|
|
Blog Feeds
Anti-Empire
The SakerA bird's eye view of the vineyard
Lockdown Skeptics
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international edition
|
Brutal Force on International & Palestinian Medics national |
miscellaneous |
news report
 Tuesday April 16, 2002 16:23 by LorraineR - USI environment_usi at yahoo dot co dot uk USI,Grattan Street,Dublin 2 00353 86 6098656
 25 Internationals and 6 Palestinian medics some as young as 15, on route to Nablus from the camps at Askar and Balata were held for a couple of hours and then severly beaten by Israeli soldiers. Mobile phones, cameras and film were smashed by the soldiers even when in use. Ambulance Centre seems to be the only refuge for Palestinians and International aid workers.Their efforts today to deliver supplies to camps at Askar (which was attacked last night by shell fire) and Balata, was successful. However, their attempts to get back to Nablus was not easy. They were held and violently assaulted by Israeli soldiers,who only hours before seemed oblivious to their presence. The aid workers were held at a checkpoint for more than 2 hours, were the Israeli soldiers tried to separate the Palestinians from the Internationals.Dozens of rounds of bullets were fired above the groups heads. Some internationals tried to negotiate with the soldiers, however, various offers made by the Israeli soldiers left the Palestinian medics susceptible to violence. The Israeli soldiers grew tired of negotiation, resorted to separating the Palestinian men from the group.They proceeded to handcuff on the ground. They then threw a sound grenade and continued to kick and threaten all of the group. A Palestian doctor and British national were very badly beaten with bloody mouths and most of the group received bruises and minor fractures. Vaious compromise were suggested,one to allow the Palestinians to walk 50 metres ahead of the group with some international women. Another to have the Palestinians walk behind the internationals. The compromise that was eventually reached was that half of the internationals set to leave today gather their belongings from the Ambulance centre in Nablus and then return. Therefore ensuring a constant international presence. The group has returned to the Ambulance centre and all are ok. Despite the Israeli government declaring Nablus a demilitarised zone,5 tanks,4 APCs,2 jeeps,20 soldiers and 2 snipper positions were still observed by the group.
|
printable version
Digg this
del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Technorati
Facebook
Gab
Twitter
|
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (3 of 3)
Jump To Comment: 3 2 1FOLKS WAKE UP! The cameras are there, they just won't let us have the pictures.
The US has loads of super cameras in space.
The CIA, NSA and other agencies can see exactly what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza. Those cameras can't be kept out, so if the states wanted to clear up the argument as to what is/isn't happening, they could do it.
Probably not the best idea for Lorraine to mention her affiliation when what she is doign is relayign the report of someone else, rather than putting out her own statement, but in any case what she has reported is not nonsense.
Other internationals in the same situation are sending the same message home.
I'm not in USI and I don't care about USI, but fair play to Lorraine for passing on the info.
It's not like there's going to be a news crew around when the army is brutalising people, so this is how the news gets out... its indymedia remember.
What is the policy of USI on the Middle East? are we paying you to sit here and publish this crap?
You can be sacked for this, you know. Do you have a mandate as Env officer to take sides between Israel and Palestine?
Thank god we're getting out!