[GushShalom] Mass demolition in Hebron / Shooting at prisoners in K'tziot

[Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)]

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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/

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