Israeli Military Shoots Another Peace Activist;
British Man Pronounced "Clinically Dead"
"Israeli troops shot and critically wounded a 21-year-old British peace activist helping Palestinian children cross a street under gunfire Friday, fellow activists and hospital officials said," the Reuters news agency reported.
"Tom Handoll was one of 12 members of the International Solidarity Movement who Thursday went to the Rafah refugee camp on the Egyptian border to protest at continued Israeli shooting in the area, said ISM member Nick Smith," according to Reuters.
Reuters reports that the director of the Rafa hospital has said that Handoll is "clinically dead" after sustaining brain damage.
The ISM is a "Palestinian-led movement of Palestinians and internationals working to raise awareness of the struggle for Palestinian freedom and an end to Israeli occupation." On Saturday, Brian Avery, an ISM volunteer from New Mexico, was shot in the face by the Israeli military.
The following are available for interviews:
CINDY and CRAIG CORRIE, rachelsmessage@the-corries.com,
http://www.rachelcorrie.com
The Corries are the parents of Rachel Corrie, an ISM volunteer who was killed on March 16; she was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer while she was trying to prevent the demolition of the home of a Palestinian doctor, also in Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
HUWAIDA ARRAF, huwaidaa@yahoo.com,
http://www.palsolidarity.org
Arraf is an activist with the International Solidarity Movement.
PHAN NGUYEN, nguyenp@evergreen.edu
Nguyen is an ISM volunteer who last April witnessed a shooting of another volunteer by an Israeli soldier.
For more information, contact Sam Husseini or David Zupan,
Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
Statement from the International Solidarity Movement
Friends,
Our friend and colleague Tom Hurndall lies comatose – “clinically dead” in Saroka Hospital; Brian Avery has just undergone reconstructive surgery in his face, and will have to undergo a series of reconstructive surgeries over the next few months to repair his face from the bullet that shattered it; Rachel Corrie died almost instantly after being crushed by a gigantic bulldozer, but her memory lives on in all those working for peace and human rights.
Three serious injuries and deaths in less than four weeks to nonviolent peace activists. Three individuals, clearly visible and identifiable, posing no threat to the security of Israeli soldiers in their tanks, bulldozers and military guard towers The kind of violence that we have been working to prevent and end, is now being directed at us. This is the kind of violence that anyone living or residing even temporarily in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is daily witness to. We know that we are operating in a racist system, not only within the Israeli military but also in the international community. We know that Palestinians that are beaten, randomly arrested and shot down are not paid attention to. Israeli soldiers have no problem disregarding Palestinian human rights and the international community has shown zero willingness to hold Israel accountable for the well-being of the Palestinian people and for violations of their basic rights. It is this kind of blatant disregard for human life based on religion and ethnicity that we have been combating with our actions and our message. It is for this reason that international peace activists have joined us in the Occupied Territories – to use their voice and their bodies to send a message to the Israelis and to the world. Due to the failure of the international community to provide a protection force for the Palestinian people who have long been pleading for international help, and in light of the US veto on the resolution to send an international monitoring force to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to witness the reality of the situation on the ground, international civilians from all over the world have stepped in.
People from around the world have given of their hearts and minds to be with us, knowing the danger involved yet believing in the justness of the cause. The international volunteers of the International Solidarity Movement count on their governments and on you not to stay silent when unarmed civilians are shot down – we are counting on you now..
We have no plans to abandon our efforts and we renew our call for you to join us if you can. If you can’t please consider one or more of the following actions to support our work:
1) In the United States the Corrie family is asking for an independent US investigation into the killing of their daughter Rachel. So far the United States Government has refused to conduct this investigation, stating that they are confident that Israel will conduct a thorough investigation. Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA) introduced House Concurrent Resolution 111, which calls for a US investigation. However, unless this resolution gets more co-sponsors and widespread support, it will not go anywhere. Though the resolution does not condemn or otherwise address Israel’s policy of home demolitions nor the Israeli occupation and US support for, the ISM hopes that a prompt and fair investigation into the circumstances of Rachel’s killing will open the doors for these larger oppressive policies that Rachel was killed fighting, can be addressed. Please help us get H.Con.Res.111 passed by contacting your congressional representative and asking them to support this.
For more information, see: http://www.palsolidarity.org
"Lobby for an investigation into Rachel's Death" and http://www.palsolidarity.org/rachel/rachel_petition_HR1111.pdf
2) Please contact your State Departments or Foreign Ministries and ask that action be taken to stop Israel’s targeting of innocent, unarmed civilians, whether Palestinian or international peace activists. Call on your foreign ministries to raise this issue with the Israeli Ambassador in your country. Rachel or Tom could have also been French, Belgian, Italian, Canadian, Swedish, South African, Japanese, or one of dozens of other nationalities that have stood with and protected Palestinians. The contact information for the US Department of State and the British Foreign Office who have an extra responsibility since their citizens have been seriously injured or killed from these policies and their failure to hold Israel accountable, are listed below.
If you are Israeli, contact members of Knesset and demand an end to the violence of occupation. http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/telephones_eng.asp
United Kingdom
Human Rights Department
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH
By telephone: +44(0)207 008 3000 or use the following link:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390545
You can also access contact information for your Member of Parliament at: http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/alms.htm#s
United States
US Department of State
Bureau of Near East Affairs
Office of Public Affairs
Tel: 202-647-5150
Tel: 202-736-4995 ask for Kim Richter
secretary@state.gov
askpublicaffairs@state.gov or use the following link:
http://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_foreign.html
3) The Christian Peacemaker Teams, partners in the International Solidarity Movement, have called on their supporters to wear bright orange vest for this week. Please consider wearing bright orange, and reflective vests if you can, to your work, school, and places of worship and inform others of the deliberate targeting by the Israeli military of innocent civilians and unarmed peace activists.
We thank you for being with us, for your words of condolence, your encouragement and your support.
In solidarity & struggle,
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
info@palsolidarity.org
http://www.palsolidarity.org
=====================
12 April, 2003
Statement on the Shooting of Tom Hurndall
ISM team in Rafah
photos available at http://www.palsolidarity.org
for video footage, please contact the Reuters News Agency
On 11 April 2003, 10 members of the International Solidarity Movement in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine, were planning to set up a tent in an area that an Israeli tank often uses to shoot into the houses and streets of a refugee camp called Yibna. Several Palestinian community members had initiated the project, gathered the supplies, and accompanied us to the area at around 4:30PM. When we arrived to the area, the tank was already there and had been shooting into the street. A nearby Israeli security tower had also joined in and was firing repeated, single, sniper shots.
An American international was accompanied by two Palestinians to go closer and get a better look at the area, and was wearing our trademarked fluorescent orange jacket with reflective stripes. The tank and tower fired live rounds at the ground and buildings on both sides of her, making her movement difficult. She quickly returned to the rest of the group, that was positioned behind a large roadblock, but in view of the security tower. We made a consensus decision to call off the action, and return the next day as the Palestinians were uncomfortable with the gunfire.
At about 4:45PM, Shots began to hit the buildings and street around us, and we became concerned for some children who were playing on the roadblock near us. Many had scattered, but a few were left. Thomas Hurndall, a 21 year old activist from London, UK noticed that one small boy was still on the mound and under fire. He quickly lifted the boy and moved him behind the roadblock. Tom was about to leave, when he noticed two small girls still in front of the roadblock and in the line of fire.
He was moving to help them when an Israeli soldier in the tower, about 300 meters in front of him shot a high calibre sniper bullet directly into his head. He was wearing an orange fluorescent jacket with reflective stripes, and was in full body view of the tower. The British Embassy had been informed of his presence, who had in turn informed the Israeli Military.
Palestinians lifted his body and moved him to the pavement about 5 meters behind the roadblock. Two trained medics administered first-responder medical treatment, and used safety pads to try and stop the bleeding. Palestinians then lifted him into a nearby taxi and rushed him to Al N'gar Hospital. On the way, they took care to try and stop the bleeding.
At around 5:15PM, he was transferred in an ambulance to Europa Hospital in Khanunis. It takes about 30 minutes for an ambulance to get there as there is an Israeli road block on the main road. Without this obstruction it would only take 7 minutes.
After much negotiation with the British Embassy and the Israeli military, Tom was taken to a nearby Israeli settlement from which he was taken by helicopter to Saroka Hospital in B'er Sheva, Israel. He is currently on full life support and in a head cast. Several of his friends have joined his bedside, and his parents are on the way.
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
http://www.palsolidarity.org
"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." Robert F. Kennedy
Yebna, Rafah
Israeli soldiers shoot another ISM activist in the head
Between 4:30 and 5:00 PM Thursday, Israeli snipers shot another ISM activist in the head. Tom Hundall from Manchester Britain is currently in critical condition in a helicopter on his way from Europa Hospital in Khan Younis to a hospital in Bir Sheva. He is 22 years old.
According to Laura, the activists were being shot at while protecting some children from Israeli gunfire. Tom was in plain view of the sniper towers and was wearing a bright orange fluorescent jacket with reflective stripes. The nine ISM activists and many children were in the process of leaving the area. Sniper fire from the tower was hitting the wall close beside the children, who were afraid to move. Tom was attempting to bring them to safety when he was shot. There was no shooting or resistance coming from the Palestinian side at all.
According to Laura, the plan had been to put up a tent where a tank parks itself every night in front of a Mosque. The soldiers in the tank shoot down the street, terrorizing people who come to pray. The group had discovered earlier that the tank was already in place and had begun firing into the air. The Palestinian organizers felt the plan had become unworkeable, and the action was abandoned.
Laura and two Palestinians decided to go assess the situation. She soon realized that the tank had moved from where it had been. It was now possible to set up the tent. She spoke to Tom D by phone and they decided to meet at the roadblock. The Israeli snipers in the eastern tower began shooting in Laura’s path.
When they arrived at the roadblock, the rest of the group was already there. The snipers began firing again: this time at the wall of the building next to the activists. As a result, the group began the process of leaving.
Tom saw a little boy in an open space, clearly visible to the tower. Tom went to get him out of the way. He looked back and saw two more girls whom he also went to retrieve. As he went to get them, he was shot in the back of the head. He fell to the ground in a pool of blood. The ambulance arrived quickly, after about two minutes.
For years the Israeli army has killed Palestinian civilians with impunity. Now they are targeting unarmed international peace activists and human rights workers. On March 16, Rachel Corrie was run over and killed by a bulldozer operator in Rafah while trying to prevent home demolitions. On April 5, in Jenin, Brian Avery was shot in the face by an APC in an unprovoked attack on a clearly unarmed group of internationals. Six months ago in Jenin, Caoimhe Butterly was shot in the leg and UN official Ian Hook was murdered.
We ask the world community to stand up and demand that Israel honor international agreements protecting civilians, whether they are internationals or Palestinians, and hold Israel accountable for these crimes against humanity. And we demand an end to the illegal and brutal occupation that these murders defend.
For more information contact:
Tom
ISM Media Coordinator
Beit Sahour, Occupied Palestine
http://www.palsolidarity.org
1. Tulkarem
2. Rafah
Undercover Israeli Special Forces assassinate 2, injure 4, Witnessed by ISM activists.
Tulkarem
April 10, 2003
On Thursday, On April 10, an undercover Israeli special forces team assassinated two Palestinian men in the middle of the lunchtime rush in Tulkarem’s downtown market area. The Israeli forces came dressed as civilians and were traveling in a Palestinian plated mini-van. At least two other Palestinian men were arrested, one of whom may have been injured. One man standing inside the hospital gate (approximately eighty meters away) at the time of the operation was shot in the leg.
Three ISM volunteers (two Americans and an Irish national) arrived on the scene minutes into the operation. They could see one man lying face down on the ground who appeared to be critically injured and demanded that an ambulance be allowed access to the wounded. Soldiers randomly fired towards the responding ambulance in the direction of the Tabbit Tabbit Hospital and Red Crescent Center, wounding a 23-year-old man standing in the ambulance receiving area. Meanwhile Border Police shouted at the activists and ambulance staff to stay away. Minutes later the dead, wounded and arrested men were dragged into a military ambulance and taken to the DCO.
A few hours later, shortly before 6PM, the same group was alerted to the presence of an APC and a Border Police jeep patrolling the streets near the house of one of the deceased men. At the time there was a funeral gathering taking place. After throwing tear gas at the local children, the APC parked outside the family’s house and demanded the IDs of the men inside. After checking approximately twenty men’s IDs and questioning one man, the army left the area. The funeral gathering then continued.
Israeli Army Shoots 2 More Civilians In Jibna, Rafah. ISM Activists Working As Human Shields In Area.
Jibna, Rafah
April 10, 2003
On the morning of April 10, Israeli soldiers shot and injured two civilian Palestinian brothers, both teenagers, in the Jibna area of Rafah, Palestinian witnesses say.
According to these witnesses, at 6:00AM, Mustafa Jaber, 19, was shot through the leg. Two and a half hours later his brother, Rushdi Jaber, was shot through the neck outside the local Mosque. He was walking to the Mosque to pray at the time. Rushdi is 15 years old and is in critical condition. His older brother, Mustafa, is expected to be fine.
The Israeli soldiers who shot the two brothers were occupying an abandoned house in the Block-J area of Rafah overnight. Both victims were unarmed and neither have been involved in any armed resistance groups. Prior to these attacks, there had been no shooting from the Israeli side; and there was never any fire from Palestinians.
The Jibna area of Rafah is a very dangerous place for the many Palestinians who reside there. Children still live in frontline homes riddled with bullet holes and pick their way through the rubble of their neighbours houses to go to school.
This is also the current site of construction of the "Iron Wall", for which the Israeli’s have taken the homes of more than 5,000 Palestinians in Rafah. These homes have been taken only because Israel has decided that it would be more convenient if these people did not live there. The residents have not been accused of being involved in any terrorist activity, nor have they ever been suspected of being involved in any terrorist activity. For many, it is perhaps the second or third time that they have become refugees.
Volunteers from the International Solidarity Movement this morning maintained a presence in the dangerous area, acting as human shields to make the street safer for people trying to live a normal life. Tonight, they will commence sleeping in the home of approximately 30 people, including the 2 wounded boys. The internationals will make their presence highly visible with a large group; using banners, reflective jackets and megaphones. Two activists will then stay in the house overnight for the forseeable future in order to deter the Israeli army from shooting into the house or demolishing it.
Every day in Jibna there is a tank which sits menacingly in view of the mosque. Every night it drives up next to the Mosque and shoots down the main street. There is no pretence that this is a military operation. Most of the time there is no-one to shoot at. The army wishes the population to leave, so they terrify them.
Tomorrow, in order to challenge the army's night-time terrorism, the activists will commence sleeping in a tent next to the mosque. In addition to preventing sporadic shooting, the activists hope to help the residents of Jibna to pray in peace. Obviously Rushdi, the 15 year old who was shot in the neck, was unable to do so.
Tom Wallace
ISM Media Coordinator
Beit Sahour, Occupied Palestine
http://www.palsolidarity.org
The Palestine Monitor
A PNGO Information Clearinghouse
Update
Second Israeli assassination in past two days leaves seven Palestinians dead
9 April 2003
Israeli soldiers last night claimed the latest victims of their policy of extra judicial execution. Witnesses report at 8PM Israeli helicopters and F16s were heard flying over Gaza city. The helicopters then fired a missile at a Palestinian car; after the first missile apparently failed to explode a second missile was fired at the same car killing two people, Sa'ad Ad-Din Al-Arabeit, 35 years old from As-Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza city and his
aide, 25 year old Ashraf Al-Halabi from As-Shata refugee camp.
According to a local eyewitness, "After the attack dozens of residents from the area went outside to investigate and see if they could help in some way, when the helicopters came back and fired two additional missiles at the crowd." This second attack killed five Palestinians, including two children; 13 year old Ahmad Hamsa Al-Ashraf and 16 year old Sami Hasan Qassem, both from the Zeitouna neighbourhood. According to Gazan doctors, the bodies of all five were riddled with shrapnel from the missiles. 47 other Palestinians were wounded in the attack, five of whom remain in intensive care.
This brings the total to 214 Palestinians who have died in Israeli extra judicial executions; 120 of whom were not the targets of the attacks, including 27 children.
This morning in Beit Hanoun, also in the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops killed Omar Al-Hindi, 21, during their invasion of the Palestinian town. In the past two months Israel troops have repeatedly entered Palestinian towns, both in the West Bank and Gaza, killing scores of non-combatants and destroying Palestinian homes and property.
For more information contact: The Palestine Monitor
http://www.palestinemonitor.org
Bulldozers Pushing the Envelope in Mas'ha
Mas'ha
9 Apr. 03
Anna could hear the contractor instructing the bulldozer driver to bulldoze the camp in general and Anna in particular. I wonder if the driver who killed Rachel got an order like that. After all, he was a soldier and is supposed to just carry out orders. According to the driver himself, "I only stop if I'm ordered to stop".
Instead of bulldozing either Anna or the camp, the driver today in Mas' Ha came within inches. So maybe they can see. Anna and the camp held it's ground. Not being satisfied with that, the driver began swearing at Anna and took down twelve extra trees as punishment for the activists interference. Anna is one of many International activists that have joined Palestinians and Israelis to say no to the "wall" being built by Israel. The Israeli's refer to it as a
"security wall", the Palestinians and Internationals, refer to it as the
"apartheid wall" A peace camp has been set up in Mas'ha to stop the wall.
The Israeli government justifies the building of the wall as a means of securing its people from the threat of Palestinian terrorism. If this were the case the logical place to erect it would be along the Green Line separating Israel from the Occupied West Bank. Instead the wall is being built well inside the West Bank in what is clearly an attempt to grab as much Palestinian land as possible for Jewish settlements. It also strangles many towns and villages by cutting the people off from their land. Their only option then becomes evacuation.
For further information on the Peace Camp contact:
The Alternative Information Centre on
http://www.alternativenews.org/
The ISM Media Office
http://www.palsolidarity.org
The IWPS
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/iwps/
Tom Wallace
ISM Media Coordinator
The Palestine Monitor
A PNGO Information Clearinghouse
http://www.palestinemonitor.org
Update
Assassination in Salfeet
8 April 2003
Israeli troops yesterday raised the level of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian security sources, yesterday afternoon Israeli Special Forces, dressed in women's clothes entered the Palestinian town of Salfeet. Upon reaching the center of town they opened fire on 23 year old Badr Abdel Raouf Yassin, killing him. Assassinations have been used by the Israeli government and military throughout the intifada in order to provoke a Palesinian response when the situation could be described as relatively calm. Yassin was the 207 victim of the Israeli policy of extra-judicial executions, which are illegal under international law; 87 of the victims were not the "targets" of the attack, and 25 of them were children.
Israeli soldiers also attacked and killed a Palestinian youth in the Sheikh Ajleen region to the south of Gaza city. 17 year old Taleb Jumaa Badreya Shamalkh, was working in his fields when Israeli soldiers from the near by settlement of Netzarim opened fire on him, shooting him in the stomach with live ammunition. In a similar event last week Israeli soldiers defending a settlement shot and killed 16 year old Muhammad Tafish was while he and friends were out collecting birds. The fact that these types of incidences are so rarely investigated by the Israeli military means that Israeli soldiers act with impunity - making these types of killings all too common.
In Nablus Israeli troops arrested four Palestinians and then dynamited the house from which they were taken. A house was destroyed in Salem village near Nablus, after troops arrested one man and evacuated the other inhabitants. Unarmed confrontations broke out as the troops were withdrawing - youths began to throw stones and the soldiers opened fire on them, injuring at least three Palestinians, one with live ammunition to his abdomen.
In the Issaweih suburb of Jerusalem, Israeli police and border police oversaw the demolishing of four Palestinian homes. Due to a strike in the Jerusalem municipality, special personnel were hired to destroy the houses, which were home to 33 people. Residents said that they had tried unsuccessfully to get permission for the building of the houses. According to residents the people from Issaweih own approximately 3,000 dunums of land in the area, but the Israeli authorities permit them to build on only 606 dunums. Serious overcrowding threatens the community which is not permitted to expand to accommodate natural growth. The area, which is between the Jerusalem settlement of Ma'ele Adumin and Jerusalem, has had many houses destroyed in the past; three years ago 36 homes were demolished, and already this year 25 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem have been demolished adding to the hundreds of Palestinian homes that have been demolished throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
For more information contact:
The Palestine Monitor
http://www.palestinemonitor.org
International Solidarity Movement:
http://www.palsolidarity.org
Electronic Intifada:
http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml
Palestine Chronicle:
http://www.palestinechronicle.com
British Man Pronounced "Clinically Dead"
"Israeli troops shot and critically wounded a 21-year-old British peace activist helping Palestinian children cross a street under gunfire Friday, fellow activists and hospital officials said," the Reuters news agency reported.
"Tom Handoll was one of 12 members of the International Solidarity Movement who Thursday went to the Rafah refugee camp on the Egyptian border to protest at continued Israeli shooting in the area, said ISM member Nick Smith," according to Reuters.
Reuters reports that the director of the Rafa hospital has said that Handoll is "clinically dead" after sustaining brain damage.
The ISM is a "Palestinian-led movement of Palestinians and internationals working to raise awareness of the struggle for Palestinian freedom and an end to Israeli occupation." On Saturday, Brian Avery, an ISM volunteer from New Mexico, was shot in the face by the Israeli military.
The following are available for interviews:
CINDY and CRAIG CORRIE, rachelsmessage@the-corries.com,
http://www.rachelcorrie.com
The Corries are the parents of Rachel Corrie, an ISM volunteer who was killed on March 16; she was crushed by an Israeli army bulldozer while she was trying to prevent the demolition of the home of a Palestinian doctor, also in Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
HUWAIDA ARRAF, huwaidaa@yahoo.com,
http://www.palsolidarity.org
Arraf is an activist with the International Solidarity Movement.
PHAN NGUYEN, nguyenp@evergreen.edu
Nguyen is an ISM volunteer who last April witnessed a shooting of another volunteer by an Israeli soldier.
For more information, contact Sam Husseini or David Zupan,
Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org
Statement from the International Solidarity Movement
Friends,
Our friend and colleague Tom Hurndall lies comatose – “clinically dead” in Saroka Hospital; Brian Avery has just undergone reconstructive surgery in his face, and will have to undergo a series of reconstructive surgeries over the next few months to repair his face from the bullet that shattered it; Rachel Corrie died almost instantly after being crushed by a gigantic bulldozer, but her memory lives on in all those working for peace and human rights.
Three serious injuries and deaths in less than four weeks to nonviolent peace activists. Three individuals, clearly visible and identifiable, posing no threat to the security of Israeli soldiers in their tanks, bulldozers and military guard towers The kind of violence that we have been working to prevent and end, is now being directed at us. This is the kind of violence that anyone living or residing even temporarily in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is daily witness to. We know that we are operating in a racist system, not only within the Israeli military but also in the international community. We know that Palestinians that are beaten, randomly arrested and shot down are not paid attention to. Israeli soldiers have no problem disregarding Palestinian human rights and the international community has shown zero willingness to hold Israel accountable for the well-being of the Palestinian people and for violations of their basic rights. It is this kind of blatant disregard for human life based on religion and ethnicity that we have been combating with our actions and our message. It is for this reason that international peace activists have joined us in the Occupied Territories – to use their voice and their bodies to send a message to the Israelis and to the world. Due to the failure of the international community to provide a protection force for the Palestinian people who have long been pleading for international help, and in light of the US veto on the resolution to send an international monitoring force to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to witness the reality of the situation on the ground, international civilians from all over the world have stepped in.
People from around the world have given of their hearts and minds to be with us, knowing the danger involved yet believing in the justness of the cause. The international volunteers of the International Solidarity Movement count on their governments and on you not to stay silent when unarmed civilians are shot down – we are counting on you now..
We have no plans to abandon our efforts and we renew our call for you to join us if you can. If you can’t please consider one or more of the following actions to support our work:
1) In the United States the Corrie family is asking for an independent US investigation into the killing of their daughter Rachel. So far the United States Government has refused to conduct this investigation, stating that they are confident that Israel will conduct a thorough investigation. Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA) introduced House Concurrent Resolution 111, which calls for a US investigation. However, unless this resolution gets more co-sponsors and widespread support, it will not go anywhere. Though the resolution does not condemn or otherwise address Israel’s policy of home demolitions nor the Israeli occupation and US support for, the ISM hopes that a prompt and fair investigation into the circumstances of Rachel’s killing will open the doors for these larger oppressive policies that Rachel was killed fighting, can be addressed. Please help us get H.Con.Res.111 passed by contacting your congressional representative and asking them to support this.
For more information, see: http://www.palsolidarity.org
"Lobby for an investigation into Rachel's Death" and http://www.palsolidarity.org/rachel/rachel_petition_HR1111.pdf
2) Please contact your State Departments or Foreign Ministries and ask that action be taken to stop Israel’s targeting of innocent, unarmed civilians, whether Palestinian or international peace activists. Call on your foreign ministries to raise this issue with the Israeli Ambassador in your country. Rachel or Tom could have also been French, Belgian, Italian, Canadian, Swedish, South African, Japanese, or one of dozens of other nationalities that have stood with and protected Palestinians. The contact information for the US Department of State and the British Foreign Office who have an extra responsibility since their citizens have been seriously injured or killed from these policies and their failure to hold Israel accountable, are listed below.
If you are Israeli, contact members of Knesset and demand an end to the violence of occupation. http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/telephones_eng.asp
United Kingdom
Human Rights Department
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH
By telephone: +44(0)207 008 3000 or use the following link:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390545
You can also access contact information for your Member of Parliament at: http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/alms.htm#s
United States
US Department of State
Bureau of Near East Affairs
Office of Public Affairs
Tel: 202-647-5150
Tel: 202-736-4995 ask for Kim Richter
secretary@state.gov
askpublicaffairs@state.gov or use the following link:
http://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_foreign.html
3) The Christian Peacemaker Teams, partners in the International Solidarity Movement, have called on their supporters to wear bright orange vest for this week. Please consider wearing bright orange, and reflective vests if you can, to your work, school, and places of worship and inform others of the deliberate targeting by the Israeli military of innocent civilians and unarmed peace activists.
We thank you for being with us, for your words of condolence, your encouragement and your support.
In solidarity & struggle,
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
info@palsolidarity.org
http://www.palsolidarity.org
=====================
12 April, 2003
Statement on the Shooting of Tom Hurndall
ISM team in Rafah
photos available at http://www.palsolidarity.org
for video footage, please contact the Reuters News Agency
On 11 April 2003, 10 members of the International Solidarity Movement in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine, were planning to set up a tent in an area that an Israeli tank often uses to shoot into the houses and streets of a refugee camp called Yibna. Several Palestinian community members had initiated the project, gathered the supplies, and accompanied us to the area at around 4:30PM. When we arrived to the area, the tank was already there and had been shooting into the street. A nearby Israeli security tower had also joined in and was firing repeated, single, sniper shots.
An American international was accompanied by two Palestinians to go closer and get a better look at the area, and was wearing our trademarked fluorescent orange jacket with reflective stripes. The tank and tower fired live rounds at the ground and buildings on both sides of her, making her movement difficult. She quickly returned to the rest of the group, that was positioned behind a large roadblock, but in view of the security tower. We made a consensus decision to call off the action, and return the next day as the Palestinians were uncomfortable with the gunfire.
At about 4:45PM, Shots began to hit the buildings and street around us, and we became concerned for some children who were playing on the roadblock near us. Many had scattered, but a few were left. Thomas Hurndall, a 21 year old activist from London, UK noticed that one small boy was still on the mound and under fire. He quickly lifted the boy and moved him behind the roadblock. Tom was about to leave, when he noticed two small girls still in front of the roadblock and in the line of fire.
He was moving to help them when an Israeli soldier in the tower, about 300 meters in front of him shot a high calibre sniper bullet directly into his head. He was wearing an orange fluorescent jacket with reflective stripes, and was in full body view of the tower. The British Embassy had been informed of his presence, who had in turn informed the Israeli Military.
Palestinians lifted his body and moved him to the pavement about 5 meters behind the roadblock. Two trained medics administered first-responder medical treatment, and used safety pads to try and stop the bleeding. Palestinians then lifted him into a nearby taxi and rushed him to Al N'gar Hospital. On the way, they took care to try and stop the bleeding.
At around 5:15PM, he was transferred in an ambulance to Europa Hospital in Khanunis. It takes about 30 minutes for an ambulance to get there as there is an Israeli road block on the main road. Without this obstruction it would only take 7 minutes.
After much negotiation with the British Embassy and the Israeli military, Tom was taken to a nearby Israeli settlement from which he was taken by helicopter to Saroka Hospital in B'er Sheva, Israel. He is currently on full life support and in a head cast. Several of his friends have joined his bedside, and his parents are on the way.
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
http://www.palsolidarity.org
"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." Robert F. Kennedy
Yebna, Rafah
Israeli soldiers shoot another ISM activist in the head
Between 4:30 and 5:00 PM Thursday, Israeli snipers shot another ISM activist in the head. Tom Hundall from Manchester Britain is currently in critical condition in a helicopter on his way from Europa Hospital in Khan Younis to a hospital in Bir Sheva. He is 22 years old.
According to Laura, the activists were being shot at while protecting some children from Israeli gunfire. Tom was in plain view of the sniper towers and was wearing a bright orange fluorescent jacket with reflective stripes. The nine ISM activists and many children were in the process of leaving the area. Sniper fire from the tower was hitting the wall close beside the children, who were afraid to move. Tom was attempting to bring them to safety when he was shot. There was no shooting or resistance coming from the Palestinian side at all.
According to Laura, the plan had been to put up a tent where a tank parks itself every night in front of a Mosque. The soldiers in the tank shoot down the street, terrorizing people who come to pray. The group had discovered earlier that the tank was already in place and had begun firing into the air. The Palestinian organizers felt the plan had become unworkeable, and the action was abandoned.
Laura and two Palestinians decided to go assess the situation. She soon realized that the tank had moved from where it had been. It was now possible to set up the tent. She spoke to Tom D by phone and they decided to meet at the roadblock. The Israeli snipers in the eastern tower began shooting in Laura’s path.
When they arrived at the roadblock, the rest of the group was already there. The snipers began firing again: this time at the wall of the building next to the activists. As a result, the group began the process of leaving.
Tom saw a little boy in an open space, clearly visible to the tower. Tom went to get him out of the way. He looked back and saw two more girls whom he also went to retrieve. As he went to get them, he was shot in the back of the head. He fell to the ground in a pool of blood. The ambulance arrived quickly, after about two minutes.
For years the Israeli army has killed Palestinian civilians with impunity. Now they are targeting unarmed international peace activists and human rights workers. On March 16, Rachel Corrie was run over and killed by a bulldozer operator in Rafah while trying to prevent home demolitions. On April 5, in Jenin, Brian Avery was shot in the face by an APC in an unprovoked attack on a clearly unarmed group of internationals. Six months ago in Jenin, Caoimhe Butterly was shot in the leg and UN official Ian Hook was murdered.
We ask the world community to stand up and demand that Israel honor international agreements protecting civilians, whether they are internationals or Palestinians, and hold Israel accountable for these crimes against humanity. And we demand an end to the illegal and brutal occupation that these murders defend.
For more information contact:
Tom
ISM Media Coordinator
Beit Sahour, Occupied Palestine
http://www.palsolidarity.org
1. Tulkarem
2. Rafah
Undercover Israeli Special Forces assassinate 2, injure 4, Witnessed by ISM activists.
Tulkarem
April 10, 2003
On Thursday, On April 10, an undercover Israeli special forces team assassinated two Palestinian men in the middle of the lunchtime rush in Tulkarem’s downtown market area. The Israeli forces came dressed as civilians and were traveling in a Palestinian plated mini-van. At least two other Palestinian men were arrested, one of whom may have been injured. One man standing inside the hospital gate (approximately eighty meters away) at the time of the operation was shot in the leg.
Three ISM volunteers (two Americans and an Irish national) arrived on the scene minutes into the operation. They could see one man lying face down on the ground who appeared to be critically injured and demanded that an ambulance be allowed access to the wounded. Soldiers randomly fired towards the responding ambulance in the direction of the Tabbit Tabbit Hospital and Red Crescent Center, wounding a 23-year-old man standing in the ambulance receiving area. Meanwhile Border Police shouted at the activists and ambulance staff to stay away. Minutes later the dead, wounded and arrested men were dragged into a military ambulance and taken to the DCO.
A few hours later, shortly before 6PM, the same group was alerted to the presence of an APC and a Border Police jeep patrolling the streets near the house of one of the deceased men. At the time there was a funeral gathering taking place. After throwing tear gas at the local children, the APC parked outside the family’s house and demanded the IDs of the men inside. After checking approximately twenty men’s IDs and questioning one man, the army left the area. The funeral gathering then continued.
Israeli Army Shoots 2 More Civilians In Jibna, Rafah. ISM Activists Working As Human Shields In Area.
Jibna, Rafah
April 10, 2003
On the morning of April 10, Israeli soldiers shot and injured two civilian Palestinian brothers, both teenagers, in the Jibna area of Rafah, Palestinian witnesses say.
According to these witnesses, at 6:00AM, Mustafa Jaber, 19, was shot through the leg. Two and a half hours later his brother, Rushdi Jaber, was shot through the neck outside the local Mosque. He was walking to the Mosque to pray at the time. Rushdi is 15 years old and is in critical condition. His older brother, Mustafa, is expected to be fine.
The Israeli soldiers who shot the two brothers were occupying an abandoned house in the Block-J area of Rafah overnight. Both victims were unarmed and neither have been involved in any armed resistance groups. Prior to these attacks, there had been no shooting from the Israeli side; and there was never any fire from Palestinians.
The Jibna area of Rafah is a very dangerous place for the many Palestinians who reside there. Children still live in frontline homes riddled with bullet holes and pick their way through the rubble of their neighbours houses to go to school.
This is also the current site of construction of the "Iron Wall", for which the Israeli’s have taken the homes of more than 5,000 Palestinians in Rafah. These homes have been taken only because Israel has decided that it would be more convenient if these people did not live there. The residents have not been accused of being involved in any terrorist activity, nor have they ever been suspected of being involved in any terrorist activity. For many, it is perhaps the second or third time that they have become refugees.
Volunteers from the International Solidarity Movement this morning maintained a presence in the dangerous area, acting as human shields to make the street safer for people trying to live a normal life. Tonight, they will commence sleeping in the home of approximately 30 people, including the 2 wounded boys. The internationals will make their presence highly visible with a large group; using banners, reflective jackets and megaphones. Two activists will then stay in the house overnight for the forseeable future in order to deter the Israeli army from shooting into the house or demolishing it.
Every day in Jibna there is a tank which sits menacingly in view of the mosque. Every night it drives up next to the Mosque and shoots down the main street. There is no pretence that this is a military operation. Most of the time there is no-one to shoot at. The army wishes the population to leave, so they terrify them.
Tomorrow, in order to challenge the army's night-time terrorism, the activists will commence sleeping in a tent next to the mosque. In addition to preventing sporadic shooting, the activists hope to help the residents of Jibna to pray in peace. Obviously Rushdi, the 15 year old who was shot in the neck, was unable to do so.
Tom Wallace
ISM Media Coordinator
Beit Sahour, Occupied Palestine
http://www.palsolidarity.org
The Palestine Monitor
A PNGO Information Clearinghouse
Update
Second Israeli assassination in past two days leaves seven Palestinians dead
9 April 2003
Israeli soldiers last night claimed the latest victims of their policy of extra judicial execution. Witnesses report at 8PM Israeli helicopters and F16s were heard flying over Gaza city. The helicopters then fired a missile at a Palestinian car; after the first missile apparently failed to explode a second missile was fired at the same car killing two people, Sa'ad Ad-Din Al-Arabeit, 35 years old from As-Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza city and his
aide, 25 year old Ashraf Al-Halabi from As-Shata refugee camp.
According to a local eyewitness, "After the attack dozens of residents from the area went outside to investigate and see if they could help in some way, when the helicopters came back and fired two additional missiles at the crowd." This second attack killed five Palestinians, including two children; 13 year old Ahmad Hamsa Al-Ashraf and 16 year old Sami Hasan Qassem, both from the Zeitouna neighbourhood. According to Gazan doctors, the bodies of all five were riddled with shrapnel from the missiles. 47 other Palestinians were wounded in the attack, five of whom remain in intensive care.
This brings the total to 214 Palestinians who have died in Israeli extra judicial executions; 120 of whom were not the targets of the attacks, including 27 children.
This morning in Beit Hanoun, also in the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops killed Omar Al-Hindi, 21, during their invasion of the Palestinian town. In the past two months Israel troops have repeatedly entered Palestinian towns, both in the West Bank and Gaza, killing scores of non-combatants and destroying Palestinian homes and property.
For more information contact: The Palestine Monitor
http://www.palestinemonitor.org
Bulldozers Pushing the Envelope in Mas'ha
Mas'ha
9 Apr. 03
Anna could hear the contractor instructing the bulldozer driver to bulldoze the camp in general and Anna in particular. I wonder if the driver who killed Rachel got an order like that. After all, he was a soldier and is supposed to just carry out orders. According to the driver himself, "I only stop if I'm ordered to stop".
Instead of bulldozing either Anna or the camp, the driver today in Mas' Ha came within inches. So maybe they can see. Anna and the camp held it's ground. Not being satisfied with that, the driver began swearing at Anna and took down twelve extra trees as punishment for the activists interference. Anna is one of many International activists that have joined Palestinians and Israelis to say no to the "wall" being built by Israel. The Israeli's refer to it as a
"security wall", the Palestinians and Internationals, refer to it as the
"apartheid wall" A peace camp has been set up in Mas'ha to stop the wall.
The Israeli government justifies the building of the wall as a means of securing its people from the threat of Palestinian terrorism. If this were the case the logical place to erect it would be along the Green Line separating Israel from the Occupied West Bank. Instead the wall is being built well inside the West Bank in what is clearly an attempt to grab as much Palestinian land as possible for Jewish settlements. It also strangles many towns and villages by cutting the people off from their land. Their only option then becomes evacuation.
For further information on the Peace Camp contact:
The Alternative Information Centre on
http://www.alternativenews.org/
The ISM Media Office
http://www.palsolidarity.org
The IWPS
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/iwps/
Tom Wallace
ISM Media Coordinator
The Palestine Monitor
A PNGO Information Clearinghouse
http://www.palestinemonitor.org
Update
Assassination in Salfeet
8 April 2003
Israeli troops yesterday raised the level of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian security sources, yesterday afternoon Israeli Special Forces, dressed in women's clothes entered the Palestinian town of Salfeet. Upon reaching the center of town they opened fire on 23 year old Badr Abdel Raouf Yassin, killing him. Assassinations have been used by the Israeli government and military throughout the intifada in order to provoke a Palesinian response when the situation could be described as relatively calm. Yassin was the 207 victim of the Israeli policy of extra-judicial executions, which are illegal under international law; 87 of the victims were not the "targets" of the attack, and 25 of them were children.
Israeli soldiers also attacked and killed a Palestinian youth in the Sheikh Ajleen region to the south of Gaza city. 17 year old Taleb Jumaa Badreya Shamalkh, was working in his fields when Israeli soldiers from the near by settlement of Netzarim opened fire on him, shooting him in the stomach with live ammunition. In a similar event last week Israeli soldiers defending a settlement shot and killed 16 year old Muhammad Tafish was while he and friends were out collecting birds. The fact that these types of incidences are so rarely investigated by the Israeli military means that Israeli soldiers act with impunity - making these types of killings all too common.
In Nablus Israeli troops arrested four Palestinians and then dynamited the house from which they were taken. A house was destroyed in Salem village near Nablus, after troops arrested one man and evacuated the other inhabitants. Unarmed confrontations broke out as the troops were withdrawing - youths began to throw stones and the soldiers opened fire on them, injuring at least three Palestinians, one with live ammunition to his abdomen.
In the Issaweih suburb of Jerusalem, Israeli police and border police oversaw the demolishing of four Palestinian homes. Due to a strike in the Jerusalem municipality, special personnel were hired to destroy the houses, which were home to 33 people. Residents said that they had tried unsuccessfully to get permission for the building of the houses. According to residents the people from Issaweih own approximately 3,000 dunums of land in the area, but the Israeli authorities permit them to build on only 606 dunums. Serious overcrowding threatens the community which is not permitted to expand to accommodate natural growth. The area, which is between the Jerusalem settlement of Ma'ele Adumin and Jerusalem, has had many houses destroyed in the past; three years ago 36 homes were demolished, and already this year 25 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem have been demolished adding to the hundreds of Palestinian homes that have been demolished throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
For more information contact:
The Palestine Monitor
http://www.palestinemonitor.org
International Solidarity Movement:
http://www.palsolidarity.org
Electronic Intifada:
http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml
Palestine Chronicle:
http://www.palestinechronicle.com