DAY 18: Eyewitness Testimony in Palestine...Deaths of Civilians Continue...AUDIO Reports from Jenin Refugee Camp...

April 15, 2002 * Up to the minute news reports from Palestine at:  www.jerusalem.indymedia.org

More Eyewitness Reports from Palestinians in the West Bank go to:  http://www.electronicintifada.org/diaries/index.html

 

SUMMARIES

Btselm Update of Human Rights Violations

Deaths of Palestinian Civilians Continue
 

EYEWITNESS REPORTS FROM INTERNATIONALS IN PALESTINE

Jenin Refugee Camp, 4/18/02 (Al Jazeera)

4/15/02: Their bodies are decomposing, there’s all kinds of maggots and lice and flies eating their bodies - Brian Wood in Jenin Refugee Camp, CCMEP Member

4/15/02: AUDIO: International Eyewitnesses Report on Massacre in Jenin Refugee Camp - Brian Wood and Sofia Ahmed on Flashpoint Radio, KPFA, Berkeley

4/15/02: AUDIO Interview with American Jeff Guntzel in Jenin Refugee Camp - Democracy Now

4/15/02: AUDIO: Radio Interview with Mustafa Barghouti

4/15/02: International Solidarity Movement Enters Jenin Refugee Camp - Huwaida Arraf in Ramallah

4/15/02: A Field Trip to Jenin - Susi Abeles in Jenin, Counterpunch

4/15/02: American in Nablus: This is the Intifada of Killing - Kristen Schurr in Nablus, Palestine

 

 

Previous Days Eyewitness Reports:  Day 1 - 3/29/02  *  Day 2 - 3/30/02  *  Day 3 - 3/31/02  *  Day 4 - 4/1/02  *  Day 5 - 4/2/02  *  Day 6 - 4/3/02  *  Day 7 - 4/4/02  *  Day 8 - 4/5/02  *  Day 9 - 4/6/02  * Day 10 - 4/7/02  *  Day 11- 4/8/02  *  Day 12 - 4/9/02  *  Day 13 - 4/10/02  *  Day 14 - 4/11/02  *   Day 15 - 4/12/02  *  Day 16 * 4/13/02   *  Day 17 - 4/14/02

 

 

SUMMARIES

Btselm Update of Human Rights Violations

Daily Update - 15 April 2002

  1. Today, at around 2:00 PM, IDF soldiers entered the community
center near  Qalandiya checkpoint where hundreds of Palestinians who
were released from  detention at Ofer camp are lodging as they cannot
return to their homes, due to  the curfews imposed by the IDF
throughout the Occupied Territories. When the  soldiers entered the
place, children from Qalandiya refugee camp threw stones at  them.
The soldiers responded with live gunfire. 30-year-old Khaled 'Abd
a-Ra'uf, a father of three who resides in the camp was passing by on
the main  road on his way back from work. 'Abd a-Ra'uf hid behind a
wall while the  soldiers were shooting. When the shooting ended he
carried on. He was then  shot dead in the back. 19-year-old Rami
Zuheir Mustafa, was hit by a live bullet  and is currently undergoing
surgery at the government hospital in Ramallah.  (Source: B'Tselem)

  2. Some fifty Palestinian residents of Jenin refugee camp, among
them 14  children and some women, were locked in their homes by IDF
soldiers  immediately after the military entered the camp on April 3,
2002. The men were  handcuffed. IDF soldiers removed the handcuffs
only on Saturday, April 6, after  interrogating the men. They asked
the soldiers to let them leave the refugee camp,  but the soldiers
refused and said they would shoot anyone who leaves the house.  The
residents are suffering a water shortage. During the first few days,
they took  water from the neighbors, but they have run out. It has
been over four days since  they last ate anything. It appears that
there is another group of fifty Palestinians  in the camp who had
also been locked up by soldiers. (Source: B'Tselem)

  3. Earlier today, A.T. from Jenin refugee camp was rescued alive
from the rubble  of a building in the camp. Reports received by human
rights organizations  indicate that some 55 people, most of whom are
probably alive, are buried under  the rubble.   Today the Mayor of
Jenin, the head of the International Red Cross Committee in  Jenin,
Red Crescent staff and doctors entered the camp to evacuate bodies
from  the ruins. The IDF limited them to Al-'Awada street, claiming
that security  checks in other areas have not yet been completed. The
crews managed to  evacuate seven bodies. The Mayor said that the
rescuers noted additional bodies  some on building porches, some
buried underneath the buildings. Seven more  bodies were found
underneath one of the demolished buildings, but the crew  were unable
to pull them out without professional equipment, and because there
were live grenades near them. The crew appealed to the military in a
request to  bring in equipment and more personnel to assist in the
evacuation. The soldiers  agreed to let a small number of people in,
on the condition that they enter on  foot. The crew did not accept
that condition because of the great risk involved.  The Mayor of
Jenin told B'Tselem that the evacuation of bodies is hazardous and
difficult and that medical crews cannot carry out the work without
the assistance  of professional teams and the appropriate equipment.
(Source: HaMoked - Center  for the Defence of the Individual and
B'Tselem)

  4. Last night, at 1:30 AM, soldiers arrived at the house of the
Deir Al Ghosson's  Mayor, Jamil Abu 'Ali in Palestinian cars. The
soldiers had a resident of the city  with them whom they had forced
to guide them to the house. The soldiers  demanded the Mayor take
them to the homes of taxi drivers who own minibuses.  He refused. The
soldiers threatened him and forced him to go with them. The  Mayor
saw the soldiers stop near houses next to which minibuses were
parked,  knock on the door and demand the keys from the owners of the
vehicles. After  that, the soldiers got into the minibuses and drove
away. When the soldiers  realized the Mayor was not cooperating with
them, they let him go about 700  meters from his house. He had to
walk home despite the fact that a curfew was in  place and
Palestinians were strictly forbidden from moving in the area. On
April  3, 2002, the IDF entered Deir Al Ghosson in Tulkarm district
and imposed a  curfew on the town. Among other things, soldiers
entered the municipality  building and took a computer and a
facsimile machine. The soldiers also caused  damage to property in
the municipality building itself and the clinic, post office  and
kindergarten located in it. (Source: B'Tselem)

  5. Some 800 detainees were transferred last night from Megiddo
military prison  to the Ketziot detention facility. The facility,
also called Ansar III, was known for  its difficult holding
conditions. Its reopening was reported on the April 12, daily
update. Human rights organizations will monitor the conditions in the
facility in  days to come. (Source: HaMoked - Center for the Defence
of the Individual)

  6. Sixty soldiers broke into the Palestinian Ministry of Education
offices in  Ramallah. They took various documents including
passports, building plans and  a hard disc from one of the computers
in the office of the Ministry's executive  director, Na'im Mustafa
'Abd al-Hamid. This is the second time IDF soldiers  have entered the
building. On April 4, 2002, some 150 soldiers broke into the
building. The soldiers forced their way into the offices using
gunfire and  grenades, despite being told that the guards had keys to
every room in the  building. The soldiers blew up the offices of the
financial department and the  examination department. During a
search, the soldiers broke furniture and  confiscated several
documents such as cheques, contracts and the hard discs of  about 40
computers.   School has been out throughout the West Bank for the
past two and a half  weeks. B'Tselem knows of schools, primarily in
Tulkarm and Nablus that have  been damaged beyond repair by IDF
shelling. The military has been using other  schools as temporary
detention facilities. (Source: B'Tselem)

  7. Yesterday at 3:00 PM, some ten soldiers entered the home of the
S. family in  the village of Al Yamun in Jenin District. The soldiers
locked family members in  one of the rooms using physical force and
pointing their weapons at them.  Family members include a
seventy-year-old woman and a three-year-old girl.  While occupying
the house, the soldiers destroyed its contents, broke electrical
appliances, much of the furniture, a computer and a television set. A
relative of  the family carried out a suicide bomb attack in Haifa
five months ago. For the  two hours of the soldiers' occupation of
the house they swore at the family and  mentioned the suicide attack
repeatedly. This raises the concern that entering the  house and
harming the family and their property were an act of revenge.
(Source:  HaMoked - Center for the Defence of the Individual)

  8. 76-year-old Musa 'Abd a-Latif 'Abd al-Fatah Mazlum from Al
Janiya in  Ramallah District is suffering from a prostate conditions.
He requires dialysis  treatment. As a result of his illness, Mazlum
cannot use the toilet. Since the  beginning of operation "Defensive
Wall", on March 29, 2002, Mazlum has  been unable reach the Ramallah
government hospital for his treatment. His  relatives called for a
Red Crescent ambulance several times, but the ambulance  could not
make it to the village. Mazlum has run out of his medication. Over
the  last few days, he has been unable to sleep and often cries out
in pain. (Source:  B'Tselem)

  9. Administrative detainee update: On the April 11 daily update it
was reported  that over the course of operation "Defensive Wall" 281
Palestinians were put in  administrative detention. The figure came
from information given to HaMoked -  Center for the Defence of the
Individual by the IDF. Today, the IDF provided  HaMoked - Center for
the Defence of the Individual with amended figures.  According to the
IDF, 100 Palestinians are held in administrative detention.  However,
the IDF has clarified that this is not a final figure, and that more
administrative detention orders would likely be issued in the near
future. (Source:  HaMoked - Center for the Defence of the Individual)

 


Deaths of Palestinian Civilians Continue
The Palestine Monitor, A PNGO Information Clearinghouse
April 15th, 2002

Since Israeli troops invaded Palestinian towns and cities on March the 29th,
the civilian population has suffered and come under attack. Scores of people
have been killed and injured; civilians trapped in their own homes by the
soldiers are the sad casualties of the Israeli aggression.

Rana Sa�id Karajeh, a 26-year-old mother was killed yesterday in Bethlehem.
She was killed when Israeli soldiers making house-to-house searches in the
area blew-up the door of her apartment, normal Israeli military policy when
going from building to building. Dr. Peter Qumri of Al-Hussein Governmental
Hospital said that when she was brought to the hospital the �whole top of
her head had been torn off by the blast, and her eyes were missing�.

Jenin

The situation in Jenin remains fraught with difficulties. One Red Cross and
one Red Crescent ambulance were allowed into the Jenin refugee camp, which
has been closed to everyone for the past 9 days. Permitted to collect the
bodies of those killed by the Israeli troops in their assault on the camp
the ambulances entered this morning.

However, after recovering seven bodies they have withdrawn as the scale of
the operation has become evident. Houses have been destroyed and rubble lies
all over the area � making it almost impossible to recover the bodies
without heavy equipment � something the rescue services do not have access
to. According to the medical teams their jobs were made more difficult by
the fact that Israeli tanks were not letting them move freely, stopping
their progress every few meters.

They desperately request international assistance in order to locate and
remove the bodies.

Three injured people, including Ahmad Tubasi who phoned the Medical Relief
Committees two days ago, were pulled out from the rubble � thankfully alive.

�This proves our point,� said Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, �that until now many
people in the refugee camp require urgent and immediate medical treatment,
which is denied to them by the Israeli army. The soldiers are not letting
the ambulances through � on the contrary they are making it more difficult.
There needs to be an immediate lifting of this curfew so medical personnel
can do their work unobstructed.�


For more information contact The Palestine Monitor
+972 (0)2 5834021 or +972 (0)2 5833510
www.palestinemonitor.org


----------------------------------------------------

The Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees

Urgent Appeal: Help Save a Two-Year-Old's Life
April 15, 2002

UPMRC appeals to the world:
We don't know what else to do, please help us save a child's life.

Tabarak Jaber Fayez Odeh's parents frantically called the UPMRC assistance
hotline in Nablus today, desperately asking for our help.  Tabarak is a
two-year-old girl from the village of Deir Al-Hattab, which is located just
outside of Nablus.  She has a neurological disease that requires her to take
medication on a daily basis.  Her village has been under curfew for the past
13 days, and her parents have not been able to leave their house to buy more
medication for her.  She ran out of her supply ten days ago and has been
without her life-saving drugs since then.

Over the past week, her family has placed calls to numerous hospitals and
ambulances, trying to get a delivery of medication to her, or to get her
evacuated and taken to hospital where she can get the care she needs.
However, Israeli forces have systematically prevented ambulances from
accessing the village.

Tabarak's condition is deteriorating by the hour and she could die if she
doesn't receive the appropriate medical care.  UPMRC has been trying all day
to get an ambulance to her, but Israeli troops have prevented us from doing
so.

Several people have died in the past 48 hours because of lack of access to
medical care, including the child of Dr. Ali Sha'ar, a pediatrician who
works for Save the Children, US.  Most areas of the Occupied Palestinian
Territories have been under a strict curfew for the past 18 days.

UPMRC urgently appeals to any concerned individual and organization to act
immediately to help save Tabarak's life, by pressuring the Israeli
government to respect the right of medical teams to move freely and access
the sick and wounded.

Send faxes to:
-Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister:  +972-2-530-3704.
-Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister:  +972 2 651 2631

For more information, contact Juliana at the UPMRC office:  +972-2-583-3510/
2-583-4021, OR Tabarak's father, Jaber Odeh: 052-897-466/059-216-598

 

 

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