| The Palestinian NGO Network, The Palestinian Trade
Unions in Ramallah and Al-Bireh, The General Union of Charitable Societies
and The General Union of Arab Institutions "Ittijah" set out on
a peaceful march to the Ram checkpoint, to protest against the Israeli
occupation and the recent closures, which have been imposed by the Israeli
military forces as a form of collective punishment. The Israelis have set
up 90 new checkpoints all over the West Bank and Gaza thus severing the
towns from the villages and even the villages from each other. This form
of collective punishment enforced in its most extreme form has been prohibited
by the Geneva Convention and all international agreements concerning human
rights. People are unable to reach their work, children cannot reach their
schools and teachers cannot go to the villages to teach. At many of the
checkpoints the people who have been able to reach the towns by one way
or another in order to buy food for their children have been obliged by
the soldiers to throw it away, under the threat of gunfire. The new Israeli
policy is evidently to starve the Palestinians and to deprive them of their
right for movement, education and even the most basic right of life.
However, the Palestinians' reaction has been to
continue their struggle full force and to add new forms of resistance of
the occupation. The past few weeks have seen many peaceful demonstrations
aiming at passing the checkpoints and pressuring the Israeli military by
the use of peaceful demonstrations and the force of a mass of human bodies
marching to protest against the increasingly aggressive Israeli measures.
During this demonstration four of the women of
the Palestinian Working Women's Society were injured by the Israelis.
Amal Khreishe, the General Director, fainted as a result of the tear gas,
Hanan Bannoura - Head of the Executive Board - was hit in the shoulder
by a gas bomb, Samar Hawwash - Director of the Nablus Branch - was hit
in the chest and leg by rubber bullets and Na'ela Odeh from the Working
Women Program was hit in the pelvis by a rubber bullet. A young man's legs
were also burnt and injured by the shrapnel from the sound bomb. The Israeli
soldiers were extremely aggressive and started the violence even though
it was a completely peaceful demonstration and the people were only chanting
slogans. But their continued and relentless aggression will not impede
our struggle .
Our days and nights have been transformed into
a continuous nightmare, we call on you to intervene - we refuse to become
the Red Indians of the 21st century. Where is humanity's conscience?!!
WE call on you again to stand by our just cause. Israel must be forced
to comply by the International and UN Resolutions.
Their must be a peaceful and just resolution of
the Palestinian problem for humanity to remain human!!!!
|
UPDATE:
JANUARY 12, 2002