Cry Palestine

Inside The West Bank

Said K Aburish

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367010874
• eBook ISBN: 9780429720017
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Cry Palestine provides a unique perspective, a glimpse into the world behind the intifada from both the Palestinian and Israeli points of view. Said K. Aburish was born in the West Bank village of Bethany and lived there until he was fifteen. He has a large number of relatives and friends who still live on the West Bank, many of whom,

Part One
The Brutal Reality

Chapter One
A Week in the Life of the West Bank

The intifada is now more than three years old, and the newsworthiness of everyday happenings in the West Bank is in question. The amount of newspaper and magazine space and radio and television time allocated to them has dwindled. In fact, except for the occasional disaster such as the Temple Mount–Harram Al Sherrif massacre of October 1990, in which twenty-one people were killed and over a hundred and fifty wounded, the press ignores daily happenings and concentrates on abstract diplomatic moves that do very little to alleviate the hideous conditions on the ground.

The story of the intifada has repeated itself with a regularity that dulls the senses. For the press, it has become an old story without interest; the atrocious has become run of the mill. How many times can a newspaper run a story that says, for example, that a dozen or more Arab kids have been wounded? I don't intend here to debate what constitutes news, but it is important to note that some of the happenings that are today being ignored as boring would have made the headlines a few years ago. Judging by what I see, hear and read in the local press, the intifada continues unchecked; it is just that the media are not treating it as a major news event.

One of the best ways to get a true picture of the state of things in the West Bank is to review a sample of intifada events that have taken place in a typical week. For this, one can rely on the reports in the local press, which rightly pays close attention to what is happening to its constituency, and a week is long enough without being too long. For the purposes of my examination, similar incidents are not repeated, so only one case of tree uprooting is used and one house demolition, even when several events of the same type have been reported. I reproduce below news items that appeared in local newspapers and magazines during the week from Monday 24 September 1990, followed in each case by my explanation of what the item means so that it can be understood by readers who are not aware of the background. In some cases it was necessary to contact the people involved to get a clearer view of the story.

The United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) officials say Israeli soldiers are preventing the organization from carrying out its duties in Al Bureij refugee camp. An UNRWA spokesperson said that they have been largely prevented from entering the camp, and that their movements have been restricted by soldiers. The camp and the area around it have been under curfew since 20 September when an Israeli soldier was killed there.

(Al Sha'ab, Jerusalem)

The killing of the Israeli soldier took place when he lost his way into the camp. Aware that he was in unfriendly territory, the soldier panicked and ran over two pedestrians. The local people, afraid that he might use his gun, attacked him with sticks and stones and killed him. Unable to apprehend those responsible for the crime, the Israeli authorities placed the whole camp under curfew for an indefinite period. When a refugee camp or a town or a village is placed under curfew, the inhabitants are punished by the prevention of all basic living requirements, including food, from reaching the place.

This camp has been the scene of repeated anti-Israeli riots. Its inhabitants are poor people who were displaced in the Arab–Israeli war of 1948, and their descendants. They rely on UNRWA for food and the most elementary of health and education facilities. To forbid UNRWA officials from entering the camp meant the camp's meagre supples did not reach its twenty thousand inhabitants. After several protests to the relevant Israeli authorities, the curfew was lifted and UNRWA officials were allowed to resume their work. The camp was under curfew for four days.

The family of prisoner Nasser Yousef Abu Jesh, 24, appealed to humanitarian organizations to help them get permission to visit their son who was arrested two months ago. The Beit Dajan family had already unsuccessfully appealed to the International Red Cross to help them with this matter.

(Al Itihad, Jerusalem)

When the Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian, he or she is usually denied visits by members of their family or a lawyer for up to three weeks. The reasons for this vary, but the most common ones have to do with hiding the fact that the prisoner has been beaten or tortured and keeping the prisoner from communicating with anti-Israeli activists outside. When a prisoner is beaten or tortured, the Israelis don't want visitors to see the bruises or scars. Also, relatives or lawyers can carry messages to the prisoner's colleagues advising them of how much the Israelis know about their resistance cells and whether they should go into hiding.

Judging by how long this particular prisoner was denied visitors, this is obviously a very difficult case. The family's appeal for outside help was prompted by fear that the prisoner had been severely tortured.

Appeals to international humanitarian organizations to help families secure visiting rights have become common. The International Red Cross, Amnesty International and the left-wing Israeli Association for Civil Rights are among the most active in this field. In addition to dealing with the Israeli authorities, such organizations have been known to assist the families of detained people to reach a prison or detention camp. Many of the families of the detainees do not have the money for such a journey, even when it is only a few miles.

The Israeli military government in Nablus informed all printers in the city that it is forbidden to print any text containing the word Palestine regardless of whether the text is political, social, educational or otherwise. Those wishing to be exempted need the approval of the local military authority.

(Al Sha'ab, Jerusalem)

What this badly written item refers to is textbooks. Here is a typical example of arbitrary behaviour by local military commanders of the Israeli army. However, the incident has a significant background in that Israeli policy forbids the painting of the Palestinian flag or the use of the words 'Palestinian people', and violation of either decree is a misdemeanour punishable by a prison term or a fine. The punishment differs from place to place, and week to week, but it usually entails a prison sentence of between a week and two months or a fine of about a thousand US dollars.

Further examples of this policy of repressing the Palestinians' wish to assert their separate identity include a military order in the district of Bethlehem forbidding the mention of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. This policy goes further, for people are not supposed to know or learn about the works of writers and politicians with leftist or liberal leanings. Among the writers, thinkers and politicians whose books are banned in detention camps are Plato, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Mao Tse-tung, Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse and John Le Carré. Israeli writers whose books are similarly banned include David Grossman and Israel's former Foreign Minister Abba Eban. The list of Arab writers whose books are proscribed includes Said Aburish.

The International Commission of jurists is sponsoring a local associate group, Al Haq (that which is right or righteous), in the town of Ramallah, Al Haq devotes much of its time to investigating Israeli attempts to suppress information. Because no textbooks mentioning Palestine and Palestinian history are available, school-teachers resort to teaching these subjects orally.

The administration of Ansar 3 detention camp issued new regulations on what Palestinian lawyers may bring their clients. The management of the camp will allow only blue collarless sweat suits for the purposes of personal wear. White and blue sheets are also allowed as is white and blue underwear. But the prisoners are permitted to receive any kind of shoes. The only food gifts permitted are olive oil and za'atar [a spice] and the latter item must be wrapped in plastic bags. The lawyers have been forbidden to meet with their clients without a member of the Israeli security forces being present.

(Al Sha'ab, Jerusalem)

The rules and regulations governing what prisoners may receive from outside change frequently, but most books are banned and radios have never been allowed. The restrictions go even further, and often a lawyer is denied visiting rights for several weeks before his client's trial. The International Red Cross and the Israeli humanitarian organization B'tselem try to help families and lawyers communicate with detainees, but with limited success.

Several cases of typhoid have been diagnosed in Nur Shams refugee camp and the patients were transferred to the Tulkarem hospital. Camp residents appealed to the Israeli authorities to help try to stop the spread of the disease, especially since some of the people stricken were children.

(Al Quds, Jerusalem)

There are occasional outbreaks of infectious diseases that could spread to affect the population of Israel proper, as happened with typhoid in 1974. In spite of the obvious health hazard, the Israeli authorities resolutely take no preventive action and little or no remedial action. Among the reasons for the outbreaks of infectious diseases are open sewers and cesspools, the cramped conditions of the camps and lack of proper medical care. According to the Israeli writer David Grossman, the Deheisheh refugee camp has one of the highest population densities in the world.

Vandals burned or stole the contents of the Beit Hanina home of Zuhair Kathem Al-Muthafar, located next to the Neve Ya'acov Israeli settlement. Muthafar and his family of eight had fled the house in July after attacks from Neve Ya'acov settlers following the killing of two Israelis in the area.

(Al Quds, Jerusalem)

Whenever Israelis are attacked or hurt, Israeli settlers have been known to take the law into their hands and retaliate. Driving Arabs from their homes has become one of their better-known activities. Some of their methods to get local Arabs to leave include fencing them in so they can't move, denying them access to wells, and random break-ins and unlawful entry. In the village of Issawiya, two miles north-east of Jerusalem, some of the settlers forced people to leave by exposing themselves to conservative Muslim women whenever they saw them.

The Israeli security forces refrain from interfering with the activities of the settlers; indeed there have been many cases of the army aiding and abetting them. Very few of the Palestinians subjected to harassment and intimidation resort to the law for protection, even when they can afford it personally or with the help of an outside group. Their reluctance to use the law courts derives from the fact that these have consistently sided with the settlers, in one case accepting the testimony of one settler against that of seven Arabs.

Journalist Najib Farraj, a resident of Deheisheh refugee camp in the Bethlehem area, disappeared from the camp three days ago and has not returned. Eyewitnesses said they saw soldiers patrolling the camp stop the journalist in a street after which he was beaten, tied up and put in a jeep. The family has not received any notice of the journalist's arrest.

Lawyers Mohammad N'Amneh and Ibrahim Nasar and the Centre for Human Rights (Al Hurriyah) were told by the local police that there is no record of Farraj being arrested. Military sources referred the lawyers' inquiries to the Beit El military legal advisor who promised to look into the matter after the Jewish New Year holiday. Journalist Najib Farraj, an employee of the Bethlehem Press Office, has been arrested five times during the intifada.

(Al Itihad, Jerusalem)

It took four weeks before the lawyers were able to determine the whereabouts of this highly respected journalist. The Israelis finally admitted that a six-month administrative detention order had been issued against him. This is the sixth time Najib Farraj, who is twenty-nine, has been detained. He is a resister, but is totally committed to non-violent means, and has written several articles urging the local population to engage in civil disobedience without resorting to violence.

Israeli authorities closed a store in Hebron belonging to Anwar Fathi Abu Sakran, 22, Abu Sakran was accused of permitting persons unknown to use the store's roof to throw stones on Israeli patrols.

(Al Quds, Jerusalem)

There are about ten similar cases every week. The authorities assume, without proof, that the shop owner knows who the stone-throwers are and that he approves of their action. The response of the security forces depends on the prowess of the stone-throwers and whether they have been successful in hitting the Israeli patrol vehicles. A good marksman who manages to hit a jeep can cause a whole street to be closed.

This is essentially an expression of the Israeli policy of collective punishment. Such punishment and disproportionate responses are also part of Israel's policy in dealing with its neighbours. When a Lebanese Muslim group in southern Lebanon fired a Katyusha rocket at an Israeli settlement, the Israeli Air Force attacked the bases of the group responsible for three consecutive days. Shop closures are so frequent that the law courts refuse to deal with the resulting complaints.

Both in cases of shop closures and of disproportionate military response to armed groups, the Israeli policy of 'massive retaliation' backfires, just as the principle of collective punishment worked against the German occupying forces during the Second World War.

The Israeli military authorities closed the Al-Safa mosque in Al Bureij refugee camp until further notice. The Israeli authorities alleged that the mosque was a centre for fomenting protests against them. Five streets in Al Bureij were also closed.

(Al Fajr, Jerusalem)

Except for the religious aspect, this situation is similar to the preceding one. However, the fact that the Israeli authorities have not shied from closing places of worship is significant, particularly in a part of the world where religious feelings are growing ever stronger. Churches have suffered the same fate.

Mosques are very often raided because Muslims use minarets to broadcast appeals to the faithful and spread appeals against the Israeli authorities' harsh measures. The imam of the mosque is often arrested, and if there is a public-address system, it is dismantled. Muslim and Christian religious leaders have repeatedly protested to the Israeli government about such measures, rightly pointing out their consequences. But it shows no signs of heeding these warnings.

The Israeli military court in Nablus sentenced Mu'Ayed Abdel Latif Duqa, 26, to life imprisonment. Duqa, a resident of Attil village near Tulkarem, was accused of killing collaborator Ahmad Jaradat, also from Attil, in January 1989.

(Al Quds, Jerusalem)

No proof exists that Duqa committed this crime, but it is true that he is a member of Fatah, the largest PLO group, and there is evidence that he is Fatah's local leader.

The Israeli authorities have consistently used the killing of collaborators as an excuse to punish people whom they have earmarked as troublemakers. This Fatah man has been a thorn in their side and they used the pretext of the murder to 'eliminate his troublesome presence'.

Interestingly, ordinary murders are very seldom investigated, as in the case of two in my home town of Bethany. Similarly, the disappearance of Arab activists is seldom investigated and suspicion lurks that members of the Israeli security forces are behind these happenings. Conversely, the murder of an Israeli or a collaborator produces an immediate response with little regard for the due process of law.

Israeli soldiers bulldozed the house of Yusuf Murshed Rabi', 48, alleging that it was erected without a building permit. In nearby Qattana village, ten miles north of Jerusalem, four more houses were demolished for the same reason. Among the owners are Ahmad Taha and Nasser Taher.

(Al Quds, Jerusalem)

The various figures available for the number of buildings demolished in this way do not agree, but at least five thousand houses have been razed during the past three years. It is true that houses are...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction Welcome to the Middle East
• Part One The Brutal Reality
• Part Two Self-appraisal
• Part Three People on the Other Side
• Part Four Palestinians - the Worst and the Best
• About the Book and Author