Cultural Genocide: The Destruction and Vandalism of the Offices of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees

William J. Thomson, Ph.D.

April 24, 2002

Today I visited the Ramallah offices of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC) and spoke with its president, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi. The offices were occupied by Israeli troops during the recent attack on Ramallah, and the condition of the offices after the departure of the occupying troops tells a good deal about the Israeli military and the political strategy of the current Israeli government.

UPMRC has been for many years in the leadership of medical service delivery to Palestinians. During the recent attacks, UPMRC personnel have been in the forefront of providing emergency medical services to injured Palestinians, and at no small personal riskseveral hundred attacks against UPMRC personnel and facilities have been recorded in the last few weeks. In particular, ambulance personnel have been targeted, in clear violation of the Geneva Accords and other requirements of international law, with the attacks being mitigated somewhat after the arrival of members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and the Grass-roots International Protection for the Palestinian People (GIPP). (In fact, Dr. Barghouthi states unequivocally that the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR in providing protection to Palestinians during the recent invasion was the performance of ISM and GIPP.)

Since the “justification” for the attacks on medical personnel (and perhaps by extension, the UPMRC offices) by the IDF was the supposed transport of weapons by ambulances, I asked Dr. Barghouthi about the report of just this sort of weapons transport that was intercepted on one recent occasion by the Israeli military. He is convinced that this situation was staged by the Israelis for the benefit of the media. He bases his conclusions on the following three factors:

1. The subject ambulance was allowed to pass through two Israeli checkpoints without incident (an unusual occurrence) before being stopped at the third checkpoint where media were present.

2. The driver of the ambulance immediately confessed in front of the media to the concealed weapons transport without making any pleas of ignorance, etc.

3. Perhaps most telling, a UPMRC physician (with no knowledge of the weapons cache), happened to be hitching a ride with the ambulance, and after the weapons were discovered, he was released without arrest or questioning by the IDF. Anyone familiar with the arrest profiles of the Israeli military would find it impossible to believe that anyone in an ambulance carrying weapons of any sort would be allowed to leave without being arrested.

UPMRC has never been mentioned in the context of “terrorist activity” so what possible reason could the IDF have for invading and destroying the offices of UPMRC? First let us examine the condition of the offices. I personally visited the offices today and have photographic documentation for each of the items described below.

The Condition of the UPMRC Offices

1. The office in Ramallah was the primary administrative office for UPMRC, and contained extensive records dating back several decades on the health condition of the Palestinian people. Like any modern office, these records were stored in computer format. Within the office, every single computer (more than 20) was destroyed, with the hard drives removed, and various other components strewn across the individual offices and meeting rooms. The data on these computers have disappeared.

2. Other office equipment, including copy machines, fax, shredder, etc. have been rendered unusable by having components destroyed, by having coffee poured into the inner parts of the machines, and by other acts of extreme vandalism.

3. A brand new and sophisticated video camera was stolen, as well as calculators, cell phones, etc.

4. In Dr. Barghouthi’s office, the contents of his desk were simply thrown to the floor, and videotapes made of his recent arrest by Israeli authorities were pulled out of the cassettes, with large piles of videotape mixed on the floor with the contents of his desk.

5. Throughout the offices, the contents of desks, files and shelves were dumped on the floor, often mixed with garbage from the soldiers’ meals and other trash.

6. Garbage was also forced into relatively inaccessible sections of the office. It appears that the primary objectives of garbage “disposal” by the Israeli soldiers were to contaminate valuable parts of office materiel and to make it extremely difficult for the offices to be effectively restored to a sanitary and usable condition.

7. The phone and email system throughout the office was completely destroyed.

8. Expensive hand-woven rugs from an exhibition of Palestinian crafts were used as rugs and sleeping mats, rendering them destroyed as objects of art.

9. Random bullet holes were shot into the walls at various points.

10. The sink in the office bathroom was destroyed.

11. Graffiti was written on the walls, including renderings of the Star of David and pictures of bullets.

12. On a display board in what was left of the office waiting room was written in Hebrew, “Thanks for your hospitality”.

13. Several actions of the Israeli soldiers bring into question their sexual maturity and elimination training.

a. Pornographic images were downloaded from the internet and scattered throughout the office.

b. Pornographic magazines were also scattered throughout the office.

c. A sanitary napkin was attached to one of the doors.

d. A file room was filled with office records and used as a urinal.

e. Men’s underwear was scattered throughout the office.

In short, the entire UPMRC office complex was subjected to wanton vandalism and destruction of the highest order. One can only seriously question the internal discipline and control of the soldiers of the Israeli military. It is clear that the intent of these soldiers was to destroy for destruction’s sakethere is no conceivable military justification for such acts.

In discussion with Israeli colleagues, they believed that the soldier’s actions likely occurred without the knowledge of their officers (but one must wonder about the discipline and control of Israeli soldiers by the officer corps), and reflected the historic and prevailing attitudes of Prime Minister Sharon toward the Palestinian people. They suggested that this vandalism, which was but one of many essentially identical examples in the West Bank, is designed to destroy Palestinian cultural identity, to destroy the Palestinian information infrastructure, and add to the continuing humiliation of the Palestinian people. The presumed desire and expectation would be that Palestinians will either leave the West Bank or will be so demoralized that they will accept complete and total subjugation by their Israeli overlords.

It is difficult to imagine any other “rationale” for these despicable actions. Either the Israeli military is a completely undisciplined organization, or they are operating with the implied consent of the Prime Minister, and by extension, a majority of the Israeli public.

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