INTERNATIONAL ACTION CENTER PALESTINE JOURNAL II Sunday, Oct 29, 2000
The following is the second report from 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. The Emergency is caused by the dual problem of the heavy casualties inflicted by the Israeli repression and the inability of sick and wounded people to pass through Israeli checkpoints on their way to the hospital. The IAC 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.
The International Action Center delegation held several meetings Oct. 29 with doctors, journalists and activists in the Bethlehem/Beit Sahour/Deheishe/Beit Jala area, and had a night-time tour of the frontlines of the struggle in a region which has been in the forefront of the new uprising.
The normally 30-minute trip from East Jerusalem to Beit Sahour took two hours, illustrating the high level of tension here. The van transporting the delegation was stopped three times at Israeli military checkpoints, once at an encampment of Israeli armor in the shadow of the Jabal Abu Ghneim, where the infamous Har Homa Israeli hill-top settlement is being built.
Usually, there are thousands of tourists in Bethlehem. Now, because of the Intifada—the Palestinian uprising—and the vicious reaction of the Israeli military forces, Bethlehem seems almost empty. By 8:00 p.m. there are no one in the streets, not even cars moving along. Lights are out. And the hotels are completely empty.
The delegation met with Drs. Naim Abu-Tair and Majed Nassar, president and deputy director respectively of the Union of Health Work Committees, and presented a donation of antibiotics, wound dressings and sutures to the organization.
The IAC delegates also met with Nassar Ibrahim of the Alternative Information Center, whose central office is in Bethlehem, and other activists from the area.
In the evening, the delegation met with Ziad Abbas, a key organizer in the Deheishe refugee camp, a camp renowned for its long and distinguished struggle against occupation.
Later, the group toured several Palestinian checkpoints in key strategic points bordering Areas A and C in the Bethlehem region. Area A is under Palestinian security as well as administrative control. Area C is territory in the West Bank that is under full Israeli control.
At several of the points, Israeli soldiers and settlers have been firing, including tank fire, into Palestinian towns in recent days, particularly Beit Jala and Beit Sahour. Dr. Nassar described it this way:
"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."
The Palestinian Authority forces patrolling these areas displayed a very high level of morale and determination to repel attacks. The delegation witnessed widespread damage from Israeli automatic weapons and tank fire, which had occurred in the past few days.
If you would like to arrange for a speaker from the delegation at your school or in your community, email iacenter@iacenter.org .
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