Today is the fourth day of the Israeli Army’s campaign of terror against the Old City of Nablus,during which ISM activists based in the city worked with Palestinian UPMRC (first aid)volunteers in the delivery of food and medicine to stranded households, rescuing theinjured, evacuating families from occupied houses and monitoring the activities of Israelitroops.
In their rescue operations they were frequently hindered by Israeli soldiers who denied themaccess to areas where wounded people were stranded.
On two occasions yesterday they were able to rescue families who called out to them from the topfloors of their occupied houses. With the ISM activists looking on, the families were able toescape from the houses without interference from the soldiers occupying the house. However,today they were unable to rescue a woman, her ten year old son and new baby from a house underoccupation by Israeli
special forces. The woman’s husband has been taken into detention by the Israelis and thesoldiers denied that the woman wanted to leave her home. When the activists insisted ontalking to her the soldiers took her to window while keeping her children in another room. Withthe soldiers standing behind her the visibly terrified woman, whose arm had been injured,told the activists that she didn’t want to leave. Later the soldiers vacated the house for thehouse across the road. They had been there only an hour when the activists arrived with a doctorwho had come to give a tranquilising injection to a hysterical teenage girl who wastraumatised by the soldiers’ behaviour but already the house had been thoroughlyvandalised. The family of eight were all being kept in a small room.
Last night the activists were fired upon by Arab mercenaries who were holding prisoner anambulance driver, and four UPMRC volunteers in the Hammam Shifeh bathhouse. This time themercenaries shot to kill rather than shooting over their heads or at the ground as it theirusual practice and the activists heard the bullets whistling past their heads. The ISM thencontacted Miri Weingarten of the human rights organisation, Physicians for Human Rights,who contacted the Israeli Army at 8.15 pm, informing them that medical workers were being heldas prisoners in violation of international law. The Army spokesperson calmly informed herthat they were aware of this and they would be released in 10 to 15 minutes. At 10 pm the activistswere told by the troops that they could retrieve the female UPMRC volunteer from thebathhouse.
When they did so the rest of the medical workers were led away to the interrogation centre atJamal Abd Nasser School. They were finally released from there at 2 am last night. It seems thatit is the Israeli Army’s strategy to round up for interrogation as many men as possible in thehope of recruiting them as informers.
This morning the Army expanded the focus of their operations from the east to the west of the OldCity but their tactics remained the same: human shields were made to walk before the soldiersas they conducted their house to house searches and made their captives stand in front of thebuildings as they ransacked homes, took away the men, occupied houses and confined theiroccupants in single rooms.
A new feature of the operation was that tanks based in the suburb of Ras El-Ain fired theirshells into the Old City. Their targets were not apparent those who witnessed the assaultsince there were no resistance fighters in the area.
This afternoon Tommy, a Danish journalist working with the ISM, and 15 UPMRC volunteers werebringing food to families living near the Jamal Abd Nasser School in the Ras el-Ain suburb. Theentire school has been turned into a military base by the occupying army who are being billetedin occupied houses surrounding the school. The families of these houses have not been allowedout to buy food since the invasion commenced. They found the streets around the school full oftanks, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and soldiers. At 4.40 pm they saw that four otherUPMRC volunteers were being held next to an APC so they approached to investigate. When theyarrived at the APC its commander immediately demanded to see Tommy’s passport. When Tommyhanded it over, the APC’s commander, Ariel Ze’ev emerged from the vehicle.
” Do you remember me fat-arse? ” he asked. ” You’re in big trouble now. “
Ariel Ze’ev headbutted Tommy at Azmut checkpoint two weeks ago and. He and his men are renown inNablus as among the most sadistic soldiers in the area. He has boasted to ISM activists that heis not human and enjoys making people suffer, has been seen by the activists beating women atAzmut checkpoint and has been known to roam the streets around his occupied house in search ofPalestinian children to take back and beat up.
The soldiers then took one of the UPMRC volunteers into the APC as a prisoner and then began totaunt Tommy.
” Am II getting my passport back? ” the journalist asked.
” No no no! ” Ariel replied. ” When I get asked about this I will say it was all a misunderstanding.Anyhow I’ve been missing you. I need something ugly to look at. “
” I haven’t seen you for a long time either, ” replied Tommy. ” I was beginning to think thatIsraeli soldiers weren’t that bad. “
” You never know when I’ll be back, ” replied Ariel. ” By the way, where’s Maria? I’ve beenmissing Maria. ” (Maria is another member of the ISM.)
Gradually, all of the prisoners were released except Tommy and Jaber Jowbreh, the UPMRCworker held in the APC.
When darkness fell Ariel told Tommy he could leave but that he would keep his passport.Unwilling to spend the night in such unwholesome company, Tommy left and is working with theDanish consulate to recover his passport.
After Tommy left Jaber Jowbreh remained unaccounted for several hours but, after acoordinated campaign by the ISM and the Israeli human rights group, Hamoked, to discover hislocation, he was released from Jaber Jowbreh prison at around midnight.
Two Palestinians were killed yesterday (a man and his grandson who were crossing the roadtogether) and two more killed today. One was killed trying to cross the street with his wife(who was injured in the same attack and is now in hospital). The other was shot dead by soldierswhen they saw him trying to close the door of his store, which had been damaged when the soldiersforced their way into the store on a previous occasion. The ISM are unable to determine thenumber people wounded over the past two days as they have been too busy to visit the hospital.
The Army claims that its operation in Nablus is intended to destroy the infrastructure ofterrorist (Palestinian resistance) groups operating in Nablus but, because the Old City wasnot sealed off before it was invaded, the resistance fighters were easily able to escape toother parts of the city . A more likely explanation for the operation is that it was intended toterrorise the city’s population into submission.
If this is the case then it seems to have been totally unsuccessful. Yesterday, 1,500 peoplegathered at a rally outside of the Old City organised by the Political Coalition (an allianceof Nablus community associations). This evening the Political Coalition coordinated aprotest involving the entire population of Nablus. At 8.30 the people of the city all came outonto their rooftops and to their windows and began to cry Allah Akhbar (God is Great), whistleand bang their pots and pans together.
The more daring then began to gather in the streets, in spite of the pouring rain, to shake handslight fires and march to the city centre as they were cheered from the windows and rooftops ofNablus. Tommy, accompanied the crowd which and reported that he felt carried along by thetremendous civic pride of the people of Nablus.
Though physically exhausted from their labours of the past four days and shocked by thesavagery of the violence that they have witnessed against defenseless civilians, thespirits of the ISM activists have been raised by this display of resistance by a city that isoccupied but nevertheless unconquered.
The attachment is a picture taken today of a soldier in Nablus guarding two of his humanshields.
For further information contact:
Tommy on 059 373 180 or
Maria on 059 381 803.
Michael
ISM Media Coordinator
Beit Sahour
Occupied Palestine
Phone: +972-2-2774602
Cell: +972-67-862 439
web: http://www.palsolidarity.org“>http://www.palsolidarity.org