Situação econômica ($us1= ₪ 3.57) do campo de refugiado Balata,
Nablus, antes da Operação militar israelense Hot Winter (02/2007)
Enquanto o Fatah tentava desbancar o Hamas na Faixa de Gaza sob imposição do Quarteto para o Oriente Médio (EUA, UE, ONU, Rússia), a Palestina inteira se encontrava estrangulada pelo dinheiro que Israel lhe confiscava. E como se não bastasse deixar os funcionários públicos sem salário e prejudicar a situação financeira da Palestina inteira, Ehud Olmert ordenou mais uma operação militar de nome poético: Hot Winter.
Esta foi em Nablus, na Cisjordânia. Oficialmente, foi curta. A parte pesada durou do dia 25 ao dia 28 de fevereiro.
Segundo a IDF, a Hot Winter visava, em teoria, "undermine the terror infrastructure". Para isto, os soldados tinham uma lista de nomes de resistentes que deveriam sequestrar a ordem de destruir "laboratórios de explosivos".
Na prática, a Hot Winter foi mais uma das punições coletivas que Israel inflige nos palestinos de vez em quando. Os batalhões adentraram a casbah aterrorizando famílias, enxotando-as de casa e usando um deles como escudo, sequestrando ativistas, membros da resistência e quem aparecesse pela frente dos tanques e dos 'cruéis'. Além disso, como acontece sistematicamente quando a IDF invade uma das cidades históricas palestinas como Nablus, uma das diretivas implícitas de Tel Aviv era destruir patrimônio. Residências e construções antigas.
Em Nablus foi assim em 2002 (Operações Defensive Shield (abril) e Determined Path (junho), quando além de derrubar sítios históricos a IDF matou cerca de 100 palestinos, deixou dezenas de feridos e enjaulou centenas de cidadãos de 12 a 70 anos.
A destruição de patrimônio é outra característica que a IDF copiou dos nazistas. (Não se há de esquecer que Hitler ordenou que o comandante da Wermacht em Paris Dietrich von Choltitz destruisse os prédios mais famosos da capital francesa em caso de derrota alemã na Segunda Guerra - a Cidade Luz escapou por um triz graças à intervenção do embaixador da Suécia, e outras jóias arquitetônicas também saíram ilesas graças à cultura dos generais alemães encarregados de mutilar o patrimônio universal que não cumpriram as ordens sectárias de uma guerra amoral.
Os israelenses destroem sistematicamente propriedades privadas, públicas e sítios arqueológicos na Palestina para despojá-los de suas raízes e por razões econômicas. Pois estas lindas cidades históricas como Nablus levam à Palestina turistas (estrangeiros cultos não intoxicados pela hasbara - propaganda em hebraico) e divisas. Pois Israel nega aos palestinos quaisquer direitos, do de existir ao de desenvolver sua economia.
Existem provas concretas que o patrimônio antigo palestino é alvo de ataques da IDF de maneira sistemática e específica. Desde que os palestinos foram reconhecidos pela UNESCO há tentativas de protegê-lo, mas a IDF continua a agir subreptíciamente e seu vandalismo vai durar até o fim da ocupação.
Pois esta é mais uma lei internacional que Israel infringe todos os dias em algum ou vários lugares dos territórios ocupados. A Quarta lei da Convenção de Genebra, de 1949, é bastante clara: como país ocupante, Israel é obrigado não apenas a proteger a população civil ocupada como também a respeitar e proteger seu patrimônio cultural, como estabelece a Convenção da Háguia para proteção dos bens culturais em caso de conflito armado. O que faz da destruição calculada destes sítios antigos crimes de guerra. Como em Gaza, onde edificações de mais de 4 mil anos são reduzidas a um amontoado de pedras.
Nablus é uma das cidades palestinas mais bonitas e mais ricas culturalmente (era também economicamente, mas a ocupação cuidou de exauri-la em todos os domínios) e por isto é sempre alvo de incursões diárias da IDF com mais ou menos prejuízos materiais e humanos.
E por relação de causa e efeito, Nablus tem um dos núcleos de resistência mais fortes da Palestina. Os israelenses dizem que é por isso que vivem pisoteando seus habitantes, mas é óbvio que a resistência persevera de pai pra filho justamente por causa da repressão e da humilhação constante às quais os nabluenses vivem submetidos. É aquela questão metafísica de causa e efeito, infalível.
Os soldados (e os colonos judeus) tratam os palestinos como lixo. Em Nablus, há muitos casos de moças da cidade que são detidas por soldados da IDF que obrigam uma, outra ou todas a despir-se para ser "revistada" de maneira debochada. Meninos idem. Os adultos nem se fala, nos checkpoints é coisa banal. Difícil de aguentar.
Pois bem, a devastação de Nablus não parou com a Intifada. Soldados da IDF invadem a cidade histórica quase todas as noites à caça de resistentes e para intimidar os moradores, cujas casas deixam de pernas pro ar.
Nos últimos 14 anos, a IDF teve "o cuidado" de destruir todas as portas ancestrais de madeira das contruções antigas. Devem ter usado um mapa turístico com os sítios históricos para ter certeza de não deixar nenhuma em seu estado original.
O que difere uma operação diária anônima de uma Operação com nome pomposo, é o volume de tropas e de arsenal mobilizado. O modus operandis é o mesmo. O âmbito e a quantidade de violência aplicada e o volume de danos causados é que varia e quando pegam mais pesado com batalhões e arsenal multiplicado é que chama de "operação" e dão um nome qualquer. Esta que de agora é a Hot Winter.
No dia 28 a IDF passou ao segundo round da Hot Winter reocupando a cidade após ter feito de conta que se retirava.
Como sempre, a IDF usou vários palestinos, meninos e adultos, como escudo humano. É por isso que Israel acusa falsamente o Hamas deste crime, a fim de ter munição para "defender-se" das denúncias verdadeiras feitas contra eles. Eis alguns dempoimentos.
Depoimentos de outros moradores de Nablus sobre os dias de terror que viveram no fim de fevereiro e início de março.
Esta foi em Nablus, na Cisjordânia. Oficialmente, foi curta. A parte pesada durou do dia 25 ao dia 28 de fevereiro.
Segundo a IDF, a Hot Winter visava, em teoria, "undermine the terror infrastructure". Para isto, os soldados tinham uma lista de nomes de resistentes que deveriam sequestrar a ordem de destruir "laboratórios de explosivos".
Em Nablus foi assim em 2002 (Operações Defensive Shield (abril) e Determined Path (junho), quando além de derrubar sítios históricos a IDF matou cerca de 100 palestinos, deixou dezenas de feridos e enjaulou centenas de cidadãos de 12 a 70 anos.
A destruição de patrimônio é outra característica que a IDF copiou dos nazistas. (Não se há de esquecer que Hitler ordenou que o comandante da Wermacht em Paris Dietrich von Choltitz destruisse os prédios mais famosos da capital francesa em caso de derrota alemã na Segunda Guerra - a Cidade Luz escapou por um triz graças à intervenção do embaixador da Suécia, e outras jóias arquitetônicas também saíram ilesas graças à cultura dos generais alemães encarregados de mutilar o patrimônio universal que não cumpriram as ordens sectárias de uma guerra amoral.
Os israelenses destroem sistematicamente propriedades privadas, públicas e sítios arqueológicos na Palestina para despojá-los de suas raízes e por razões econômicas. Pois estas lindas cidades históricas como Nablus levam à Palestina turistas (estrangeiros cultos não intoxicados pela hasbara - propaganda em hebraico) e divisas. Pois Israel nega aos palestinos quaisquer direitos, do de existir ao de desenvolver sua economia.
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| Nablus Khan al-Wakala |
Pois esta é mais uma lei internacional que Israel infringe todos os dias em algum ou vários lugares dos territórios ocupados. A Quarta lei da Convenção de Genebra, de 1949, é bastante clara: como país ocupante, Israel é obrigado não apenas a proteger a população civil ocupada como também a respeitar e proteger seu patrimônio cultural, como estabelece a Convenção da Háguia para proteção dos bens culturais em caso de conflito armado. O que faz da destruição calculada destes sítios antigos crimes de guerra. Como em Gaza, onde edificações de mais de 4 mil anos são reduzidas a um amontoado de pedras.
Nablus é uma das cidades palestinas mais bonitas e mais ricas culturalmente (era também economicamente, mas a ocupação cuidou de exauri-la em todos os domínios) e por isto é sempre alvo de incursões diárias da IDF com mais ou menos prejuízos materiais e humanos.
E por relação de causa e efeito, Nablus tem um dos núcleos de resistência mais fortes da Palestina. Os israelenses dizem que é por isso que vivem pisoteando seus habitantes, mas é óbvio que a resistência persevera de pai pra filho justamente por causa da repressão e da humilhação constante às quais os nabluenses vivem submetidos. É aquela questão metafísica de causa e efeito, infalível.
Pois bem, a devastação de Nablus não parou com a Intifada. Soldados da IDF invadem a cidade histórica quase todas as noites à caça de resistentes e para intimidar os moradores, cujas casas deixam de pernas pro ar.
Nos últimos 14 anos, a IDF teve "o cuidado" de destruir todas as portas ancestrais de madeira das contruções antigas. Devem ter usado um mapa turístico com os sítios históricos para ter certeza de não deixar nenhuma em seu estado original.
O que difere uma operação diária anônima de uma Operação com nome pomposo, é o volume de tropas e de arsenal mobilizado. O modus operandis é o mesmo. O âmbito e a quantidade de violência aplicada e o volume de danos causados é que varia e quando pegam mais pesado com batalhões e arsenal multiplicado é que chama de "operação" e dão um nome qualquer. Esta que de agora é a Hot Winter.
Operação Hot Winter : Dia 1 - Day 1
A Hot Winter começou de madrugada, como todas as operações israelenses. Centenas de soldados ocuparam a cidade com tanques e cruéis, decretaram estado de sítio, e logo o toque de recolher foi anunciado na rádio e na televisão em tom marcial.
Era uma nova técnica israelense (que já virou corrente; usada no recente massacre em Gaza) de piratar as ondas das rádios e TVs locais para fazer anúncios de intimidação militar. Você está assistindo televisão com a família ou ouvindo música e de repente o seu programa é cortado bruscamente por voz de oficial da IDF que viola sua intimidade e sua tranquilidade dando ordens. Dir-se-ia 1984 do George Orwell.
Era uma nova técnica israelense (que já virou corrente; usada no recente massacre em Gaza) de piratar as ondas das rádios e TVs locais para fazer anúncios de intimidação militar. Você está assistindo televisão com a família ou ouvindo música e de repente o seu programa é cortado bruscamente por voz de oficial da IDF que viola sua intimidade e sua tranquilidade dando ordens. Dir-se-ia 1984 do George Orwell.
Mas na Palestina o Big Brother opressivo não é ficção e sim realidade.
As tropas ocuparam a casbah de Nablus com seus tanques esmagando as pedras milenares, batendo e atirando aqui e acolá para depredar construções e espantar os habitantes, mas nem precisava. Nablus logo virou uma cidade fantasma por onde tanques avançavam e soldados atiravam em quem oussasse desobedecer as ordens de fechar-se em casa.
As tropas ocuparam a casbah de Nablus com seus tanques esmagando as pedras milenares, batendo e atirando aqui e acolá para depredar construções e espantar os habitantes, mas nem precisava. Nablus logo virou uma cidade fantasma por onde tanques avançavam e soldados atiravam em quem oussasse desobedecer as ordens de fechar-se em casa.
Nas imediações da casbah, nem todos se recolheram. Em um e outro lugar via-se meninos e adolescentes improvisando barricadas, mas não havia nenhum sinal da resistência adulta, armada.
No segundo dia, por causa da fome, de vez em quando um pai de família despontava em busca de leite, pão, algo para levar para os filhos comerem.
Dia 2 - Day 2
No segundo dia, por causa da fome, de vez em quando um pai de família despontava em busca de leite, pão, algo para levar para os filhos comerem.
A agressividade dos soldados destoava completamente das posturas cansadas dos nabluenses por causa de mais este sítio, do toque de recolher e perturbados pelo barulho ensurdecedor dos sentinelas.
Voluntários internacionais passavam distribuindo pão e leite aos moradores sitiados, mas alguns estavam com tanto medo dos soldados que nem ousavam acolhê-los, preferiam a fome à bala.
E tinham razão. Já no primeiro dia os snipers da IDF atravessaram as casas vandalizando para subir nos telhados de onde se prepararam para atirar ao alvo.
A parte antiga de Nablus formigava de soldados e veículos militares. De repente a IDF anunciou a captura de 30 palestinos e a resistência respondeu que todos os resistentes estavam a salvo.
Frustrados, os soldados atiraram em Anan Tibi, de 41 anos e em seu filho Ashraf, de 24 anos que estavam no telhado de casa. O pai morreria e o filho sobreviveria, em estado de choque. Mas quase morreu porque quando chegaram os socorros os soldados bloquearam a passagem dos enfermeiros e dos voluntários do ISM (International Solidarity Movement) golpeando um dos rapazes e levando médico e voluntário presos durante algumas horas.
Na onda, invadiram a emissora de televisão local Sanabel na cidade antiga, confiscaram todo o material de trabalho e sequestraram seu diretor, Naif Brek, de 43 anos, em sua casa às 3 horas da madrugada.
De vez em quando os soldados atiravam nos voluntários estrangeiros que distribuíam comida para dissuadi-los de prestar socorro às famílias sitiadas em casa, mas não conseguiam pará-los.
O prefeito, impotente diante de mais esta violação de sua cidade declarou a jornalistas e voluntários do ISM "Concretizamos um plano com a governadoria e as ONGs para o retorno dos policiais da Autoridade Palestina na cidade, e eis a resposta dos israelenses! Eles querem o caos e a desmoralização da população. Conto com vocês para denunciar nosso martírio e para pressionar a Cruz Vermelha e as ONGs médicas francesas (Médecins sans Frontières e Médecins du Monde) para que nos ajudem a distribuir víveres e remédios".
Com os meninos presos em casa, a IDF ocupou a escola Gamal Abdel Nasser e a transformou em centro de detenção onde jogavam seus prisioneiros de mãos amarradas e olhos vendados.
Dia 4 - Day 4
No dia 28 a IDF passou ao segundo round da Hot Winter reocupando a cidade após ter feito de conta que se retirava.
O que também é uma tática como fizeram há pouco na Faixa de Gaza. Concordam em cessar-fogo e continuam a atacar pegando a população desprevenida e relaxada. É uma estratégia corrente que a IDF usa para desestablizar ainda mais, pois quando se retira ou cessa fogo por algumas horas ou dia/s, a população se relaxa (na medida do possível) e quando o ataque recomeça o trauma é mais forte.
No primeiro round da Hot Winter a IDF havia ocupado a cidade durante 48 horas durantes as quais haviam matado uma pessoa, feridos dezenas, detido muita gente, estragado e destruído casas, lojas e repartições públicas.
No segundo round a IDF voltou com cerca de 120 veículos blindados e caterpillars D9 armados, que demolem e matam. Cercaram várias casas e comércios na cidade antiga e foram de porta a porta com seus escudos humanos (meninos e adultos que testemunham abaixo) atrás dos nomes da lista, pois na verdade não haviam conseguido capturar nenhum resistente como pretendiam.
Ocuparam cerca de 20 casas durante horas, e em uma delas, da família Dial, trancaram 20 pessoas em um quarto, inclusive 8 bebês e uma mulher grávida, a fim de usar a casa para interrogatório.
As escolas e a universidade foram fechadas durante a Hot Winter e os nabluenses perderam todo contato com o exterior da cidade, pois a IDF cortou a transmissão das rádios e televisões.
Casas foram evacuadas com violência para soldados israelenses enquanto outros jogavam bombas ensurdecedoras nas transmissoras cujo material não fora todo confiscado, a fim de impedir o trabalho dos jornalistas.
Nablus foi maltratada, os nabluenses foram abusados, mas a cidade - pedras e moradores - resistiu firme a mais esta violação do ocupante.
No final da Hot Winter, Mahmoud al-Aloul, deputado do Fatah e antigo governador do distrito de Nablus, afirmou que a Operação Hot Winter em Nablus voltara a destruír a cidade, mas não atingira o objetivo que a IDF fixara.
Na entrevista no Hotel do Parque em Ramallah, Aloul disse que a Hot Winter fora uma operação militar e política com o propósito de desviar a atenção dos Acordos da Mecca, de abortar os esforços palestinos de formar um governo unitário Fatah e Hamas, e com um objetivo adicional interno a Israel de soltar fumaça que encobrisse as dificuldades que o primeiro ministro Ehud Olmert estava atravessando. E além disso, para "levantar o moral" dos soldados da IDF cuja derrota para o Hizbollah na guerra do Líbano em julho do ano anteiror desmoralizara.
Segundo o deputado palestino, o objetivo principal de prender resistentes não foi atingido, já que nenhum dos oito nomes da lista foram encontrados, embora mais de 200 habitantes da cidade tenham sido detidos em escolas e casas transformadas em casernas e centros de interrogatório para que revelassem o paradeiro dos resistentes procurados.
Quanto às tais fábricas de explosivo, também não encontraram. A IDF acabou destruindo uma fábrica de balinhas e bombons e uma joalheria.
O deputado palestino terminou a entrevista pedindo que seus concidadãos se preparassem da melhor maneira possível para uma próxima operação militar da IDF na Cisjordânia e na Faixa de Gaza.
Por outro lado, o Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, diretor da União dos comitês palestinos de assistência médica, declarou que o toque de recolher da IDF foi severo demais e que os soldados haviam obstaculado socorro médico e assistência alimentar às famílias sitiadas. "O soldados atiravam em tudo o que mexia", foi por isso que as escolas foram fechadas. para proteger os estudantes de morte ou mutilação.
Depoimento de uma human shield
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| Um dos escudos humanos da IDF |
"On Sunday, 25 February, around five in the morning, I woke up when I heard banging on the door of the house. My mother opened the door. We heard a stun grenade explode. My mother then came to the room where my five brothers and sisters and I were and asked us to go outside. My sister Manal left first and I followed her out. Eight soldiers were standing on the stairs of the house. Each one pushed me toward the soldier on a lower step until I got to the bottom. They did the same to my brother Ahmad, 24. In the road, there were three jeeps and a truck.
They led up to the house of our neighbor, Abu Ahmad al-Quseini. They put us in one room. The door remained open. Three soldiers and a dog stood by the door. After a short while, a soldier came into the room and called to Ahmad. He took him to one of the rooms in the house. Five minutes later, the soldier brought Ahmad back. Then he took me to the kitchen. He asked me abut my big brother 'Omar. He asked where he was. I told him that I didn't know. He asked me the same thing a few times more and hit me in the neck with his hand each time that I said I didn't know. He threatened me: "Tell me now or I'll shoot you." That night, 'Omar didn't sleep at home. That was the first time that they had come and asked about him. He then brought me back into the room. After that, they took my brother 'Arafeh, who is twelve, to one of the rooms. I heard him cry and tell him that he didn't know anything. Five minutes later, they returned him to the room. After that they took my cousin Muhammad, and he returned after 10-15 minutes.
The soldiers took me out of the room. One soldier told me to go to my house. He forced me to go first, in front of the soldiers. Two soldiers walked behind me and aimed their rifles at me. They were about fifty centimeters behind me. On the way, he asked me about my uncle's house. He told me to tell them to leave the house. I went to my uncle's house, which was around twenty meters from our house. I knocked on the door. My cousin, Samah, opened the door. I asked him to tell everybody to come outside. Everybody left the house. The soldier searched Samah and Muhammad. Then they took us to the neighbors' house, where we had been before.
Fifteen minutes later, one of the soldiers came and took me outside. I didn't know what he wanted or where they wanted me to go. I stood there, and then one of the soldiers pushed me and said, "Go home." I went into the house, and six soldiers came in after me. They aimed their weapons at me. One of them pushed me so that I would go into the house first. I went in first, and then the soldiers entered. One of them pushed me to a corner of the room, and then fired into the house. They fired 5-6 shots inside the house. They told me to go into the rooms and then they came in behind me. They ordered me to open the cabinets and take out what was there. I asked them to let me go back to my family, but the soldier told me, "Sssssh'…. You'll stay here." Then the soldiers took me to my Uncle Abu Samah's house, to open the windows. The soldiers did not enter the house with me. Later, they took me to the neighbors' house and I joined my family there. I was alone with the soldiers for about half an hour.
Ten minutes later, one of the soldiers took my cousin Samah. Half an hour later, the soldiers returned him. About fifteen minutes after Samah returned, one of the soldiers took Samah, Muhammad, and Bassem, who is the neighbors' son. They cuffed them and took them outside".
'Amid 'Iz a-Din Ahmad 'Amirah, 15, student, and a resident of the old city in Nablus, Depoimento publicado pela B'Tselem, ONG israelense de Direitos Humanos.
Depoimento de um ferido
"At 4:15am on Thursday, March 1, 2007, Israeli jeeps and bulldozers surrounded a student dormitory for Al-Najaa University in Nablus, threw sound bombs, and announced over loud-speakers that everyone should leave the building immediately or the Army would bomb it. Students and teachers residents hurriedly ran out to the street, where soldiers separated the men from the women and children. Several women were told to return to the building to check if anyone was left inside. They returned to confirm that the building was empty, and were taken with the rest of the women and children (about 30 total) to a small room in a nearby building, where they were enclosed together for six hours. They were allowed to sleep and occasionally use the bathroom, but not to contact their families.
The men who came outside were ordered to raise their hands. All 30 or so men (including boys as young as 14) were handcuffed and led to the basement of the same nearby building. There they were enclosed in two separate rooms, guarded by three soldiers. They were not permitted to speak, nor to lie down or even lean against the wall to sleep. They were denied access to a toilet until they insisted, and soldiers refused to loosen their handcuffs (which were so tight that they left marks on many of the men’s wrists) or let them open a window for fresh air.
Around 10:30am, the Army left the area, leaving the men with their handcuffs (made with strong plastic) still on. Residents returned to their building to find it in ruins. Each flat had been raided. Soldiers used bombs to open several doors, and left the students’ homes in a shambles. Windows were shattered, light fixtures were broken, living and bedrooms were turned upside-down, and the elevator door was blown apart, creating a very dangerous drop into the lift’s cavity. None of the wanted resistents that the soldiers were looking for were found in the building".
2. On February 28, 2007, a 15-year-old boy from the Amud neighborhood in the Nablus Old City went out to buy bread for his family. According to the boy, just before he reached the shop he saw soldiers aiming at him and he froze. One soldier shot him in the wrist with a rubber bullet.
The Red Crescent Society wanted to take him to the nearest hospitals, but ambulances were being delayed by closure by the Israeli military so instead they took him to a clinic and bandaged him up, unable to even x-ray the injury. The boy says he has no idea why the soldier aimed at him, and fears his wrist is fractured or even broken.
3. According to 20-year-old Emergency Medical Committee Volunteer Ashraf Tibi, on February 26, 2007 around noon his father Anan Al-Tibi went up to the roof of their home to check on the water source, which was not functioning properly. Ashraf heard that a neighborhood boy was being pursued by the Army, and saw soldiers through one of the windows in his house. He ran up to the roof to warn his father that soldiers were present, and as he was delivering the message he was shot in his right arm, shattering his elbow. With help from his 12-year-old brother who was with him, he started downstairs to call for medical help, and then heard more shooting. When he ran back up the stairs he found his father shot twice (according to medical volunteers in the head and the neck). They were both unarmed.
Ashraf tried to give his father CPR and immediately called for an ambulance, stressing how dangerous the injury was. Shortly thereafter, soldiers entered his home. One soldier announced that he had shot them both, and demanded whom the third person on the roof had been. He was surprised to see it was Ashraf’s 12-year-old brother and not one of the wanted men. Meanwhile, Ashraf’s father was rapidly losing blood. Eventually, the family was allowed to carry Anan down to an ambulance that was waiting, but soldiers prevented the ambulance from moving for more than one and a half hours by parking jeeps on either side of it. Ashraf was taken into one of the jeeps, given basic first aid, and held for an hour and a half, before being taken in the jeep to a nearby village named Jit, where a Palestinian ambulance met him and brought him to the hospital. Ashraf’s father died and doctors say Ashraf will need several operations to repair his elbow. O que significa que ficou com deficiência física porque é demorado e difícil obter autorização de saída. É uma das maneiras dos israelenses conseguirem informantes, a chantagem de saída para tratamento médico adequado no exterior.
Há dezenas de depoimentos como estes acima ou piores.
2. On February 28, 2007, a 15-year-old boy from the Amud neighborhood in the Nablus Old City went out to buy bread for his family. According to the boy, just before he reached the shop he saw soldiers aiming at him and he froze. One soldier shot him in the wrist with a rubber bullet.
The Red Crescent Society wanted to take him to the nearest hospitals, but ambulances were being delayed by closure by the Israeli military so instead they took him to a clinic and bandaged him up, unable to even x-ray the injury. The boy says he has no idea why the soldier aimed at him, and fears his wrist is fractured or even broken.
3. According to 20-year-old Emergency Medical Committee Volunteer Ashraf Tibi, on February 26, 2007 around noon his father Anan Al-Tibi went up to the roof of their home to check on the water source, which was not functioning properly. Ashraf heard that a neighborhood boy was being pursued by the Army, and saw soldiers through one of the windows in his house. He ran up to the roof to warn his father that soldiers were present, and as he was delivering the message he was shot in his right arm, shattering his elbow. With help from his 12-year-old brother who was with him, he started downstairs to call for medical help, and then heard more shooting. When he ran back up the stairs he found his father shot twice (according to medical volunteers in the head and the neck). They were both unarmed.
Ashraf tried to give his father CPR and immediately called for an ambulance, stressing how dangerous the injury was. Shortly thereafter, soldiers entered his home. One soldier announced that he had shot them both, and demanded whom the third person on the roof had been. He was surprised to see it was Ashraf’s 12-year-old brother and not one of the wanted men. Meanwhile, Ashraf’s father was rapidly losing blood. Eventually, the family was allowed to carry Anan down to an ambulance that was waiting, but soldiers prevented the ambulance from moving for more than one and a half hours by parking jeeps on either side of it. Ashraf was taken into one of the jeeps, given basic first aid, and held for an hour and a half, before being taken in the jeep to a nearby village named Jit, where a Palestinian ambulance met him and brought him to the hospital. Ashraf’s father died and doctors say Ashraf will need several operations to repair his elbow. O que significa que ficou com deficiência física porque é demorado e difícil obter autorização de saída. É uma das maneiras dos israelenses conseguirem informantes, a chantagem de saída para tratamento médico adequado no exterior.
Há dezenas de depoimentos como estes acima ou piores.
Os problemas com Israel são sempre os mesmos: mentiras e enganações com o mesmo objetivo de limpeza étnica dos palestinos. ONGs de Direitos Humanos tais Human Rights Watch, B'Tselem e outras repertoriaram inúmeros casos em que a IDF usou meninos (na maioria) e adultos como escudo humano. Estas ONGs deram queixa na Alta Corte Penal em maio de 2002 e Israel jogou com palavras como sempre faz: "A Idf decidiu divulgar um documento inequívoco ordenando que os batalhões no terreno pare com este comportamento".
Mas a tal ordem só proibia o uso de civis como "escudo humano" em "troca de tiros". "Porém" (aí vem a infração), o documento indicou que o uso de "vizinhos" para procedimentos de "aviso" não constituem "escudo humano" e é legal. E concluiu que ficava a critério do comandante do batalhão deicdir se este procedimento punha a vida do civil em questão em jogo ou não. Pronto.
A ONG israelense de Direitos Humanos B'Tselem fez várias denúncias da prática criminosa de escudo humano e das prisões arbitrárias, em vão.
Enviou inclusive uma carta ao Promotor Geral de Israel lembrando que era a quarta vez - desde a Operação Summer Rains em junho de 2006 em Gaza - que documentavam o uso de civis como escudo humano e denunciavam este crime praticado pelos soldados.
Receberam a resposta que a IDF que o JAG (promotoria militar) abrira investigação da denúncia. B'Tselem argumentou (ironicamente) que talvez os soldados não entendessem bem que usar escudo humano é crime e que tais incidentes demonstravam uma perigosa leniência da hierarquia militar israelense.
Ora, a Lei Humanitária Internacional, que estabelece as regras a serem respeitadas durante conflito armado, exige que os beligerantes distingam combatentes e civis e exige que protejam a vida e a dignidade destes.
A Quarta convenção de Genebra especifica no artigo 27 que os civis "are entitled, in all circunstances, to respect for their persons, their honor... They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof".
Mas como Israel não respeita as leis internacionais, a IDF continuaria a usar escudos humanos diariamente na Cisjordânia e em suas "operações" militares especiais lá, na Faixa de Gaza, e continuaria cometendo as mesmas atrocidades. Impunemente.
Vamos ver no próximo capítulo se Ehud Olmert, Tony Blair e George W. Bush conseguiriam levar adiante a guerra fratricida entre o Fatah e o Hamas na Faixa de Gaza.
Nablus under siege
Situated in the north of the West Bank, Nablus is the largest city in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, inhabited by some 134,000 people. Before the second intifada, at which time Israel sealed off the town, Nablus was key to Palestine’s economy. Its most well-known product for centuries has been olive oil soap, a fact testified to by the city’s few remaining traditional soap factories.
But first and foremost, Nablus is home to five millennia of history. The remains of the ancient Shechem a few kilometers outside the current city, with its large dry-stone walls, is a spectacular testimony of the earliest history of this area. Later the Romans came, rebuilt the city and named it Neapolis, from which the name Nablus is derived. The Byzantine period followed, succeeded by the arrival of Islam, crusader invasions and the Ottoman era, all of which left their traces on Nablus.
Although it is a small stretch of land, Palestine has many faces, from tiny country villages to bustling cities. Perhaps one of the most impressive places is the city of Nablus. Coming from Ramallah, passage into the city is through the huge, overcrowded Huwwara checkpoint. Having crossed this reversed city gate, set up by the Israeli military in October 2000, the first impression is that of a vivid Arab city, albeit with a sense of tension in the air.
Situated in the north of the West Bank, Nablus is the largest city in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, inhabited by some 134,000 people. Before the second intifada, at which time Israel sealed off the town, Nablus was key to Palestine’s economy. Its most well-known product for centuries has been olive oil soap, a fact testified to by the city’s few remaining traditional soap factories.
But first and foremost, Nablus is home to five millennia of history. The remains of the ancient Shechem a few kilometers outside the current city, with its large dry-stone walls, is a spectacular testimony of the earliest history of this area. Later the Romans came, rebuilt the city and named it Neapolis, from which the name Nablus is derived. The Byzantine period followed, succeeded by the arrival of Islam, crusader invasions and the Ottoman era, all of which left their traces on Nablus.
It may come as little surprise then that Nablus’ Old City is a place of astonishing splendor. This labyrinth of cobbled streets leads from one surprising sight to another. The Old City’s dense architectural fabric made out of narrow lanes and shady alleyways suggests thousands of stories.
Another inexhaustible source of stories is Majde, International Cultural Coordinator and a first-class Nablus enthusiast. “Most of the Old City dates from the Ottoman era, but some parts go back to the Romans. Al-Balad al-Qadima, as the Old City is called in Arabic, consists of six main neighborhoods, each of which is related to one of the powerful families who controlled Nablus in the past. Nablus never had city walls like Jerusalem for example, so the city’s labyrinth-like design functioned as a defense.”
But the Old City is not a museum. On the contrary, streets are bustling and numerous shops are selling everything from household appliance to sad-looking chickens. “Of course it is like this,” Majde assures. The Old City is still home to more than 20,000 inhabitants who live and work here.”
The destruction of cultural heritage by Israel in Palestine and in Nablus more specifically, has gone far beyond the pretext of military necessity. “There is significant evidence that Palestinian heritage is being targeted specifically as heritage,” said Naseer Arafat, a Nablus-based architectural conservationist, in an interview with The Independent (UK) in December 2002. As the occupying power, Israel is bound by international humanitarian law. In terms of cultural heritage, this includes the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention and more specifically, the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of Armed Conflict. Under these treaties, signed by Israel, the deliberate destruction of sites of historical or cultural import is a war crime.
The rationale behind Israel’s devastation of cultural heritage is not hard to grasp. According to Dan Cruickshank, a BBC journalist, “buildings have an immense significance in the area. Ownership of buildings is used to justify political and military positions. Both sides are attempting to destroy each other’s history in an attempt to weaken the sense of ownership,” he explains in an interview with The Guardian.
A shady street in the Old City leads to a place that looks like a parking lot. But it is not. “Here stood one of the oldest soap factories of Nablus. The Israelis destroyed it completely, just before their forces left,” says Majde. He is referring to Operation Defensive Shield in april 2002, when the Israeli military reoccupied several major Palestinian cities. “The factory was more than 400 years old. Together with the soap factory, as much as 25 adjoining houses were completely demolished. On the other side of the road, the facade of an Orthodox church was also damaged. This is the ancient Christian neighborhood, this is why there are several churches here.”
A small gate in the metal fence at the back of the leveled soap factory leads the way to another Nablus ground zero. “This is al-Khan,” Majde explains. “It was something like a large motel for travelers in the Ottoman period. On the ground level there were stables, and there were taverns and lodges on the second floor. A restoration project, carried out by UNESCO, aimed to put it back into use as a cultural centre, a youth hostel and arts and crafts shops. It was also destroyed in 2002.” Although the restoration project continued, the spot currently lies deserted except for the presence of a friendly guard. “Because of the international boycott after the elections and the victory of Hamas, the project has been halted for half a year already,” Majde says."
Toon Lambrechts, Electronic Intifada 17/01/2008
Enquanto isso em Bil'in, os palestinos continuavam a resistência ao muro da vergonha
What is the difference between this moral perception and that of the Nazis who executed 10 hostages for every German soldier killed by the resistance?
The rabbi's decree did not arouse any reaction. There was no outcry, neither from his flock nor from the general public. The number of rabbis who publicly support such methods has risen to the hundreds. Most of them come from the settlements. This is a "religious" outlook that grew up in the poisoned atmosphere of the occupation, a religion of occupation. It shames the Jewish religion, present and past.
No wonder that a person with a strong religious conscience, Avraham Burg, former Speaker of the Knesset and Head of the Jewish Agency, this week renounced Zionism and demanded to abolish the definition of Israel as a Jewish State.
It is no longer anything new to point out that the occupation is destroying the Israeli army.
An army cannot fulfill its mission to defend the state against potential enemies when it has been engaged for decades as a colonial police force. One can give attractive names to a death-squad - Team Mango or Unit Peach - but it remains what it is: an instrument of brutal killing and oppression.
An officer who today plans the Mafia-style killing of a "senior militant" by an undercover action in the Kasbah of Nablus, will not be able tomorrow to lead a tank battalion against a sophisticated enemy. An army that shoots stone-throwers, chases children in the alleys of Balata refugee camp or drops a one-ton bomb on a residential building cannot turn overnight into an efficient force on a modern battlefield in a war of last resort.... From a military point of view, the occupation is a grave threat to the security of the state.
...For many years now, the [Supreme] court has lived in a world of illusion. The judges have closed their eyes to their own doings. While believing that they are a pillar of liberalism and democracy, they have allowed extra-judicial executions. They have closed their eyes while torture has become routine. They have created mountains of sophistry arguing that the monstrous Wall is essential to security, trying to obscure the obvious fact that its main aim is the grabbing of land for the settlements.
When the International Court published its simple, clear and indisputable opinion that the Wall violates international law and several conventions which have been signed by Israel too, our Supreme Court just disregarded it.
A court that lies to itself in one sector cannot maintain its integrity in another. The "bastion of democracy" has been undermined, and may collapse entirely.
In the meantime, the book of laws is besmirched with racist legislation - from the law that prevents Israeli citizens from living in Israel with Palestinian spouses, to the bill which received this week primary approval in the Knesset, and which allows 80 members of the Knesset to expulse a Knesset member for voicing, both in the Knesset or outside, criticism of cabinet ministers or senior army commanders.
It cannot be denied: 40 years of occupation have changed the State of Israel beyond recognition.
That is obvious in all spheres of life. All of them have been contaminated.
18-year old youngsters, most of who have been brought up by decent parents as moral human beings, are drafted into the army, enter the brutal subculture of their units and receive an indoctrination that justifies every act of brutality against Arabs. Only a few rare individuals are able to withstand the pressure. After three years, the majority leave the army as tough men with blunted sensibilities. The brutality in our streets, the routine killings around the discotheques, the proliferation of rape and violence within the family - all these have undoubtedly been influenced by the day-to-day reality of the occupation. After all, it's the same people who are doing it.
A policeman who is sent to Hebron and the Hawara checkpoint, who treats the inhabitants there as inferior creatures, who acts sadistically or condones the sadism of his comrades - will he turn into a different person when he returns the next day to Tel Aviv, Haifa or Shefa-Amr? Will he wake up the next morning, miraculously, as a devoted servant of his fellow-citizens in a democratic society?
For years now, the security services, the police and the army have been lying about events in the occupied territories. Lying has become routine. Few journalists in the world now accept these statements unquestioningly. And when lying becomes the norm in one sector, the mendacity doesn't stop there. The liars of the army, the police and the other services have gotten used to lying about other matters, too.
In the "territories", corruption has a ball. Military government officers take off their uniforms and get involved in shady businesses. Capitalist barons also profit from connections with them. Of course, this is not the only source of the corruption that has become a bane of the state, but it is surely a contributing factor.
The occupation causes rot, which then penetrates all the pores of the national organism...
... The boycott against Israel announced by several foreign organizations must turn on a red light. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that every nation must behave with "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind". That was not only a matter of ethics but also of practical common sense. For us to maintain an occupation that violates international law is spitting in the eye of enlightened humanity.
Israel arouses different expectations than the Congo or Sudan. But for years now, hundreds of millions of people see it almost daily in the form of occupation soldiers, armed to the teeth, abusing a helpless population. The accumulating effect is becoming clear now.
One can treat the opinion of mankind with disdain,...But that is stupid. International opinion can express itself in a thousand different ways. It influences the policy of governments and civil society. The attempts at boycott are only an early symptom.
But beyond all the bad things the occupation has brought upon Israel, inside and outside, there is something that concerns each of us. Every human being wants to be proud of his country. The occupation deprives us of this.
On the 40th anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem, a foreign TV station wanted to interview me in the Muslim quarter of the Old City. We walked in the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross. The street was almost empty. The owners of the shops offering antiques, precious carpets and souvenirs stood in their doorways, radiating despair, and tried to lure us in.
From time to time, small groups of tourists went past. Each group was accompanied by four security guards in white overalls, two in front and two behind. Every one of them was holding in his hand a loaded pistol, ready to open fire within a split second. That's how they walked in the street.
That is the reality of "Jerusalem Reunited and Indivisible, the Capital of Israel for All Eternity", as the official slogan goes, 40 years after its "liberation".
The rabbi's decree did not arouse any reaction. There was no outcry, neither from his flock nor from the general public. The number of rabbis who publicly support such methods has risen to the hundreds. Most of them come from the settlements. This is a "religious" outlook that grew up in the poisoned atmosphere of the occupation, a religion of occupation. It shames the Jewish religion, present and past.
No wonder that a person with a strong religious conscience, Avraham Burg, former Speaker of the Knesset and Head of the Jewish Agency, this week renounced Zionism and demanded to abolish the definition of Israel as a Jewish State.
It is no longer anything new to point out that the occupation is destroying the Israeli army.
An army cannot fulfill its mission to defend the state against potential enemies when it has been engaged for decades as a colonial police force. One can give attractive names to a death-squad - Team Mango or Unit Peach - but it remains what it is: an instrument of brutal killing and oppression.
An officer who today plans the Mafia-style killing of a "senior militant" by an undercover action in the Kasbah of Nablus, will not be able tomorrow to lead a tank battalion against a sophisticated enemy. An army that shoots stone-throwers, chases children in the alleys of Balata refugee camp or drops a one-ton bomb on a residential building cannot turn overnight into an efficient force on a modern battlefield in a war of last resort.... From a military point of view, the occupation is a grave threat to the security of the state.
...For many years now, the [Supreme] court has lived in a world of illusion. The judges have closed their eyes to their own doings. While believing that they are a pillar of liberalism and democracy, they have allowed extra-judicial executions. They have closed their eyes while torture has become routine. They have created mountains of sophistry arguing that the monstrous Wall is essential to security, trying to obscure the obvious fact that its main aim is the grabbing of land for the settlements.
When the International Court published its simple, clear and indisputable opinion that the Wall violates international law and several conventions which have been signed by Israel too, our Supreme Court just disregarded it.
A court that lies to itself in one sector cannot maintain its integrity in another. The "bastion of democracy" has been undermined, and may collapse entirely.
In the meantime, the book of laws is besmirched with racist legislation - from the law that prevents Israeli citizens from living in Israel with Palestinian spouses, to the bill which received this week primary approval in the Knesset, and which allows 80 members of the Knesset to expulse a Knesset member for voicing, both in the Knesset or outside, criticism of cabinet ministers or senior army commanders.
It cannot be denied: 40 years of occupation have changed the State of Israel beyond recognition.
That is obvious in all spheres of life. All of them have been contaminated.
18-year old youngsters, most of who have been brought up by decent parents as moral human beings, are drafted into the army, enter the brutal subculture of their units and receive an indoctrination that justifies every act of brutality against Arabs. Only a few rare individuals are able to withstand the pressure. After three years, the majority leave the army as tough men with blunted sensibilities. The brutality in our streets, the routine killings around the discotheques, the proliferation of rape and violence within the family - all these have undoubtedly been influenced by the day-to-day reality of the occupation. After all, it's the same people who are doing it.
A policeman who is sent to Hebron and the Hawara checkpoint, who treats the inhabitants there as inferior creatures, who acts sadistically or condones the sadism of his comrades - will he turn into a different person when he returns the next day to Tel Aviv, Haifa or Shefa-Amr? Will he wake up the next morning, miraculously, as a devoted servant of his fellow-citizens in a democratic society?
For years now, the security services, the police and the army have been lying about events in the occupied territories. Lying has become routine. Few journalists in the world now accept these statements unquestioningly. And when lying becomes the norm in one sector, the mendacity doesn't stop there. The liars of the army, the police and the other services have gotten used to lying about other matters, too.
In the "territories", corruption has a ball. Military government officers take off their uniforms and get involved in shady businesses. Capitalist barons also profit from connections with them. Of course, this is not the only source of the corruption that has become a bane of the state, but it is surely a contributing factor.
The occupation causes rot, which then penetrates all the pores of the national organism...
... The boycott against Israel announced by several foreign organizations must turn on a red light. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that every nation must behave with "a decent respect for the opinion of mankind". That was not only a matter of ethics but also of practical common sense. For us to maintain an occupation that violates international law is spitting in the eye of enlightened humanity.
Israel arouses different expectations than the Congo or Sudan. But for years now, hundreds of millions of people see it almost daily in the form of occupation soldiers, armed to the teeth, abusing a helpless population. The accumulating effect is becoming clear now.
One can treat the opinion of mankind with disdain,...But that is stupid. International opinion can express itself in a thousand different ways. It influences the policy of governments and civil society. The attempts at boycott are only an early symptom.
But beyond all the bad things the occupation has brought upon Israel, inside and outside, there is something that concerns each of us. Every human being wants to be proud of his country. The occupation deprives us of this.
On the 40th anniversary of the occupation of East Jerusalem, a foreign TV station wanted to interview me in the Muslim quarter of the Old City. We walked in the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross. The street was almost empty. The owners of the shops offering antiques, precious carpets and souvenirs stood in their doorways, radiating despair, and tried to lure us in.
From time to time, small groups of tourists went past. Each group was accompanied by four security guards in white overalls, two in front and two behind. Every one of them was holding in his hand a loaded pistol, ready to open fire within a split second. That's how they walked in the street.
That is the reality of "Jerusalem Reunited and Indivisible, the Capital of Israel for All Eternity", as the official slogan goes, 40 years after its "liberation".
Uri Avnery, 09/06/2007
NEWS: Notícia de outubro de 2014
Governo palestino de união
Governo palestino de união
Palestinian Union government
Reconstrução de Gaza e chantagem
Gaza reconstruction and "Peace Talks" blackmail
International pledge: US$5.4 bilhões
Israel's blockade cripples Gaza
Bloqueio israelense continua presente e inclemente
Reservistas da IDF, forças israelenses de ocupação,
Shovrim Shtika - Breaking the Silence
Were there cases of harassment at the checkpoints?
Yes, soldiers would play with them. You know, the saddest thing was when detainees would get there. Okay, perhaps the guy's suspect, I don't think I'm too humane or human or anything, but the hours they had to stand there tied up, shackled, until they'd get anything, and they'd be shut up in some room, with everyone (soldiers) coming to stare at them.
On what grounds would people be detained?
At the checkpoint itself, people would be detained because of their ID. Someone is allowed to pass, not allowed to pass, his permit is still valid, it's not valid, that sort of thing. Seems suspect, doesn't seem suspect. Soldiers detain. At the checkpoint, it's the commander's judgment that counts. At the end of training when there are (junior) commanders missing in the company, you're short of manpower, the company slowly begins to fall apart. So as an outstanding measure, confirmed by the battalion commander, we were allowed to authorize task-commanders, soldiers who would be in charge of the checkpoint for the duration of a shift. This was accommodating for everyone. For the commanders it was convenient, they had more options this way, less tasks, soldiers would feel more responsible. But posting soldiers on their own at the checkpoint, taking care of things by themselves, easily replacing each other – is a problem. It opens up possibilities, and we are to blame, we really have no idea what goes on there. Whoever places soldiers with other soldiers and expects things to turn out fine, or even worse – whoever authorizes malfunctioning commanders – and they're commanders for all practical purposes - they end up crossing the line. They run deals, letting a guy through because he gave them some food, bread from the village, stuff like that. One of our commanders, a real idiot, would only let them through this way. Soldiers would buy, or rather take, cigarettes from them. Ask them for cigarettes - people with whom you're not supposed to relate at all, and there you go demanding a gift from them as a condition for letting them through the checkpoint. That's totally crossing the line, and it didn't bother anyone. "I'm the checkpoint, I say what's what." When we discovered this, we began to talk and try to prevent it, but you cannot really prevent something you cannot control, because you're not there on the spot, and when people did not have the kind of integrity that prevents such dealings. . . so they did it."
Yes, soldiers would play with them. You know, the saddest thing was when detainees would get there. Okay, perhaps the guy's suspect, I don't think I'm too humane or human or anything, but the hours they had to stand there tied up, shackled, until they'd get anything, and they'd be shut up in some room, with everyone (soldiers) coming to stare at them.
On what grounds would people be detained?
At the checkpoint itself, people would be detained because of their ID. Someone is allowed to pass, not allowed to pass, his permit is still valid, it's not valid, that sort of thing. Seems suspect, doesn't seem suspect. Soldiers detain. At the checkpoint, it's the commander's judgment that counts. At the end of training when there are (junior) commanders missing in the company, you're short of manpower, the company slowly begins to fall apart. So as an outstanding measure, confirmed by the battalion commander, we were allowed to authorize task-commanders, soldiers who would be in charge of the checkpoint for the duration of a shift. This was accommodating for everyone. For the commanders it was convenient, they had more options this way, less tasks, soldiers would feel more responsible. But posting soldiers on their own at the checkpoint, taking care of things by themselves, easily replacing each other – is a problem. It opens up possibilities, and we are to blame, we really have no idea what goes on there. Whoever places soldiers with other soldiers and expects things to turn out fine, or even worse – whoever authorizes malfunctioning commanders – and they're commanders for all practical purposes - they end up crossing the line. They run deals, letting a guy through because he gave them some food, bread from the village, stuff like that. One of our commanders, a real idiot, would only let them through this way. Soldiers would buy, or rather take, cigarettes from them. Ask them for cigarettes - people with whom you're not supposed to relate at all, and there you go demanding a gift from them as a condition for letting them through the checkpoint. That's totally crossing the line, and it didn't bother anyone. "I'm the checkpoint, I say what's what." When we discovered this, we began to talk and try to prevent it, but you cannot really prevent something you cannot control, because you're not there on the spot, and when people did not have the kind of integrity that prevents such dealings. . . so they did it."
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