April 5^th 2002

More violence

From: Yosef Grodzinsky yosef1@post.tau.ac.il

As Colin Powell is packing up on his way here, here is another digest from the territories. I thought I'd give you an idea of what's happening on the Israeli side, too, as there are significant developments here that contribute to the picture.

Army: I tend to think that the myth of the IDF is just about over. Years of police work have diminished its military capacity at every level. The 20,000 reservists mobilized last week were not even adequately fed at the beginning, as logistics collapsed; militarily, the army now appears to be having real difficulty handling resistance in the Jenin refugee camp. I do not think this would have happened 35 years ago. If armed clashes will continue, I suspect we'll be witnessing a slow and heavy army chasing light, effective guerillas, just as was the case in Lebanon, where the combat skills of the Hizbollah improved with time, inflicting heavy casualties, demoralizing the troops, and eventually chasing away the Israelis.

Draft refusals: More soldiers are refusing their mobilization orders and go to jail: There are now about 20 of them, with over a thousand signatories on a declaration (http://www.seruv.org.il/). The army's command is truly worried about the effect of this movement on morale.

Atmosphere in Israel: Polarization is becoming more apparent. Parallel to the radicalization of government rhetoric, and the appointment of a new, ever more radical right winger to head of the important National Religious Party, more and more demonstrations against the invasion are taking place. Today's leading newspaper (Ha'aretz) is full with protest advertisements. A big demonstration has been called for tomorrow:

STOP THE WAR // STOP THE BLOODSHED // GET OUT OF THE TERRITORIES

Saturday Night, April 6 (this Saturday) a large demonstration will set out from Rabin Square, Tel Aviv at 7:30 pm in the direction of the Defense Ministry, Kirya, with a rally beginning at 8 pm.

The economy: Everything is coming to a halt. The entertainment industry is paralyzed; Israeli hi-tech is losing whatever altitude it still had; broader mobilization of reserves would obviously affect production; all this damage comes on top of an already dead tourism industry, and high unemployment rate (which, ironically, will now go down among healthy Jews, as demand for security guards is unprecedented "you get frisked as you go into a McDonald's). In Scandinavia, a boycott on Israeli goods has been launched. Some attempts to organize a similar boycott and divestment are being organized in the US. If successful, these measures could be effective: For years, the occupation led to financial gains to the Israeli society. Opposition to it here will increase if it becomes too costly.

The press: The news media provide a rather narrow picture of what is going on. Journalists are not allowed to follow the military, and reporting has relied mostly on army press releases. This has left e-mails and phone calls from those besieged and occupied as virtually the sole source of news. The army, incidentally, removed the press after a TV station showed soldiers breaking (through a wall) into a home in a refugee camp, killing the mother, making a big mess, humiliating the family, and then leaving through another wall (yes, this is how they move now to reduce casualties, they move through walls, blowing holes on their way in and out of houses in refugee camps). The leading pundits have obviously aligned themselves with the government, and are now worried that the US would not give the army enough time to "complete its mission".

read Amira Hass, a courageous Israeli journalist living in Ramallah -

I conclude with excerpts from new reports from the territories. These come from the cities. The plight of refugee camp dwellers is much worse, and goes mostly unreported.

EXCERPTS FROM A REPORT BY PROFESSOR JAMIL HILAL, RAMALLAH

3rd of April: Heavy rain all night and all today, as well as heavy mist over Ramallah (this lessens the use of airpower and probably obstructs a little bit the use of tanks and ground troops). Israeli forces yesterday stormed Bethlehem and Tulkarem, and today they storm Salfeet and Jenin, as well as a camp near Ramallah (al-Galazoon). Nablus no doubt is the next city to be stormed with dire consequences.. The occupation is expanding daily while the USA is watching and Zinni in Jerusalem does nothing.. The Palestine Authority is being demolished as institutions (hospitals, schools and universities, municipalities, police stations are all now either demolished or non-working) and as an infrastructure (roads, electricity, water services), and as a project of statehood and independence. But it is not only the Palestinian Authority that is being destroyed but also political society (anything which signifies the existence of a political organization, such as the offices of political groups, or of known figures) is being destroyed or arrested. NGOs (including health organizations, human rights organizations) have ceased to work or function, all this on top of an economy that has been systematically strangled. If the Palestinian Authority ceases to pay salaries and wages, then at least a quarter of the labour force is left without any source of income, in addition to the 20% that depended on income from work in Israel; most of the remaining labour force, employed by the private sector and NGOs, is out of work. The prospect of starvation on a large scale unknown to UNRWA will become real in two to three months maximum.

From Dr. Sari Hanafi, Director of Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Centre, Shaml www.shaml.org

Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2002 12:46 AM

Salam from Ramallah

From encircled apartment in Ramallah, I wrote to you after 5 days without electricity for almost of the time and with Gaz quiet empty. Complete curfew remains in effect on the entire population. The city has been declared a closed military area, and journalists have been ordered to leave.... Vegetable, bread and meet become so luxury. It is not only curfew but also tanks in the door of the building. As my building is rather high, the Israeli soldiers occupied two apartments and kicked people outside of their home. They gather all the men of all ages and put them in one apartment (I am safe by my magical French passport). They executed one young of 19 because he asked to go to the bathroom. In fact he was beaten in his head and left 2 hours until his blood pour completely. Once he died then they call the ambulance.... I am really afraid that they raid shaml Like they do for Al Haq human rights organization and Palestinian Hydrological Group... This experience will mark my life for ever.

RADIO NABLUS UNDER ATTACK

The Tarik al Mahabe radio station at Nablus on the West Bank is at this moment (3.00 am local time) under attack by the invading IDF forces, who shell the building where its offices and studios

are located. The army claims that there are "armed men" in the building. However, the station's director Amer Abdel Hadi says there is nobody there but two of his staff, unarmed journalists. He is urgently asking anybody who can to help. His phone number is 972-59-371372. his email amer@tmfm.net

You can send protests to the Defence Minister at Fax: +972-3-6916940, 6976990, e-mail: sar@mod.gov.il
Spokesperson Defence Ministry: info@mail.idf.il
Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin Pilosof, sgansar@mod.gov.il

Best,
Yosef Grodzinsky
Department of Psychology
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv 69978, ISRAEL

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