Fwd: Irish Anti-War Bulletin

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday July 31, 2002 23:56 by Paul Kinsella - Irish Anti War Movement paulkinsella53 at yahoo dot com 53 Lorcan Grove, Santry, Dublin 9, Eire 087 - 9748511

Fwd: Irish Anti-War Bulletin

Irish Anti-War Movement back on track.

Anti-War News 29.07.02

Friends,

I’m sure you’ve noticed that you haven’t been receiving regular anti
war
bulletins recently. Because of the holiday season the steering
committee of
the Irish Anti-War Movement has not been meeting up regularly.
However, we
are now back on track and are organising an AGM for all supporters in
Dublin
on Saturday August 31st. This meeting will be very important as it
will set
our agenda for the next period (possible war on Iraq, Nice Referendum
etc.).
Please try and come along – there are full details below. If you
would
like to come along to the steering committee meetings please email me
your
contact details & I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, apologies for the long period of email silence – below
please find a brief anti-war report and a report from Palestine from
Caoimhe
Butterley. Another email will be sent later this week with reports
from
International Solidarity Movement activists in Palestine, details of
the AGM
& information about the European Social Forum. Please email in any
anti-war
notes to be included in the email.

Best wishes,

Aoife Ní Fhearghail
On behalf of the steering committee
[email protected]

WAR DRUMS BEATING EVER LOUDER

As today’s Guardian reports, the daily beat of the Washington drum get
louder and more insistent. Bush has told US troops to be ready for
‘pre-emptive military action” against Iraq and plans are underway in
earnest
for his international ‘war conference’ in Camp David in October.
Despite
massive opposition to war on Iraq in Britain, Blair is looking at
committing
20,000-30,000 troops and the possibility of an emergency call-up of
reservists in September.

The 22 million people of Iraq have been devastated by more than a
decade of
genocidal sanctions, the effects of depleted uranium and a Gulf War
that
never really ended. They are now to be subjected to a massive air and
land
assault. In the 10 months since September 11 we have seen more than
5,000
civilians killed in Afghanistan, horrific Bush & Blair sponsored
violence
against the Palestinians, India & Pakistan on the brink of nuclear war
and a
whole-scale assault on civil liberties across the Western World - all
in the
name of the ‘war on terrorism’ and ‘enduring freedom’. And, while they
may
cry crocodile-tears for the dead in Gaza City, all of this has been
done
with the full-backing of the Irish government.

The AGM on August 31st will discuss how we can help stop this horrific
war.
Please make sure you come along and help build a massive anti-war
movement
in Ireland.

JENIN: PALESTINIAN WATERMELONS VS ISRAELI TANKS
by Caoimhe Butterly - July 22, 2002

There is a significant measure of resistance creeping back into the
people
of Jenin. They say: "We cannot live under 24 hour curfew, constantly
subject
to the gunfire of the Israeli soldiers, having our homes and shops
destroyed." So, many people-old to young, women to children-have been
throwing watermelons and tomatoes at the tanks as they roll through the
streets. One young boy successfully stuffed a piece of watermelon in
the
barrel of a gun on a tank. The desire to live in freedom is outweighing
their fears of death and so they resist with what they have.

One young boy told an international activist in the area: "The only
thing I
want in the world is to protect my watermelon stand. Please stay with
me."
Many fruit and vegetable stands have been run over by tanks in recent
weeks,
taking away the very livelihood of the people who sell from them. Local
estimates say that 20% of the inhabitants of Jenin Refugee Camp, only
three
months ago home to 14,000, have left the camp due to continued Israeli
military operations there.

Soldiers continue using dynamite to blow up homes in the camp at whim,
causing fear to grow and expand and forcing people to seek shelter
elsewhere. Men of all ages are continually arrested or detained,
beaten,
blindfolded, and handcuffed. For most of them, this is the second time
in
three months this has happened to them. Those who remain in the camp
are
still trying to pick up the pieces of their homes that were willfully
destroyed by soldiers when they entered the camp nearly three weeks
ago.
They went door to door, pillaging and destroying everything they came
across. At the time the soldiers entered the camp, most people were
still in
the process of picking up their lives from the large invasion back in
April.
They have had to start from scratch again.

Some prisoners taken in April have been allowed visits from immediate
family
members. This includes some of those held in administrative detention,
meaning they have not been charged with any crime but are generally
being
kept in prison for two three-month periods.

The Israeli military is still searching Jenin for two active resisters
to
their presence in the West Bank but is having trouble finding them. One
of
them comes from a very large family in the Jenin area. Many people,
therefore, carry the same family name. One man with this family name,
but a
very, very distant relative of the wanted person, was arrested the 20th
of
June 2002 and is being
given a four-month sentence because he belongs to this family.

Food trucks are often being hassled trying to enter Jenin. Some drivers
have
had to spend the night in their trucks-which are not fitted with
sleeper
compartments-due to the Israeli military holding them up. No reports of
people starving have surfaced but in the last three months, there has
often
been a skimpy amount of food available in the city.

The presence of international activists attuned to cultural and
situational
sensitivities in Jenin and the Jenin Refugee Camp has been able to slow
down
"the most brutal soldiers in the West Bank" as they continue beating,
killing, injuring and arresting the people of Jenin District. Due to
one or
two internationals continually standing between the Israeli soldiers
and
their targets-children- soldiers have largely changed their ammunition
from
live to rubber-coated steel bullets (which are still lethal at ranges
under
100m). Tanks and APCs continue to fire live ammunition exclusively.
International activists follow soldiers or tanks around as they move
through
the city or the camp,
trying to provide a constant presence and intervene where possible.
Physical
intervention has been undertaken numerous times by them, lessening the
severity of the beatings some Palestinians have received at the hands
of the
Israeli soldiers.

International activists have also been subject to beatings, verbal
abuse,
and one was drug on the ground recently. One Palestinian-Canadian was
detained for several hours Friday the 12th of July with many other
Palestinian men and later released. He witnessed 18-year old Israeli
soldiers slapping a 70-year old Palestinian man in the face while in
detention.

Resistance will continue to grow in the hearts of the people of Jenin
and
Jenin Refugee Camp due to the unsustainability of the living conditions
imposed on them by the Israeli military. Operation "Determined Path" is
planting seeds of hatred and despair in the hearts of Palestinian
children
through the destruction of their communities, homes, and families. The
first
stage of the Al-Aqsa intifadah may be over, but the next one is already
being born.