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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Israel Diary: 10 August, 2002 |
Current rating: 0 |
by InDepthNews
Email: InDepthNews (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified!) |
10 Aug 2002
Modified: 11 Aug 2002 |
>>>>This is hidden because it's DAN SPAM<<<<
As reported in Ha'aretz: 5 killed 8 wounded
- Israel blocks two groups of peace activists
- Another peace initiative: will Israel do what it takes to make it work?
- "The death machine works three shifts a day, cranking out victims..."
- American photographer's account of being beaten up during the Hebron settlers' riot
Casualties, Events and background stories dealing with the Palestine-Israel conflict and occupation as reported in Ha’aretz.
Saturday, August 10, 2002 |
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Ha'aretz Two Palestinians were killed by IDF troops Saturday, one during an alleged infiltration from the Gaza Strip and the other in an incident in the West Bank. Later Saturday, the IDF "expressed sorrow" for the killing of a Palestinian municipality worker in the West Bank city of Nablus and said it has begun an investigation into the incident. Ahmed al Kouraini, 54, worked for Nablus' electric department and was on his way to work at the emergency fire services building during a curfew when he was stopped by an IDF tank, the witnesses said. "There was nothing happening there. They told him to stop, he stopped, they shot in the air and then a soldier shot him in the head, one bullet," said Yousef al Jadi, head of the Nablus Fire Department. Al Kouraini died before reaching Itihad hospital, medical officials said. Nablus, along with several Palestinian cities, is under a round-the-clock curfew imposed by Israel. Since IDF troops moved into Nablus more than six weeks ago, municipality workers have been allowed to move around despite the curfew.
Also Saturday, three Palestinians died in the Gaza Strip of wounds sustained in previous confrontations with the IDF, Israel Radio reported. One succumbed to injuries sustained on July 22, when an Israeli fighter plane bombed a crowded neighborhood in Gaza City, assassinating Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh. This latest death brings to 15 the number of bystanders who were killed along with Shehadeh in the raid. A second Palestinian died of wounds obtained three days ago in Dir el-Balah, while the third died after being wounded Friday night in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, which was raided by an Israeli armored force Thursday and Friday. Palestinian sources also reported eight injuries from Israeli tank fire in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis. The IDF lifted the curfew in the West Bank cities of Jenin, Ramallah and Bethlehem on Saturday until the evening hours.
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Ha'aretz Israel blocks two groups of peace activists. On Saturday, Israeli protestors from the Ta'ayush movement to promote relations between Arabs and Jews in Israel, were forcibly turned away by police from a roadblock into Bethlehem while attempting to enter the West Bank city to join a Palestinan demonstration for peace. One of the Israeli demonstrators reported that the police turned water cannons on the crowd, before mounted officers rode their horses into the demonstrators and began beating them. She said that the demonstrators tried to enter Bethlehem through another roadblock but were also turned away from there, although without the use of violent means. One of the demonstrators wounded in the incident was taken to hospital for treatment.
Also on Saturday Israel prevented U.S. peace activists traveling with U.S. congressional staff members on a fact-finding mission to the Palestinian territories and Israel from entering the West Bank, according to the activists, the State Department and an Israeli official. Yaffa Ben-Ari, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said Israel objected to the entry of the peace activists traveling with the U.S. team. The activists were three representatives of the American Muslims for Jerusalem organization and Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel organization, said Josh Ruebner, head of the JPPI. He said they planned to meet with American and international humanitarian organizations in the West Bank and Gaza.
Ruebner said he was allowed to enter Israel but refused because two other activists were denied permission. In a statement faxed to The Associated Press, Ruebner criticized Israel for blocking the entry of the activists and the congressional staff members. Both Israel and the State Department said that the U.S. team never attempted to cross the border. "This unprecedented slap in the face to members of Congress is Israel's way of repaying the institution which gives it three billion dollars of taxpayers' money every year," he said. "What does Israel not want Congress to see?"
Turaani said he and the other American Muslim activist were denied entry because they were Muslims. "We still maintain that the Israeli discrimination against the American Muslims in the delegation is disturbing and the State Department's acquiescence is shameful." Turaani is Jordanian-American of Palestinian origin. The State Department said the U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem and the embassy in Tel Aviv have been deeply involved in attempting to facilitate entry for the entire group. Before they left the United States, a State Department officer discussed the trip with the coordinators and urged that they contact Israeli officials in advance to facilitate their entry. When they arrived at the bridge, the Tel Aviv embassy urged Foreign Ministry and Interior Ministry officials to give every consideration to their entry, the State Department said.
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Ha'aretz Another peace initiative - will Israel do what it takes to make it work? A group of prominent Israeli and Palestinian figures met at a Jerusalem hotel Wednesday in what they hope will be the first in a series of meetings that will conclude with the declaration of a one-year cease-fire between the sides, Channel Two Television reported Friday. According to the cease-fire plan, an Israeli and a Palestinian delegation - each comprised of 250 members - will meet in the middle of next month in Jerusalem. The two delegations will engage in a dialogue, at the end of which they are to call for a one-year truce. The idea is for all 120 Knesset Members and all the members of the Palestinian Legislative Council to be included in the delegations.
Participants in the meeting included Israeli and Palestinian politicians, intellectuals and businessmen. The Israeli side included MK Shlomo Ben-Ami (who recently handed in his resignation from the Knesset), industrialist Benni Gaon, businessman (and former Ha'aretz reporter) Eyal Erlich and former MK Abdel Wahab Daroushe. Among the Palestinians who attended were PA Ministers Yasser Abed Rabbo and Zayad Abu Zayad. Earlier in the year, Daroushe and Erlich were among those involved in the failed effort to declare a hudna - an Arabic term meaning a temporary armistice - in order to bring an end to the current intifada.
Ben-Ami stressed that the goal of the meetings was not to reach a diplomatic solution to the conflict, but rather a cease-fire between the sides for one year, the report said. The group sent a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in an attempt to get the government's support for the effort. "We come to you so that the Israeli government will lend a hand to the success of this process," the letter said. "We will be happy if the prime minister, president or both will lead the Israeli delegation." "The intent is to bring all 88 Palestinian Parliament members and all of the Palestinian leadership (except for Arafat who understands that he cannot be a part of the event)," it added. According to the report, the group also intends to recruit world leaders to take part, including South Africa's Nelson Mandela, Jordan's King Abdullah and the King of Spain.
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Ha'aretz "The death machine works three shifts a day, cranking out victims..." by Yossi Sarid [Yossi Sarid is a member of the Israeli Parliament and chairman of Meretz, the most prominent liberal political party in Israel - reproduced in its entirety.] There is nothing as senseless nowadays as death. Once people around here used to die for something. What are they dying for now? We - my wife and I - have known Jamal for a long time. He had a garage in Tel Aviv - he had worked in the city for decades, and he fixed our car, too. It came to an end sometime last year. Served with expulsion orders, he went home to Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. This Friday, after being out of touch for a long time, he called and asked to speak to Dorit. We thought he needed help with something. But no, he just wanted to tell us his eldest son had been shot and killed by Israeli soldiers. In Jamal's opinion, his son died for nothing. He had committed no crime.
I don't know, and I didn't try to find out. What's the point? In Jamal's eyes, his son will always be innocent, and the defense establishment will claim he was a "dangerous terrorist." Who's to say? And besides, it doesn't really matter anymore. The death machine works three shifts a day, cranking out victims, theirs and ours, and is there anyone out there who can actually tell them apart? Jamal phoned us up just to let us know. He wasn't asking for anything.
When Jamal still had his garage in Tel Aviv, a fire broke out in a nearby office building. Jamal risked his life running into that burning building. He saved many people. Jews. At the time, if I remember correctly, he received a citation from the police, which didn't do him any good when they were all chucked out, indiscriminately. I would imagine that Jamal's eldest son heard the story from his father, too, on occasion.
Earlier this week, I called Amiram Goldin, a resident of Mitzpe Aviv, in the Galilee's Segev district. I called to express my condolences on the death of his son, Omri, who was killed in the bus attack at the Meron junction. What could I say to Amiram, a man I've know for many years as a supporter of peace, a personal friend and an ideological partner. Omri was also spewed from that death machine, a machine that does its work automatically, blindly, stupidly. Amiram told me that Omri was a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces but also a soldier in the Israeli peace camp. He had followed his dad, and the terrorist murdered him.
The war being waged at this very moment is the cruelest war there is, because it is senseless. People have even stopped saying "may this be the last victim," because everyone knows that there will be plenty more. It's become a kind of routine. Despair and stupidity have reached such depths that all we are left with is vengeance: Murder for murder.
Who is talking these days about plans, strategy, peace, security? The name of the game is revenge. We act today not to deter or prevent, or even to punish, but solely to pay them back, to inflict pain. The Palestinians take revenge, we retaliate, and vice versa, "and God of retribution appears" (Psalms 94:1). They have lost hope that their murderous deeds can achieve anything, and we have lost hope, and we take comfort in blood revenge, like two tribes of savages.
A couple of days ago, I saw a public opinion survey showing majority support for the assassination of Salah Shehadeh, which involved the death of women and children. It's hard to believe, but this same majority clearly understood that assassinating Shehadeh would only increase terror and push up the casualty figures. They knew it, but they supported the operation anyway. In other words, who's counting? Who cares? The main thing is to teach them a lesson. Although we know very well they won't learn, and neither will we.
We are still trying to count, and to remember them as individuals, but with so many dead, it's hard to keep track. But we're making an effort, because to lose count is to lose one's humanity. You wish you could remember them all, but you can't. The memory of Jamal's son and Amiram's son will stay with us even after all the bodies are laid out, not necessarily in one long, long line, but in a heap. The kind you see during a cholera epidemic in Africa.
For those of us who are not Arafat, Sharon and Fuad, it is important for death to mean something. Because we cannot allow death that kind of dominion. When death has meaning, life around here will have value, too.
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Ha'aretz American photographer's account of being beaten up during the Hebron settlers' riot. [the full story, available from the link, recounts the background of the photographer and his prominent Jewish family in the U.S.]
On Friday, July 26, Benjamin Lowe heard about the shooting attack in southern Hebron in which first sergeant Elazar Leibovitz, 21, a resident of the Avraham Avinu quarter in Hebron, was killed. Two days later, Lowe travelled to Hebron to photograph the participants in the funeral procession, which ended at the ancient Jewish cemetery near Tel Rumeideh. He never dreamed that this documentary mission would cost him dearly. In Hebron he not only lost his photographic equipment - estimated value: $10,000 - but was also severely beaten by a riotous mob of enraged settlers. Lowe believed, perhaps with the naivete of a neophyte photographer, that the written permission of David Wilder - a New Jersey native who serves as the foreign spokesman of the Jewish settlement in Hebron - would protect him, if need be. "Benjamin Lowe is here with my knowledge and my permission. Please do not disturb him; it is also okay to assist him," wrote Wilder.
Lowe's stepfather is Dov Zakheim, the No. 3 man at the Pentagon behind secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Assistant Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Known as a conservative Republican, Zakheim is a religious, kippa-wearing Jew who is thought to be in favor of settlements in the territories. In a telephone conversation from his office in the Pentagon, Zakheim said this week that he was "a little surprised" at what happened to his stepson in the City of the Patriarchs. Later on in the conversation, he corrects himself and says that he was "very surprised." "We never imagined such a thing could happen. It's hard to believe, because Benjamin had already been there and had taken pictures and interviewed people. He told me that they were people wearing kippot who attacked him, and I was even more surprised. That's not the way. I never saw in halakha (Jewish law) that this is how Jews behave."
The swelling in Lowe's face is still noticeable. His right shoulder is immobile, and his elbow aches. He has no broken bones, which the doctors attribute to his well-developed musculature. He stands 186 centimeters tall (6'2"), has a solid build and a ready smile. "The toughest thing for me right now is the fact that I don't have my cameras. I am used to carrying two cameras with me everywhere I go, even the supermarket, and I feel naked. I've been in the middle of shooting situations in Ramallah more than once, and I was even hit in my ankle and calf by rubber bullets. I have also witnessed shooting incidents in Gaza, and have often wondered what I would do if I were attacked by an enraged mob. Although it may sound macho, I figured I would defend myself and fight. But when I was attacked in Hebron by a gang of settlers, I decided not to fight back. Looking back, it was a wise decision." As someone who received a traditional Jewish education, did you think of crying out the Shema Yisrael prayer so that the attackers would stop? "I didn't think of it. I lay on the ground all rolled up like a fetus, trying to protect my head and my cameras."
On Tuesday, July 23, Benjamin Lowe paid a visit to Hebron community spokesman Wilder, apprising him of his plan to take a series of pictures about life in Hebron, the mixed city. "He not only knew that I was a Jew, he also knew exactly who I was, who my parents are and who my stepfather is. I knew that settlers have some problems with the media and with how they are covered and I told Wilder that my aim was to be as objective as possible. Since I am familiar with both sides, I want to take a look at the situation from a refreshed perspective. I am young enough to be a little immature." He began taking pictures on Tuesday, continuing work on the project on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
"I knew that Leibovitz's funeral was a fundamental element of my mission, and that through it I would be able to document an important part of the lifestyle of the Jewish residents. I didn't want to photograph the funeral; I wanted to photograph its effect on the residents of Hebron." He took a taxi from Jerusalem to the roadblock at the entrance to Kiryat Arba. "From there, I hitched a ride ... I was wearing jeans and a white shirt and I tied a bright orange bandanna around my head, which I always wear because it makes it easy to spot me, so that I won't be anyone's target. I had a free-transit permit and my equipment, two Nikon cameras (an F-3 and an F-100), three lenses and a flash, and about 30 rolls of film in a shoulder bag.
"I got to Hebron by noon and began walking around among the people. The cameras were in their cases. I ran into a yeshiva student I had met, and we shook hands. I told him I was sorry about Leibovitz's death. There were other photographers there, and at one point someone walked up to us and asked us not to take any pictures. I went off to the side and saw that the mourning women were sitting in the shade, crying, with their babies in their arms, and I thought it would make a pretty good picture. I asked permission, but they didn't want me to, so I walked away. When the funeral procession began moving in the direction of the cemetery in Hebron, and I realized it would be passing along the Muslim side of the city, I knew things would end badly.
"The hearse drove slowly and the people who were walking behind it were crying. Suddenly I heard a shot fired. I told myself that that is why I was here and that I had to take pictures, no matter what. I hurried up the side, holding my cameras close to my chest, so that while I was running they wouldn't fly up and hurt anyone. Until that moment, none of the photographers had taken any pictures. There were about five of us, and we were very frightened. Someone walked up to me and said, `Don't take any pictures,' and then another young guy ran up and said: `Give me the film.' I told him that I still hadn't taken a single picture. Before I could finish the sentence, someone smacked me in the face.
"I fell to the ground. A soldier quickly came over and started pulling me toward the alley, but someone else came up from the side, pushed the soldier away, grabbed one of my cameras and slammed it against the wall. The first guy who hit me, and two others, dragged the soldier away and then came back and started to punch and hit and kick me. Someone kicked me full force in the groin. I couldn't see any faces, only feet, wearing a wide variety of Teva sandals. I am now extremely well-versed in the intricacies of Israeli sandals."
A policeman and a soldier made two attempts to rescue him, without success. "The soldier grabbed my hand and tried to drag me, but from the other side a settler grabbed me; that's how my shoulder got hurt - it was pulled out of its socket. At some point, one of them gently put his foot on my head, and then began to hit me and step on my head with greater force. It's something I will never forget. I considered pretending to be unconscious so he would stop, but I was also trying to protect the other camera. Someone pulled at its strap and wound it around my neck until I started to choke. I gave up. The camera was taken. Five people were beating and kicking and stomping on me. I don't remember what they said. At one stage I tried to hold onto the chain that I got from my girlfriend. They tore my transfer permit to bits and they took my pack. They smashed the camera lenses and even took the pole for the flash. But the chain remained intact."
"A soldier managed to drag me away and somehow I crawled in the direction of a car that was in the alley. My arm was in horrible condition. I sat in the car a few minutes and then went over to one of the IDF vehicles, where a medic took a look at me and gave me some water. I had to try very hard not to break out in tears. The pain was intense, and my hands were shaking. I walked over with one of the photographers to see what was left of my equipment. They had destroyed it all." My problem was how to get back to Jerusalem. I was scared to death that the settlers who had beaten me would grab me again. I went on foot from Hebron to Kiryat Arba, injured, in torn clothing, to catch the bus to Jerusalem."
On Monday, in an effort to apologize and minimize the damage, Lowe was called by Wilder and by Rabbi Hillel Horowitz, a leader of the Jewish settlement in Hebron. "They said they were terribly sorry. They said the people who beat me were not from the Jewish settlement in Hebron. My stepfather suggested that I contact attorney Isaac Herzog. Last Thursday, [chairman of Hebron's council of Jewish settlers] Noam Arnon called and said that they wanted to resolve the issue quickly. He said he was sorry, that what happened `is awful,' and that now that they know who I am, `this is very serious, and hugely embarrassing.'
"I wouldn't want to think I was getting special treatment because my stepfather is Dov Zakheim, but unfortunately that's the only way to understand it right now. I want to be reimbursed for the equipment I lost, equipment I bought through my own hard work ... I want them to pay the hospital bills and I want to be reimbursed so that I can buy new photography equipment. I am still interested in photographing my project in Hebron."
Why? "I never imagined the Hebron Jews would hit me, and that the situation could be so revolting. I know there are extremists on both sides, and in my mind they are in the same category. Lowe knows a thing or two about American Jews. "American Jews are stubborn. When I was in Hebron on the day of the funeral, I saw some adult American Jews there. They thought I was part of the hostile media, and said to me: `You people are bad, because you give a bad name to Jews and to Israel.' One of them said that families of suicide bombers should be executed. I walked away from them, because I hate these kind of conversations."
He heard similar statements at the wedding. "There was a woman sitting next to me with a baby in her arms, who knew I'd been beaten up in Hebron. I told her that a 14-year-old girl had been killed that day, as well, and the woman said, `That's terrible,' I mentioned that the girl was Palestinian, and she said, `Great - one less suicide bomber.' I hate that mentality. Only in computer games do you find black-and-white characters - bad guys and good guys. In real life, it's a bit more complicated. American Jews with right-wing views are not prepared to make any compromises when it comes to the territories."
Zakheim, interviewed by telephone, was not willing to talk about political matters. Instead, he referred me to his friend, US Ambassador Dan Kurtzer, who was among the wedding guests. Nizin Jamjoum, 14, was killed, I said. A 9-year-old boy was stabbed, 15 Palestinians were injured and policemen and soldiers were hurt in the rioting. Yet only a single person was under arrest. Zakheim, in fact, resented the characterization of what happened during the funeral procession that day by Moshe Givati, adviser to Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, as "a pogrom against the Arabs of Hebron, without any provocation by the Palestinians."
"I'm not ready to use the term, `pogrom' and I don't want you to say I used it," said Zakheim. "I'm not giving you a political interview. To me, the whole subject is not political, it's personal. My wife's son suffered at the hands of people in a way, and I stress, in a way that no one should have to suffer. Personally, I am sorry for Benjamin and for my wife, that he suffered so much. He is a sensitive guy, and an idealist, and it caused us a great deal of sorrow . There's no way to measure the amount of sorrow it caused. I can't forbid him from hanging out in Hebron, a city that I have never visited. He's an adult, and all of the photographers risk their lives. It's a high-risk profession. We worry about him, and parents always worry, but we support him 100 percent." Has this violent event changed your attitude toward the Jewish settlement in Hebron? "Personally, I have said what I said, and have nothing further to add." |
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