Israeli wanton destruction in the occupied territories

by Will Hewitt et. al.

31 January 2003

Israeli bulldozers destroy 62 Palestinian-owned shops and businesses

On Jan. 21 in Nazlat Issa, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli bulldozers accompanied by some 300 Israeli soldiers and Border Police, destroyed 62 Palestinian-owned shops and businesses housed in 28 buildings in the space of three hours. The previous day, the local Israeli military commander told the shopkeepers the buildings would be destroyed, and he would determine when without warning.

The shopkeepers were first informed eight months ago about the impending destruction, and obtained an Israeli High Court order staying the demolitions, but the commander said he didn't care, and would destroy the buildings anyway.

The destruction started around ten AM and was over in about three hours. Seven Daewoo bulldozers, smaller and more maneuverable that the huge Caterpillar-built D-9's, did the wrecking. The villagers, accompanied by activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), formed a line and began to chant. The Israeli commander told internationals and Palestinians they would be subject to arrest if they didn't fall back behind a line of soldiers on the main street, so most did. Chants heard in English included "We shall overcome" and "Bush, Sharon, you will see, Palestine will be free."

A small number of the protestors (certainly not the "dozens" reported in many press reports) threw stones. A short time after the protest began, two Israeli jeeps rushed towards the crowd, and soldiers stormed towards the protesters to force them further back. Israeli forces were face-to-face with the crowd for several hours, and some of them were willing to converse. When asked why the destruction was occurring, soldiers replied it was for security, or because the buildings were built without a permit (the stores in fact had Palestinian Authority building permits, but were built in Area "C," under Israeli security and administrative control since 1993.) Most soldiers were dismissive of activists' arguments against the destruction, others appeared uncomfortable but resigned to their duty. Most soldiers were adept in avoiding eye contact. Some were obnoxious, laughing at the crowd. At one point, a Jewish-American activist began to sing a peace song in Hebrew, and some soldiers moved away, clearly uncomfortable to hear it. The activist also reported being pushed in the breast and grabbed by the throat by a soldier.

In the area of greatest disturbance Israeli forces fired tear gas at the crowd. Jonathan Elsberg, an American ISM activist, was hit in the leg by a teargas canister aimed at him by an Israeli soldier. Four Palestinians were briefly hospitalized for tear gas inhalation.

A Palestinian member of the ISM, Osama Qashoo, was detained by Israeli Border Police who forced him to lie in a ditch in the pouring rain while they took turns standing on his chest. After forty minutes he was put in the back of the jeep where they slapped him in the face and hit him on the kneecaps with their rifle butts. He was then transferred to a police station in an Army base near Jenin where he was interrogated before being set free. As he left the police station he was again detained by the Border Police who took him to a room in which two other Palestinians were being held. All three men were forced to stand with their legs apart and their hands on their heads while their captors practiced an assortment of martial arts blows on them. When Osama took his hands down and refused to cooperate, complaining that he was not an animal, he was handcuffed and then shoved into a corner where he was kicked repeatedly before being set free. When he was finally released it was night and he wandered in the darkness for half an hour before arriving at a Palestinian village.

After 3 hours the Israeli Occupying Army pulled out of Nazlat Issa. Of approximately 170 shops in Nazlat Issa, 82 have now been destroyed.

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) destroy two municipal water wells

Date: January 31, 2003
Author: Will Hewitt
Area: Gaza

Wednesday night Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) destroyed two municipal water wells which provide approximately 50 percent of the water for the city of Rafah. Water use is currently restricted to 2 hours per day. The Rafah Municipal Department of Water and Wastewater informed IOF commanders about the exact location of these wells prior to the attacks. Despite the fact that these wells are crucial to maintaining basic health and sanitation in Rafah, the IOF specifically targeted them for demolition. Activists from the International Solidarity Movement stated that this demolition is yet another example of the IOF policy of collective punishment: all residents of the occupied Palestinian territories are routinely targeted by the IOF, regardless of whether or not they have any involvement with the armed resistance here.

Workers from the Water Department had to connect private agricultural wells to the main city water system in order to supply basic service. This irrigation water is unsafe for human use, yet many locals must drink tap water since they are unable to afford buying bottled water or filters. The two wells which were destroyed were the largest and most productive of the 6 wells serving the Rafah area. These wells are the only source of city water here.

Armored bulldozers used for this demolition came into the Al Hasash area on the Northwestern edge of Rafah from the militarized zone which isolates Rafah from Mawasi, a Palestinian village on the coast. Rafah is surrounded by a strip of barren land 100 to 300 meters wide which is patrolled by IOF tanks, bulldozers, and armored personnel carriers. Beyond this perimeter stand strategically placed guard towers, manned by IOF snipers. These conditions, in addition to the frequent shooting from tanks and guard towers, which regularly kills Palastinian civilians, and the 4 meter high steel wall under construction along the Gaza/Egypt border, make make Rafah a virtual prison: it is as if the entire city is in jail. IOF Bulldozers often enter from the militarized zone to demolish houses on the edges of town. In the recent past a sewer installation near the Abu Zuhri wells targeted Wednesday night was also damaged by IOF demolition crews.

Ashraf Ghneim, director of municipal water and wastewater, stated that his department sent letters to European Union representatives in the area informing them of the situation. The EU often assists with the maintenance of infrastructure in economically depressed Gaza, where unemployment approached 80 percent. Ghneim also stated that the Abiu Zuhri wells may have been destroyed as reprisal for two IOF soldiers killed Tuesday night by Palastinian armed resistance. Other Rafah residents speculated that this destruction was a show of force ordered by Ariel Sharon, who was re-elected this week.

Peace activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) co- operated with the municipal water department in order to protect another well also located dangerously near to the IOF militarized zone. Four activists from the United States, Britain, and Sweden spent the night at the well. They informed their consulates of their presence and hung a banner stating "Internationals Here" from the pumphouse. International civilians served as human shields: the Israeli army is reluctant to shoot internationals, since killing them will create bad press for the Israeli army and government.