Israeli government intensifies occupation
This report is a little different than usual. The reason is that the situation deteriorates in Palestine by the hour. The international media, to a large degree, is pre-occupied with Afghanistan and Anthrax, and it seems that Israel is using the opportunity of less attention to tighten the occupation. I have decided to put human faces to the Palestinian casualties, and therefore you will get to know Mousa. For those more interested, it is followed by a political analysis of the situation.
No pictures of the "terrorists" killed in "clashes"
I am not questioning that some of the more than 700 Palestinians killed during the last year were killed in direct clashes with the Israeli Defence Force. A lot of them were not. They were killed while in their houses, going to work or doing other things. The official story however is always: "x number of Palestinians killed in confrontation" - Sometimes a name, but never a picture, never a story about the person, never about how the family is grieving. The situation when an Israeli dies is different. 30 minutes after the death, the full life story, the picture and interview with the family is shown on the news, not only in Israel but internationally.
Many of the 25 people killed during the last few days, were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Here is one of them:
The life and death of Mousa
Name: Mousa (Moses) George Abu Aid
Date of birth: 6th October 1982
Death: 19th October 2001
Mousa was living in Beit Jala together with his parents and his three younger siblings. He had just finished his education as an electrician, and for this he was very happy. It meant that he was able to help his parents to bring money to the household. This was needed, because his father was unemployed and his mother's salary as a cook in the Latin Seminary in Beit Jala was not enough to support the whole family. Especially since his younger sister had started to study at Bethlehem University. In reality, his role as a breadwinner for the family had already started when he was 11 years old. Since then, he worked to help his parents.
He did not participate in many activities - either in the Greek Orthodox Church or other places because he had to help his mother. Like many other young Palestinian men, he had one big passion - cars! He desperately wanted one, but he knew that it would take him many years before he would have that kind of money. His first obligation was his family: 14 days ago he told his mother, that for his first pay check he would by her a new couch. He was almost too good to be true. The best son anybody could want.
On Friday, the family's neighbours told them to come down stairs to stay with them. The upper floor where they lived was too dangerous, since the Israeli soldiers were shooting intensively in the area. When Mousa came down, he realised that his father was not with them, and he ran up the stairs to get him. The staircase is full of windows, and he was shot in his neck and died immediately. The last picture of him was taken on the stairs on his birthday: A young man, smiling at the camera. 14 days later he died on the very same spot. On Saturday, he was buried in very difficult circumstances. Around the Church, the shooting and shelling continued.
Mousa lived to be 19 years old. His whole family is devastated. His father is blaming himself for his death. His mother has lost hope, and carries with her his picture all the time. The family is desperately poor, and it will be very difficult for them to move on. Not only did they loose their beloved son. They also lost an income.
Other stories
- In Jenin, Israeli forces shelled a Palestinian girls' school and killed 11-year-old Riham Nabeel Abu Ward and wounded seven other schoolgirls who are reported to be in critical condition.
- 24 year old Rania Mario Kharufa was in her home in Beit Jala when she was hit in the neck by shrapnel from Israeli shelling
- Ghada Isiya, 18, from Sanour village in Jenin was shot dead by occupation forces based in the military camp established on the village's land while picking olives with her family.
- And the most terrible story: Thirty year old Rihab Nufal was travelling from her village to Bethlehem Hospital to give birth to her child. She was already in delivery and there were complications. She was stopped at the checkpoint, and the soldiers refused to let her through. She was in terrible pain and screaming, but for nothing. She died and so did the baby .
These are not the only stories of this kind during the last few days. Here is how it is covered in Israel:
"IDF in 6 West Bank cities; 14 Palestinians die in gunfights…Fourteen Palestinian were killed and dozens more were injured in clashes across the territories. Seven IDF soldiers, and one Israeli civilian were hurt in the fighting - last night, the most seriously injured soldier was listed in serious condition".
Do you get true and full stories about Palestinian casualties in your national media?
Theme: What is the reason for the escalation?
Facts:
Thursday, this week, the Israeli government entered all the major cities in the West Bank - all of them A-areas . The clashes have been very serious. In many of the cities there is continuous shelling, shooting and many people cannot leave their houses. Movement for all people on the West Bank have become virtually impossible. The physical damage of houses etc. is enormous. So far the number of those killed since Thursday is 25 and many more have been wounded.
This is the most intensive excursion of the occupied territories since the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993. The current situation is in general the worst since the beginning of the Intifada. Another abnormality is that this time the most seriously hit place is Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, where the vast majority of Palestinian Christians live. Many of our friends in the YMCA and YWCA are living here or their relatives live here.
The official Israeli explanation: Revenging a political assassination
Wednesday morning the newly resigned minister of Tourism, Mr. Rehavam Ze'evi, was assassinated in an East Jerusalem hotel. This was the first assassination of an Israeli politician, carried out by a Palestinian group in the history of the Israeli State. He was considered by most Israelis a right wing lunatic in life, however in death he has become a national hero.
Who was he?
Ze'evi was a Zionist hardliner. His overall political aim was removal of the Palestinians from the land of Israel, which for him included the occupied territories. He publicly referred to the many Palestinians from the occupied territories who daily work illegally inside Israel as "cancer" and "lice". Yasser Arafat was "Hitler", whom Israel should either deport or assassinate, and whose Palestinian Authority should be dismantled. He was fiercely opposed to attempts from the international community to persuade Israel to moderate its conduct . In many respects his political views and political solutions bore resemblance to personalities like Le Pen in France and other racist politicians in Europe.
He was also an Israeli war hero of the same generation as Rabin, but chose a different path in his political life. However, the fact that he had fought and won the war in 1948 was precisely the reason of his continued influence in the Israeli society. This generation of Israeli politicians has a mythological status that stays, regardless of its later achievements. Therefore, and because the government used this opportunity to boost Jewish nationalism, he got a hero's funeral.
Israel-Palestine: 41-1
The Israeli outrage is natural, but their moral judgement ironic. In the last six months the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has carried out at least 41 politically motivated killings . And further attacks have been tried, but failed. The Israeli government has confirmed that it has a list of more than 100 political Palestinians people that are wanted for "targeted killings" . Among them, very high ranking personalities.
Israel claims that all the political assassinations of Palestinians are carried out for security reasons - that these people have or are planning to attack targets inside Israel. That off course is no legitimate reason to kill them. If they are so-called enemies of the Israeli state, then the legitimate way of dealing with them is to arrest them and put them to trial. "Innocent until proven guilty" is a fundamental legal assumption of all states that want to be considered as civilised and democratic. Another fundamental issue is division of power - it is up to the courts to decide who is guilty, and not to the defence and the politicians.
Therefore political assassinations are to be considered state-terrorism. In this sense it is not morally superior to ordinary terrorism. It is just carried out by the people in power.
The official reason for re-occupation
The Israeli government claims that the military action is necessary as a prevention of further attacks by Palestinians, and because of the seriousness of the crime. They gave Arafat one week to hand over the assassins, but already the day after the assassination, they started entering the West Bank.
The political assassination was apparently carried out as a revenge attack by the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) . On 27th August, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) assassinated their Secretary General, Abu Ali Mustafa by shooting a missile through the window of his office in Ramallah. This was the most spectacular political assassination carried out by the Israelis so far. The rocket fired from a helicopter was so precise, that it did not even destroy the window frame. Abu Ali Mustafa was also so far the most high-ranking politician to be assassinated.
PFLP is not part of the Palestinian Authority, and "Israeli security sources do not believe Arafat or his immediate circle knew about the plan to assassinate Ze'evi. But Israel does hold them responsible as the address for the Palestinian Authority, and its responsibility for what goes on in the territories under its control."
This is, of course, only an excuse. Unless the assassins are walking around in the A-areas, Arafat has no authority. And even in the A-areas, the PA authority is very limited, since the Israelis enter regularly. But holding Arafat responsible is a way of undermining him. He is far more consensus seeking than the majority of Palestinians. And if he is forced to hand them over, most Palestinians will see him as a collaborator. The Israeli government knows very well that he cannot do this. But the claims seems reasonable to the majority of the international community, that do not know the political structure in the occupied territories, and it makes Arafat look like a crook. The Israeli Security Forces are capable of getting the assassins themselves anytime they want. Instead they use the tactic of delegitimising the PA.
Ze'evi was not very popular during his life. In death he came in handy for Sharon.
The real reason for re-occupation
The Israeli government has come under extreme pressure. Since 11th September, western governments have been trying to establish "A coalition against terror". It is very clear that this will be a failure unless the coalition includes several Arab countries. The Arab countries can and will not join if the West is not changing politics in the Middle East. Their price to join is the Western support for a Palestinian state. The American and European countries have already in principle supported not only a Palestinian state, but also a "viable Palestinian state". The Palestinians will settle for no less than East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza - and the whole of it. The West basically agrees.
The changing of policy in the West had already started before 11th September, but since then it has speeded up tremendously. It is now realised that peace in the Middle East is a prerequisite for security in the West and therefore Israel has become a problem for its traditional allies.
Sharon does not want a Palestinian state. He has in principle given his consent, but with so many restrictions that it can only be considered as lip service to the international community. He wants a continuation of the present situation, because he believes that the Palestinians initially will surrender or move. He especially wants East Jerusalem and the West Bank (which he calls Judea and Samaria). The settlements were initially his idea, because the best way to create facts on the ground is to make Israeli Jews live in the occupied territories. More than 400.000 Jews are now living on land occupied by Israel in 1967. He is the ideological master of the "bantustanisation" of the West Bank.
He was elected for promising that he could create security for the Israelis, by being tough on the Palestinians. He tries to make the Israelis believe that they can have security without land concessions. This of course leads to escalating insecurity and hatred on both sides.
Since he became Prime Minister, Sharon has refused to meet with Arafat, who he calls "Bin Laden", and the PA who he calls "Taliban" . His goal is to de-legitimise Arafat in the eyes of the international community, but it is not going according to his plan. Arafat meets with European heads of states, and is going to meet with George Bush. This has intensified since the World Trade tragedy.
Shimon Peres is both an advantage and an obstacle for Sharon. On the one hand, the Foreign Minister in Israel is borrowing the international legitimacy to the Israeli government that Sharon is obviously lacking . Peres is the high ranking international diplomat who is friends with many western politicians. On the other hand, Peres is preventing Sharon from taking the decisions he really wants. Peres is the one who insists on meeting Arafat, and insists on continuing the peace process. Not because Peres is very happy about the idea of a Palestinian state, but because he knows that is it non-preventable .
What do you do as a PM, when you do not want the peace plan scheduled by your international allies? You have to move fast in order to make this peace plan irrelevant. And this is what the Israeli government is currently doing. Their strategy seems to look like this:
- They try to make the Palestinian Authority collapse, and remove Arafat from power. If Arafat looses power the obvious groups to take over are the Islamic parties, and what international leader will force you to make a peace deal with Hamas?
- They try to create facts on the ground in a very large speed by building settlements. This will make a land division impossible.
- They try to create sympathy by radicalising and militarising the Palestinians to an extend, where they can claim "national security", whenever they use excessive force.
- And they have to move now, where international diplomacy is focused on Afghanistan. This is the reason for entering the major cities on the West Bank
This development is dangerous, and a source for a potential regional war. Peres knows this but his real influence on the government's policy is limited. This is why the Labour party are probably going to leave the government.
The small religious right wing parties in the government will be delighted. This means that only Sharon will have to deal with them. Then the peace process will die until the next election. In the meantime only God and international pressure can save the Palestinians.
Concluding remarks
While writing this report, I can hear helicopters and shelling from Beit Jala. There is shooting outside the hospital in Bethlehem. One injured person was shot and killed inside the premises, and a Medical Aid wounded. Injured people are prevented from entering for this reason. In Beit Sahour the shelling intensifies. Several houses are burning.
I know tomorrow, when I look for the latest news, the death toll will have increased. There is no reason to believe that the situation is any better in the other invaded cities. All affected people will face another night of complete fear. And I know some of them.
Moslems and Christians alike are equally affected by these invasions. Moslem and Christians alike are killed and wounded, their houses are destroyed, and they face the same impossible job of comforting their children to believe that everything is going to be alright.
However, for the Christian Church in Palestine the fact that Bethlehem is now the area that is affected, can lead to fatal consequences. The Christians are already leaving the country in large numbers, because of the hardship of the occupation . Only around 45.000 are left in the occupied territories . If nothing is done soon, we can look forward to the Holy Land with out any Christians. Except for tour guides.
Bente Pedersen, International YMCA-YWCA Observer in Jerusalem