[GushShalom] Mass demolition in Hebron / Shooting at prisoners in K'tziot
Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)
info at gush-shalom.org
Sun Feb 2 21:14:12 IST 2003
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Gush Shalom
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International release Feb. 2, 2003
(including request of immediate protest letters)
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Mass demolition in Hebron
Shooting at prisoners in K'tziot
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The military authorities seem to have made cynical use of
an "opportunity" to escalate the attack upon the
Palestinians - while the media are concentrating, to the
virtual exclusion of anything else, upon the space shuttle
disaster, among whose victims is Ilan Ramon, the first
Israeli astronaut.
Israeli radio did mention that 22 houses were being
demolished in Hebron; due to the total curfew it is difficult
to find out exactly but our contacts in Hebron itself have
strong indications that the large-scale demolition is
actually ruining more homes. The destruction seems to
be especially in areas close to settler enclaves, which
the settlers have long coveted for further expansion.
Also about K'tziot, veteran human rights lawyer Tamar
Peleg tells us that the
scale seems far larger than the "20 Palestinians hurt in
prison clashes" reported on the Ha'aretz website. A
detainee managed to phone friends outside and tell of at
least seventy of detainees wounded by heavy doses of
tear gas and the shooting of "rubber bullets" (i.e. rubber-
covered metal bullets, which already proved to be lethal
at close range). Before being cut off, the detainee gave
the names of fellow detainees which he knew to be
among the wounded and which he asked to pass on:
Muhammad Udeh, Sam Abu Tull, Amer Abu Halil, Islam
Ja'idi, Abed Faridy.
At the time of writing, the confrontation
at Ktziot camp seems to be still going
on. It is not clear how it started.
The K'tziot Prison Camp deep in the Negev
Desert (known by Palestinians as
Ansar-2 or the Naqueb Prison) was
originally opened during the first
intifada. It was closed down by Rabin in
the heyday of the Oslo peace process, and
reopened by Sharon April 2002, during
"Operation Defensive Shield" (the
invasion and reoccuption of the West Bank
cities - accompanied by mass detentions).
Since then the camp had been constantly
expanding, to accomodate the increasing
numbers of Palestinians detained by the
Israeli forces - altogether about ten
thousand of whom more than a thousand as
"Administrative Detainee" - without trial.
The use made of the shuttle disaster
bodes ill for what may happen in the
Palestinian territories when all the
world's attention is drawn by Bush's
attack upon Iraq.
Protest letters to Defence Minister Mofaz
Fax: +972-3-6962757 / +972-3-6916940 /
+972-3-6917915
email <sar at mod.gov.il> + copy to the Israeli
embassy or consulate in your own environment ( see:
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0czk0 )
You can use the following text or make
your own.
Sir, I strongly protest the cynical use
made by the armed forces under your
control of the worldwide mourning for the
victims of the space shuttle disaster, as
a smokescreen for the brutal mass
demolition of Palestinian homes in Hebron
- and for shooting and wounding dozens of
Palestinian detainees - many of them held
without trial and with no charges of any
kind being brought against them.
This is to let you know that such acts
will never pass unnoticed.
Sincerely...
---
Amos Harel, Ha'aretz Internet
Sunday, February 02, 2003
-- 20 Palestinians hurt in prison clashes
-- IDF demolishes 22 homes in Hebron
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/258733.html
_
Tens of Palestinian detainees in the Negev's Ketziot
Prison clashed Sunday afternoon with IDF troops
guarding the prison. According to initial reports, about 20
Palestinians suffered from smoke inhalation, and an
Israeli soldier was lightly wounded.
Also Sunday, the IDF demolished 22 homes in the West
Bank city of Hebron, because all had been built without
permits, said Talia Somech, a spokeswoman for the
army's Civil Administration. Some had already been
completed and others were still under construction,
Palestinians in the area said. The Palestinian Authority
slammed the demolitions Sunday, calling them "another
war crime perpetrated by Sharon's government" which
violated agreements signed by former prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinian families hurriedly
dragged refrigerators and sofas out of the houses before
Israeli bulldozers, guarded by soldiers, began knocking
down the walls. The families said they had received
notices months ago that the houses would be
demolished, but had not known when the work would
begin. Israel has been tearing down dozens of
Palestinian homes in recent months. They include homes
built without permits as well as houses belonging to
militants involved in violence against Israel. Hebron
resident Yakub Sultan was building one of the houses for
his son, who is to be married soon. "The Israeli
government and Ariel Sharon are destroying all our
dreams by demolishing houses," Sultan said as the
bulldozers knocked down concrete walls. Palestinian
Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said the demolitions were
part of Sharon's "policy of expanding settlements and
putting obstacles in the way of future peace."
Palestinians say Israel's stringent permit policy can
make it virtually impossible to build new houses.
---
Furthermore, you can protest against repeated
imprisonment of draft resisters - with no end in sight - at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/091202/
---
The film 'Jenin Jenin' with Hebrew subtitles can be
purchased from Yael Lerer.
To get a copy, send a check for NIS 100. and mail it to:
Andalus
P.O. Box 53036
Tel Aviv 61530
For English undertitling contact:
info at arabfilm.com / www.arabfilm.com
---
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