Internationals shot by Israeli Occupation Force in Nablus ,West Bank

by Mark T. - RJI Fri Nov 21, 2003 19:34 turnermtt at yahoo dot com

David,
First of all, let me start by saying that although your argument sounds cynical, I agree absolutely. Throughout the world, there is an extreme inbalace in perception concerning the value of human life. Furthermore, when an international activist is injured in the course of taking a stand against this type of injustice, world concern suddenly, and wrongly, shifts to the "poor, unfortunate American and Australian who so bravely risked all." Give me a break. The suffering in Balata Camp does not belong to the international activists. They are there in solidarity, guests to someone else's struggle. This is not a story about internationals, it should never become that. This is precisely what Josh and I expressed to every reporter, politician and activist we spoke with from our hospital beds. So why all the press? Because that little book with the stamps, the white skin, the wealthy countrymen back home, they represent an opportunity to bring the Palestinian plight to a new audience. We have more than an opportunity to use our insignificant bullet holes to our advantage; we have the responsibility. Our goal is to bring voices to the voiceless. If there is a gold standard of human life which dictates when people turn their ears towards Palestine, then we will usurp it from the masses and use it to teach people about this place.
Use your privelage as a weapon that will eventually wipe itself out of existence, when a human life is at last measured as gold no matter where it is lost.

by David C. Mon Oct 27, 2003 20:56

I think that in many places and with many peoples the human life exchange rate is 1:1, but the united states is not one of those places.

An inbalance in the human life exchange rate is unsustainable and will not persist, so the americans have a choice of either 1) helping to value the lives of others more, or 2) watching others devalue the lives of americans. So far it seems that they have chosen option number 2...

by Aron Baker Sun Oct 26, 2003 21:39

This was what the IDF press office reported to Haaretz, the local Israeli newspaper, which is still more questioning of army policy and government policy on the Palestinian issue than any main stream western media, it also publishes complete rascist rubbish aswell.

The sole report on Nablus in Ha'aretz, the main 'left-wing' Israeli newspaper:

00:59 Palestinians throw two explosive devices at IDF soldiers in Nablus; no injuries reported.

This is despite them stopping the ambulance and speaking to the 2 internationals.

by William Small Sun Oct 26, 2003 19:23 Seattle

a little on the cynical side?

But your comment does have a grain of truth.

The Gold Standard of human life is probably 1 US citizen.

Perhaps Providence writes straight with crooked lines.

We are now aware of the injustice of this situation due to the 'over-publicized' injuries of the activists.

by the wall with a ladder Sun Oct 26, 2003 03:29

Shit like this kind of puts the bourgeoisie socialist bikering about SIPTU elections into perspective.

My hats off to the Internationals, in Palistine oe where-ever.

by Aron Baker Sun Oct 26, 2003 01:10 baker_aron at hotmail dot com Balatta Refugee Camp, West Bank 087 2895036

A summary of the main events and other developments concerning the shooting of 2 internationals in Balatta refugee camp, West Bank.
Report on shooting of 2 internationals in Balatta refugee camp on 24th of Oct.

Yesterday at approximately 8:30 pm, the Israeli Occupation force came to the entrance of Balatta refugee camp. The incursion consisted of several jeeps and a humvee. They fired some rubber bullets as well as live rounds. They drove into the camp a short distance several times as well as top entrance and back down to the main entrance via the school and Mosque. Boys threw stones at the vehicles when they could, which of course results in no damage other than an occasional dent. The army shot and injured a small boy and a teenager with rubber bullets. The internationals proceeded to close to the main entrance of the camp, myself and another hanging back and 6 going forward, till they could be clearly seen by the army. The 6 positioned themselves in 2 groups on either side of the road to help prevent the shooting of children. Some army vehicles drove past the internationals less than 6 feet away, meaning it was impossible for them not to know of our presence. The army hung around for quite a while, sometimes shooting, during this period 1 molotov cocktail was thrown at a humvee and possibly 1 explosive device was also thrown towards them but neither seemed to do any damage, humvees and jeeps which they bring into the refugee camp are usually heavily armoured. The army then cut the power, we think they shot the transformer. The refugee camp instantly became very dark, most of the children started to run away, but before the internationals could react to this new situation the army drove up the main street, shooting live ammunition. At this point a bullet or several, fired from inside a jeep pierced the 3ft high, thin concrete block wall Mark and Josh were standing behind. Mark was struck in the upper leg, on his thigh, sweeping him off his feet. A bullet struck Josh’s left leg, cutting a long gash in his thigh and it then struck his other leg, where it became embedded, despite this he helped Mark into a local house where they received emergency medical treatment before being put in an ambulance, which often hover close by when the army is around knowing they usually injure somebody. Before the ambulance could fully leave the scene the army stopped the ambulance and opened the back, on seeing the internationals a soldier asked what were they doing in the ambulance, to which Mark replied that as the army had just shot them they were going to the hospital, to which the soldier replied that it wasn’t them. No gunfire had been heard from the Palestinian resistance, nor could the bullets have come from anywhere but the military vehicle. Another international, traveling with them demanded that the ambulance be allowed to go to the hospital, while Josh shouted at them to think about what they were doing.
When I reached the hospital they had had their wounds dressed temporarily and Josh had been x-rayed and it had been determined that he had a foreign object in his leg. The doctor applied a local anesthetic and proceeded to try and remove the object, which proved quite difficult and clearly caused Josh severe pain. Emitting details the doctor eventually removed a metal object, very jagged and flat, about ¾ inch by ½ inch, the doctor explained that it was certainly a bullet, and I guess had flattened on impact with other surfaces (passing through the concrete block wall). This left a deep hole in Josh’s leg, about 1 ¼ inches long by over ½ inch wide. Much of this was recorded on camera.
Later we left the 2 lads, as they received pain killers from the hospitals very limited supply.
During their drug induced sleep they were awoken at 3am, with flashlights pointing in their faces, they were extremely surprised to find M16s attached to these, being held by men in black ski masks. The 4 men in the room instructed them to stay quiet and raise their hands above their heads despite the fact they were lying wounded in bed. The Israeli soldiers kept their guns trained on the 2 internationals. They stayed occupying the hospital for a period of between 1 and 2 hours, where they terrorized staff and patients by forcing anyone who wasn’t a patient to lie on the floor and patients had to keep their hands raised. It is believed in the region of 100 balaclava wearing Israeli soldiers held the entire hospital hostage during this period, while they went from ward to ward keeping and breaking open doors etc. The 2 internationals, who where at this stage very fed up with the IOF as well as being under the influence of pain killers started to speak to their captors, asking if they had ever been shot, after some negotiation Mark was allowed to drop his arms to his sides and got the soldier to point his gun away from Mark but the soldier guarding Josh refused these requests. Josh later told me that he was never so terrified in his life as then as already having been shot that evening he had no belief that this soldier wouldn’t shoot him again. A commanding officer was brought to see them and again asked what they were doing there, as if it wasn’t obvious. Josh and Mark started to try and engage the soldiers, asking them if they had ever heard of the 4th Geneva convention, which invading a hospital is a clear violation of. The soldiers didn’t seem to have heard of it and laughed at them. Another soldier swept from ward to ward with a camcorder capturing the army’s dominance over the weak and sick occupants of the hospital. As the soldiers prepared to leave Mark and Josh’s room they were instructed to stay quiet and when Mark objected, his temper and nerves obviously stretched the soldier raised his arm above Marks prone head to hit him but settled for threatening him. After some time the soldiers withdrew from Mark and Josh’s room, which allowed Mark to switch on his camcorder to record voices at least, but the army left shortly after this taking at least 1 man with them. We later learned they also raided another hospital in the city taking 2 men, 1 seriously wounded which they had to disconnect from machines attempting to keep him alive.
Today we visited the lads and found them sore but in high spirits, in order to have oral pain killers the lads had to buy them in the chemist as the hospital had run out of them.
We think Mark may be released tomorrow, after they give him stitches, and Josh will receive stitches on Tuesday, but we’re not sure when he will be released, his mobility may be curtailed for awhile, but we expect him to make a complete recovery.
In the morning another man was brought in with bullet wounds, 3 shots in the back, he had been trying to go to work, near the village of Tell, close to Nablus, when the IOF shot him.

by David C. Sat Oct 25, 2003 22:52

Wow - two human beings who happen to own a little paper book of rubber stamps issued by a couple of rich countries were lightly injured? That's really important. Its an outrage. Something should be done.

Some lives are worth thousands and thousands of times more than others. Even a deeply discounted Palestinian life is worth hundreds of times more than a Congolese life or a Liberain life, although obviously not as much as an Israeli life, which itself is worth a little less than an american life.

Has anyone ever come up with an international exchange rate for human life? The data is probably available to do this (i.e. how much is spent to save how many lives. How much press per killing). The human life exchange rate could be published in the Financial Times, just like the monetary exchange rate. People could check it to see how much their life or the life of the people they control was worth on any given day.

by longer john Sat Oct 25, 2003 15:22

"The Israeli army's Winter 2004 collection will feature second-hand long johns bought from the US military, the Israeli daily Ma'ariv reported yesterday.

The second-hand merchandise will naturally be washed before being handed over to the men, an Israeli army official told the paper, stressing there was no shame in wearing used clothing and saving cash.

The defence budget underwent deep cuts this year as part of an overall austerity plan adopted by the Israeli government."

related link: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/23/1066631565093.html