Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 12)
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- Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 12)
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Occupied Palestine
December Uprising
«WE WILL DIE FOR PALESTINE, WE WILL FIGHT TILL
LIBERATION» - slogans at the Bir Zeit University memorial
ceremony for the students martyred on December 4th.
The first half of December, occupied
Palestine was vibrant with ongoing
mass resistance to occupation, remi-
niscent of the sustained mass uprising
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in
spring 1982. Both these uprisings
stemmed from the brutal Zionist occu-
pation and the Palestinian people’s
consistent refusal to accept this. Both
encompassed demonstrations, strikes,
sit-ins and stoning of Zionist targets.
And both were met with the old/new
Zionist methods of repression - tear
gas, arrests, curfews, school closures
and outright murder. Six Palestinian
youths were shot to death by Zionist
troops in the space of eight days, and
many others wounded. Bir Zeit Uni-
versity was partially closed for almost a
month, Al Najah University for one
week, and Bethlehem University for a
day, after student demonstrations.
The latest uprising encompassed new
themes as well. The breadth and mili-
tancy of the demonstrations showed
clearly that the vast majority of Pales-
tinians under occupation have no faith
whatsoever in the Jordanian ‘solution’
which is based on undermining the
PLO. Our people continue to adhere to
the PLO and their national rights,
knowing very well that the occupation
will only be lifted by daily and strategic
confrontation of the Zionist enemy.
Another new, related theme of the
uprising was solidarity with the
besieged Palestinian camps in Lebanon.
Palestinians under occupation are
aware that the armed revolution outside
is a much needed support to their own
daily struggle. In fact, some attributed
the uprising’s militancy to the people’s
pride in the Palestinian revolution’s
heroic defense of the camps. Editor
Ibrahim Kareem in Jerusalem, told
reporters that the morale of youth «is
higher today than at any other time
since the Israeli invasion of Lebanon»
(International Herald Tribune,
December 10, 1986). Once again, the
masses tore the mask off the false pic-
ture of the ‘benign’ occupation pro-
jected by ‘Israel’ and its supporters
around the world. The leading Israeli
daily Haaretz drew the logical conclu-
sion, writing, «Israeli rule is no more
acceptable to the Arabs of the adminis-
tered territories than it was in 1967.»
The UN Security Council, on December
12
8th, condemned the shooting of defen-
seless students at Bir Zeit, and urged
‘Israel’ to abide by the Geneva Con-
vention for protecting civilians in time
of war. This time, even the US found it
inopportune to use its veto.
THE OUTBREAK
Although events took on the decided
character of an uprising after the con-
frontation between Zionist troops and
Palestinian students at Bir Zeit Univer-
sity on December 4th, there was a prior
chain of mass resistance and Zionist
terror. Tension had been high since
mid-November, when Israelis went on a
three-day rampage in Jerusalem, after a
Zionist settler was killed. In scenes
reminiscent of a pogrom, gangsters
smashed the windows of shops and cars
belonging to Palestinians, and threw
petrol bombs into homes. Two Pales-
tinians were wounded and there was
extensive property damage. The Pales-
tinians of Jerusalem protested with a
general strike, and there were acts and
NEW EXPULSION
The Israeli occupation authorities
renewed their policy of expelling Pales-
tinians from their homeland by depor-
ting Akram Haniyeh on December 28,
1986. Haniyeh is a Palestinian citizen
of Ramallah, and editor in chief of the
Jerusalem Arabic daily Al Shaab. He
was arrested on November 3rd, accused
of being a PLO official in the occupied
territories. The military governor
ordered him deported under the Emer-
gency Regulations, contrary to the
Geneva Convention which forbids the
deportation of citizens from occupied
territories. Haniyeh appealed the
deportation order. However, as is usual
in such cases, the appeal was sabotaged
by the Israeli practice of keeping secret
the specific charges against Haniyeh.
Thus, despite having competent, pro-
gressive Israeli lawyers, Haniyeh was
deprived of the right to defend himself.
Seeing that the High Court hearing was
but a travesty of justice, he withdrew
his appeal and was deported as the price
for his adherence to the PLO. Haniyeh
is another victim of the joint Israeli-
Jordanian policy for liquidating the
PLO, in order to impose their joint rule
over the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
wi
statements of solidarity from other
parts of occupied Palestine. At the end
of the month, demonstrations were
violently dispersed by the Zionist forces
on the International Day of Solidarity
with the Palestinian People.
On December Ist, students at the
teachers’ college in Ramallah organized
demonstrations in the town and nearby
Qalandia camp, expressing support for
the besieged Palestinian camps in
Lebanon. The demonstration spread to
Bir Zeit University. There was a
marked militancy: Israeli cars were
stoned; residents barricaded roads and
raised Palestinian flags high. The Zion-
ist army replied in a way similar to its
ally, the apartheid regime in South
Africa. Soldiers opened fire on the
demonstrators, injuring one student.
Bir Zeit University was closed. Twelve
were arrested and all gatherings were
banned. New Israeli checkpoints were
set up around the campus.
On December 3rd, Palestinian and
progressive Jewish students at the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem orga-
nized a mass demonstration in support
of the people of East Jerusalem, who
had been facing the Zionist settlers’
terror.
STUDENTS MURDERED
The situation boiled over on
December 4th, due to the occupation
forces’ murderous tactics. On that day,
the students of Bir Zeit University had
planned a sit-in to mark their support
of the Palestinian revolution and the
besieged camps in Lebanon. When
students and teachers were stopped
trom entering the campus by the Zion-
ist soldiers, they began their sit-in on
the road. A military vehicle arrived,
and the soldiers detained Dr. Salah
Abdel Jawad, a teacher at the univer-
sity, and dispersed the students with
tear gas. This sparked a militant protest
demonstration by the students. The
Zionists used tear gas, rubber bullets
and gunfire, killing two students,
Jawad Abu Salmiyah and Saeb
Suleiman Dahab, and injuring 25
others. WAFA (the PLO news agency)
reported from London that one of the
injured, Kamal Ghadi, died of his
wounds afterwards. The students used
the only weapon they had - stones, and
two of the Zionist soldiers were injured.
The occupation troops blocked the
entrance of journalists .and ambu-
lances, so the injured were taken by
private cars to Ramallah. The Zionists
then attacked the families of the injured
who had gathered at Ramallah hospital
to visit the injured; three people were
injured. The hospital was sealed off, as
was the Bir Zeit campus. To crown
their crime, the Zionist soldiers robbed - هو جزء من
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