[GushShalom] While the Iraq War intensifies: ordeal in Tulkarem, Rafah

[Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)]

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     Gush Shalom
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International release & protest letter request
Tel-Aviv, April 3, 2003

WHILE THE IRAQ WAR INTENSIFIES: ORDEAL IN TULKAREM, RAFAH 

 --West Bank: After mass arrests in Tulkarem more than 1000 men 
released but forbidden to go home; 
--Gaza Strip: Israeli tanks and bulldozers invade Rafah;
--"A good and successful action" the commander of the Ephraim Brigade, 
referring on Israeli radio  to the Tulkarem action.
 
An Israeli Army Colonel has taken public responsibility for the large-scale 
harassment of civilian population at Tulkarm Refugee Camp, in violation of 
International Law and of the Fourth Geneva Convention to which Israel is a 
signatory. 
The officer - identified on the Kol Yisrael radio only by his first name, David, 
and by his function as commander of the Ephraim Brigade - is at the head 
of the Israeli forces which today staged a massive invasion of the Tulkarm 
Refugee Camp, an invasion which "Colonel David" declared to be "a good 
and successful action, with satisfactory results".

According to an eye-witness, a Tulkarm resident - and corroborated by 
accounts in the Israeli and foreign press* - the Tulkarm Refugee camp was 
on early Wednesday morning invaded by large Israeli forces - infantry, 
APC's and tanks supported by helicopter gunships. The soldiers ordered all 
men and boys  between 15 and 55 to leave their homes and concentrate at 
two locations in the camp - the UNRWA Girls' School and the courtyard of 
the Jipon Paint Factory. There they were kept for many hours and 
interrogated, one by one. The army detained eleven men which were said to 
be "wanted terrorists". The other men and boys were then loaded on buses 
and lorries which took them several kilometres outside Tulkarm, where they 
were told to get off and forbidden to go back to their homes for the coming 
three days. There, the army left them, with nothing but the clothes on their 
backs, making no provision of any kind for their thee days of enforced exile. 

Inhabitants of the nearby Danabe Village, as well as of the Nur Shams 
Refugee Camp which is so far untouched by the army raid, tried their best 
to help the displaced men and boys - but being in difficult economic 
circumstances themselves, found it difficult to take care of so many. 
Meanwhile, some women of the Tulkarm Refugee Camp came to bring food 
and basic provisions to their husbands, brothers and sons -but then found 
that the soldiers would not let them back into the camp, and became 
displaced, too.

Gush Shalom sent tonight a letter to General Menchem Finkelstein, head of 
the Army's legal Department, setting out the above facts and pointing out 
that they constituted a violation not only of International Law but also of the 
IDF's own Military Code and of what the army claims are its policy guide-
lines as regards treatment of civilian population. "Failure to point out to 
Colonel David - whose full name must be familiar to you - the grave legal 
and moral consequences of the acts to which he took responsibility would 
make yourself and the army's Legal Department share in that 
responsibility." 

PS: Just as were composing this message, an emergency call came from 
the opposite side of the Occupied Territories - Rafah in the Gaza Strip. A 
large Israeli Army force, accompanied by many tanks, has entered the 
town. Two houses are known to have been demolished already, and the 
army also blew up a  mosque which had been severely damaged in a 
previous invasion. We got the news from a group of internationals of the ISM 
(International Solidarity Movement) who are there this night, and who are 
preparing to act as human shields to defend other 
threatened homes - undeterred by the death of Rachel Corrie, who tried to 
do the same in the same place two weeks ago. 
Over the past two years, the army has been steadily destroying houses 
along the border with Egypt, several each week - on the basis of the 
ruthless doctrine that some houses are being used by arms smugglers and 
that since it is not known which are the ones, it would be "better" to destroy 
all. 

*
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/279841.html
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFu
ll&cid=1049249993927
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFu
ll&cid=1049249996247

Please send a protest letter (sample follows) to:

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon <pm_eng at pmo.gov.il>
Spokesperson of the Prime Minister <dover at pmo.gov.il>
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz <sar at mod.gov.il>
Spokesperson Defense Ministry <info at mail.idf.il>
Foreign Minister Siwan Shalom <sar at mofa.gov.il>

cc to:
"Secretary of State,  Colin Powell" <secretary at state.gov>,
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin <premier-ministre at premier-ministre.gouv.fr>
Mr. Terje Rod Larsen <unsco at palnet.com, lemore at un.org>
European Union, Jerusalem, Email mailto at delwbg.cec.eu.int
UN Special Coordinator, Gaza, Email unsco at palnet.com
Sérgio Vieira de Mello UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 
<webadmin.hchr at unog.ch>
European Parliament Belgian Office <epbrussels at europarl.eu.int>
International Solidarity Movement <osamaqashoo at yahoo.com>
Gish Shalom <info at gush-shalom.org>

and/or send  a (copy by) fax to some or all of the following:

Israeli Foreign Minister: +972-(0)2-5303506
General Manager Israeli Foreign Ministry: +972-(0)2-5303704
Situation Room Israeli Foreign Ministry: +972-(0)2-5303896
Head of IDF Legal Department General Menachem Finkelstein 
Fax +972-(0)3-5693270  
Secretary of State Colin Powell Fax: +1-202-261-8577
Prime Minister Tony Blair, Fax +44-207-925-0918
European Union, Jerusalem, Fax: + 972- (0)2-532 6249 
UN Special Coordinator, Gaza, Fax: +972-(0)8- 282-0966 
 
Sample letter:

I read the news about new grave irregularities from the side of the IDF,  in 
Tulkarem and Rafah, and I wonder whether it is a coincidence that this is 
happening while the Iraq War. intensifies. 
Let me remind you that it is advisable for the Israeli authorities and their 
subordinates to strictly comply with international law and conventions. It could 
prove unwise, to say the least, for a small state as Israel is, and which  needs the 
support  of the international community, to take the superpower model as 
guideline for itself. 

--
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