[Billboard] Chaos and devastation in Gaza - the army speaks of 'failure'

[Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)]

GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033  www.gush-shalom.org/

International release
Tel-Aviv, August 1, 2004


[] Introduction by Adam Keller: 
   Chaos and devastation in Gaza - the army speaks of 'failure'
[] "Refusal not a choice - a duty" 
    CO Daniel Tsal imprisoned for fifth consecutive time 
[] Rebuilding the Kabu'ah family’s home – work camp August 8 to 22
[] Walking against the Wall  --  July 30 - August 19
[] Physicians for Human Rights petition High Court: 
   "End dire situation at Rafah Crossing"

from the Israeli press
[] Scorched earth in Gaza  (Haaretz Editorial, July 27)
[] The army's kashrut stamp  - Nehemia Strasler (Haaretz, July 30)
[] I’m jealous - Tali Lipkin-Shahak (Ma'ariv, August 1) on settler chain
   & Gush ad of this week - on same subject

 			###

[] Introduction by Adam Keller: 
   Chaos and devastation, the real Gaza Plan; army speaks of 'failure'
 
  Sometimes, when one bites one's nails,  the voice of sense comes from 
the army - though, alas, not from its responsible Minister.  This 
morning, the mass-circulation Ma'ariv carried two banner headlines: 

    IDF: Gaza Operation has no effect against Qassam Rockets, 
         We Should Get Out

    Defence Minister: Extend the Beit Hanoun Operation  

  The army invaded Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip more then a 
month ago, and embarked on a harsh series of collective punishments - 
defoliation and destruction of fields, orange groves and houses. 
This was supposed to intimidate the local population, so that it would 
turn on the militias and stop the firing of missiles. But unnamed "senior 
army officers" told Amir Rapaport of Ma'ariv and his colleague  Yossi 
Yehoshua in Yediot Aharonot that the result had been the opposite:  "In 
the month before the entry of Israeli forces into Beit Hanoun, five 
rockets were shot from there into Israel. In the month that the army is 
there, no less than fifty-five. The army presence is increasing the 
Palestinian motivation to shoot them, out of defiance and the friction 
(sic) between soldiers and local population is increasing the civilian 
population's willingness to help the terrorists. The army's prolonged  
presence  in this town of 20,000 is causing humanitarian problems and 
increases international criticism of Israel.". 

  The officers further criticized Defence Minister Mofaz's directive for 
the army to penetrate deeper into the Gaza Strip in chase of the elusive 
rockets. "This would require occupying Jabaliya and other very thickly 
inhabited areas, where some 100,000 people live. This would require large 
forces which will get involved in heavy fighting, increasing the 
international criticism. Also, more soldiers would be exposed to the 
Palestinian anti-tank missiles, which have already shown their ability to 
penetrate armored cars and kill those inside."  Instead, the army 
proposes withdrawing forces now and keep the option of coming back for 
"short-term, pinpoint raids" if necessary.
  
  What nobody seems to propose, in either the political or the military 
establishment, is what should have been the obvious solution: to 
negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians, so as to 
ensure a smooth transition of power when (and if) Sharon carries out his 
vaunted Gaza Disengagement Plan. In fact, the Egyptians and Europeans 
have been trying for months to broker such a cease-fire, only to be 
rebuffed by Sharon. 

  A cease-fire would not serve the purposes of Sharon, who stoutly 
maintains that "there is no Palestinian partner" and does all he can to 
make it true, by fomenting chaos in the to-be-evacuated Gaza Strip. That, 
it now seems, is a major objective of the entire disengagement plan - 
indeed, Sharon and his associates could hardly hide their glee at various 
recent manifestations of discord among the Palestinians. With the 
government of Israel undertaking such policies, both peoples seem headed 
for increased suffering and bloodshed.    
			~~~

[] "Refusal not a choice - a duty" 
    CO Daniel Tsal imprisoned for fifth consecutive time 

[Refusnik Parents' Forum - Press Release, August 1, 2004]

Refusnik Daniel Tsal was last week imprisoned for the fifth consecutive 
time and sent to a 28-day term in the military prison, due to his 
continuing refusal to enlist in an army of occupation. Before being 
imprisoned Tsal was summoned to a meeting with the commandant of the 
Army's Induction Centre at Tel Ha'shomer, who implored him to recant and 
join the army - and threatened that, since Tsal was "a political 
refuser", his continued refusal would result in "a long prison term". As 
he did on previous occasions, Tsal answered that he regards opposition to 
the occupation not as choice but as moral duty - and was sent off to 
Military Prison-4, following an "instant trial" lasting about five 
minutes.
 
The 19-year old Tsal, inhabitant of Tel-Aviv, is spending repeated terms 
in the military prison system since April 13, the date when he was 
supposed to join the army. At the end of each term he was again ordered 
to enlist and refused again. In every conversation with army officers he 
reiterated the points he had made in an Open Letter to the Minister of 
Defence, back in March: "The principles of 'the only democracy in the 
Middle-East' have been steadily eroded and rendered void, with the rights 
of three million people being daily trampled underfoot, destroying the 
foundations upon which the state of Israel was supposed to be founded...  
 In historical times such as the present, a sane person must confront the 
system which enables the oppression to go on. I have a moral obligation - 
not a choice, but a duty -  to refuse to take part in the occupation, to 
reject institutes which which try to abolish the most elementary of human 
rights. A sane person, who has not yet been overcome fear and racism, ows 
it to basic humanity to refuse participation in such an instrument of 
occupation and oppression as the IDF has become."

Following his most recent imprisonment, Tsal added: "Since I first 
expressed my refusal, the army of occupation committed many additional 
violations of human rights: the destruction of houses and defoliation of 
fields, mistreatment of inhabitants at road-blocks, and also the killing 
of innocents, including children. Whenever I hear of such things I feel 
sorry and ashamed that the army of my country is doing such things - and 
happy that I am in prison rather then being part of that army."

Tsal told that the first two days of his present term were spent in 
extremely difficult conditions: "Forty detainees held together, crowded 
in a single small, dirty and stinking cell. The toilet is inside the 
cell, and it is overflowing all the time, filling the entire cell with a 
strong smell of excrement. All around, there are piles of garbage which 
nobody cleans away, and at night mice and other animals roam the cell " 
Tsal told his parents. Only after two and half days was he transferred to 
another part of the prison, where conditions are more reasonable. "Let 
there be no mistake, I don't say that I was put there because of my 
political stand. This is a standard part of the military prison, and most 
of those imprisoned there are people who got in trouble with the military 
authorities for non-political reasons. And in fact, many of them are held 
in that hell for much longer then I was, sometimes for several weeks at a 
time. That place, officially designated as Mahlaka 5 of Pluga Gimel at 
Military Prison 4, is a place of infamy which must be closed down. But I 
am not surprised that an army which behaves cruelly to people under 
occupation ends up being cruel also to its own soldiers" says Tsal.

"It seems that the army command has learned nothing and forgotten 
nothing. They did not learn the lesson from the affair of the five 
refusers who had been detained and imprisoned, sentenced by a court 
martial and are imprisoned already for more then two years. The IDF 
command has not yet learned that you can't end or break the human 
conscience" say the refusers' parents. 

For more information call Yehoshua and Esti Tsal, Daniel's parents, at 
972-3-5184586 or 972-58-797378. Solidarity messages via 
Jehoshua at freud.tau.ac.il.   
			~~~

[] Rebuilding the Kabu'ah family’s home – work camp August 8 to 22


>From August 8 to 22, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions 
(ICAHD) is coordinating a summer work camp to rebuild the house of Musa 
Kabu’ah and his family at Anata Village, on the West Bank northeast of 
Jerusalem . 
The Kabu'ah Family are Beduins of the Jahalin tribe  - uprooted in 1950 
from their original homes in the Negev village of Tel Arad, expelled into 
the then Jordanian-ruled West Bank,  and eventually settling down in the 
mostly arid area east and northeast of Jerusalem. In the 1980’s and 
1990’s many of them were expelled again, the new homes they found being  
destroyed to make room for the growth of the Israeli settlement  Ma’aleh 
Adumim. 
The Kabu’ah family consists of seven adults - Musa, his two wives, his 
two sons and their respective wives -  and fourteen children ranging in 
age between two and sixteen. In 1980 they purchased a plot of land in 
Anata on which they eventually started building a house, which was 
finished in 1998 and moved into in 1999. The house had four flats, one 
for each of Musa’s wives and her children and one for each married son 
and his family. 
With the help of a lawyer, the family applied for a building permit in 
1999, but it was rejected on the grounds that the land was not zoned for 
building, but rather as “agricultural land.” In fact, there are some 200 
other homes in Anata alone under threat of being demolished for the same 
reason. (When agricultural land is required for creation of Israeli 
settlements, the process of re-zoning is almost instantaneous; for the 
housing of Palestinians, such a change is almost impossible to achieve).
On May 2, 2004 the family was given a demolition order. They appealed to 
the District Court, but to no avail. On the morning of June 2 some 100 
soldiers, 20 police officers and four bulldozers arrived to enforce the 
order. Family members refused to leave their home and were dragged out by 
force, many of them – including some of the women and children - being 
beaten up in the process. Journalists from Reuters, BBC, and AP were 
present, though unable to come near the site, and interviewed ICAHD’s 
field coordinator Salim Shawamre (himself a victim of house demoition). 
By midday, the Kabu’ah house was leveled into a pile of rubble.
Since then the famly members are scattered, some staying at the nearby 
house of an uncle, other in makeshift aluminium huts. They feel angry and 
embittered, the children waking up at night with nightmares.   .
ICAHD decided to undertake rebuilding the Kabu’ah home, as an act of 
solidarity with the family and the entire community of Anata. The 
international work camp will take place from August 8th to August 22nd. 
ICAHD activists will be joined by Israeli, Palestinian and international 
volunteers. 
In addition to building the house, participants will join artists in 
renovating and painting an Anata kindergarten, as well as take part in 
cultural and social events. Tours of Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Negev 
desert, and the area of the “Triangle” in northern Israel will be offered 
to volunteers discussing “facts on the ground” in respect to both the 
Occupation of the Palestinian territories and the consequences of the 
wall on each side. Discussions, dialogue, lectures and panels by leading 
Palestinian and Israeli NGO representatives will also take place at the 
Beit Arabiya Peace Center in Anata – itself located in a house demolished 
by the army and rebuilt last year in ICAHD’s previous summer work camp, 
and… still standing.

For joining the camp contact Lucia Pizzaro at lucia at icahd.org
ph: +972-2-6245560. More information at www.icahd.org
			~~~

[] Walking against the Wall  --  July 30 - August 19
 
ISM (International Solidarity Movement) is calling upon Israelis and 
Internationals to join with Palestinian villagers in a joint three week 
march along the route of the "separation" walls and fences cutting 
through the West Bank. Despite the policy of deporting any "suspected 
ISMer" upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport, several dozen internationals 
made it into the country and will be taking part in the march. 

The march began last Friday (July 30) at Zbuba village, near Jenin and 
will continue, with participants walking 10 to 12 kilometers a day - to 
culminate on August 19 at the outskirts of Jerusalem. At night marchers 
are hosted by Palestinian communities affected by the wall. In each 
village, community members explain the impacts of the wall and other 
aspects of the occupation. In some villages marchers intend to carry out 
non-violent direct actions against the wall. 

On Wednesday August 18, a Gush Shalom bus will be taking participants to 
join in the march. On that day, the march is scheduled to pass along the 
length of the already-built high wall southeast of Ramallah, up to the 
notorious Qalandia Checkpoint. (To join, call 03-5221732 and leave your 
name and phone number; exact time and transportation details will be 
provided later).

This Tuesday, August 3, Rabbis for Human Rights are organizing a group to 
join the march (details from Arik 050-607034). For details on joining at 
other days call Raz of Ta'ayush 050-7946044. To contact directly the ISM 
organisers call ISM Media Office 972-2-277-4602 or 972-67-358-579. 
Updates and full march schedule from 
 
[Following is an exerpt from the ISM report on the first day of the 
march.]
 
Today, Friday the 30th, the much anticipated  March for Freedom began in 
Zububa, in the heartland of the northern West Bank. Participants set out 
on foot at 9:30, arriving in Taiba at approximately 11:30am and 
speeding two hours before continuing on to Anin.  

Although the Israeli army was present, they did not interfere with the 
march.  Only when entering Taiba there was a short-lived encounter with 
Israeli border police near the school which is close to the Israeli 
fence. Palestinian youth spontaneously began to shake the fence and hang 
Palestinian flags. The Israeli border police responded by throwing sound 
bombs but the situation did not escalate.

On the Palestinian side the march is sponsored by the Committee to Resist 
the Wall, The National and Islamic Forces, the Union of Palestine Medical 
Relief Committees, and popular committees and village councils of the 89 
villages, towns and cities through which the march will pass.  The 
International Solidarity Movement, 
the IWPS and Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall are participating in the 
march from the starting point in Zububa.  Additional groups and 
organizations will join the march at different points along the route. 
Gush Shalom will be joining the march August 18 when it reaches 
Jerusalem.  

Palestinians representing other areas in the West Bank also joined the 
march today (Friday).  People from Budrus, Biddu and Tulkarem were 
present for the first day of the Freedom March and discussions took 
place in each village about the impact of the Wall on the lives of  
Palestinians and their communities.   
			~~~

[] Physicians for Human Rights petition High Court: 
   "End dire situation at Rafah Crossing"

------forwarded message follos------  	
Date sent:      	Sun, 1 Aug 2004 12:52:24 +0200
From:           	"Shabtai Gold" <Shabtai at phr.org.il>

òáøéú ìôé á÷ùä // hebrew at request
mailto:Shabtai at phr.org.il

Petition to High Court: End dire situation at Rafah Crossing  

  Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, together with Al-Mezan Center for 
Human Rights, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, and 12 residents of 
the Gaza Strip who are currently stranded on the Egyptian side of the 
Rafah Border Crossing, petitioned the Israeli High Court today demanding 
that the Israeli army immediately find an acceptable solution to the 
current crisis at the Rafah crossing.

 Over 2500 Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip- including patients, 
children and the elderly - are currently stranded on the Egyptian side of 
the Rafah crossing - some have been waiting there for more than two 
weeks. 

 One of the petitioners is a pregnant woman- the situation is putting 
the fetus as well as the mother’s health at risk. According to various 
health sources there are approximately 1000, or more, patients returning 
from medical care who are stranded. 

 Since 10 July 2004, the crossing has been closed in both directions and 
has been open for only 2 days. This has created a situation in which 
people returning from Egypt to Gaza, many after having undergone medical 
treatment, are unable to return home. They are also unable to return to 
Egypt because of monetary problems. The Rafah crossing is essentially the 
only exit and entrance point for Palestinian residents of the strip. The 
Israeli authorities say they closed the crossing for security reasons.  

  These people severely lack basic supplies such as medicines, food and 
water. The people are waiting in a small confined waiting area. From 
testimonies received by Al-Mezan Center and Physicians for Human Rights-
Israel, the situation is dire.  The petitioners claim that Israel, as 
decreed in previous Israeli High Court rulings and according to 
International Humanitarian Law (IHL), is required to care for the 
humanitarian needs of these people, even though, due to the Israeli 
restrictions, they are physically located at the moment in Egypt. In 
addition, the High Court has already stated on a previous occasion 
(Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, et. al. petition to the High Court 
during the incursion into Rafah in May 2004) that the army must actively 
concern itself with caring for the health and humanitarian needs of the 
Palestinian civil population before it implements military action. 

 Currently, the Israeli army has offered only symbolic solutions to 
solving the problem, such as having 5 Palestinian buses a day transfer 
the people back into Gaza, via the Nitsanim crossing(70 km south of 
Rafah). With over 2500 people  stranded, this solution is not truly an 
option. 

 The petitioners demand that the crossing be opened, and if this is not 
possible, that the army supply viable alternative solutions. 

 The petitioners, who are represented by Adv. Ihab `Iraqi, demand that 
Israel care for the humanitarian needs of the people and find an 
immediate solution, with or without the cooperation of the Palestinian 
Authority, as it is required to do by IHL [International Humanitarian 
Law] and its own court’s rulings. 

For more information: 
Maskit Bendel, +972-54-7700477, or Shabtai Gold, +972-54-4860630 
			~~~

[] Scorched earth in Gaza  (Haaretz Editorial)

 Tue., July 27, 2004 
 http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/456498.html

The item was just another routine report: an update from the war of 
attrition Israel and the Palestinians are conducting in the occupied 
territories. Haaretz correspondent Nir Hason reported on Sunday that the 
IDF demolished a packing house in Beit Hanun in northern Gaza. Worse 
things have happened during the four year war: last week, as happens 
almost every week, Palestinians, including children, were killed in IDF 
operations. On Sunday night, Border Police killed six Palestinians in Tul 
Karm. Apparently, only three of them were armed. In Beit Hanun, at least, 
nobody was killed. 
 
But some harsh details emerge from the Beit Hanun report. The packing 
plant served about 1,000 farmers in Gaza. Their vegetables and fruit were 
packed for export to Europe, and helped provide a livelihood for 
thousands of residents of Gaza. Just two weeks ago, the Peres Center for 
Peace transferred funds to the packing plant for the purchase of new 
sorting machinery. That machinery was also destroyed in the IDF action, a 
half million shekel loss. The packing house is now expected to go 
bankrupt, and the farmers won't have any way to market their produce.

The IDF has been in Beit Hanun for several weeks, in the wake of Qassam 
rocket fire on Sderot that killed an adult and child. In effect, the army 
created a kind of "security zone," meant to prevent Qassam cells from 
reaching an area from which it is possible to shell Sderot. Asked, the 
Southern Command says that last week rockets were fired from the area of 
the packing plant. The officers on the ground decided to uproot the 
vegetation around the area, but no order was given to demolish the plant. 
Apparently, the army unit deviated from the orders it was given.

But the bulldozer driver who destroyed the building was not operating in 
a vacuum. With local, tactical rationales - like removing threats to 
Israeli settlements and roads - the IDF has for years been justifying 
collective punishment in the Gaza Strip. That's how hundreds of houses 
were demolished along the Philadelphi route in Rafah, and in February 
that's how some 100 Palestinian shops on the Palestinian side of Erez 
were destroyed after two terrorists tunneled into the Israeli side and 
managed to kill a soldier.

While in Jerusalem, in a decision about the route of the separation 
fence, the High Court of Justice is emphasizing the importance of 
proportionality of the harm done to Palestinian human rights as a basic 
principle for consideration of military actions, the IDF repeatedly 
violates the principle over and over in Gaza. There is no proportion 
between the limited military purpose of demolitions to the damage done to 
the farmers, who had nothing to do with the rocket launches. By 
destroying the packing plant, the IDF also violated another, far more 
ancient principle. Apparently, the army commanders forgot the Biblical 
principle from Deuteronomy 20, verse 19: "When thou shalt besiege a city 
a long time, in making war against it, thou shalt not destroy the trees 
... for the tree of the field is man's life." 

A few months before the beginning of the implementation of the 
disengagement plan, it is difficult to shake the impression that the IDF 
has undertaken a "scorched earth" policy in the Strip. The army is 
supposed to defend Israeli citizenry under difficult circumstances and in 
light of a growing threat. But when it is swept into actions such as 
these, the danger is not merely the loss of trees, homes or livelihood. 
The IDF is also uprooting the last shreds of hope that the withdrawal 
will also be the beginning of repairing relations between the two 
peoples.  
			~~~

[] The army's kashrut stamp  - Nehemia Strasler 
 
 Fri., July 30, 2004 
 <http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/458089.html>

 Hebrew/òáøéú
 <http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=457904>

A document dealing with the ethics of fighting terror recently reached 
the chief of staff's desk. The document was written by Professor Asa 
Kasher and a team of officers, lawyers and advisors. 

The authors produced a remarkable document, which says that force should 
not be used against terror unless it is necessary to protect the citizens 
of the state. The document makes it the soldiers' responsibility to 
protect the security of Palestinians who are not involved in terror and 
to warn the Palestinians in advance when necessary so that they are not 
harmed. 

The document states that the army may not exact vengeance or punishment; 
it may only defend the citizens of the state. Therefore, no closures or 
curfews should be imposed on civilian populations as punishment and no 
trees should be uprooted or houses demolished for the purpose of revenge. 
Furthermore, when deciding on a military action in the territories, the 
army must take into account the negative impact that killing and 
destruction will have on local and international public opinion.

Read it and weep. What army are they talking about? To which reality are 
they referring? How impervious can they be? A week does not go by without 
innocent Palestinians, whether men, women or children, being killed. Not 
a week goes by without houses being demolished, trees being uprooted, 
humiliation and abuse at the checkpoints. But the chief of staff is 
silent, and so is the prime minister. Do they need a document to tell 
them what is kosher and what is not?

The brutality of the occupation did not begin yesterday, but it sometimes 
escalates a level. The troubling images that emerged in mid-May from the 
miserable refugee camp of Rafah shocked anyone in the world with a 
conscience. That Israel Defense Forces operation killed 52 Palestinians - 
some of them innocent civilians, including two teens whose only crime was 
feeding their pigeons on the roof. If the public has grown used to the 
killing, it will evidently also grow used to the house demolitions: the 
little children leaving their homes with bags on their back, the shell-
shocked old women searching in the rubble of their homes in an effort to 
save something - an old jacket, a notebook, a photo.

On July 12, Ibrahim Halfalla, a wheelchair-bound father of seven, was 
crushed to death under the rubble of his house. It happened when the IDF 
demolished his house in Khan Yunis in the middle of the night. The 
soldiers did not check to find out whether someone was at home - and the 
bulldozer buried the man alive. That same week, published photos taken at 
the Hawara checkpoint showed a soldier handcuffing a Palestinian and then 
beating him in front of his wife and two children. Their only crime was 
wanting to get home.

A week earlier, on July 6, Dr. Khaled Salah, a lecturer in electrical 
engineering at A-Najah University, was killed in his home by snipers. His 
16-year-old son, Mohammed, was also shot and lay on the floor of the 
family apartment for hours before dying. When the mother shouted to the 
soldiers that her son was still alive and they should let an ambulance 
through, they laughed in her face while her son bled to death in front of 
her. Not only was the family not involved in terror, Khaled Salah was a 
member of the university's Palestine-Israel peace committee. And as if 
that were not enough, after the murder, the soldiers entered the house 
and destroyed what remained. They shot at clothing, towels, books, the 
television, the computer, the refrigerator and thoroughly vandalized the 
apartment. And these were not "problematic" soldiers, but the elite of 
the elite, the naval commandos, exacting vengeance on innocent civilians 
because one of their officers was killed in the operation. They 
apparently did not have time to read the document on ethics.

The IDF has rampaged through Beit Hanun over the past month. Soldiers 
march into residential apartments, turn them into forts and expel the 
tenants. Last Thursday, a bulldozer demolished a packing house that was 
used by 1,000 farmers, for no reason. Just like that, out of an evil 
desire for vengeance. Everything was demolished. The sorting machinery, 
the washing and packing machinery, the refrigerators, the packing 
material. A thousand farmers were left unemployed. 

These acts of destruction (which are prohibited by the document) only 
raise the walls of hatred higher and make the conflict insoluble, because 
every teenager whose home has been demolished and whose parents have been 
humiliated will want to take his own vengeance - and then we will say 
there is nobody to talk to. An army and state that behave in such an 
immoral way - harming civilians, demolishing, taking vengeance on the 
innocent - do not deter the other side, but strengthen it, and 
particularly its extremists. Harming the innocent proves that it is not 
worthwhile to be moderate: Either way, the bullet or the bulldozer will 
get them.

Such actions weaken Israel's position in the world and endanger the 
existence of the state. Israel depends on international public opinion, 
and certainly on American public opinion. Such actions erode the public's 
own resilience, increase emigration from Israel and weaken the army - 
because without a moral justification, even the most well-equipped army 
in the world cannot win.  
				~~~

[] I’m jealous - Tali Lipkin-Shahak (Ma'ariv, August 1) on settler chain
   & Gush ad of this week - on same subject

Why can’t the left make a human chain along the Green Line?
Tali Lipkin-Shahak 
 <http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10246>
 Hebrew/òáøéú
 http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART/760/624.html

I have a dream. In my dream, my Israeli brothers and sisters are joined 
in an Israeli chain, from Dan to Eilat, holding hands and using their 
joined bodies to outline the limited but sane borders of the State of 
Israel. They are woven into a human chain of protest, for a moment of 
solidarity against the shame and worry created by insensitive, aggressive 
Israeliness. 

I’ll admit that I’m jealous. The organizational skill and commitment that 
brought approximately 100,000 opponents of disengagement out in the hot 
sun arouses admiration. They have what it takes. Even if they are only 
slightly more than one and half percent of the Israeli population, they 
manage to make their presence known and their voice heard, loud and 
clear. 

The rest of Israel, not necessarily including the residents of the left’s 
tattered tent city, dissipates in the summer heat, shrinks in the 
winter’s cold, melts in the rain and evaporates in a heat wave. It 
forgoes its right to make another voice heard. It is not the left that 
has disappeared. It is the lazy majority that has lost its tongue. 
'Israeliness' has become the private brand of those who oppose 
disengagement and dream of the “whole land of Israel”. Aggression, 
violence, scorn for human rights and human life are becoming typically 
Israeli traits. Wherever there is daily confrontation, “Mr. Israel” has 
become bitter or deaf, blind and speechless. 

Three weeks ago, Israeli soldiers pursued wanted men in the city of 
Nablus. During the nighttime battle Captain Moran Vardi, an officer in 
the naval commando unit, was killed. While chasing his killers, who had 
taken cover in the yard of a quiet residential building, IDF snipers 
killed a father and son who were trapped in their bullet-ridden 
apartment. It had been damaged in the shelling and the lock was bent out 
of shape so they, and other family members, could not escape. 

Prof. Halid Salah called on the soldiers to stop firing at them but the 
sniper caught him, and his 16 year-old son, Mohammed, who died on the 
living room floor. The house became a killing field. According to 
reports, some of the soldiers were insensitive and violent towards the 
survivors. Newspapers published this embarrassing story but it is easy to 
turn the page. 

Itai Engel broadcast a story on Channel 2 television that ruined the 
viewers’ Sabbath mood. The IDF spokesman said, “the army has expressed is 
sorrow” and “they did not intend to injure them. It may be that one of 
the soldiers misidentified the source of fire aimed at them or they were 
forced to shot at suspicious movements”. 

The Israel Defense Forces shoot and apologize, shoot and cry, and shoot 
again. This, too, is a type of Israeliness that is becoming ingrained in 
us, the result of a long series of embarrassing, dark incidents for which 
no one has been brought to justice. The corrupting occupation, from which 
a small percentage of the public has difficulty separating, has become 
the personification of the fighting, unembarrassed Israel that formed a 
chain along the roadsides. 

If there is any point to disengagement, which wove a chain of opposition 
this week, it is possibility not matter how small, that it will be 
exactly what those who joined hands from the Western Wall to Gush Katif 
fear, the beginning of a return to another 'Israeliness'. We can only 
dream about the other chain. 
				~~~

-- Gush ad of this week - on same subject

A DEMONSTRATION OF WEAKNESS

The great “Israeli Chain” demonstration was a bluff.

According to the organizers, the demonstrators came in 1000 buses. A bus 
contains 52 seats. This means that the demonstrators numbered altogether 
52,000 people and some thousands more who came in private cars.

This is less than a quarter of the settlers, who are a tiny minority in 
Israel. The demonstration would have hardly filled half of Tel-Aviv’s 
Rabin Square. They were strung out in a chain in order to make it look 
more impressive, but even the chain contained many large holes. Many of 
the other settlers were at the same time busy negotiating their 
evacuation and compensation.

The Israeli public was not there. They are simply fed up with the 
settlers.
			~~~


# Visit the website of Mandela Institute and help children of Palestinian 
prisoners to buy a school bag: http://www.mandela-palestine.org


# Truth against Truth - opposite views on the history of the conflict
  in 101 steps 

Hebrew / òáøéú
http://www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Heb.pdf

English
http://www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Eng.pdf


# Boycott List of Settlement Products (newly updated)
  Now also with list of settlements
   
Hebrew / òáøéú
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boycheb.htm

English
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boyceng.htm

--
http://www.gush-shalom.org/ (òáøéú/Hebrew)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html (English)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/arabic/index.html (selected articles in Arabic)

with
\\photos of recent actions 
\\the weekly Gush Shalom ad 
\\the columns of Uri Avnery 
\\Gush Shalom's history & action chronicle  
\\position papers & analysis (in "documents")
\\and a lot more

N.B.: 
On the Gush Shalom website links for 
Articles and documents in German, French and Spanish

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shalom/2004/thread.html#start

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