Democratic Palestine : 28 (ص 22)
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- Democratic Palestine : 28 (ص 22)
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in the middle of the road. This stops soldiers from entering in
military vehicles. They have to enter on foot. The soldiers
come in busloads to demonstrations. You can see that the bulk
of the forces of the Israeli army is in the occupied territories.
The soldiers have to get out of their buses. They come running
to the demonstration and are confronted by fearless Palesti-
nians who throw stones at them. The soldiers are actually
afraid of the stones and they back off. They start shooting tear
gas and depending where it is, they pretty soon open up with
live ammunition.
I witnessed a confrontation at Ramallah hospital one day. It
was Women’s Day, and there were demonstrations all over the
territories. In the afternoon, women and others gathered at
Ramallah hospital because we had heard there was a killing in
Mazraah AI Shargia village. They gathered to honor the mar-
tyr. On top of the hospital, there was a large Palestinian flag. I
watched the soldiers advance, and the people throw stones at
them; the soldiers would retreat and then advance once more,
and the Palestinians would advance and throw more stones.
Sometimes the soldiers would throw the stones back and then
they used tear gas... This went on for hours. The people were
on all sides, so the soldiers would have had to confront them
from ten different streets to actually stop this demonstration.
More wounded and dead were coming into the hospital...
«NON—LETHAL» WEAPONS
I understand now that in the Nablus area, the Israelis have
used a new, so-called non-lethal weapon, a halftrack tank that
spits gravel all over. It’s like a cement mixer that shoots. This
was used one time before I left. I did not see it, but I was told
that it breaks every window, everything in sight. It is different
from the other weapon they use to throw rocks back at
demonstrators.
There is a lot of concern now about the gases being used,
which are made in the USA. Different gases are being used and
people can tell the difference by the smell. I was in Jerusalem
one day when tear-gasing went on twice in a row. It was very
clear that the second gas was somehow different - you started
vomiting. Now there is a large problem with trimester miscar-
riages. It has been showing up since December. It’s quite
severe, particularly in Gaza. It is very clear that this is the
result of the gas, and there is research being done now to prove
it. We have to use this in the USA to show people what their tax
dollars are doing. The Palestinians have the data and they have
analyses done on these gases. It’s clear it’s causing miscar-
riages. It’s also causing the death of young children and old
people. You can pick up a cannister, because they are
everywhere in the streets, and it says: «Made in USA, 1987
-Warning, do not use in closed places - can be lethal.» It’s all
written right on the containers. Tear gas is also used from
helicopters; there are many methods.
RAIDS AND ARRESTS
One night I spent in a village, Kafr Al Diq. At 5 a.m. we
were awakened by helicopters over the roof. The Israeli
military brought two helicopters, two busloads of soldiers and
two patrol jeeps of soldiers to raid the village. They were look-
ing for fifteen people; they arrested five and couldn’t find the
other ten, so they left messages for them to show up at the
22
military headquarters. They took the flag from the top of the
mosque and the loudspeakers from the mosque.
These things are very common. They are trying to cut off the
head of the uprising, and they never seem to do it, no matter
how many people they put in prison or administrative deten-
tion. Nothing stops, so they go for another layer and another
and another... But my view is that no matter how many people
they arrest, it will not change anything. Everybody knows
what’s happening; everybody is aware of the strategy. It’s the
main topic of conversation among old women, among
children, among all. The uprising is unified and highly coor-
dinated. There is no dissent. I did not hear one person say that
it is wrong what they are doing. There is total unity and total
willingness to continue. Although the deaths and the injuries
are upsetting the people, they know that’s the price they have
to pay for freedom, and they are not afraid to pay it.
SCHULTZ’S VISIT
We were there during the week Schultz came. Three-year-old
children were saying: Schultz, Schultz. It was amazing.
Everyone knew Schultz was coming, and everyone knew what
that meant. They day before he came, Jerusalem was heavily
fortified. I was in the Old City the day of his visit, and soldiers
were everywhere. What I saw most was beatings. They would
take any young boy or man on the streets, and just beat him.
You know, Ariel Sharon took 2 house in the Old City by the
Damascus Gate. They actually take people in there and beat
them. We saw it happen: This is what this house is being used
for.
There were total general strikes all week; nothing was open.
There were days when I was walking through Jerusalem and all
of a sudden you would hear all this noise - bottles breaking and
gunshots. You get used to these sounds - You hear a certain
sound and you assume there are beatings. You hear another
sound and you know its shootings, another sound and it’s tear
gas. There will be tires burning in the streets of Jerusalem, and
the next day it happens again. It’s so obvious when you walk
down the streets, the soldiers are just waiting for something to
happen, but they don’t know what, where, how, when... They
have to put all their forces into Jerusalem, because they are
afraid of what will happen next.
WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION
The uprising comprises all sectors, all classes, and the
women have a very prominent role. One thing is that they have
to make do and feed their families on very little, because there
is only very little available. Another thing is that whenever a
soldier grabs a boy, whatever women are around, one of them
will start screaming, «That is my son, you can’t take him.» All
the women in the area will come and swarm the soldiers and
start screaming and kicking the soldier, telling him to release
the boy. It works most of the time, so they are really protecting
a lot of people. They are very active, and they are fearless; they
are everywhere, and many have been shot.
The different women’s committees are together, united,
holding demonstrations and sit-ins at the Red Cross; then they
march. A lot of time and attention is being focused on medical
relief right now. Some of the other activities generally spon-
sored by the women’s committees, such as day care, are not so
important now when nobody is working. There is no school, so - هو جزء من
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