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Nablus Under Fierce Attack > Urgent Appeal
Date: 1/4/2004 2:48:36 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: pal@webmediaworks.com

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN NABLUS - URGENT APPEAL
based on the report by Rabab Abdulhadi and
press release by the International Solidarity Movement
edited and updated by Alaqsaintifada.org - January 3, 2004

Greetings from Nablus Under Siege...

Nablus has been under siege for the last 10 days, while Balata refugee camp has been under siege for the last 18 consecutive days. We have just heard that every single entrance/exit to Balata has been sealed off completely. No food or medicine is allowed in. Medical relief teams are being obstructed and at times completely prevented from passing through. Activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) were attacked while carrying out their missions to observe and bear witness on what the Israeli Occupation Forces brutality against the Palestinian population. Beit Foreek has been completely sealed off; its mayor reports that there are signs of starvation.

Two men and a boy were killed by Israeli military fire since this morning. The first, Amjad Bilal Masri, is a 15 year old boy who was shot by a sniper while standing in front of his house. Soldiers obstructed and searched the ambulance before allowing it to proceed to the hospital, and Amjad died on the way. The second is Amer Kathym Arafat, 26, who was shot in the back by a sniper bullet while he was at the Kindi School. The third is Rouhi Hazem Shouman, 25, who was also shot in the back by a sniper.
Ms. Majida Masri, spokeswoman for the Coordinating Committee of the Palestinian Political Faction, has called on all Nablus residents who are able to get to Rafidiya Hospital to defy the curfew and join the families of the martyrs in a collective funeral for the three. "They were all shot in the back by cowardly snipers. Their only crime was to refuse to succumb to Israeli occupation designs to empty Palestine from its people." During the funeral of the three, Mohammad Masri, a 17-year-old pallbearer who was helping carry the coffin of his cousin, was shot and wounded. Hospital officials later pronounced him dead.
Reports from Balata Refugee Camp indicate that a deliberate starvation campaign is being carried by the Israeli military, which has completely sealed off the camp and refuses to allow food and medicine to get through any of the entrances. A few days ago, the Israeli military shot and injured 4 people who were walking in a funeral for an old woman. No demonstrations or political events were taking place in or around the funeral.

The siege of the old city of Nablus and its neighborhoods (Yasmeeneh, Qaryoun, Habaleh) has been intensified since December 30, 2003. The Israeli military claims that they were looking for the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Abu Sharkh. They took his brother and wife as hostages, paraded the wife in a jeep in the old city and forced her to call out over loud speakers for her husband to surrender in return for her freedom. She has been released only yesterday. No one can get into the old city, but Dr. Ghassan Hamdan of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, who is in the old city, has called on the whole world to immediately intervene to support the people of Nablus. He condemned media outlets for neglecting to cover what's going on and criticized the Palestinian Authority who have not done anything to aid Nablus. He demanded that Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Alaa "hold a ministerial meeting in Nablus to highlight the horrible conditions the city is experiencing under this brutal Israeli campaign." Mahmoud El Aloul, governor of the city of Nablus said, "We have a catastrophic situation in Nablus."

We have just heard explosions in the old city. It was in Qaryoun neighborhood inside the Abdelhadi Palace that houses 75 people. The Palace, built 400 years ago, is a Trust endowed by Mahmoud Abdelhadi for the use of Abdelhadi women who have no place to live and no sources of income (widows, single women who do not work or have no income, and women whose main breadwinners are disabled). At 3:30 a.m., the Israeli military has ordered its 75 residents to vacate the building immediately, and left them out in the cold. Mr. Aslan, a neighbor, invited took in all the 75 people and offered them hospitality and warmth. The families are scattered throughout the old city (before the more strict siege) and unable to go home. Dr. Mahdi Abdelhadi, Director of PASSIA, has gone to the Israeli supreme court. The Court ordered an injunction against the destruction of the Palace but the military appealed the decision and received a permission from the court to destroy this historic building "if security needs call for such action."

Nablus has been split again into two parts near Maha's Gate, which is names after Mrs. Maha Nimr who lived nearby and whose son has been arrested and is currently being interrogated in Ofer settlement prison (near Ramallah); no family members or lawyers are allowed to see him until the "interrogation is completed."

"Tora Bora," as the residents call it, is the mount of dirt Israeli occupation army has compiled near the destroyed Governate of Nablus (as well as the prison that was bombed with prisoners inside in 2002, resulting in the killing of 10 Palestinian policemen who were guarding the prison). Tora Bora literally separates the two parts of the city and no one can come or go without risking being shot at by the Israeli military. Children (including my own nephew and nieces who live in the eastern part beyond Tora Bora) have been risking their lives to get to school to take their final exams. Several of the children, including my 10-year-old nephew Ibrahim, almost got killed on December 23rd as they tried to get home. They were finally able to reach their homes a few hours later only after the international media, medical relief workers, and some of their relatives risked their lives, arguing with the soldiers and insisting on getting all the kids home across the checkpoint.

Mustafa Barghouti has described the bloody campaign against Nablus as a "real war on this city whose other name, the Mountain of Fire, has basis in the steadfastness of Palestinians and their refusal to allow the Israeli military to break the Palestinian collective will to continue struggling for their rights." Barghouti added that there is a complete news blockage of what's going in Nablus, explaining that lack of news coverage has to do with "the negligence of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to assume its responsibility for the protection of the population. Instead, the PA is wasting time and energy in useless meetings with the Israeli occupation government that is intent on destroying our people's will."

THE PEOPLE OF NABLUS APPEAL TO YOU TO DECLARE SATURDAY, SUNDAY, AND MONDAY (JAN. 3, 4, 5) AS INTERNATIONAL DAYS OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE IN NABLUS AND PALESTINE. YOUR SUPPORT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
(1) Call media outlets and ask why they are ignoring the news of Nablus, Balata and Beit Foreek. Demand appropriate and fair coverage immediately.
(2) Contact Israeli offices around the world and demand an immediate lift to the siege! For a list of Israeli embassies around the world, please see: http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/israel1.htm
(3) Organize protests outside Israeli government offices, embassies, and consulates, calling for an end to the occupation.
(4) Demand your government representatives to hold Israel accountable for its actions that violate every single standard of international and human rights law. US senators and representatives, in particular, need to hear more frequently from people who want them to oppose the current atrocities.
(5) WRITE LETTERS!
Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Shaul Mofaz, Minister of Defense sar@mod.gov.il
Copy to the following UN Special Rapporteurs:
Mr. John Dugard, SR on the Situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories dtopali.hchr@unog.ch
Mr. Miloon Kothari, SR on the Right to Adequate Housing cmoller@ohchr.org
Mr. Jean Ziegler, SR on the Right to Food dbhagwandin@ohchr.org
(6) Call on human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org, www.amnestyusa.org) and Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org) to take appropriate action - these groups are failing to give the Palestinian situation the attention it deserves.
(7) Call for divestment from companies that conduct business with Israel.
(8) For Israeli and Jewish groups who refuse to let Israel brutalize Palestinians in their name, in particular, we send you the warmest greetings of solidarity and support. We know that you do not condone these ugly and brutal actions; we are conscious that you are not part of this racist and colonialist policy. We are one in our common struggle for justice in Palestine, for an end to the occupation, for peace for all.
Reporter's Note: This report is partly drawn from word of mouth of relatives and friends, and partly from Radio Tariq Mahabbeh (you can listen to the radio station at www.tmfm.net). For interviews and more information, you may call Amer Abdelhadi at (+972-59-371-372) and Tariq Mahabbeh at (+972 57 830 333). You can also reach me (no later than 9:30 p.m.) at (+972 9 237 2891). Please bear with us; phone lines and internet connections are not working as well as we are told they should.
In solidarity,
Rabab Abdulhadi
Nablus, Palestine.
www.alaqsaintifada.org

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Israeli Army Kills Four Palestinians in Nablus, Gaza
By Atef Sa'ad, Reuters

NABLUS, West Bank (Jan. 3) - Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinians on Saturday in the bloodiest confrontation in at least two weeks in the West Bank city of Nablus while a fourth Palestinian was killed in the Gaza Strip.

A fifth Palestinian, a 17-year-old pallbearer, was pronounced clinically dead in Nablus, after soldiers shot him in the head as he helped carry the coffin of his 15-year-old cousin, one of the three killed by the army.

Senior Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the killings as ''atrocities'' and told Reuters he held Israel ''fully responsible for the consequences of this escalation.'' He urged sponsors of the stalled ''road map'' peace plan -- the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia -- to do more to restore peace efforts.
Palestinian witnesses said Amjed el-Masri, 15, was shot in the chest by a sniper as he threw stones at an Israeli armored vehicle from a rooftop in the old city area of Nablus.

Rawhi Shuman, 19, was shot in the chest in a separate incident, medics said. Both died of their injuries in hospital.
A third Palestinian, Amer Arafat, 26, was pronounced dead on arrival. He had been shot in the back in another confrontation with soldiers, hospital officials and medics said.

An Israeli army spokesman said Masri had been shot while dropping large bricks on soldiers from a roof top, which he called a life-threatening assault, while two other Palestinians had been shot, one while holding a pistol and the other a petrol bomb.
Soldiers later shot a cousin of Masri, Mohammed el-Masri, 17, in the head during an angry funeral for the three, and he was pronounced brain dead in hospital, while another Palestinian lost an eye to a bullet.

Speaking about the funeral incident, a military source said soldiers had opened fire at a Palestinian armed with a gun and another who held a petrol bomb, hitting both.

In a separate incident, an explosive charge was detonated as troops patrolled Nablus during a military curfew, causing no injuries, the Israeli spokesman said.

'A CATASTROPHIC SITUATION'
''We have a catastrophic situation in Nablus,'' Mahmoud el-Aloul, the Palestinian Authority's governor for the city, told Reuters.

Nablus has been a scene of frequent fighting between Israeli soldiers and militants in the last few weeks and through much of the three-year Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in which more than 2,290 Palestinians and 840 Israelis have been killed.

The downtown area has been under curfew for at least six days as Israeli soldiers search for militants the Israeli army says are planning more attacks against Israelis.

Saturday was the city's bloodiest day since four militants were killed in fighting there on December 18. At least two other Palestinians have died in clashes in the city in the past week.

In the Gaza Strip, soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian outside a military outpost near Khan Younis. Palestinian security officials said he was 17 years old. A military source said the shooting occurred on Friday night and the body was found on Saturday, lying beside a bomb.

A limited Israeli military presence was reported again in Jenin on Saturday, a day after a long blockade on the West Bank city had been lifted. The Israeli source confirmed reports by witnesses that several roads in the Jenin area were blocked intermittently on Saturday by armored vehicles.

The source said two wanted Palestinians were arrested in Jenin on Friday night, and that another 17 Palestinians were held in villages near Hebron and Ramallah in the West Bank, and in Deir el Balah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.