(c)Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com.
Bilin, Octiber 2006.
Lors de la manifestation hebdomandaire/ during the weekly demonstration
,
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Le drapeau palestinien s'eleve toujours a Bilin/ the Palestinian flag is still rising at Bilin
(c)Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com.
Bilin, Octiber 2006.
Lors de la manifestation hebdomandaire/ during the weekly demonstration
,
Monday, October 23, 2006
Ramadan Time
(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com
Ramadan time, October 2006.
Cocktail de Ramadan
(English Follows)
Le Ramadan touche à sa fin. J’ai aimé de vivre ce temps ici. Certains internationaux n’ont pas aimé être là à cette periode. Il faut faire attention à ne pas manger ni boire dans la rue pendant la journée. Les restaurants et cafés ne servent plus d’alcool à part un à Ramallah qui est devenu alors très populaire. Les gens quittent leur bureau à 2 heures de l’apres midi. Le travail devient plus lent. Les gens deviennent aussi plus nerveux plus irritables, surtout à partir de 3 heures de l’apres midi. Tout le monde se demande alors, comme tous les jours : « serais-je à l’heure à la maison pour Iftar ? » (iftar est le moment où on casse le jêune, vers 17 heures le soir apres avoir jeûné toute la journée). Les embouteillages deviennent aussi encore plus importants. Les klaxons retentissent ainsi que les petards et les feux d’artifices le soir. On a appris à distinguer ces sons des balles mais ce n’est pas plus agreable aux oreilles.
La plupart des Palestiniens respectent Ramadan, mais bien sûr certains détournent les règles et on les voit fumer et boire leur café dans les arrières-boutiques…mais il y a vraiment une atmosphère spéciale. J’aime être ici dans cette période. J’aime tous ces patisseries spéciales et ces jus aux couleurs bizarre que tout le monde vend au coin des rues. J’aime voir les familles sorir le soir. Les illuminations. Le marché dans les rues avec les bonbons, les bottes rose bonbons, les barapapa…tant de couleurs. Il est vrai que cette année c’est un oeu dur, beaucoup ne peuvent pas acheter autant de cadeaux que d’habitude. J’aime bien sûr l’iftar, le moment de la journée, vers cinq heures, quand le soleil se couche, où nous cassons le jeûne après toute une journée sans manger ni boire. Tout le monde se retrouve. Le Muzzin (la personne qui chante de la mosquée) commence à réciter le Coran, mais il faut encore attendre qu’il prononce le « Allah Akbar » (Allah est grand). Il y a dans l’air une impatience, une joyeuse attente avec de commencer le repas. Traditionnellement nous commençons par un verre d’eau et une date. Je ne jêune pas. Je bois dans la journée mais j’ai prisl’habitude de ne pas manger. Je suis donc impatiente aussi tous les jours et le repas est une fête, un partage. Une de mes meilleures amies qui est Palestinienne, Amani, m’appelle toujours pour savoir oùje vais passer iftar. Pas question de me laisser manger seule. L’iftar c’est avant tout un partage. J’observe que dans sa famille, ils mangent tous ensemble pour le ramadan, alors que d’habitude ils mangent à des heures différentes.
Comme toujours, mais encore plus que d’habitude, les photos que j’ai prises lors de cette période sont toutes en contrastes. Dans ces occasions, l’occupation semble encore plus cruelle. Des personnes affamées coincées à des checkpoints ; des Palestiniens qui ne peuvent aller visiter leurs proches de l’autre côté du Mur ; Gaza sans electricité ; des personnes gênées car ils ne peuvent donner des cadeaux. Des pères, des fils, des mères, des filles en prisons ou morts…en ces temps de fête ; l’absence des proches (et il y en a dans chaque famille) se fait cruellement sentir. A partir de 3 heures, quand les Palestiniens essayent précisement de rentrer chez eux ; les checkpoints deviennent bizarrement plus lents. Pourquoi vérifier ces vieilles femmes palestiniennes entre bethlehem et Hebron qui rentrent chez elles ? Hier je suis allée faire le tour des checkpoints car c’etait le dernier vendredi du ramadan. A Qalandia (le checkpoint principal entre la cisjordanie du nord et jerusalem) c était le chaos. Tous les hommes en dessous de 45 ans ne pouvaient pas passer. Je garde en tête l’image d’une vieille femme discutant avec un soldat impassible. Il l’a envoyé ballader, sans lui parler, d’un simple revers de la main. Joyeux Ramadan. Jérusalem, si proche du cœur de tous les Palestiniens, et seulement à quelques kilomètres est resté innacessible pour la plupart. Ensuite nous avons continué notre tour en suivant le mur, en direction de Jerusalem. A Al Ram nous avons rencontré des soldats qui nous ont joyeusement expliqué leurs grands succes de la journée : « nous avons coupé des cordes et cassé les échelles » (les Palestiniens, en desespoir de cause, ont essayé de passer le Mur en employant des cordes et des echelles). Grands succes de l’armée israélienne. A Jerusalem ; la foule etait quand même impressionnante (même si beaucoup de Palestiniens de Cisjordanie n’ont pu se rendre à Jerusalem, il y a bien sûr les 200 000 Palestiniens résidents de Jérusalem Est et les Palestiniens résidents en Israël). Une rivière de pélerins deferlant de la porte de Damas.
Le soir, de retour chez moi, je regarde les informations sur la chaîne française. Je suis contente car ils ont montré les incidents qui ont eu lieu pendant la journée, notamment à Bethlehem où la plupart des Palestiniens n’ont pas pu passer. Les images des soldats en train de battre et de lancer des gaz lacrimogènes au milieu de la foule sont choquantes. Je me demande si ces images seront montrées en Israël. J’en doute fort.
Joyeux Ramadan ; voila ci-dessous une série de photos que j’ai prises lors de cette période, une nouvelle fois tout en contraste d’un Ramadan sous occupation. Ramadan, les patisseries, et les checkpoints ; un cocktail difficile à avaler.
ENGLISH
Ramadan Cocktail
Ramadan is almost over. It was a good time to be here. Some foreigners do not like it so much. You have to be careful not to eat openly in the streets during the day; also not to drink.
Most restaurant and bars do not serve alcohool during Ramadan; which makes the fortune of the only restaurant in Ramallah which continues to serve some. Between 3 and 5, many people are getting edgy and nervous after a whole day of fasting. I have seen a lot of fighting. Traffic jams also are getting worse during Ramadan time. It is also definitly not a good time if you want to work hard. People finish early, everything slows down.
The everyday main question is: will I be at home for iftar? (iftar is the moment where you break the fast and eat with your family).
Most persons respect Ramadan but some are also sneaking around with the rules- smoking and drinking at the back of the shops…but still there is a general sense of a special time. I like it. I like all the sweets and to see families out at night, walking around and looking at the market. The lights and the balloons. But many cannot buy as many things as usual.
I like iftar when everybody comes together to eat. There is a sense of impatience. Everybody waits to hear the “Allah Akbar” (Allah is great) from the Mosque. Then you can finally drink and eat. I took the habit not to eat but I drink during the day. Not to eat was not so difficult and it was nice to be at the same rythm as the Palestinians. Me too I am everyday impatient to hear the Allah Akbar and enjoy the sharing of the food. One of my best friends, Amani, who is Palestinian always calls me before iftar to know when I am going to eat. Because nobody is supposed to eat alone during Ramadan. In that family usually they do not eat together but in Ramadan time they do.
As always, and maybe more than even, the impressions and the pictures I took are all in contrast. Maybe in those times; the occupation appears to be all the more cruel. People being hungry stuck at checkpoint; Palestinians not being able to visit their relatives on the other side of the Wall, Gaza without electricity, people ashamed because they cannot buy as many presents as usual. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters in prisons…in each family the absence of the loved ones will be felt more. At 3pm the checkpoints seem to be slower than usual.. Why checking these old Palestinian women who try to go back to their homes to have dinner on the road to Bethlehem to Hebron? Yesterday again I went around to the checkpoints for the last Friday of Ramadan. It was chaos in Qalandia, all the men aged below 45 years old were not allowed to pass. An old woman was arguing with the soldier that did not bother to answer and just dismissed her by a gesture of his hand. Happy Ramadan. Jerusalem so close to the hearts of many and only a few kilomers away remains out of reach. We continue to walk. We met some soldeiers that were just standing there and talked to us about their big achievements of the day: “we cut some rope and break the ladders!” (Explanation: the last days some Palestinians- desperate to get to Jerusalem- try to climb the Wall using ropes and ladders). In Jerusalem still there was in impressive crowd. 250 000 Muslims, pouring out of Damascus Gate like a river.
At the evening I was glad to see that French television showed the images of what happened in Bethlehem where many Palestinians were stuck at the checkpoint. The soldiers charged, beat some Palestinians and threw some tear gas in the middle of the crowed. I was wondering- were these images shown on Israeli media? I doubt it.
Happy Ramadan, here is a series of pictures that reflect the constrasted images of Ramadan under occupation. Sweets and checkpoints- a cocktail quite difficult to swallow….
Ramadan time (4)
(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com
Ramadan time; October 2006.
Des hommes attendent au terminal de Qalandia, ils n'ont pas pu passer pour aller à Jerusalem/
Men waiting at Qalandial terminal. They were not allowed to go to Jerusalem.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
The great experiment by Uri Avnery
The Great Experiment - By Uri Avnery
Date: 16 / 10 / 2006 Time: 14:59
14.10.06
IS IT possible to force a whole people to submit to foreign occupation by starving it?
That is, certainly, an interesting question. So interesting, indeed, that the governments of Israel and the United States, in close cooperation with Europe, are now engaged in a rigorous scientific experiment in order to obtain a definitive answer.
The laboratory for the experiment is the Gaza Strip, and the guinea pigs are the million and a quarter Palestinians living there.
IN ORDER to meet the required scientific standards, it was necessary first of all to prepare the laboratory.
That was done in the following way: First, Ariel Sharon uprooted the Israeli settlements that were stuck there. After all, you can't conduct a proper experiment with pets roaming around the laboratory. It was done with "determination and sensitivity", tears flowed like water, the soldiers kissed and embraced the evicted settlers, and again it was shown that the Israeli army is the most-most in the world.
With the laboratory cleaned, the next phase could begin: all entrances and exits were hermetically sealed, in order to eliminate disturbing influences from the world outside. That was done without difficulty. Successive Israeli governments have prevented the building of a harbor in Gaza, and the Israeli navy sees to it that no ship approaches the shore. The splendid international airport, built during the Oslo days, was bombed and shut down. The entire Strip was closed off by a highly effective fence, and only a few crossings remained, all but one controlled by the Israeli army.
There remained a sole connection with the outside world: the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. It could not just be sealed off, because that would have exposed the Egyptian regime as a collaborator with Israel. A sophisticated solution was found: to all appearances the Israeli army left the crossing and turned it over to an international supervision team. Its members are nice guys, full of good intentions, but in practice they are totally dependent on the Israeli army, which oversees the crossing from a nearby control room. The international supervisors live in an Israeli kibbutz and can reach the crossing only with Israeli consent.
So everything was ready for the experiment.
THE SIGNAL for its beginning was given after the Palestinians had held spotlessly democratic elections, under the supervision of former President Jimmy Carter. George Bush was enthusiastic: his vision of bringing democracy to the Middle East was coming true.
But the Palestinians flunked the test. Instead of electing "good Arabs", devotees of the United States, they voted for very bad Arabs, devotees of Allah. Bush felt insulted. But the Israeli government was ecstatic: after the Hamas victory, the Americans and Europeans were ready to take part in the experiment. It could start:
The United States and the European Union announced the stoppage of all donations to the Palestinian Authority, since it was "controlled by terrorists". Simultaneously, the Israeli government cut off the flow of money.
To understand the significance of this: according to the "Paris Protocol" (the economic annex of the Oslo agreement) the Palestinian economy is part of the Israeli customs system. This means that Israel collects the duties for all the goods that pass through Israel to the Palestinian territories - actually, there is no other route. After deducting a fat commission, Israel is obligated to turn the money over to the Palestinian Authority.
When the Israeli government refuses to pass on this money, which belongs to the Palestinians, it is, simply put, robbery in broad daylight. But when one robs "terrorists", who is going to complain?
The Palestinian Authority - both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip - needs this money like air for breathing. This fact also requires some explanation: in the 19 years when Jordan occupied the West Bank and Egypt the Gaza Strip, from 1948 to 1967, not a single important factory was built there. The Jordanians wanted all economic activity to take place in Jordan proper, east of the river, and the Egyptians neglected the strip altogether.
Then came the Israeli occupation, and the situation became even worse. The occupied territories became a captive market for Israeli industry, and the military government prevented the establishment of any enterprise that could conceivably compete with an Israeli one.
The Palestinian workers were compelled to work in Israel for hunger wages (by Israeli standards). From these, the Israeli government deducted all the social payments levied on Israeli workers, without the Palestinian workers enjoying any social benefits. This way the government robbed these exploited workers of tens of billions of dollars, which disappeared somehow in the bottomless barrel of the government.
When the intifada broke out, the Israeli captains of industry and agriculture discovered that it was possible to get along without the Palestinian workers. Indeed, it was even more profitable. Workers brought in from Thailand, Romania and other poor countries were ready to work for even lower wages and in conditions bordering on slavery. The Palestinian workers lost their jobs.
That was the situation at the beginning of the experiment: the Palestinian infrastructure destroyed, practically no means of production, no work for the workers. All in all, an ideal setting for the great "experiment in hunger".
THE IMPLEMENTATION started, as mentioned, with the stoppage of payments.
The passage between Gaza and Egypt was closed in practice. Once every few days or weeks it was opened for some hours, for appearances' sake, so that some of the sick and dead or dying could get home or reach Egyptian hospitals.
The crossings between the Strip and Israel were closed "for urgent security reasons". Always, at the right moment, "warnings of an imminent terrorist attack" appeared. Palestinian agricultural products destined for export rot at the crossing. Medicines and foodstuffs cannot get in, except for short periods from time to time, also for appearances, whenever somebody important abroad voices some protest. Then comes another "urgent security warning" and the situation is back to normal.
To round off the picture, the Israeli Air Force bombed the only power station in the Strip, so that for a part of the day there is no electricity, and the water supply (which depends on electric pumps) stops also. Even on the hottest days, with temperatures of over 30 degrees centigrade in the shade, there is no electricity for refrigerators, air conditioning, the water supply or other needs.
In the West Bank, a territory much larger than the Gaza Strip (which makes up only 6% of the occupied Palestinian territories but holds 40% of the inhabitants), the situation is not quite so desperate. But in the Strip, more than half of the population lives beneath the Palestinian "poverty line", which lies of course very, very far below the Israeli "poverty line". Many Gaza residents can only dream of being considered poor in the nearby Israeli town of Sderot.
What are the governments of Israel and the US trying to tell the Palestinians? The message is clear: You will reach the brink of hunger, and even beyond, if you do not surrender. You must remove the Hamas government and elect candidates approved by Israel and the US. And, most importantly: you must be satisfied with a Palestinian state consisting of several enclaves, each of which will be utterly dependent on the tender mercies of Israel.
AT THE moment, the directors of the scientific experiment are pondering a puzzling question: how on earth do the Palestinians still hold out, in spite of everything? According to all the rules, they should have been broken long ago!
Indeed, there are some encouraging signs. The general atmosphere of frustration and desperation creates tension between Hamas and Fatah. Here and there clashes have broken out, people were killed and wounded, but in each case the deterioration was halted before it became a civil war. The thousands of hidden Israeli collaborators are also helping to stir things up. But contrary to all expectations, the resistance did not evaporate. Even the captured Israeli soldier has not been released.
One of the explanations has to do with the structure of Palestinian society. The Hamulah (extended family) plays a central role there. As long as one person in the family is working, the relatives, too, do not die of hunger, even if there is widespread malnutrition. Everyone who has any income shares it with all his brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, cousins and their children. That is a primitive system, but quite effective in such circumstances. It seems that the planners of the experiment did not take this into account.
In order to quicken the process, the whole might of the Israeli army is now being used again, as from this week. For three months the army was busy with the Second Lebanon War. It became apparent that the army, which for the last 39 years has been employed mainly as a colonial police force, does not function very well when suddenly confronted with a trained and armed opponent that can fight back. Hizbullah used deadly anti-tank weapons against the armored forces, and rockets rained down on Northern Israel. The army has long ago forgotten how to deal with such an enemy. And the campaign did not end well.
Now the army returns to the war it knows. The Palestinians in the Strip do not (yet) have effective anti-tank weapons, and the Qassam rockets cause only limited damage. The army can again use tanks against the population without hindrance. The Air Force, which in Lebanon was afraid to send in helicopters to remove the wounded, can now fire missiles at the houses of "wanted persons", their families and neighbors, at leisure. If in the last three months "only" 100 Palestinians were killed per month, we are now witnessing a dramatic rise in the number of Palestinians killed and wounded.
How can a population that is hit by hunger, lacking medicaments and equipment for its primitive hospitals and exposed to attacks on land, from sea and from the air, hold out? Will it break? Will it go down on its knees and beg for mercy? Or will it find inhuman strength and stand the test?
In short: What and how much is needed to get a population to surrender?
All the scientists taking part in the experiment - Ehud Olmert and Condoleezza Rice, Amir Peretz and Angela Merkel, Dan Halutz and George Bush, not to mention Nobel Peace Price laureate Shimon Peres - are bent over the microscopes and waiting for an answer, which undoubtedly will be an important contribution to political science.
I hope the Nobel Committee is watching.
---
Uri Avnery is the head of the Israeli peace movement, Gush Shalom.
Date: 16 / 10 / 2006 Time: 14:59
14.10.06
IS IT possible to force a whole people to submit to foreign occupation by starving it?
That is, certainly, an interesting question. So interesting, indeed, that the governments of Israel and the United States, in close cooperation with Europe, are now engaged in a rigorous scientific experiment in order to obtain a definitive answer.
The laboratory for the experiment is the Gaza Strip, and the guinea pigs are the million and a quarter Palestinians living there.
IN ORDER to meet the required scientific standards, it was necessary first of all to prepare the laboratory.
That was done in the following way: First, Ariel Sharon uprooted the Israeli settlements that were stuck there. After all, you can't conduct a proper experiment with pets roaming around the laboratory. It was done with "determination and sensitivity", tears flowed like water, the soldiers kissed and embraced the evicted settlers, and again it was shown that the Israeli army is the most-most in the world.
With the laboratory cleaned, the next phase could begin: all entrances and exits were hermetically sealed, in order to eliminate disturbing influences from the world outside. That was done without difficulty. Successive Israeli governments have prevented the building of a harbor in Gaza, and the Israeli navy sees to it that no ship approaches the shore. The splendid international airport, built during the Oslo days, was bombed and shut down. The entire Strip was closed off by a highly effective fence, and only a few crossings remained, all but one controlled by the Israeli army.
There remained a sole connection with the outside world: the Rafah border crossing to Egypt. It could not just be sealed off, because that would have exposed the Egyptian regime as a collaborator with Israel. A sophisticated solution was found: to all appearances the Israeli army left the crossing and turned it over to an international supervision team. Its members are nice guys, full of good intentions, but in practice they are totally dependent on the Israeli army, which oversees the crossing from a nearby control room. The international supervisors live in an Israeli kibbutz and can reach the crossing only with Israeli consent.
So everything was ready for the experiment.
THE SIGNAL for its beginning was given after the Palestinians had held spotlessly democratic elections, under the supervision of former President Jimmy Carter. George Bush was enthusiastic: his vision of bringing democracy to the Middle East was coming true.
But the Palestinians flunked the test. Instead of electing "good Arabs", devotees of the United States, they voted for very bad Arabs, devotees of Allah. Bush felt insulted. But the Israeli government was ecstatic: after the Hamas victory, the Americans and Europeans were ready to take part in the experiment. It could start:
The United States and the European Union announced the stoppage of all donations to the Palestinian Authority, since it was "controlled by terrorists". Simultaneously, the Israeli government cut off the flow of money.
To understand the significance of this: according to the "Paris Protocol" (the economic annex of the Oslo agreement) the Palestinian economy is part of the Israeli customs system. This means that Israel collects the duties for all the goods that pass through Israel to the Palestinian territories - actually, there is no other route. After deducting a fat commission, Israel is obligated to turn the money over to the Palestinian Authority.
When the Israeli government refuses to pass on this money, which belongs to the Palestinians, it is, simply put, robbery in broad daylight. But when one robs "terrorists", who is going to complain?
The Palestinian Authority - both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip - needs this money like air for breathing. This fact also requires some explanation: in the 19 years when Jordan occupied the West Bank and Egypt the Gaza Strip, from 1948 to 1967, not a single important factory was built there. The Jordanians wanted all economic activity to take place in Jordan proper, east of the river, and the Egyptians neglected the strip altogether.
Then came the Israeli occupation, and the situation became even worse. The occupied territories became a captive market for Israeli industry, and the military government prevented the establishment of any enterprise that could conceivably compete with an Israeli one.
The Palestinian workers were compelled to work in Israel for hunger wages (by Israeli standards). From these, the Israeli government deducted all the social payments levied on Israeli workers, without the Palestinian workers enjoying any social benefits. This way the government robbed these exploited workers of tens of billions of dollars, which disappeared somehow in the bottomless barrel of the government.
When the intifada broke out, the Israeli captains of industry and agriculture discovered that it was possible to get along without the Palestinian workers. Indeed, it was even more profitable. Workers brought in from Thailand, Romania and other poor countries were ready to work for even lower wages and in conditions bordering on slavery. The Palestinian workers lost their jobs.
That was the situation at the beginning of the experiment: the Palestinian infrastructure destroyed, practically no means of production, no work for the workers. All in all, an ideal setting for the great "experiment in hunger".
THE IMPLEMENTATION started, as mentioned, with the stoppage of payments.
The passage between Gaza and Egypt was closed in practice. Once every few days or weeks it was opened for some hours, for appearances' sake, so that some of the sick and dead or dying could get home or reach Egyptian hospitals.
The crossings between the Strip and Israel were closed "for urgent security reasons". Always, at the right moment, "warnings of an imminent terrorist attack" appeared. Palestinian agricultural products destined for export rot at the crossing. Medicines and foodstuffs cannot get in, except for short periods from time to time, also for appearances, whenever somebody important abroad voices some protest. Then comes another "urgent security warning" and the situation is back to normal.
To round off the picture, the Israeli Air Force bombed the only power station in the Strip, so that for a part of the day there is no electricity, and the water supply (which depends on electric pumps) stops also. Even on the hottest days, with temperatures of over 30 degrees centigrade in the shade, there is no electricity for refrigerators, air conditioning, the water supply or other needs.
In the West Bank, a territory much larger than the Gaza Strip (which makes up only 6% of the occupied Palestinian territories but holds 40% of the inhabitants), the situation is not quite so desperate. But in the Strip, more than half of the population lives beneath the Palestinian "poverty line", which lies of course very, very far below the Israeli "poverty line". Many Gaza residents can only dream of being considered poor in the nearby Israeli town of Sderot.
What are the governments of Israel and the US trying to tell the Palestinians? The message is clear: You will reach the brink of hunger, and even beyond, if you do not surrender. You must remove the Hamas government and elect candidates approved by Israel and the US. And, most importantly: you must be satisfied with a Palestinian state consisting of several enclaves, each of which will be utterly dependent on the tender mercies of Israel.
AT THE moment, the directors of the scientific experiment are pondering a puzzling question: how on earth do the Palestinians still hold out, in spite of everything? According to all the rules, they should have been broken long ago!
Indeed, there are some encouraging signs. The general atmosphere of frustration and desperation creates tension between Hamas and Fatah. Here and there clashes have broken out, people were killed and wounded, but in each case the deterioration was halted before it became a civil war. The thousands of hidden Israeli collaborators are also helping to stir things up. But contrary to all expectations, the resistance did not evaporate. Even the captured Israeli soldier has not been released.
One of the explanations has to do with the structure of Palestinian society. The Hamulah (extended family) plays a central role there. As long as one person in the family is working, the relatives, too, do not die of hunger, even if there is widespread malnutrition. Everyone who has any income shares it with all his brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, cousins and their children. That is a primitive system, but quite effective in such circumstances. It seems that the planners of the experiment did not take this into account.
In order to quicken the process, the whole might of the Israeli army is now being used again, as from this week. For three months the army was busy with the Second Lebanon War. It became apparent that the army, which for the last 39 years has been employed mainly as a colonial police force, does not function very well when suddenly confronted with a trained and armed opponent that can fight back. Hizbullah used deadly anti-tank weapons against the armored forces, and rockets rained down on Northern Israel. The army has long ago forgotten how to deal with such an enemy. And the campaign did not end well.
Now the army returns to the war it knows. The Palestinians in the Strip do not (yet) have effective anti-tank weapons, and the Qassam rockets cause only limited damage. The army can again use tanks against the population without hindrance. The Air Force, which in Lebanon was afraid to send in helicopters to remove the wounded, can now fire missiles at the houses of "wanted persons", their families and neighbors, at leisure. If in the last three months "only" 100 Palestinians were killed per month, we are now witnessing a dramatic rise in the number of Palestinians killed and wounded.
How can a population that is hit by hunger, lacking medicaments and equipment for its primitive hospitals and exposed to attacks on land, from sea and from the air, hold out? Will it break? Will it go down on its knees and beg for mercy? Or will it find inhuman strength and stand the test?
In short: What and how much is needed to get a population to surrender?
All the scientists taking part in the experiment - Ehud Olmert and Condoleezza Rice, Amir Peretz and Angela Merkel, Dan Halutz and George Bush, not to mention Nobel Peace Price laureate Shimon Peres - are bent over the microscopes and waiting for an answer, which undoubtedly will be an important contribution to political science.
I hope the Nobel Committee is watching.
---
Uri Avnery is the head of the Israeli peace movement, Gush Shalom.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Beautiful Palestine (1) Wadi Quelt
(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com
Wadi Quelt; around Jericho, October 2006.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Nouvelles armes interdites utilisées a gaza
ISRAËL-PALESTINE
Tsahal utiliserait à Gaza un nouveau type d'armes, le DIME américain
LE MONDE | 12.10.06 | 16h40 • Mis à jour le 12.10.06 | 16h40
JÉRUSALEM CORRESPONDANT
L'armée israélienne a-t-elle utilisé, au cours de l'été, dans la bande de Gaza, un nouveau type d'armes très performantes qui cause des blessures inhabituelles ? De nombreux témoignages font état de profondes brûlures et de membres sectionnés nettement, "comme s'ils l'avaient été par une scie", indique un médecin de l'hôpital Chifa, à Gaza, cité, mercredi 11 octobre, par le journal Haaretz. Les corps des morts n'ont pas été déchiquetés par des éclats comme c'est le cas habituellement, et les médecins ont noté que les blessures comportent de minuscules orifices d'entrée. A l'intérieur, il y a de petites particules qui ne peuvent, selon les médecins, être détectées aux rayons X.
Une équipe de la chaîne de télévision italienne RAI 24news, la même qui avait révélé l'utilisation des bombes au phosphore lors de l'attaque américaine de Fallouja, en Irak, en novembre 2004, a enquêté sur ces blessures. Elle a abouti à la conclusion qu'il pouvait s'agir d'une nouvelle arme américaine appelée DIME (Dense Inert Metal Explosive), dont la particularité est d'être très performante pour détruire la cible choisie tout en causant des dégâts dans un rayon très limité de quelques mètres. C'est d'ailleurs ce qu'a reconnu un général israélien à la retraite, Yitzhak Ben-Israël.
Selon le site Internet des laboratoires de l'armée de l'air américaine, ce type de projectiles, qui serait au stade expérimental, est constitué d'une enveloppe en carbone avec à l'intérieur un mélange composé notamment de tungstène, métal qui est très conducteur de la chaleur. "Le résultat est beaucoup plus destructeur qu'un explosif normal, est-il indiqué, et l'impact des micro-shrapnels cause un effet similaire mais beaucoup plus puissant que l'onde de choc de la déflagration."
Les journalistes italiens ont fait analyser à l'université de Parme les particules récupérées sur les victimes. Selon les résultats, il s'agit "d'une grande concentration de carbone et de la présence de matériaux inhabituels comme le tungstène, l'aluminium et le cuivre". Ce qui laisse supposer qu'il s'agirait du DIME, l'arme adéquate pour les assassinats ciblés pratiqués par Tsahal dans la bande de Gaza à partir de drones ou d'hélicoptères.
Ces nouveaux projectiles ont été utilisés à Gaza pendant la guerre du Liban, à une époque où tous les regards étaient tournés vers le pays du Cèdre. Depuis le 28 juin, date du lancement de l'opération Pluies d'été, après l'enlèvement trois jours auparavant du caporal israélien Gilad Shalit, Tsahal a mené d'innombrables incursions et bombardements dans la bande Gaza, tuant 240 personnes.
Michel Bôle-Richard
Article paru dans l'édition du 13.10.06
Tsahal utiliserait à Gaza un nouveau type d'armes, le DIME américain
LE MONDE | 12.10.06 | 16h40 • Mis à jour le 12.10.06 | 16h40
JÉRUSALEM CORRESPONDANT
L'armée israélienne a-t-elle utilisé, au cours de l'été, dans la bande de Gaza, un nouveau type d'armes très performantes qui cause des blessures inhabituelles ? De nombreux témoignages font état de profondes brûlures et de membres sectionnés nettement, "comme s'ils l'avaient été par une scie", indique un médecin de l'hôpital Chifa, à Gaza, cité, mercredi 11 octobre, par le journal Haaretz. Les corps des morts n'ont pas été déchiquetés par des éclats comme c'est le cas habituellement, et les médecins ont noté que les blessures comportent de minuscules orifices d'entrée. A l'intérieur, il y a de petites particules qui ne peuvent, selon les médecins, être détectées aux rayons X.
Une équipe de la chaîne de télévision italienne RAI 24news, la même qui avait révélé l'utilisation des bombes au phosphore lors de l'attaque américaine de Fallouja, en Irak, en novembre 2004, a enquêté sur ces blessures. Elle a abouti à la conclusion qu'il pouvait s'agir d'une nouvelle arme américaine appelée DIME (Dense Inert Metal Explosive), dont la particularité est d'être très performante pour détruire la cible choisie tout en causant des dégâts dans un rayon très limité de quelques mètres. C'est d'ailleurs ce qu'a reconnu un général israélien à la retraite, Yitzhak Ben-Israël.
Selon le site Internet des laboratoires de l'armée de l'air américaine, ce type de projectiles, qui serait au stade expérimental, est constitué d'une enveloppe en carbone avec à l'intérieur un mélange composé notamment de tungstène, métal qui est très conducteur de la chaleur. "Le résultat est beaucoup plus destructeur qu'un explosif normal, est-il indiqué, et l'impact des micro-shrapnels cause un effet similaire mais beaucoup plus puissant que l'onde de choc de la déflagration."
Les journalistes italiens ont fait analyser à l'université de Parme les particules récupérées sur les victimes. Selon les résultats, il s'agit "d'une grande concentration de carbone et de la présence de matériaux inhabituels comme le tungstène, l'aluminium et le cuivre". Ce qui laisse supposer qu'il s'agirait du DIME, l'arme adéquate pour les assassinats ciblés pratiqués par Tsahal dans la bande de Gaza à partir de drones ou d'hélicoptères.
Ces nouveaux projectiles ont été utilisés à Gaza pendant la guerre du Liban, à une époque où tous les regards étaient tournés vers le pays du Cèdre. Depuis le 28 juin, date du lancement de l'opération Pluies d'été, après l'enlèvement trois jours auparavant du caporal israélien Gilad Shalit, Tsahal a mené d'innombrables incursions et bombardements dans la bande Gaza, tuant 240 personnes.
Michel Bôle-Richard
Article paru dans l'édition du 13.10.06
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
NEW WEAPON USED IN GAZA
Wounds inflicted by the experimental weapons used in strike on the Gaza Strip.
Last update - 09:18 11/10/2006
Italian probe: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip
By Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent
An investigative report to be aired on Italian television Wednesday raises the possibility that Israel has used an experimental weapon in the Gaza Strip in recent months, causing especially serious physical injuries, such as amputated limbs and severe burns.
The weapon is similar to one developed by the U.S. military, known as DIME, which causes a powerful and lethal blast, but only within a relatively small radius.
The Italian report is based on the eyewitness accounts of medical doctors in the Strip, as well as tests carried out in an Italian laboratory. The investigative team is the same one that exposed, several months ago, the use by U.S. forces in Iraq of phosphorous bombs, against Iraqi rebels in Faluja.
Advertisement
Israel Air Force Maj.-Gen (res.) Yitzhak Ben-Israel, formerly head of the IDF's weapons-development program, told the Italian reporters that "one of the ideas [behind the weapon] is to allow those targeted to be hit without causing damage to bystanders or other persons."
The investigation, by Rai24news, follows reports by Gaza-based doctors of inexplicably serious injuries. The doctors reported an exceptionally large number of wounded who lost legs, of completely burned bodies and injuries unaccompanied by metal shrapnel. Some of the doctors also claimed that they removed particles from wounds that could not be seen in an x-ray machine.
According to those who testified, the wounded were hit by munitions launched from drones, most of them in July.
Dr. Habas al-Wahid, head of the emergency room at the Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital, in Deir el-Balah, told the reporters that the legs of the injured were sliced from their bodies "as if a saw was used to cut through the bone." There were signs of heat and burns near the point of the amputation, but no signs that the dismemberment was caused by metal fragments.
Dr. Juma Saka, of Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, said the doctors found small entry wounds on the bodies of the wounded and the dead. According to Saka, a powder was found on the victims' bodies and in their internal organs.
"The powder was like microscopic shrapnel, and these are what likely caused the injuries," Saka said.
The Italian investigative team raised the possibility that the IDF is making use of a weapon similar in character to DIME - Dense Inert Metal Explosive - developed for the U.S. military. According to the official website of a U.S. air force laboratory, it is a "focused lethality" weapon, which aims to accurately destroy the target while causing minimum damage to the surrounding.
According to the site, the projectile comprises a carbon-fiber casing filled with tungsten powder and explosives. In the explosion, tungsten particles - a metal capable of conducting very high temperatures - spread over a radius of four meters and cause death.
According to the U.S.-based website Defense-Tech, "the result is an incredibly destructive blast in a small area" and "the destructive power of the mixture causes far more damage than pure explosive." It adds that "the impact of the micro-shrapnel seems to cause a similar but more powerful effect than a shockwave."
The weapon is supposed to still be in the testing phase and has not been used on the battlefield.
The Italian reporters sent samples of the particles found in wounds of injured in the Gaza Strip to a laboratory at the University of Parma. Dr. Carmela Vaccaio said that in analyzing the samples, she found "a very high concentration of carbon and the presence of unusual materials," such as copper, aluminum and tungsten. Dr. Vaccaio says these findings "could be in line with the hypothesis" that the weapon in question is DIME.
On the matter of DIME, Ben-Israel told the Italian reporters that "this is a technology that allows the striking of very small targets."
The report says that the weapon is not banned by international law, especially since it has not been officially tested.
It is believed that the weapon is highly carcinogenic and harmful to the environment.
The non-governmental organization Physicians for Human Rights has written to Defense Minister Amir Peretz requesting explanations for the aforementioned injuries to Palestinians. Amos Gilad, a senior adviser to the minister, is supposed to meet with the group on the matter in the near future.
Last update - 09:18 11/10/2006
Italian probe: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip
By Meron Rapoport, Haaretz Correspondent
An investigative report to be aired on Italian television Wednesday raises the possibility that Israel has used an experimental weapon in the Gaza Strip in recent months, causing especially serious physical injuries, such as amputated limbs and severe burns.
The weapon is similar to one developed by the U.S. military, known as DIME, which causes a powerful and lethal blast, but only within a relatively small radius.
The Italian report is based on the eyewitness accounts of medical doctors in the Strip, as well as tests carried out in an Italian laboratory. The investigative team is the same one that exposed, several months ago, the use by U.S. forces in Iraq of phosphorous bombs, against Iraqi rebels in Faluja.
Advertisement
Israel Air Force Maj.-Gen (res.) Yitzhak Ben-Israel, formerly head of the IDF's weapons-development program, told the Italian reporters that "one of the ideas [behind the weapon] is to allow those targeted to be hit without causing damage to bystanders or other persons."
The investigation, by Rai24news, follows reports by Gaza-based doctors of inexplicably serious injuries. The doctors reported an exceptionally large number of wounded who lost legs, of completely burned bodies and injuries unaccompanied by metal shrapnel. Some of the doctors also claimed that they removed particles from wounds that could not be seen in an x-ray machine.
According to those who testified, the wounded were hit by munitions launched from drones, most of them in July.
Dr. Habas al-Wahid, head of the emergency room at the Shuhada al-Aqsa hospital, in Deir el-Balah, told the reporters that the legs of the injured were sliced from their bodies "as if a saw was used to cut through the bone." There were signs of heat and burns near the point of the amputation, but no signs that the dismemberment was caused by metal fragments.
Dr. Juma Saka, of Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, said the doctors found small entry wounds on the bodies of the wounded and the dead. According to Saka, a powder was found on the victims' bodies and in their internal organs.
"The powder was like microscopic shrapnel, and these are what likely caused the injuries," Saka said.
The Italian investigative team raised the possibility that the IDF is making use of a weapon similar in character to DIME - Dense Inert Metal Explosive - developed for the U.S. military. According to the official website of a U.S. air force laboratory, it is a "focused lethality" weapon, which aims to accurately destroy the target while causing minimum damage to the surrounding.
According to the site, the projectile comprises a carbon-fiber casing filled with tungsten powder and explosives. In the explosion, tungsten particles - a metal capable of conducting very high temperatures - spread over a radius of four meters and cause death.
According to the U.S.-based website Defense-Tech, "the result is an incredibly destructive blast in a small area" and "the destructive power of the mixture causes far more damage than pure explosive." It adds that "the impact of the micro-shrapnel seems to cause a similar but more powerful effect than a shockwave."
The weapon is supposed to still be in the testing phase and has not been used on the battlefield.
The Italian reporters sent samples of the particles found in wounds of injured in the Gaza Strip to a laboratory at the University of Parma. Dr. Carmela Vaccaio said that in analyzing the samples, she found "a very high concentration of carbon and the presence of unusual materials," such as copper, aluminum and tungsten. Dr. Vaccaio says these findings "could be in line with the hypothesis" that the weapon in question is DIME.
On the matter of DIME, Ben-Israel told the Italian reporters that "this is a technology that allows the striking of very small targets."
The report says that the weapon is not banned by international law, especially since it has not been officially tested.
It is believed that the weapon is highly carcinogenic and harmful to the environment.
The non-governmental organization Physicians for Human Rights has written to Defense Minister Amir Peretz requesting explanations for the aforementioned injuries to Palestinians. Amos Gilad, a senior adviser to the minister, is supposed to meet with the group on the matter in the near future.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Le temps de l'Iftar/ Iftar time
(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com
Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem; October 2006.
Il est 4.30 à Al-Khader, un village dans le sud de bethlehem qui sert de plaque tournante pour le transport des Palestiniens, notamment en direction du Sud. Le checkpoint - ou plutot l'endroit où la route est coupée par des blocs en beton pour empecher la circulation- est bondé. normal; il est 4h30, nous sommes à une heure de l'iftar, le moment où les Palestiniens cassent le jeûne du Ramadan pour leur diner. Tout le monde a hâte de rentrer chez soi. Mais evidemment c est à ce moment precis que les soldats israeliens choisissent de tout bloquer avec deux jeeps qui empechent les services et bus de passer. Cela provoque embouteillages et enervements. Des vieilles dames sont assises sur le bord de la route, decouragees. une autre interpelle les soldats, avec tous ses sacs remplis de provisions, elle veut surment rentrer chez elle pour cuisiner. nous demandons aux soldats pourquoi ils bloquent" oh vous savez ces gens posent probleme..". nous leur retorquons qu'ils veulent simplement rentrer chez eux pour avoir leur diner...ils ont peu apres re-ouvert le passage aux voitures. pour surment le refermer quelques minutes plus tard...
ainsi va la vie en palestine. en ce mois de ramadan.
ENGLISH.
It is 4.30pm at Al Khader, a village sou_th of Bethlehem which is currently used as a transportation hub for Palestinians, especially going to the South. The checkpoint or rather the location where the road is blocked by concrete blocks and Palestinians have to change cars, services or bus to reach their destinations is crowed. It is not surprising, we are only 1 hour away from iftar (the moment where Muslims break the fast and have dinner) and everybody rush to go home to eat with their family. of course, this is the exact moment that the Israeli soldiers chose to close the road by putting two military jeeps accross the road. That causes a huge traffic jam. the Palestinians are so pissed off. One lady,her hands full of bags probably with food to prepare dinner, shout at the soldiers. Some old ladies are just sitting on the side of the road and seem desperate. We ask the soldiers why they are closing the street, one soldier replies "oh you know these people cause problem". i bet they do because you are making their life as hell! We reply that they just want to go home to have dinner. What is the big security threat in that?
after the while the soldiers open the road, probably to close it again a few minutes later.
so is the life in Palestine in ramadan time.
Olive harvest alert
Last update - 08:17 09/10/2006
IDF aims to keep out 'escorts' of Palestinian farmers during harvest
By Amira Hass, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces is demanding that Palestinian farmers not allow Israeli and foreign sympathizers to escort them during the olive harvest to places where military protection is needed against abusive settlers, Palestinian sources in the Nablus region told Haaretz.
An Israeli security source confirmed the report, saying that IDF officers have been influenced by statements of settlers, who say they are enraged during the harvest by the presence of Israeli leftists who act as provocateurs. A 2005 memo to soldiers from the Civil Administration regarding the olive-picking season states: "Involvement of various entities, Israeli and foreign, is expected, as an 'aid' to the Palestinians in the harvest and as a motive for creating provocations."
On the other hand, the 2006 Olive Harvest Order issued by the Samaria Regional Brigade stated, under "Key lessons from the previous year": "Working axis vis-a-vis leftist organizations: During the harvest season the left appeared largely as a coordinating force and for the most part offered no provocations. The best and most effective axis for maintaining communication is between the implementers [i.e., the olive-pickers - A.H.] and the organizations."
Advertisement
The contradictory policy was evident as the harvest season began last week in the Nablus region. In the village of Burin, for example, Israeli escorts were prohibited, but they were permitted later in the week. In the village of Klil the army allowed women from an international solidarity group to be present during the picking. Last Tuesday, however, soldiers barred farmers from entering their property, necessitating the intercession by phone of activists from Rabbis for Human Rights.
Rabbi Arik W. Ascherman of RHR has for years organized groups of Israeli peace activists to escort farmers in some 30 West Bank villages, as protection against settler attacks.
The IDF Spokesman stated that the GOC Central Command had recently signed several orders requiring advance coordination to enter limited areas during the harvest period, but that most West Bank harvest areas are freely accessible to farmers and Israeli civilians. Regarding the incident last Tuesday, the IDF said that the Klil farmers left the area of their own volition after soldiers asked to check their ID because they had not coordinated their arrival in advance.
IDF aims to keep out 'escorts' of Palestinian farmers during harvest
By Amira Hass, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces is demanding that Palestinian farmers not allow Israeli and foreign sympathizers to escort them during the olive harvest to places where military protection is needed against abusive settlers, Palestinian sources in the Nablus region told Haaretz.
An Israeli security source confirmed the report, saying that IDF officers have been influenced by statements of settlers, who say they are enraged during the harvest by the presence of Israeli leftists who act as provocateurs. A 2005 memo to soldiers from the Civil Administration regarding the olive-picking season states: "Involvement of various entities, Israeli and foreign, is expected, as an 'aid' to the Palestinians in the harvest and as a motive for creating provocations."
On the other hand, the 2006 Olive Harvest Order issued by the Samaria Regional Brigade stated, under "Key lessons from the previous year": "Working axis vis-a-vis leftist organizations: During the harvest season the left appeared largely as a coordinating force and for the most part offered no provocations. The best and most effective axis for maintaining communication is between the implementers [i.e., the olive-pickers - A.H.] and the organizations."
Advertisement
The contradictory policy was evident as the harvest season began last week in the Nablus region. In the village of Burin, for example, Israeli escorts were prohibited, but they were permitted later in the week. In the village of Klil the army allowed women from an international solidarity group to be present during the picking. Last Tuesday, however, soldiers barred farmers from entering their property, necessitating the intercession by phone of activists from Rabbis for Human Rights.
Rabbi Arik W. Ascherman of RHR has for years organized groups of Israeli peace activists to escort farmers in some 30 West Bank villages, as protection against settler attacks.
The IDF Spokesman stated that the GOC Central Command had recently signed several orders requiring advance coordination to enter limited areas during the harvest period, but that most West Bank harvest areas are freely accessible to farmers and Israeli civilians. Regarding the incident last Tuesday, the IDF said that the Klil farmers left the area of their own volition after soldiers asked to check their ID because they had not coordinated their arrival in advance.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Manif cont res les Clashes inter-palestinien/ Demonstrations against clashes between Palestinians
Ramallah, 1 October 2006.
(c) Anne Paq/tourbillonphoto.com
Si on nous montre les clashs a la television; la grande majorité des Palestiniens sont contre les attaques entre les groupes palestiniens. Hier soir à Ramallah, il y avait une manifestation contre les violences. ce soir il y en aura encore une. en signe de protestations, tous les magasins sont fermés.
Il est difficile de savoir ce qui va se passer, probablement les clashes vont continuer. je ne serais pas surprise si le gouvernement etait dissout tres bientot.
ENGLISH
On telelevion, mostly the clashes were shown. but it is important to know that most Palestinians are against these fightings between Palestinian groups. Yesterday there was a demonstration in Ramallah denouncing the violence and calling for unity. tonight there will be another one. shops today were all closed also as a sign of protest.