Democratic Palestine : 23 (ص 19)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 23 (ص 19)
- المحتوى
-
anon
Breaking the camps’ resistance is a
prelude to disarming the Palestinian
people, depriving them not only of their
right to join in the war against the
Zionist enemy, but of their very right to
existence. Thus, it is an illusion to
believe that Amal intends to take com-
prehensive measures to lift the inhuman
Siege.
ps Still Besieged
SHATILA IS STARVING
The camps of West Beirut paint a
particularly bleak picture. Amost 85%
of Shatila has been completely
destroyed. The camp’s population,
about 3,000 Palestinians, is locked into
an area of 100 meters by 150 meters,
taking shelter in the remains of
demolished structures which have lost
the status of houses. The wounded have
to be guarded from stray cats which
find their way through the missile-
riddled walls to lick the blood off a
wound. Food has dwindled to the last
bits, and meagre rations of gruel are
now being allotted to children under 12
years of age. The rest have declared a
period of self-imposed fasting, so as to
save food for the children, old people
and pregnant women. Of the many
appeals for help made to regional and
international organizations, the most
recent call sent out by the inhabitants of
Shatila is an indication of how
desparate their situation is:
«We are starving to death. If we die,
human conscience will die with us. The
history of mankind has taught us that
man can destroy and kill with bullets
and missiles, but till now history has no
record of a people being starved to
death. Has mankind now decided to
destroy us by starvation? We refuse to
eat the flesh of our dead children,
women and men. We will die of starva-
tion first, and let human conscience die
with us... Shatila... will be the first to
testify to the degradation of human
values and civilization, and the morals
of mankind.»
Shatila is still heaving under Amal’s
merciless siege. From February 19th to
mid-March, 24 women were wounded
and two martyred in attempts to leave
the camp to secure food supplies.
Scores of others have been killed or
wounded by indiscriminate shelling. At
night, hand grenades are thrown
regularly at the camp’s entrance, to
prevent people from attempting to buy
supplies under the cover of darkness.
TERRORIZING WOMEN
Burj Al Barajneh is another dismal
example of daily suffering at the hands
of the Amal gangs and their backers.
Amal has formally agreed to allow
women to leave and reenter the camp
within a designated time period to buy
food (9 a.m. to 12 noon). However, this
time has turned into one harbouring
terror and harassment for women. In-
cidents of women being wounded or
killed by Amal militiamen at the camp’s
entrance, especially between 9 a.m. and
12 noon, have become daily fare. Bet-
ween February 19th and 27th, a total of
31 Palestinian women were _inten-
tionally shot at by the Amal forces.
Four of them died immediately while
several of the wounded see no hope of
survival because of lack of treatment.
Those who fall close to the camp’s
premises are dragged to shelter; others
are sometimes left unaided because
sporadic outbursts of fire keep people
away.
On February 28th, a comrade was
shot dead in his tracks while trying to
organize the women’s exit from the
camp to get food. Two women were
also shot and left wounded in the chaos
of fear and bullets. One of them later
died of her wounds. The next day, after
a number of women had - strangely
enough - been allowed out, Amal and
the Lebanese Army’s 6th Brigade sud-
denly began heavy shelling of the camp
at 9:12 a.m. An average of six missiles
per minute bombarded Burj Al Bara-
jneh. Women who had considered
themselves lucky to get out of the camp
were now trapped outside. They had to
risk their lives dodging bullets while
attempting to sneak back to their >
Camp residents without food or security
— - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 23
- تاريخ
- أبريل ١٩٨٧
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
Contribute
Not viewed