters
and aircraft to maintain its grip on the disputed lands.
Although most Americans and citizens across the world can't understand why
Palestinian groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad advocate the use of suicide
bombers against Israeli soldiers and civilians, Phillips and other peace
advocates say the suicide attacks show how desperate some are in the occupied
lands.
"I don't sympathize with these attacks, but I understand why they happen," said
Ben Scribner, another member of the peace group. "Gaza is a pressure cooker. The
oppression by the Israeli army is so intense. The children there live with
virtually nothing. Seeing that makes you understand why people resort to this
kind of violence."
The Denver activists traveled throughout the occupied territories. They observed
how Israeli soldiers treat average Palestinians. They met with the family of a
man shot to death by the Israeli army for leaving his home during a tank attack,
and spoke with a Palestinian doctor who said Israeli soldiers stole organs from
three teen-agers killed in the occupied lands.
Phillips and other activists set up a mock checkpoint Jan. 16, not far from the
Denver lecture hall where Netanyahu spoke and called for the end of Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat's regime.
The activists pushed, shoved and yelled at those passing through the mock
checkpoint to demonstrate, in a small way, what they said Palestinians face
every day.
"We saw numerous men pulled aside, and no explanation was given," Phillips said
of what she witnessed at a checkpoint near the Palestinian town of Ramallah.
"One soldier I spoke with said this was done so (Palestinians) would learn to
come when called."
Phillips said soldiers play power games with Palestinians to remind them who is
in charge.
"It is all about authority," she said. "That is the kind of craziness people
have to live with every day."