>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "International" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 11:57:15 -0500 > >International Action Center PALESTINE JOURNAL >Wednesday, November 1, 2000 >TRANSCRIPTS OF RADIO INTERVIEWS > >[The report of the fifth day from a four-person delegation from the >International Action Center from their humanitarian and fact-finding mission >to Palestine during what is being called the Al Aqsa Intifada, or uprising has >been held up because the delegation is in transit. We substitute for it the >transcripts of three radio interviews given on Oct. 30 and Oct. 31 which are >now available. > >The delegation aims to bring back a first-hand report documenting the >repression inflicted by the Israeli army and to bring medical supplies for >Palestinian hospitals, which have been declared a state of medical >emergency. The Emergency is caused by the dual problem of the heavy >casualties inflicted by the Israeli repression and the inability of sick and >wounded people to pass through Israeli checkpoints on their way to the >hospital. The IAC delegation includes Richard Becker, Sara Flounders, Randa >Jamal and Preston Wood.] > >INTERVIEW OF RICHARD BECKER ON KPFA OCT. 30, 2000 > >Richard Becker: This is Richard Becker of the International Action Center and >I am here in Ramallah, in the West Bank with a delegation from the IAC that >arrived here on Saturday, October 28. About two hours ago, which is about >ten o’clock, 10:30 p.m. local time we saw an attack, a rocket attack from what >we believe an Apache helicopter some distance from the house that we’re >staying in. > >We had heard that there is military action taking place. We saw a helicopter >and then a plane that was flying over. We saw a flare and then a large >explosion took place possibly within a mile, mile and a half. We went >immediately to the site and it turned out that a very small building from the >Fatah organization had been rocketed in a residential neighborhood in El >Bireh, which together with Ramallah make up twin cities. > >When we arrived on the scene there were many people on the streets. First >we studied the building that had been hit. It was a very tiny office. There’s >no other commercial or offices in this neighborhood. All the rest of the >neighborhood was residential. > >The rocket hit the Fatah office, which is something like I would say four >meters by two meters. Iit was really a tiny office. Then we went immediately >across the street to see the widespread damage that was done to the >residential apartments. We went inside to talk with the people inside the >apartments all had the glass blown off out in the front of buildings. There >were pieces of the rocket inside the apartment, on the floor, and other >damage. By very great fortune none of the people were injured. > >We interviewed a 7-year-old boy who was very scared and a 13-year-old and >a 16-year-old girl who were very terrified. The thing that was very fortunate >was that their mother, who was a U.S. citizen who lives most of the time in >Birmingham, Alabama, had heard the planes and the helicopters outside the >house had brought the children into the center of the house, the safest place >in the house in the hallway. Then she had them on a mattress here and then >the rocket hit across the street and destroyed the office, blew up the whole >front of the square unit apartment building. > >There was mass debris everywhere, including pieces of the missile inside. >There was another house where according to the neighbors the people had >just left five minutes before, and this house suffered structural damage. Large >pieces of stone from the house were lying in front of it, the windows were all >blown out. > >We were not able to go into the house next door that was rocketed. Inside >the apartment building there were pieces of missile that burned the rug. It >was also very fortunate that the apartment building wasn’t destroyed by fire. >This is really an extreme example of the kind of brutality against the >Palestinian people, against the civilians here being employed by the Israeli >forces. > >We’ve been receiving reports that there have been rocket attacks from >helicopters in at least four places. In Nablus, Ramallah, Razia-Gaza, attacks >with automatic weapons in Jerico and we suspect in other places as well in >the occupied areas. We are now about to go out and join people here in >Ramallah and this is happening also in other cities for night time marches. >It’s >now close to one a.m. and the march is about to start. > >Dennis Bernstein: Alright Richard Becker, we do understand that things are >getting more intense. The Israeli military did in fact announce that they >would be in essence taking off their gloves and going in a very proactive >way after various protesters and the organizers. Please keep us posted in >terms of what happens from here on in. > >Richard Becker: O.K. but one of the sentiments of the people is that this is >coming from the United States. There was one man who had lived for many >years in an apartment upstairs and he picked up a piece of a wall that was >blow into his apartment, through his window from the house that was blown >up across the street. He held it up and he said, “I want to send a message to >President Clinton, I want to send this back to him.” > >Dennis Bernstein: And that’s the piece of the wall he was holding > >RB: That was the piece of the wall. By then the Palestinian media had arrived >and was on the scene and filmed this. Everywhere the feeling is very, very >strong among the people who understand that the attacks that are being >carried out against them. And I have to call this attack a war crime, this is >one >attack with no consideration and no warning on civilian residential >neighborhoods. The people are very aware of the ammunition, the weaponry >that’s being used, the helicopters is supplied to the Israeli military from the >United States. > >INTERVIEW OF SARA FLOUNDERS BY WBAI, OCT. 31, 2000 > >Sara Flounders: The Israeli settlements on the West Bank here are huge >armed forts that dominate the hilltops around Jerusalem, around Bethlehem, >around Ramallah, > >The roads connecting these settlements go for miles like elevated highways- >fully lit. Only Israeli cars with Israeli license plates are allowed on these >roads >and they look down on all these villages. The settlers just shoot with tank >rounds and high- powered weapons snipers down on villages, just shooting, >picking off people. > > Well Jose, starting last night there have been a series of Israeli military >rocketing of cities, of residential areas using Apache helicopters, really >firing >on neighborhoods- on civilians. The Palestinians have of course, no anti- >aircraft batteries, they have no missile defense system, they have no >protection whatsoever. You’re talking about a population that is totally >vulnerable. Where the most that the pal army or police would have are side >arms, in the face of a heavily armed force with tanks with helicopter >gunships, with planes flying overhead. > >And, all of this is meant to create an atmosphere of fear of intimidation, of a >demand for a surrender. And it’s having the opposite effect; it has >galvanized in a way that I have never seen or experienced before, the entire >population in a very very militant and determined mood. This is a whole >population that went through the seven years of peace talks and saw during >that time, the Israeli military defense grow far, far stronger. > >The settlements literally doubled, this whole series of byways or bypass >roads was established, the military presence. And the areas of Palestinian >control are so limited, so narrow, literally within city limits and within >those >limits the entire population is locked down. You can’t go to the next town; >you can’t go to the next village. There are check-points everywhere, and of >course, you can’t leave the country, you can’t travel abroad. (that was an >incoming rocket, I don’t know if you could hear it-it was quite loud. > >Jose Santiago:You could just barely hear it, yes. > >Sara Flounders: Now, we were at a very important, there was a demonstration >last night after the attack in Ramallah, where we are we got as far as Nablus >today-there were four rocket attacks here last night and we visited an office >building next to a home that had been hit. There was a demonstration last >night that we attended in Ramallah right after this rocketing and that was >quite a moving event, marching to the site where the rocket hit, just from >people all over the city. > >Today there was a march of hundreds, of many hundreds that was called. It >was really the youth sort of converging on the north entrance (that’s firing >again) the north entrance into Ramallah. And you can really see here’s the >city limits, it’s actually within the city limits, right across the street is >this line >of Israeli tanks. And the youth built barricades with burning tires, and began >to throw stones. And we could share for a very little while the experience that >the youth here in Palestine are going through every day for the past month. > >The Israeli forces responded first by firing some pretty heavy –it’s not tear >gas, it’s heavier than that – it’s CS gas we have some of the canisters, the >casings, it says on it “made in USA Federal Labs” which is located in >Pennsylvania. After that they began firing live ammunition. It was really >ricocheting along the walls, and above our heads, and everyone was forced >to retreat. But then they began with firing tank rounds; the big guns on tanks >– it’s like a big machine gun I guess. And that really did force, you could say >a temporary retreat. > >Now, the same morning we had had a meeting with doctors and medical >people from the Union of Healthwork Committee and the Union of Palestinian >Medical Releif Committees. These are really teams of doctors that operate >clinics all over both the West Bank and Gaza. We had gone to the hospitals >and visited a number of people who had been wounded. We went to like a >rehab center also, where a number of people- all young people were. There >are at this point 6,600 people who are seriously wounded – enough that they >went to the hospital. About twenty percent to twenty five percent of them >will have lasting disabilities we’re told. That’s an estimate. > >But what these doctors were explaining is the effort they have put into >training volunteer medics and first aid teams, and that is why, although the >number of wounded is extremely high, they have been able to save many >people. Because these teams, and they’re really heroic, along with the youth >who are out there on the front line, these first aid or medic teams, who’ve >gone through a real training program, are there with some basic equipment, >stretchers, the ambulances are right in the confrontation zones, and they race >in there as soon as anyone is injured, they’re on them in minutes. > >Compared to the Intifada, seven years ago, eight years ago, they have been >able to save many, many people. Its extremely dangerous for the health >workers, and there’ve been a number of health workers, first aid medics and >ambulance drivers who have been pretty seriously injured themselves. > >Jose Santiago: What is clear here is that most newspaper accounts that us >citizens are reading all over the country always portray the Israeli military >attacks as responses to attacks, or firing against the strongholds of >extremists. Is that your sense of what is happening? > >Sara Flounders: No. Its absolutely not. These are heavily armed troops and >they have an incredible array of equipment against youth who don’t have – I >mean, the news reporters have flak jackets and helmets and are stationed well >back. The youth have nothing, and none of them are armed with anything >except sling shots. And there’s really no need for the Israeli military to >respond. > >The Palestinians are literally within their own area, even by what was reached >by the Oslo Accords and the so-called peace talks. It is an attempt to >demoralize, to wear down, to terrorize, to demand a surrender, to demand >signing of an accord that is so unequal that the entire population is refusing >to do that. That’s what these demonstrations represent, right up to the tanks, >it is saying “no we’re not going to back down.” > >Today where this fight was going on there where Israeli snipers, and you >could see gun emplacements – I mean you could see it. At the City Inn Hotel >right across the street the sniping down at the crowd. Now that’s an attempt >to terrorize. There’s no other name, there’s no other word for it, and there’s >no reason for it except that it’s a political statement. It has nothing to do >with >defending their position, its attempting to push back and its part of making a >demand, just like a precision bombing of Fatah headquarters is a demand for >Arafat to sign a peace accord which he knows the whole population would >be against. > >INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD BECKER BY KPFA, OCT. 31, 2000 > >Richard Becker: I'm calling in from Nablus in the West Bank. We just arrived >in this city a few hours ago. > >Around noon local time today there was a demonstration which took place at >the north entrance to Ramallah and this came just 12 hours after the rocket >attacks in residential neighborhoods in several cities. The hardest hit city >was Nablus, where there were four different areas that were rocketed. We >witnessed last night a rocketing in Ramallah, and there was another one that >we didn’t see with widespread damage to residential areas, so there's >tremendous anger. > >There were marches that took place all over Palestine, including one that we >participated in in Ramallah last night at midnight. Today there was a march >that took place and as the march approached the north entrance to Ramallah, >which is very close in, really in the city itself, there was a demo that took >place where Palestinian youth were confronting the Israeli soldiers. And the >Israeli soldiers were pulled up right, almost into the city and it shows how >very limited the area under Palestinian control is. > >The Palestinian youth began throwing stones and using slingshots against >the soldiers who were confronting them. There were soldiers right behind >them that were hard to see but we could make them out, in both the City Inn >hotel and in an adjoining office building. These were snipers. These snipers >have been firing from long distances at people who are demonstrating, >picking them off. So we could see them. > >But after the demonstration went on for a little while and we were no more >than a hundred yards from this, the Israelis began opening up and they >began firing automatic weapons after they had used the tear gas. Then they >began firing from tanks at the youth, firing 500 mm and 800 mm bullets, big >bullets that just destroy somebody if they hit them. > >But the courage of the youth in confronting this was really incredible to see. >There were hundreds and hundreds of youth along the sides and some who >got up very close to where the soldiers were. Even with all the firing going on >they would continue to resist, they would continue to throw stones. Really, I >think, they were making the statement that they're not going to be >intimidated, that they're not going to be defeated by the use of these tactics, >which really have to be considered to be criminal tactics. > >The bombing and rocketing from Apache helicopters -- a terrible misnomer, >but that’s what the helicopters that they have from the United States are >named -- that they are determined to continue this struggle. And then when >they began opening up with the tank weapons against people, the crowds >began to scatter, to move back and to move forward again. Bullets were >whistling over our heads, hitting off of buildings near where we were. And >finally the crowd was driven back. > >But this was I think one of many many instances like this, and it shows the >tremendous level of morale and the tremendous determination by the youth >and by the people as a whole. And it really is the people as a whole, as we >can testify to from the many encounters that we've had with people from all >walks of life here. > >One thing that was very noteworthy is that in the morning, before this took >place, we had visited with two different Palestinian medical committees, the >Union of Health Work Committee and the Union of Palestinian Medical relief >Association. We had met with them and we had gone to hospitals and >visited some of the wounded. In two different hospitals, in Ramallah hospital >and in another rehabilitation hospital where more seriously injured people are >being treated. > >One of the things explained to us in the meeting that we had with the doctors >was that the medical committees here, and this is a new development, have >been training hundreds of medics, volunteer medics, and they go out to >places where the demonstrations are happening, with the ambulances. >They've been trained how to get people who have been shot, how to carry >them out in ways that they're safer, into the ambulances. > >But of course it's not safe for the people who are doing this at all, because >many of them have been wounded. At least 15 have been seriously wounded >with gunshot wounds to the chest, to the back and the head. But after >having heard this explained early in the morning in the meetings, we then got >to witness it first hand where the ambulances were racing in the areas where >the fighting was taking place amid the tank fire and automatic weapons and >bring out wounded Palestinians. > >So it's very very dramatic to see this. It was a scene where bullets were >flying, ricocheting around, tear gas. We were exposed to the tear gas, not as >much as the people who were right up in the front, but large amounts of tear >gas. We got one of the tear gas canisters, CS gas canisters that had been >fired, and verified by looking at it, we have it our possession that it was >made >by Federal Labs, a U.S. company. Twelve years ago I participated in a sit-in >demonstration at Federal Labs out in Western Pennsylvania, because the >Israelis were using the gas in such quantities in the first Intifada, firing >it into >people's homes, that many people were dying from it. > >But Federal Labs is still producing it and they're still supplying it to the >Israeli military, along with all the other weaponry that's coming from the >United States. > >We had to leave Ramallah immediately after the demonstration to come here >to Nablus and part of the reason for that is that the closures are so tight. We >were stopped at checkpoints in two locations and finally, through a very >winding and dangerous dirt road, we were finally able to make it here to >Nablus. But that's the way it is here and so it requires people to spend a >great >deal of time just trying to get anywhere so we have not been able to get any >further reports on the number of people injured today. We're hoping to be >able to have access to that information later on. > >We were told by many people on the scene and many people who were >retreating from it that this was without any doubt tank fire that was coming. >It >was coming from the large machine guns resting on tanks that fire 500 mm >and 800 mm shells. And when we got hear to Nablus we were shown areas >along the checkpoints where people had been killed, half their heads blown >away. One person who was a bystander and another person who was >participating in a demonstration, by these large bullets, shells almost that >are >fired by tanks, one had taken half a person's head off, another had just blown >his head apart. And this is increasingly being used. Along with it of course, >the rocketing. > >We visited as soon as we got to Nablus the Fatah office here, which had >been hit by two missiles last night and it was totally destroyed. It was a >large >building, unlike the building we saw last night in Ramallah which was a very >tiny office of Fatah, where much greater damage was done to surrounding >residential buildings. The Israelis are using US-produced heavy weaponry >against civilians and the civilians are continuing to carry on the struggle and >continuing to resist despite this, but it's truly criminal, what's going on. >It's >truly a violation of international law to use this type of weaponry. And I >think in the big media what we're hearing, it continues to be misreported to >make it appear that it's some kind of even struggle that's going on here and >it's nothing of the kind. > >+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > >To send a donation in support of the delegation, go to >www.peoplesrightsfund.org or send checks to the International Action >Center (write to "Peoples Rights Fund/Medical Aid"). > >If you would like to arrange for a speaker from the delegation at your school >or in your community, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >International Action Center >39 West 14th Street, Room 206 >New York, NY 10011 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >web: http://www.iacenter.org >CHECK OUT SITE http://www.mumia2000.org >phone: 212 633-6646 >fax: 212 633-2889 >*To make a tax-deductible donation, >go to http://www.peoplesrightsfund.org > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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