Human rights abuses and horror stories
Ewen MacAskill
Saturday April 20, 2002
The Guardian
The Israeli reoccupation of Palestinian cities and towns has
seen a rise in incidents of alleged human rights abuses in the
West Bank.
Most of these relate to the curfews imposed in places such as
Nablus and Bethlehem. These incidents, normally unreported in
the media, are collated by human rights groups such as
B'Tselem, the main Israeli group focusing on the West Bank and
Gaza, and by peace activists such as Gush Shalom.
Many of the incidents are in the city of Nablus, which, along with
Jenin, has suffered most from the present Israeli offensive:
Qossay Abu 'Aisha, 12, was playing in his yard in the Askar
neighbourhood of Nablus on Tuesday. The yard is surrounded by
a two-metre high tin fence. Israeli soldiers, part of the force that
has reoccupied the city, opened fire, punctured the fence and hit
him with two bullets, killing him instantly. Source: B'Tselem
The curfew in Nablus was lifted between 2pm and 6pm on
Sunday. Mustafa Antar, 40, a married father of four from
A-Dahiya neighbourhood, went to visit his father and then bought
some food supplies. He shared a taxi home with three others. At
5pm a group of soldiers opened fire and he was hit in the neck.
According to doctors at the Rafidia hospital in Nablus, the injury
will leave him partially paralysed. Source: B'Tselem
Ibrahim Jabarin, 18, from the al-Arrub refugee camp, was in
Bethlehem on April 2 when the army imposed a curfew. He
attempted to return home on Monday when it lifted the curfew for
the first time for a few hours. At around 1pm, before the curfew
was reimposed, soldiers shot Jabarin and other civilians who
were out buying food. He is in hospital with a gunshot wound to
the leg. Source: B'Tselem
Dr Hameed Massri, a neuro-surgeon at the Nablus special
hospital, said yesterday that two patients had been buried the
day before after bleeding to death because the curfew meant
ambulances could not get through to them. Both had been shot
but the wounds would not have been fatal if they had been able
to reach hospital, he said. The dead, both from Nablus, were:
Amar Ali Salamah, 32, a carpenter, and Sakher Mohammed, 23,
a baker. Dr Massri said it was three days before the body of Mr
Mohammed, who was at home when he was shot, was taken
away by ambulance. And it was a week after Mr Salamah was
shot before his body was removed. Guardian interview
Four children, two from Qalqiliya and two from the village of
Qusra in Nablus district, suffer from a blood disorder that
requires regular transfusions. Because of the curfew, the
children have been unable to reach Al-Watani hospital in Nablus
for treatment. The children, when last contacted, were still
waiting to be taken to hospital. Source: Physicians for Human
Rights Israel
Tahani Ali Asad Fatouh, a pharmacist from Al Msakan Ash
Shaabiya in Nablus district, began having labour pains eight
days ago. Her husband, Dr Ghassan Ali Nashat Shaar, called
an ambulance to take his seven-months pregnant wife to
hospital. Because of the curfew, the ambulance could not make
it to the house and Dr Shaar delivered the baby with the help of
a neighbour. The delivery went smoothly but 30 minutes later the
baby's health rapidly deteriorated. Dr Shaar twice managed to
resuscitate his son. On the third attempt, the baby died. Tahani
Fatouh had become pregnant after four years of fertility
treatment. The hospital is just over a mile away from the
couple's home. Source: B'Tselem
A general practitioner from Bethlehem, who prefers to remain
anonymous, and her husband, a gynaecologist, share a clinic in
the al-Madabsa district. She said she received a call that Israeli
soldiers had broken in this week. When the curfew was
temporarily lifted, she went to check and found extensive
damage, including to a computer, telephones, windows, a
sterilisation machine, medical files and books, and a $20,000
ultrasound machine. Source: HaMoked - Centre for the Defence
of the Individual
Detainees update Israeli security forces are currently holding
2,521 Palestinians from the roundup in the West Bank over the
last three weeks. Human rights organisations are protesting over
huge number of arbitrary arrests. Source: HaMoked -Centre for
the Defence of the Individual
An inspection by staff at the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Centre
in Ramallah reveals extensive damage they claim was done by
Israeli soldiers. The centre was set up to preserve Palestinians'
cultural heritage. Staff say four offices were broken into and
vandalised. Source: A Laidi, KSCC director
The stories above were put to the Israeli foreign ministry for
comment. A spokesman said: "The Palestinians are spreading
rumours about atrocities, rumours about the behaviour of the
army that are completely fake and exaggerated.
"I am not claiming that there is no suffering to Palestinian people
throughout this period and through Israeli activities. We are
speaking about a war. We are not speaking about a crime
situation in Harlem. It is war.
"The terrorists are operating in areas populated by Palestinians."
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