Documents from IAC Fact Finding Mission to Palestine
Posted: 10/29/00
The following are talks given by important spokespeople in Palestine, forwarded by a four-person delegation from the International Action Center from their humanitarian and fact-finding mission to Palestine during what is being called the Al Aqsa Intifada, or uprising. The delegation aims to bring back a first-hand report documenting the repression inflicted by the Israeli army and to bring medical supplies for Palestinian hospitals, which have been declared a state of medical emergency due to the heavy casualties inflicted by the Israeli repression. Delegation members include IAC co-director Sara Flounders, Richard Becker, West Coast Regional Coordinator of the IAC, Preston Wood, Los Angeles Coordinator of the IAC, and Randa Jamal of New York.
To the children of the Palestinian people
In my exile I am away from you but only physically otherwise I am with you all the time, in my heart, my thoughts and my prayers. In these difficult moments that you are passing through I feel much closer to you than any time before. And I wish I were with you, marching with you and ready to die for you. It would be an honor for me to die in the battlefield because I know this is my duty in front of God and my country.
The humanity of a person is glorified at its best in two things only: First: to stand in solidarity, firm and without any compromise, on the side of the oppressed, week and underprivileged.
Second: To stand against the oppressors no matter who they are and no matter to what costs. Any other attitude is running away from our responsibility and washing our hands. To be silent is a sign of cowardice. To be silent is another way of approval.
As an Arab person and as the Bishop of Jerusalem my conscience obliges me to defend my parish and my children. Enough is enough and our patience has reached the limit.
Our catastrophe is the international Zionist movement, which has been an expansionist imperialist movement, It has made our life miserable since its inception. And Israel is its implementing agency.
Our Palestinian people are living under occupation with no rights and no dignity. The Palestinian people are like a stranger in his own country and a prisoner in his own house. Israel stole our lands and made our people homeless. Israel stole our rights and disgraced our dignity. It desacrilaged our holy sites and killed the worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
The first and the second Intifada is an expression of the Palestinian will against oppression and occupation. Against Israel's denial to our rights, our inalienable rights for self-determination and building a sovereign and free Palestinian state.
Israel is trying to break our spirit with tanks, helicopters and rockets and live ammunition. Israel is attacking unarmed the heroes of the stones and yet they are armed with their will and faith that they will be victorious. Tens were killed and thousands injured and Israel continues to annihilate us morally and physically. We are fighting for life. But life is not merely eating and drinking. And it is not only through bread that the human is living. It is the life, the dignity and homeland. This is our only choice and we took it. Either we live in dignity in our homes or we die in dignity defending our rights. If we should die, it is a shame to die as a coward.
Our mission is a just peace that guarantees for us a life with dignity in a homeland free, sovereign and independent. Its borders are the borders of June 4th 1967 and Jerusalem as its capital. We are not begging any one. This is our This is our basic and minimal right according to United Nations resolution 242 and 338. Beneath it is a red line because these constitute only 21% of the area of Palestine.
Israel has now to choose, more than ever before, either peace or the continuation of occupation. But to enjoy both is impossible because these two options contradict each other. The language of threats, oppression, closure, siege, and starvation to dictate its policies is like fraud money. It is useless. Our spirits are high and we refuse to bend for disgrace. We vowed our lives to be cheap for the sake of our home and dignity. We will not surrender until we raise the Palestinian flag all over our occupied land. We will not kneel and we will not surrender.
Our martyrs are innocent and our wounded are lit candles that show us the way, the way to return to the Aqsa mosque, to the Church of the Holy Sepulcre, to Palestine.
This way is planted with thorns. It is filled with sacrifices. Dawn can only out after a dark night. The revolution can only occur through the womb of griefs and the corn cannot live unless it is buried in the ground. Its death is its life, its fertility is its resurrection.
Your people are fighting against oppression and tyrany. The leaders of the Arab World are looking upon you. They are calling you in the name of Gad, on the name of all people who were killed, in the name of the thousands of wounded, in the name of the braves and heroes. I call upon you remembering the crying and the tears of the orphan children and the widows, I call on you be at your best as the awakening Arab people are expecting from you. Do not let them down. You are their refuge. Help them to raise their level of ambitions in living freely and in dignity by taking firm decisions like:
1. Help them to find unity between the Arab brothers. Strength can only stem out of solidarity and unity.( God will never change the people unless they help to change themselves)
2. To stop immediately all actions of normalization
3. To support and revive the office of boycotting Israel. So that your conscience will find it self at ease and our history will remember you thankfully.
I send my greetings to all the Arab people who stood in solidarity with the palestinian people and the AlAqsa Intifada and expressed its anger and with mass demonstrations.
I feel very proud, I walk tall remembering the heroes of the stones and all my struggling Palestinian people.
The glory is for you, our dear martyrs. Rest in peace. We will remain faithful on our road carrying the banner of freedom that you once carried. We will not let it down. We promise you to bring it to our goal that you once defined, to Palestine, to the AlAqsa mosque, to the Church of the Holy Supelcre, to our Arab Jerusalem, free and the capital of Palestine.
God is capable to do everything.
Bishop Elarion Cappuchi
The Bishop of Jerusalem - in Exile
23.10.2000Translated by Dr. MajedNassar
Deputy director Union of Health Work Committees Palestine
An open letter to her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden
It has been a surprise to read your comments as were published in the Jerusalem Post from the 20.10.2000, regarding the Palestinian children. I thought till then that Sweden was a neutral country taking care of the humanistic issues of the world. What went into your mind to break this rule? Is it your fears and worries about our children? Is it something you wanted to tell to the world as a neutral observer? Is it something that you discovered recently and found yourself obliged to reveal the facts? Is it something you felt disturbing your comfortable sleep in Stockholm? Are you having nightmares from all the bloodshed and the pictures of killed Palestinian children that you see on TV? Is the picture of the young Muhammed Aldurra, shot in cold blood while hiding behind his father still following you in your dreams?
Do you think that the media is not doing enough favors for Israel so that Sweden must jump in and help them a little? It seems to be difficult, in view of the heavy losses of the Palestinian people, for the media to cover up thoroughly the Israeli crimes. At the same time it seems to be easy for the media to neglect the Palestinian misery, and these are people who are resisting military occupation since 33 years. But this is not sufficient for Israel. The Palestinians have additionally to be demonized. A series of dehumanization of the Palestinian ignited by Israel, published widely by the United States and now finding back up through Sweden are sweeping through the media. Blaming the victim, dehumanizing the victim and equalizing the victim with the victimizer are the basis for such racist actions. Why should you be part of it? Why should you join the company of Israeli officials who are denouncing Palestinians as cockroaches, two legged vermin, dogs and recently snakes and crocodiles? And what could you possibly add to these items? You can only join in the theft of our humanity as people, as parents and as children. Let me tell you in advance" you will not succeed".
We have been occupied for so many years. Our lands and property have been stolen. We have been imprisoned, deported, tortured and killed. Nevertheless the Palestinian leadership accepted the United Nations resolutions 242 and 338 and started a peace process to see these resolutions implemented. Why don't you ask yourself who is not implementing them? Why don't you ask Israel, clear and loud, as you did in your statements, to withdraw from the occupied territories? Including Jerusalem? What is your clear statement regarding the Middle East problem and the Palestinians? What is your clear point of view regarding the refugees? Do you think that we are under occupation or are we just passing by and we are in some body's way? Can you imagine that we have memories, history, love, passion and tears? Can you imagine that we are having fear day and night? Just imagine, while we are counting our dead in hundreds and the wounded in thousands, and while we are under fire with Cobra helicopters, Rockets and 500 mm machine guns and even tanks, only few kilometers away the Israeli people are drinking coffee or beer in the street cafes? .
I know that Sweden was very much involved in backing up the resistance movement during Second World War. I also know that Sweden gave Willi Brandt asylum during that period also. What happened to Sweden 2000? I certainly do not wish you an occupation in Sweden at least not an Israeli one, because believe me it is the worst of its kind? However your country fellows seem also to have calculated this possibility. That is why when you open the last page of your telephone book you read:" what you should do in case of occupation" I do not need to recite all of what your country has written, you must as representative of Sweden know it by heart. Do you think that what your country wrote applies only for Sweden? Don't you think that what you wrote applies for all the people's of the world? If this should specifically not apply for the Palestinian people, please I advise you to write a small note at the end of each telephone book in Sweden" resisting occupation does not apply for Palestinians". We certainly do not want the impression to go around the world that Sweden has become hypocrite.
Dr. Majed Nassar
Deputy Director Union of Health Work Committees
Palestine e 21.10.2000P.S. I advise you also to go into the web site www.addameer.org/september2000
Yesterday, the Palestinian people experienced a turning point in their lives. The struggle of the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation has reached a new peak. The people witnessed a savage bombardment using tanks, rockets, and helicopters. 40 rockets were fired over Ramallah and another 90 over Gaza and other cities. Fortunately, no one was killed but numerous people were injured. Many buildings were destroyed. The main aim of the Israeli government is to break the spirit of the Palestinian people. Barak announced that this is only a token of what the Palestinians can expect. The other aim is to bring the Palestinians to the negotiating table before the Arab summit. In view of what is happening in the Arab World: the mass demonstrations, the increasing pressure over the Arab regimes, the closing of the Israeli office in Oman, the explosion of the US battle ship at the shores of Yemen, the explosion of the British embassy in Yemen too, and the recall of the Moroccan Ambassador back to Morocco, it becomes more important for the US government and Israel to defuse the Arab national movement that is rising.
What is going on at present is a clear attempt to contain the Palestinian resistance on the national, Arab, and international levels. The Unites States is white-washing the Israeli government. And at the same time the United States is forcing its hegemony and monopoly on the region. The threats given by the US to the Arab states, especially Egypt (Egypt receives US $ 3 billion yearly from the US) are loud and clear, to ensure that they dance to the US orchestra.
Robert Fisk wrote in his article from the 13.10.2000: "This is a story about lies, bias, hatred and death. It is about our inability -after more than half a century - to understand the injustice of the Middle East." Robert Fisk is right.The media is playing a dirty role. They are indeed diverting our minds from the truth. They are indeed the dispensers of the most obsequious and deformed information.
Given the scandalous number of Palestinian casualties and the increasing bloodshed throughout Palestine since 28 September 2000, and the numerous confrontations during the past one hundred years, is there a possibility to talk about a peace in the Middle East that overrides the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people?
The Oslo Agreement of 1993 came about in order to quell the Intifada of 1987, and brought with it not only the means to neglect the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people but also the placebo of self-rule. The country was torn into bantustans through the creation of areas A, B, and C, and the paving of bypass roads to further isolate Palestinian towns and villages. The settlements increased at breakneck speed. In addition, the Oslo Agreement tried to destroy the unity of the Palestinian people within Palestine and abroad. Since the signing of the Oslo Agreement, the Palestinian social and economic situation continues to deteriorate. The dividends of (Oslo) peace were not there.
The Israeli government viewed the Oslo Accord as an irresistible opportunity to coerce the Palestinians to sign a historic agreement sanctioning the imposition of its policies and programs and so-called "facts on the ground." With the decreasing momentum of the resistance movement and the increasing fragmentation of the Arab World, Israel and the United States seized this opportunity to employ the Israeli-American "solution" to end the conflict. The Israelis used the imbalance of world powers on the international and national levels to introduce their plan as the only viable solution. This plan is based on the following:
1. the transformation of Arab military defeats into permanent and fixed Israeli political victories;
2. the rejection of Israeli withdrawal to the borders of 4 June 1967;
3. the rejection of the Palestinian right to return;
4. the claim that Jerusalem is the united and eternal capital of Israel
5. the plan to keep the settlements in the West Bank and Gaza under Israeli sovereignty
6. the rejection of a sovereign Palestinian state;
7. Israel's complete denial to acknowledge its responsibility for the Palestinian disaster of 1948.
The present Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation stems from this reality. At the same time, "final status" negotiations are continuing in Washington to pass the final agreement with the help of a strong American lobby.
The new uprising of the last days has served to remind us of the simple fact that the conflicts and explosions occurring from Gaza to Nazareth and the Galilee and the Triangle, are nothing but a concentrated and significant expression of Palestinian resistance to Israeli oppression. In addition, they are a sign of the intense anger of the Palestinian people toward the so-called facts on the ground that Israel is trying to impose by force. In short, the Intifada is the Palestinian response to Israel's calculated plans to deny the rights of Palestinians and to force them to abdicate their legitimate political aspirations and expectations. For these reasons, the Oslo Agreement was a failure, even from the beginning, as it was used as a tool to break the Palestinian will and force an attitude of surrender.
Within the present context of violence and bloodshed, and taking into account its historical, political, and psychological dimensions, we must re-articulate the facts and the equations in order to reveal the situation for what it is. How can we explain the disproportionate violence of the Israeli army, with its concentrated use of rockets, combat helicopters, and tanks? How can we explain the open confrontation on the part of Palestinians and their readiness to die? How can we explain the explosion of Palestinian people in the cities and villages of 1948. What are the consequences of the mobilization of Arab peoples in various cities of the Arab World? What is the meaning of the signs of solidarity that we see in Europe?
These questions and others situate us squarely in the midst of a complex picture whose clarity must be restored once again, given the distortions that have been revealed since Madrid.
Of critical importance is the necessity to expose Israel's "understanding" of peace, namely, the exclusive imposition of its will and strategy to obliterate the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Israel's terms of reference are power, terror, and unconditional U. S. support. Any Palestinian attempt at resistance and refusal to bow to Israel's will must therefore be met with raw force and violence. This fact explains the political imbalance of the so-called peace process and reveals that the goal of the process is to impose surrender rather than peace. Israel attempted to impose a political settlement without taking into consideration the reality of the historic confrontation. Implicit in this reality are the historic roots, memory, civilization, and national depth of the Palestinian people. In other words, the logic of force and imbalance of power are unable to annihilate the rights of this people or its vision. This is what Jacques Chirac meant when he condemned Israel's policy against the Palestinian people, saying, "You cannot face the feelings of a people with tanks."
The extreme violence used by Israel against the Palestinian uprising is nothing but another attempt to coerce the world into buying into its understanding of "peace," namely, a peace based on surrender. Any attempt to reject this notion will be faced by destruction, rendering the Palestinian people impotent in front of the cycle of defeat and surrender. Peace, according to Israel, turns out to be a continuation of occupation and oppression.
The Palestinian people have lost their trust in the ongoing peace process. After waiting seven years, they found themselves even more stifled and paralyzed by Israel's "facts on the ground." The Palestinians have fought for over 50 years to defend their rights. At a certain stage they found themselves dealing with a peace initiative, but toward what end? Not only were they asked to give more concessions than they could reasonably give, but the reality of the situation was finally revealed: the peace process for the Palestinian people is, in fact, a process of selling out.. The West Bank and Gaza were torn apart into areas A, B, and C. The bypass roads fragmented cities and villages and transformed them into bantustans. Settlement activities are increasing as a consequence of this "peace initiative." Prisoners have become a bargaining chip in order to blackmail Palestinian leaders during negotiations. Jerusalem was simply removed from the equation. Millions of refugees and displaced persons have lost hope of ever returning, and have succumbed to the bleak reality that the Palestinian refugee camp is no longer a temporary but a permanent place to stay. Finally, nothing has changed in the treatment of the Palestinian people, in terms of movement, borders, house demolitions, etc.
While this is the undeniable reality, Palestinians are asked to accept this "peace" that is accompanied by violence and oppression. Palestinians have no other choice than to remind the world of this reality and to reveal the devastating consequences of deceit. The recent provocation of Ariel Sharon when he entered the Haram a-Sharif, claiming it was a "normal" visit of a "normal Jew" is nothing but a stupid move. But it was fuel enough to ignite the minefield.
Within the context of this tragic reality, Palestinians were again painfully reminded of their experience, their suffering, their stolen land. They were reminded of the "peace" that has been talked about ad nauseam but that remains an elusive dream. They were reminded of their former cities and villages and their present-day refugees….
The only option available to them was to enter into confrontation and resist occupation. Peace without Jerusalem is not peace. Peace without land and the right of refugees to return is not peace. Peace without an end to occupation and the removal of settlements is not peace. Well aware that confrontation means death, Palestinians find themselves in front of the choice to die surrendering, or to die resisting. This is the reason that an unarmed people can choose to face Israeli soldiers and be ready to die.
The Israeli occupation, moreover, has attempted to confine the conflict in terms of its own understanding of the balance of power and how to use it politically in the course of imminent elections. Sharon continues his provocation tactics in order to convince the Zionists that he is the one to lead them, and Barak responds with an even stronger extremism. Both are engaged in a competition to win the support of the extremist party. Within such a context, peace doesn't have a chance. ( the US presidential candidates behaved in a similar manner, competing who can be the better servant of Israel)
The killings of the past days are racial killings. For this reason, the Palestinians in Nazareth, Akka, Haifa, etc., have stood up to affirm their presence and their Palestinian nationality. The Intifada of the Palestinians from 1948 is not only an Intifada of solidarity but an Intifada for themselves. The Palestinian uprising confronts the world with the truth of what Israel is and the racist policies that are its foundation for survival.
Until now, more than 100 people have been killed and 3,000 injured. Where is it going to lead? And how far are we going to go? The Intifada might stop, and the process of negotiations might be brought back on track. Israel and the U. S. might even be able to impose new agreements, but that doesn't mean that the conflict is over. It is going to lead to a new cycle of Israeli violence and Palestinian resistance. Israel must reassess its calculations and realize that even its war cannot coerce the Palestinian people to surrender. The United States must also reassess its position regarding its biased support toward Israel and recognize that it cannot guarantee its personal interests in the region without guaranteeing the personal interests of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian Authority must also redo its calculations and learn from its previous lessons that the policy of continuous concessions only serves to increase the appetite of Israel and increases the situation of despair and mistrust among the Palestinian people. They all must be aware that the Palestinian people will not accept a peace without justice.
As long as Israel insists on imposing its terms and conditions on key issues (refugees, Jerusalem, settlements, etc.), and continues its policies of terror and killing and denying the legitimate rights the Palestinian people, it is only a matter of days, months, or years when the Palestinian people will stand up again to face Barak's tanks, airplanes, and fascist tactics. But even these tools of violence will not defeat the feelings and aspirations of the Palestinian people. The Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is the sole reason for all the bloodshed and suffering that is happening now. Taking all this into consideration, the Palestinian people have no other choice but to continue their resistance to the Israeli occupation until it is over.
Dr. Majed Nassar
Nassar Ibrahim
13.10.2000
Palestine
28 October 2000
Dear Friends,
Yesterday we in Beit Sahour were subject to four hours of continuous bombardment. Israeli helicopters, heavy machine guns, and tanks joined in strikes on the area to the east of Beit Sahour. Between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. we lived a nightmare of horror. At the same time, Beit Jala was hit badly. In the late afternoon of the same day, Ramallah witnessed the same experience, as did many other Palestinian cities.
Early this morning, I had to attend to some families whose main complaints were psychological damage. Fear, anxiety, and despair were their disease. Pale faces and crying people. Their children were playing around and looking at the metal debris strewn everywhere, the remnants of a rocket and shells and hundreds of little metal pieces. I tried as so many of their friends had, to comfort and to encourage them, to tell them that as long as no one was injured, this is only stone and bricks. I looked at their houses and I could understand what they felt. But what else can I tell them? I saw the walls filled with shrapnel like stars in the sky. I saw the walls cracked. I saw the ceiling damaged. The refrigerator was shot through. The closets burned. Even the clothes were shot through. All the windows were shattered. Huge holes in the walls showed the effect of the rockets or tank shells that went through. The shock is big. It's unbelievable that a only few people were slightly injured and no one was killed. I could also see it in their eyes: "Will the next time be the same? Will we be as lucky the next time?" Some of the families who live at the bombardment site have left their homes and are living with relatives inside the town. Israel uses this fact to disseminate poison throughout the media, saying that Palestinian Christians are leaving Palestine. Israel is repeating the incidents of 1948, and calling on people to leave their homes and properties because the Israeli army is going to destroy the area. The Palestinian leadership and all Christian leaders issued statements that WE ARE NOT LEAVING!
In the handbook of the Swedish Government (and also on the last page of each Swedish telephone book) we read in a section entitled "In Case of Occupation:" Do not believe what the enemy tells you."
We are here to stay. Here we were born and raised. This is our country, and we shall live here no matter how long the occupation continues and no matter how much rubble falls on our heads.
I have to admit that the Israeli artillery made us afraid. Only fools do not get afraid when they are subject to four hours of bombardment. But what did it achieve? Did it make us surrender? Did it make us weak? W e know that the aim of the Israeli bombardment is to impose their terms on us by force. They want to translate their force into political achievements. They are, in fact, going to inflict severe damage on us. If they only want to show us how strong they are, however, they succeeded. But we already knew that! Are they really trying to fool the world by showing that this is a war between two armies? That's more than ridiculous. We know how weak we are in terms of military capabilities, but also we know how strong we are because we have a case and a cause. We also know how weak they are because they are simply wrong and evil cannot prevail.
Dear friends, you all have the right to be worried. Our occupier is very vicious and brutal. I want to thank you all for standing in solidarity with us. Please continue. We will continue to do our best to see that the occupation is over. The quicker, the better.
Dr. Majed Nassar
Deputy Director Union of Health Work Committees
Palestine
Dear Friends
As I write these words to you, my friend, my colleague and my comrade Dr. Ahamd Maslamani, the director of the Union of health Work Committees is stationed with all our medical staff, together with many others from different medical organizations at the Haram Asharif. I just talked to him on the mobile phone and he told me that the clashes just started and 12 people were injured one of them a direct hit in the head. I have to admit that I am very afraid loosing him. The same I am afraid of loosing so many lives again and again. We are physicians and our duty is to save lives not loose them.
Yesterday we packed 20 packages of first aid material and distributed it to all our centers. This was made possible through a donation of world Vision/Jerusalem. Otherwise our supplies are coming to an end.
At the same time a young man from Bethlehem has been carried to his grave in Beit Sahour. He was shot yesterday in the chest. Thousands of people walked with him for the last time. So far over 73 were killed and over 2300 injured.
Thousands of people are demonstrating all over the world. In all Arab countries and in most of the European countries the people are outraged about Israel's brutality. People are outraged about Israel's negligence to real peace. People are outraged about themselves because they thought they could close their eyes to the injustice in the Middle East and think" peace' is finally in the Middle East.
Pointing the finger only at Sharon accusing him of provocation is very superficial to understand what is going on. And to accuse the Palestinian Authority of standing behind "riots" and behind "Arab mob" is falsifying the reality. (Which is nothing new for the Israelis and the American Media). Two things have to be mentioned: The Israeli Occupation is not over and was never over in the last 7 years. And second, the Oslo process did not fulfill what it claimed to stand for. The Israeli government and the American administration never intended to allow an independent and sovereign Palestinian state established. They were more interested in "ending" the conflict through creating small Palestinian Bantustans, completely dependent, politically and economically, on Israel and the United States.
Even the simplest issue within the Oslo agreement turned to be a bigger bargaining chip and was dissected each time to small fragments to reach an unacceptable stage. Since 1994, the Palestinians were witnessing on daily basis an increasing influx of more than 50000 Israeli settlers in the Occupied territories. The building of settlements is advancing at break neck speed. The bypass roads are killing our lands and fields. Over 800 houses were demolished. The economical situation in the West Bank is deteriorating. Over the last seven years the gross domestic product decreased by 20 %. The Paris economic protocol is nothing but imposed colonial hegemony. The visit of Sharon is nothing but a stupid move in the wrong place at the wrong time. He did it although he was advised not to do so. He coordinated with the Israeli government and was accompanied and protected by many soldiers. The eruption of protests is not targeting Sharon and his visit, but targeting the military occupation and the Israeli government that gave the orders to shoot. The protest is against the fact of occupation, as ugly as it is, and that this occupation must end. Israel has vehemently refused refused in the past, and still does, to take any responsibility for the desaster of the Palestinian people. Now Israel is refusing again an international investigation committee. We have to ask Israel ( and the United States) WHY? The picture of "the Palestinian" has been distorted over the time by the media. I wished people could have seen the young Palestinians storming an Israeli Army post in Gaza with nothing but their bodies and stones until they took down the Israeli flag. How much more does the world want from the Palestinians to pay? How many dead and how many wounded? How much grief and sorrow must the Palestinian people endure till it is over? How long can the government of Israel (Labor and Likud) fool its own people and drag them into a never-ending spiral of violence? As a physician it makes my heart cry for all the dead and wounded. And it makes me also cry louder to know that WE, the Palestinians, are still required to pay a higher price.
At this moment my thoughts are with my friend, Dr. Ahmad Maslamani, and with all those brave people who are with him. I know them all. May God be with them.
Dr. Majed Nassar
Deputy Director Union of Health Work Committees
Palestine 6.10.þ2000þ
28 October 2000
Dear Friends,
Yesterday we in Beit Sahour were subject to four hours of continuous bombardment. Israeli helicopters, heavy machine guns, and tanks joined in strikes on the area to the east of Beit Sahour. Between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. we lived a nightmare of horror. At the same time, Beit Jala was hit badly. In the late afternoon of the same day, Ramallah witnessed the same experience, as did many other Palestinian cities.
Early this morning, I had to attend to some families whose main complaints were psychological damage. Fear, anxiety, and despair were their disease. Pale faces and crying people. Their children were playing around and looking at the metal debris strewn everywhere, the remnants of a rocket and shells and hundreds of little metal pieces. I tried as so many of their friends had, to comfort and to encourage them, to tell them that as long as no one was injured, this is only stone and bricks. I looked at their houses and I could understand what they felt. But what else can I tell them? I saw the walls filled with shrapnel like stars in the sky. I saw the walls cracked. I saw the ceiling damaged. The refrigerator was shot through. The closets burned. Even the clothes were shot through. All the windows were shattered. Huge holes in the walls showed the effect of the rockets or tank shells that went through. The shock is big. It's unbelievable that a only few people were slightly injured and no one was killed. I could also see it in their eyes: "Will the next time be the same? Will we be as lucky the next time?" Some of the families who live at the bombardment site have left their homes and are living with relatives inside the town. Israel uses this fact to disseminate poison throughout the media, saying that Palestinian Christians are leaving Palestine. Israel is repeating the incidents of 1948, and calling on people to leave their homes and properties because the Israeli army is going to destroy the area. The Palestinian leadership and all Christian leaders issued statements that WE ARE NOT LEAVING!
In the handbook of the Swedish Government (and also on the last page of each Swedish telephone book) we read in a section entitled "In Case of Occupation:" Do not believe what the enemy tells you." We are here to stay. Here we were born and raised. This is our country, and we shall live here no matter how long the occupation continues and no matter how much rubble falls on our heads.
I have to admit that the Israeli artillery made us afraid. Only fools do not get afraid when they are subject to four hours of bombardment. But what did it achieve? Did it make us surrender? Did it make us weak? W e know that the aim of the Israeli bombardment is to impose their terms on us by force. They want to translate their force into political achievements. They are, in fact, going to inflict severe damage on us. If they only want to show us how strong they are, however, they succeeded. But we already knew that! Are they really trying to fool the world by showing that this is a war between two armies? That's more than ridiculous. We know how weak we are in terms of military capabilities, but also we know how strong we are because we have a case and a cause. We also know how weak they are because they are simply wrong and evil cannot prevail.
Dear friends, you all have the right to be worried. Our occupier is very vicious and brutal. I want to thank you all for standing in solidarity with us. Please continue. We will continue to do our best to see that the occupation is over. The quicker, the better.
Dr. Majed Nassar
Deputy Director-Union of Health Work Committees
PalestinePALESTINIAN RESISTANCE
