JENIN
"Horrific scenes are visible in Jenin, where the Israeli Armed Forces have left hundreds of Palestinian bodies to lie around rotting in the streets. "Non-Governmental Organizations raised the alert on Thursday and the Israeli government has admitted that there are between 200 and 300 Palestinian bodies waiting to be buried. Palestinian sources quote the figure as being higher, at around 500." Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey , Pravda, Rumania, 15 April 2002
"It was like the aftermath of some huge earthquake. Steep alleyways filled with rubble, not one single home left intact and the corrosive, suffocating smell of rotting corpses but this was no natural catastrophe. This was a grim, man-made scene of absolute destruction in the Jenin refugee camp yesterday, a grotesque theatre of hatred and savage epicentre of Israel's Operation Defensive Wall campaign.
"Palestinian cabinet minister Nabil Shaath claimed close to 500 residents had been massacred by Israeli troops."
David Pilditch In The Palestinian Refugee Camp Of Jenin, April 17 2002
"Acording to certain information, the Israeli army is intent on such an ugly genocide, that even a few hundred of its own fighters are refusing to take part. The Israelis have coldly executed over 1000 Palestinians, most of whom were women and children, and then buried them in the ruins to make it look as if it was an accidental death."
(No source given for the "certain information")
**
May. 3, 2002 Human Rights Watch: No massacre in Jenin camp
By The Jerusalem Post Internet Staff
IDF troops did not carry out a massacre in the Jenin refugee camp, the international Human Rights Watch organization has announced following it's investigation of the recent events.
According to the HRW report, Palestinian gunmen endangered the lives of local residents by preparing and setting explosive devices inside the refugee camp.
Armed Palestinians also utilized the camp area in order to plan terror attacks, the report determined.
During interviews with Human Rights Watch researchers, local Palestinian residents of the refugee camp did not claim IDF carried out a massacre.
However, the report discussed cases of war crimes and human rights violations on the part of IDF soldiers and requested Israel investigate such incidents.
The organization's chief investigator told Israel Radio that Human Rights Watch intends to publish a separate report on Palestinian suicide attacks on Israeli civilian targets - a phenomenon that he termed a crime against humanity.
The report will also investigate the involvement of sovereign nations in the preparation and execution of Palestinian suicide attacks.
Try this site: http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/
The Palestinian Account of the Battle of Jenin
“…the members of the various factions…along with volunteers from the Palestinian security forces, prepared in advance for the Israeli incursion.”
Sheikh Jamal Abu Al-Hija, the commander of the Hamas Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades in the Jenin refugee camp, www.palestine-info.in fo, April 20, 2002.
"[We placed] explosive devices on the roads and in the houses; surprises [await] the occupation forces. In several places, there are clashes between the Mujahideen ( i.e. Jihad warriors.) and the occupation forces… The occupation forces flee in panic from the Jenin camp – but they escalate by using tractors, airplanes, and tanks against the camp. The truth is that the fighting is being conducted from neighborhood to neighborhood, like guerilla warfare. The Mujahideen are using automatic rifles, explosive devices, and hand grenades…"
Sheikh Abu Al-Hija, Al-Jazeera (Qatar), April 8, 2002.
"The fighting forces, from all the factions in the camp, have been equipped with explosive belts and grenades."
Sheikh Abu Al-Hija Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), April 7, 2002.
"The Mujahideen managed to besiege nine Zionist soldiers inside one of the houses, and attacked them using hand grenades and bombs until the entire house went up in flames with the soldiers of the occupation inside. Witnesses said that the occupation forces extracted the soldiers charred and burned.",
Sheikh Abu-Al-Hija the Jordanian weekly Al-Sabil ,Cited in Al-Shaab (Egypt), April 19, 2002.
"This is the second successive day that the Israeli occupation forces are trying [to enter the camp] with the help of Apache helicopters and tanks. But the steadfastness of the fighters, who swore at the beginning of the battle not to permit [the IDF] to advance towards this camp, defends the honor of the Arab nation from the alleys of the Jenin refugee camp. There were several attempts from several routes, but these were blocked. The truth is that our fighters have switched to an offensive; today we went on the offensive. The Israeli unit commander was killed this morning, 50 meters from the place from which I am speaking to you. I, the commander of the battle of the Jenin camp, have chosen for myself the name 'The Martyr Abu Jandal,' because all the fighters around me are martyrs. Believe me, there are children stationed in the houses with explosive belts at their sides… Today, one of the children came to me with his school bag. I asked him what he wanted, and he replied, 'Instead of books, I want an explosive device, in order to attack…'"
(When asked how long his men would be able to stand against the Israeli military when all they had were light weapons.. )
"No. That's not true. We have the weapon of surprise. We have the weapon of honor. We have the divine weapon, the weapon of Allah who stands at our side. We have weapons that are better than theirs. I am the one with the truth, and I put my faith in Allah, while they put their faith in a tank."
Abu Jandal, The Islamic Jihad commander in the Jenin refugee camp (After his death in the battle was reported, it was announced that his real name was Hazem Ahmad Rayhan Qabha.) Al-Jazeera (Qatar), April 4, 2002.
"Some of the youths stood fast, and filled their school bags with explosive devices." Sheikh Abu Al-Hija www.palestine-info.in fo, April 20, 2002.
"It is hard to provide accurate data (of Israeli casualties), and we cannot assess the battle by counting enemy losses. But the enemy's acknowledgement of 24 killed and 130 wounded attests that it has taken many losses. The list announced by the occupation army includes only the names of the Jews [killed] and disregards the names of the Druze and the Lahad soldiers [i.e. South Lebanon Army] who participated in all past incursions and [will participate] in the future as well. Our estimate is that the enemy has suffered much greater losses.",
Sheikh Abu Al-Hija www.palestine-info.in fo, April 20, 2002.
In Jenin, a Palestinian woman named Ilham 'Ali Dasouqi had blown herself up among Israeli soldiers, killing two and wounding six. Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London) quoted a source in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who said that she had "followed the path of Nasser 'Uweis," who, the paper said had blown himself up near soldiers in Nablus.
Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), April 7, 2002.
(However, 'Uweis, the commander of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Samaria, was arrested several days later. It appears that the reports of his death in a suicide bombing were an attempt to facilitate his escape.)
A Palestinian fighter's version of the Jenin battle
CAIRO - Omar sits restlessly on his chair in the safe-house. He is an "engineer" from Jenin refugee camp: one of the revered bomb-makers from the City of the Bombers. To the Israelis he is the most lethal, and wanted, of terrorists. The poison from the cobra's head.
We meet late last Thursday, hours after he escaped from the camp as Israeli soldiers took control of the area. We are still close enough to Jenin that we can see the constant stream of illumination flares, three launched by the army at a time, that light up the soldiers' dark work in the city below.
But Omar will not be staying here long. He is going to ground deeper in the West Bank before regrouping with his comrades from Jenin.
There may not be too many. Even according to Israeli army sources, at least 100 fighters were killed and hundreds more wounded and captured during the eight days of savage fighting.
Omar will not give his name or age. He is slim, in his mid-20s, with a closely cropped beard. He is a member of Islamic Jihad, but says in Jenin all the factions were loyal to only one cause: liberation or death.
Visible beneath a blue bomber jacket is the tightly bandaged stump of his right arm, the end of which he rubs distractedly.
How did he lose it? During the previous invasion of Jenin by the Israeli army several weeks ago, he says. He was hiding with only his arm visible as he tried to throw a kwa - a home-made pipe bomb - at a tank. Shrapnel from a shell severed it, he says.
But as a bomb-maker, one of the most highly respected positions in the Palestinian resistance, he could equally have lost the arm in less glorious circumstances: in one of the explosions that are a professional hazard of his job.
Omar admits he is one of only a few dozen fighters not to emerge either dead or in plastic handcuffs from the fiercest battle waged by the Palestinians during the Israeli army's invasion of the West Bank.
Of his group of 30 gunmen, only four escaped from the camp on Wednesday, after the Palestinian arsenal ran dry. Most of the others were shot dead.
"Of all the fighters in the West Bank, we were the best prepared," he says.
"We started working on our plan: to trap the invading soldiers and blow them up from the moment the Israeli tanks pulled out of Jenin last month." Omar and other "engineers" made hundreds of explosive devices and carefully chose their locations.
"We had more than 50 houses booby-trapped around the camp. We chose old and empty buildings and the houses of men who were wanted by Israel, because we knew the soldiers would search for them," he said.
"We cut off lengths of mains water pipes and packed them with explosives and nails. Then we placed them about four meters apart throughout the houses - in cupboards, under sinks, in sofas."
The fighters hoped to disable the Israeli army's tanks with much more powerful bombs placed inside rubbish bins on the street. More explosives were hidden inside the cars of Jenin's most wanted men.
Connected by wires, the bombs were set off remotely, triggered by the current from a car battery.
According to Omar, everyone in the camp, including the children, knew where the explosives were located so that there was no danger of civilians being injured. It was the one weakness in the plan.
"We were betrayed by the spies among us," he says. The wires to more than a third of the bombs were cut by soldiers accompanied by collaborators.
"If it hadn't been for the spies, the soldiers would never have been able to enter the camp. Once they penetrated the camp, it was much harder to defend."
And what about the explosion and ambush last Tuesday which killed 13 soldiers? "They were lured there," he says.
"We all stopped shooting and the women went out to tell the soldiers that we had run out of bullets and were leaving."
The women alerted the fighters as the soldiers reached the booby- trapped area.
"When the senior officers realized what had happened, they shouted through megaphones that they wanted an immediate cease-fire. We let them approach to retrieve the men and then opened fire.
"Some of the soldiers were so shocked and frightened that they mistakenly ran towards us." On Wednesday, after the fighters ran out of ammunition, he says, armored vehicles roamed the streets calling out to them in Arabic: "You are finished and can't win against us. We are more powerful than you. Surrender."
He saw one fighter who went down to the street with his hands in the air shot dead by snipers. He chose to flee the camp, although he will not say how. Using his left arm, Omar shot a revolver during the gun battles.
With a new intensity on his face, he leans forward to ask a question. Do I think the doctors will be able to give him a strong new artificial arm with fingers he can operate. I don't know, I say. Why?
"Because I want to be able to hold a heavy rifle again. That way I can kill more Israeli soldiers. It's that or become a suicide bomber."
"Omar," a young, one-armed Islamic Jihad bomb maker known as an 'engineer'" (Al Ahram) www .ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/582/6inv2.htm
"Four Israeli soldiers were killed and [the Palestinians] took their automatic weapons. The youths with the explosive devices also put four Israeli tanks out of commission.”
Jamal Huweil, an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander in the Jenin camp, Al-Hayat (London), April 5, 2002.
"All the fighters were sworn to fight to the end… We have no choice but to fight, and this is the decision of all the fighters. The talk of fighters surrendering is completely untrue. If it were true, how come two Israeli soldiers were killed Monday morning? We estimate that their losses are much greater than what they are reporting. Battles between them and us are being waged at extremely short range. They have failed in all their attempts to advance, and our fighters are blowing themselves up in front of them and planting explosive devices on the roads. The situation is extremely dire. The [Israeli] air force is continuing its bombing. A few moments ago they launched several missiles, which set fire to many houses.”
Raed 'Abbas, a fighter from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) in the Jenin camp, Al-Hayat (London), April 9, 2002.
"After these days of steadfastness and unique resistance, the fighters in Jenin reiterate their motto: 'No surrender – either victory or martyrdom.' Our strength lies in our being true Mujahideen in the face of the new Nazis."
Sheikh Abu Al-Hija Al-Bayan (United Arab Emirates), April 10, 2002.
"The ammunition of the fighters in the camp has run out, and they have chosen martyrdom. They are fighting with knives and stones, and blowing themselves up in front of the soldiers of the occupation."
Al-Bayan (United Arab Emirates), April 11, 2002.
“The Palestinian resistance persists in its intense fighting, and will not permit the soldiers of the occupation to take over the camp."
Haj 'Ali, a commander of the Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades Al-Jazeera (Qatar), April 8, 2002.
"Even the youths had a significant role in the uprising. They refused to leave the camp before the incursion, and most of them are now under arrest by the occupation forces… No one was asked [by us] to stay or go; no instructions were issued to the residents by the fighters, and the choice remained in their own hands. It was necessary for some of the women to remain [in the camp] to provide services for the fighters. The behavior of the residents was honorable; they were determined to remain, to go through everything the Mujahideen are going through, and to provide them with services."
"…When some Mujahideen ran out of ammunition, they leaped onto the tanks in an attempt to grab weapons from the soldiers, who were hiding inside the tanks. As a result, some of them engaged in barehanded combat with the Zionist soldiers. Some of the youths steadfastly filled their school bags with explosive devices; some of the boys remained without food or water for four days. Although the women knew how bad the situation was, a large portion of them preferred to remain, to prepare food for the Mujahideen, to risk their lives by bringing water for them, and to raise morale – something that greatly encouraged [their] steadfastness.”
Sheikh Abu Al-Hija www.palestine-info.in fo, April 20, 2002.
“..The women, children, and elderly had left the camp, and the fighters intended to fight to the last drop of blood…”
The commander of Hamas members in the Jenin camp, Jamal 'Abd Al-Salam, Al-Jazeera (Qatar), April 8, 2002.
"Every time [the IDF] tries to advance, a surprise awaits it – the blowing up of one of the buildings in the Jenin camp. Then they rush to retrieve the Israeli bodies and wounded, withdraw, and try to advance Israeli tractors that destroy houses indiscriminately on top of their owners, whether they are in the houses or not. They have sent away most of the civilians [from the refugee camp], but there is still a large number of civilians inside the camp."
Abu Muhammad,: Al-Jazeera (Qatar), April 8, 2002.
“…The Israelis destroyed many houses. They are trying to wreak vengeance upon the civilians. The army is evacuating the [residents of the] camp forcibly, in order to close in more and more on the fighters.” Raed 'Abbas, the DFLP commander Al-Hayat (London), April 9, 2002.
Muhammad Tawalbeh " thwarted all attempts by the occupation to evacuate the camp residents to make it easier for the Israelis to destroy [the camp] on the heads of the fighters." www.jihadonline.com, April 10, 2002.
"We are proud [of the battle], and hope that it will serve as a model for the rest of the cities, so that there [too] the residents will be materially and morally prepared for any confrontation. We need to learn the lessons from this battle, and I hope the few dozen fighters who managed to face down the most arrogant army in the region will serve as a lesson for the Arab armies. The Arab peoples must learn from these victories, and not remain captives in the hands of the regimes that keep their basic rights from them…"
"The camp took a hard blow – but even had the blow killed us, they would not have killed the [armed] resistance. It will not be long until the ranks fill [again], until a new generation takes the uprising into its hands and raises the flag anew. This is not the first battle, nor the last. Our people will not be still until it sees our land liberated and independent.”
Sheikh Abu Al-Hija www.palestine-info.in fo, April 20, 2002.
"The Palestinian resistance will carry out more operations like the martyrdom operation in Haifa, in order to emphasize that it still exists and that it maintains its strength and its capability in spite of the blows [it has taken]. The martyrdom operation by 'Andalib Taqatqah [in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market] is proof of the [Al-Aqsa Martyr] Brigades' capability of striking at the [Zionist] entity any time, anywhere… Martyrdom operations were invented during the time when the Zionists occupied the West Bank, and it does not matter much whether the [forces] are in the cities or outside the cities."
"Abu Ahmad," an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader in the Jenin refugee camp, Al-Intiqad (Lebanon), April 19, 2002.
"We have prepared unexpected surprises for the enemy. We are determined to pay him back double, and teach him a lesson he will not forget… We will attack him on the home front, in Jerusalem, in Haifa, and in Jaffa, everywhere. We welcome them, and we have prepared a special graveyard in the Jenin camp for them. We swore on the martyrs that we would place a curfew on the Zionist cities and avenge every drop of blood spilled upon our sacred land. We call on the soldiers of Sharon to refuse his orders, because entering the [Jenin] camp… the capital of the martyrs' [operations], will, Allah willing, be the last thing they do in their lives."
'Ali Safouri, a commander of Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades in the Jenin camp www.qudsway.com, April 3, 2002.
"The fighters in the [Jenin] camp told us that this is a 'hit-and-not-run' battle, and that they are fighting to the last drop of blood and to the last bullet – and that is what they did. The Zionist enemy thinks he is creating a Palestinian Masada for us – that is, that we have chosen to commit suicide – but we say to him that he is mistaken. We are not creating a Palestinian Masada, but a Palestinian Karbalaa, (In the battle of Karbula (680) Hussein, the leader of the Shi'itels, was canonized.) which will hasten the second Jewish Masada… until the Zionist entity ceases to exist… Today the Jenin camp was reborn, not destroyed…"
Islamic Jihad leader Dr. Ramadan Abdallah In an interview with Al-Manar, the Hizbullah television channel, (Lebanon), April 10, 2002, cited at www.jihadonline.com.
On the ground in Jenin, local Palestinian hospital officials say 50 bodies, most armed gunmen, have been turned over to them so far. A member of a British search-and-rescue team operating in Jenin said today that there were no more bodies trapped in the rubble and thus they had called off their emergency search efforts.
These totals are far less than the 500 deaths consistently claimed by the Palestinians for more than a week. And US Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Senate committee today he has no evidence of a "massacre" or "mass graves" in Jenin. "Clearly, innocent lives may well have been lost," Powell testified in Congress. But, he said, "I have no evidence of mass graves. I see no evidence that would support a massacre took place." Powell said he based his assessment on a 3 1/2-hour inspection of the refugee camp Friday by Assistant Secretary of State William Burns.
With the body count too low to support charges of a "massacre," the Palestinians now want to focus on allegations the IDF committed numerous human rights violations, like using people as human shields and preventing humanitarian aid from reaching camp residents.
Israel says the criticism leveled against it ignores the heavy fighting in the camp and the fact that it was a hotbed of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IDF said it prevented humanitarian crews access because the camp was full of mines and booby traps.
Larsen confirmed the UN team would also investigate Palestinian human rights violations in the camp and misuse of UN facilities, including storing weapons in UN facilities and shooting at IDF troops from populated houses.
In the meantime, a senior Islamic Jihad militia leader who oversaw fighting in the camp and then surrendered to Israeli forces was allowed to tell the media his version of what transpired there. During a two hour taped interview with CNN, Tabaat Mardawi admitted there were no mass killings, just a lot of heavy fighting.
Mardawi said he had expected Israel to attack with planes and tanks. He spoke enthusiastically about Israel's decision to send in infantry, saying, "It was like hunting ... like being given a prize... I've been waiting for a moment like that for years."
IDF spokesmen have said that the decision to use infantry to spearhead the attack - rather than using air power and artillery - stemmed from a desire to limit civilian casualties, even at the risk of higher IDF casualties.
Mardawi estimated 1,000 to 2,000 bombs and booby traps were spread throughout the camp. Several local militants have admitted to wiring explosives to gas canisters inside homes, and that women and children were deliberately kept behind to help in the battle.
Mardawi eventually surrendered when infantry forces disappeared and armored bulldozers appeared.
The media monitor group MEMRI has issued an extensive report on recent Arab press coverage of the "massacre" in which numerous other militia commanders in Jenin also boast of their gallant resistance, including the placing hundreds of explosives throughout the camp and the involvement of Palestinian women and children in the battle.
"Believe me, there are children stationed in the houses with explosive belts at their sides," said another militiaman.
Journalist Robert Plotkin gave a chilling account of his visit to Jenin this week in which he witnessed a suspected "collaborator" being shot and assaulted, and a camp resident striking a pose for his camera like a corpse among some rubble.
And Peter Bouckaert, a researcher for Human Rights Watch who sneaked into Jenin last Thursday, told the Washington Post, "It's been incredibly difficult to tell the difference between fighters and civilians. If a combatant uses the civilian population as a shield in this way, the deaths incurred are the moral and legal responsibility of those who are hidings out in this grotesquely cowardly fashion."
***
“On April 9, 13 Israeli soldiers were killed in an ambush in the Arab town of Jenin.”
“While the operation was "sophisticated," according to Israel Defense Forces, and included a building loaded with explosives in strategic locations, flanking rifle fire used to pin down the Israelis and a suicide bomber to trigger the key blast, there is something about this incident that illustrates why a Palestinian state is not in the best interests of the world, nor even those who would live in such a state.”
”The most "clever" part of the operation was dispatching toward the pinned down soldiers the suicide bomber – a boy about the age of 10. Why was this clever? Because the Arab leadership who sent him understood that Israeli soldiers, even those under the stress of battle, would not shoot a 10-year-old child.”
“Thus, the boy exploded and killed the soldiers, too.”
”It's this kind of immorality – repeated a thousand times a day in Yasser Arafat's territories – that makes Palestinian statehood a bloody awful idea….”
WHY I OPPOSE PALESTINIAN STATE by Joseph Farah April 18, 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
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JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank –– For the benefit of foreign visitors and U.N. investigators, much of the fresh graffiti in this Palestinian refugee camp is in English these days, not Arabic; and it's uncharacteristically placid, almost polite.
Battered by a fierce battle between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops, the Jenin refugee camp – a bastion of militancy – has gone to great lengths to project an image of moderation for its visitors, and in preparation for a visit by a U.N. team mandated to probe Israel's military operations in the camp.
Israel on Sunday decided not to allow the team to come to the region, repeating its objections to the team's composition and charging that its findings would certainly blame Israel. The Israelis said consultations with the world body would continue over the makeup of the team and the scope of its inquiry.
The team was to look into claims that hundreds of Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed during the April 3-11 battle either in heavy shelling or buried alive when giant bulldozers moved in to bring down homes suspected of sheltering gunmen.
Israel, which lost 23 men in the battle, says several dozen Palestinians died, mostly gunmen. So far, nearly 50 Palestinian bodies have been recovered, according to the Jenin hospital.
The battle was fought as part of an Israeli military campaign launched March 29 to hunt militants in the West Bank following a series of particularly lethal suicide bombings.
The Palestinians are making sure that whoever visits the Jenin refugee camp – those who have already been include members of the European Parliament, U.S. church leaders, Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan and Bianca Jagger, ex-wife of pop music legend Mick Jagger – reads the right slogans and sees the right stuff.
"We love Palestine" and "Palestine is for the Palestinians" read two of the new English-language slogans on the walls of the Jenin camp – very different from the venomous and warlike graffiti that has for years threatened "rivers of blood" or "opening the gates of hell" on the walls of every Palestinian town, village and refugee camp.
An old graffito declaring that "Osama bin Laden is a hero" has been painted over. Bin Laden is thought by the United States to be the architect of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, events that sent a few dozen Palestinians publicly celebrating on the day much to the dismay of many, including Yasser Arafat's administration.
In the huge mound of debris and rubble that was the heart of the Jenin camp, several families spend their days just sitting at the spot where their homes once stood. Huge Palestinian flags together with those of different Palestinian factions and militias are hoisted over buildings of which parts are still standing.
Israeli military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, say the Palestinians have taken measures to "prepare" the Jenin camp for the arrival of the U.N. team.
The preparations, they say, include instructions to residents who had lost their homes to spend the day where their houses once stood and to halt any reconstruction of damaged houses so the U.N. team can see the extent of the destruction. Palestinian gunmen left in the camp, they said, have been instructed not to engage in any military activity for the duration of the U.N. team's visit.
Palestinian Jenin lawmaker Jamal al-Shati denied that Palestinian authorities were trying to "flirt" with the U.N. team or important visitors, arguing that the fresh slogans and the camp residents spending their days on the mounds of debris were spontaneous and emotional acts of a people in distress.
"We don't need to do any of this," al-Shati, a senior member Arafat's Fatah movement, told The Associated Press. "If every member of the U.N. is blind, the magnitude of the crime in Jenin will restore their sight." By Hamza Hendawi, Associated Press Writer, Monday, April 29, 2002
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"I Couldn't Stand the Lies"
By Asaf Haim, "Ma'ariv," 22 April 2002
(Translated from the Hebrew)
Dr. David Zangen, a senior pediatrician at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, who received his mobilization order for army service in Jenin, did not think that he would also be recruited for Israel's information campaign. Normally, he is a calm person, but the accusations made by the UN Special Envoy to the Middle East, Terje Larsen, regarding a "massacre" supposedly carried out by Israel in Jenin have infuriated him. Dr. Zangen could not restrain himself, and called the Israel Army Radio service, to protest Larsen's charges. Dr. Zangen's comments are particularly significant, because he treated both wounded Israelis and Palestinians with great dedication. In this way, Dr. Zangen became a spokesman for the IDF, for one day. His account sheds a little light on what really happened in the refugee camp.
"I was incensed by Larsen's remarks. He must not be allowed to continue with these lies", stated Dr. Zangen to Maariv. "I was there during the fighting, and I saw close up what was happening. I know that the IDF did everything it could to prevent civilian casualties. It is clear to everyone that if the IDF had resorted to aerial bombardment or heavy artillery, we would have completed [our mission] in the refugee camp within half a day, without suffering any casualties on our side. We did not adopt that policy, and we took risks in the fighting, in an attempt to rescue those innocent civilians that were caught up in the battles. Anyone who says that Israel carried out a massacre is lying and inciting the Arabs. Instead of acting to bring about reconciliation and peace, Larsen is creating hatred."
Dr. Zangen continued, "IDF soldiers did not enter the Jenin hospital, and ensured that the hospital could operate without disruption. No IDF soldier set foot in the hospital. The Palestinians hid there in the knowledge that we would not enter. Everyone knows this, and anyone who says otherwise is lying and inciting. The descriptions of the smell of the bodies in the refugee camp are also exaggerated out of all proportion. A week after the fighting, I walked around the camp without a mask, with journalists from all over the world, and there was no smell. The journalists knew this, but all of a sudden, they claimed that there was a stench in the camp from bodies that had not been evacuated. Twenty-five bodies were found altogether, and most of the bodies were those of the terrorists. There may have been one area in the entire camp in which there were a number of bodies buried under the rubble, and this would explain the smell. However, aside from this case, there was no smell in the refugee camp - this is just a crude lie."
Dr. Zangen, who found himself in the eye of the storm, is appalled at the attempt to portray the IDF as an immoral army. "There are those who say that the events in Jenin were like a holocaust. However, if you were to enter the camp, you would find that only a few dozen homes were destroyed. These were homes that were booby-trapped for the purpose of killing soldiers. This was a fortress of terrorism. 200 terrorists wired up the camp with booby-traps, they took control of it and recruited suicide bombers at every opportunity. In recent years, a third of the suicide bombers have come from the Jenin refugee camp. We found photo albums with pictures of children wearing explosive belts; studio photographs of future shahidim [martyrs], children aged between 16 and 18, who want to kill Israelis in suicide attacks. All the homes in the refugee camp are covered with wall-to-wall pictures of martyrs. It is unbelievable. These [martyrs] are their heroes.
Their aim was to carry out suicide attacks against the IDF soldiers. If there were innocent civilians in the area, they were either the hostages of the terrorists or collaborators. In any case, during each stage of the fighting, we called out to all those who did not want to fight - to leave the homes. The terrorists exploited the departure of these people, and they were shooting at us."
Dr. Zangen is a doctor of the brigade that fought in Jenin, and treated many of the wounded. "The soldiers fought without harming civilians", he stated. "This was noticeable in every place and on every level. I was moved by the sight of soldiers conducting themselves in such a dignified and moral manner. Most of us are reserve soldiers; we are not hotheaded people, and we were all very careful. I was impressed by the great care exercised by the IDF in avoiding civilian casualties - especially with regard to children. The resolve and volunteering spirit also impressed me. They were all ready to fight, and no one shirked their duties. The Unit and Divisional Commanders who fought there are the creme de la creme of the Israeli people, and it is thanks to them that we are still alive. They did not lose their humanity."
"I am infuriated by the claims of a massacre in Jenin, for another reason. The paramedics and I risked our lives to treat the wounded Palestinians. As well as the wounded, we also treated the sick. The Palestinian doctors did not come to their aid, and we could not leave them without medical treatment. The Palestinian doctors were unable to reach a girl who had an attack of appendicitis. The soldiers brought the girl over to us and we treated her. In another case, a youngster came to us with a neck wound. We saved his life, in spite of his Islamic Jihad tattoo. We tried to provide full treatment for every Palestinian, and I am proud of it. I am in no doubt: the Americans would not have taken such risks, and would have acted differently. We acted in this way, simply to avoid civilian casualties."
Hodi Broker from Haifa, a thirty-year-old teaching assistant from Technion university, who served as a paramedic in a field hospital, also talks about the treatment of the Palestinians: "an elderly person who was wounded in the refugee camp came to us. We treated him, and we wanted to send him back to Jenin, but there was nowhere for him [to receive treatment]. The 'Red Crescent' refused to take him. We took pity on him and we transported him to a hospital in Israel. I hope he is well."
Dr. Zangen, the father of four children, fought in Lebanon, and this is the first time that he is on the battlefield serving as a doctor. "When you are serving as a doctor, your perspective is completely different. It was difficult for me to witness soldiers being hit by mass murderers who have no red lines, and who are even prepared to exploit children. I saw pictures of children who were ready to carry out suicide attacks. As a pediatrician, it was terrible to see such a thing, and I am appalled by the very thought of a killing machine that exploits innocent children. For instance, soldiers encountered a six year-old boy who ran into the street with a bag. They wanted to check the contents of the bag, and he threw the bag at them. There were three pipe bombs in the bag. One other difficult problem is the treatment of wounded fellow-soldiers from the unit. It is a traumatic experience."
As the senior doctor on the ground, Zangen was forced to make difficult decisions - who should be treated on the ground? Who should be evacuated? When should treatment be abandoned, and be provided to another wounded [soldier]? "These are difficult moments, in which the fate of friends is determined. All the time, you are also aware that these people are reservists, with families, who were among the living, and all of a sudden, they are killed or wounded. And then, you are not only thinking about them, but also thinking about the widow and the orphaned children left at home."
Dr. Zangen has returned to Hadassah hospital, but the images of the battlefield are still fresh in his mind. He talks of the courage and the steadfastness of the wounded soldiers. "Some of these wounds were so severe, that I thought that they would be unable to withstand the pain. The soldiers suffered in silence, displaying true courage. They knew why they were fighting. I remember a soldier who was hit by a bullet in the stomach, and who suffered excruciating pain. Yet he wanted to know when he was going back into battle. The Israeli people need to know that we have a noble generation that we can all rely upon."
Copied from: http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0lm00
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Jenin
The Capital of the Palestinian Suicide Terrorists
In Jenin, and especially in the refugee camp in its outskirts, an extensive infrastructure of various terrorist organizations existed prior to the IDF Defensive Wall Operation. These organizations cooperated in "exporting" killing and suicide attacks to Israel. An expression of this can be found in the following excerpt from an internal Fatah document:
"(Jenin refugee camp) is characterized by an exceptional presence of fighting men who take the initiative (on behalf of) the national activity. Nothing will beat them and nothing worries them. Therefore, they are ready for self-sacrifice with all the means. And therefore, it is not strange, that Jenin (has been termed) the suiciders capital" (A'simat Al-Istashidin, in Arabic).
(From a report of the Fatah movement in Jenin refugee camp addressed to Marwan Barghouti, 25 September 2001)
Jenin, "the suiciders capital" "exported during the violent confrontation 28 suicide attacks (most were implemented and some were foiled), and many more terrorist attacks. This terrorism, perpetrated by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Fatah and Hamas, resulted in the death of many dozens of Israelis and the wounding of hundreds.
General Characteristics of the Terror Infrastructure in Jenin
1. The town of Jenin, its refugee camp, and the surrounding villages is an area with a long history of violence and terror. In the past, this area already dispatched to Israel murderous terrorist squads (the Fatah "Black Panther" squads during the first Intifada). About 14,000 people live in Jenin refugee camp, mostly Arab refugees who fled in 1948 from the Galilee. Amongst this human infrastructure, the various terrorist organizations, and the PIJ leadership in Damascus find youths with high motivation to perpetrate terrorist attacks.
Jenin Refugee Camp
2. Previous to the IDF Defensive Wall Operation, terror infrastructures of various organizations were concentrated in Jenin, mainly in its refugee camp. Below are general characteristics of the infrastructures of the three leading terrorist organizations:
a. Hamas - In Jenin and the surrounding villages, a Hamas network operated which was responsible for the perpetration of a number of lethal suicide attacks inside Israel (the most recent in Haifa on 31 March 2002 in which 15 Israelis were killed). The Jenin network operated in cooperation with many and diverse operational elements in the Hamas movement, as well as with the leadership abroad. This network was severely damaged following IDF activity in Tubas (on 5 April) in which 6 major operational activists from the Hamas were killed, including Qis Adwan (head of the Hamas infrastructure in Jenin who directed suicide attacks in Israel in which dozens of Israelis were killed, and Sa'ed Awad (head of the QASSAM-2 rocket project in Samaria, whose death impaired the rocket production infrastructure in Samaria). At the same time, additional senior activists such as Nasser Jerar (involved in the planning of spectacular attacks in Israel and the West Bank) and Jamal Abu Al Hija (head of Hamas in Jenin who directs terror activities and is involved is the transfer of money for financing such activities), are still at large and are active.
b. PIJ - Until the IDF operation, the PIJ infrastructure in Jenin was the strongest in the PA territories, mostly due to the massive financial aid it received for its activities from the PIJ leadership in Syria (according to captured documents). The PIJ infrastructure suffered a severe blow with the death of the head of the military infrastructure in Jenin, Mahmud Tu'albe (involved in the perpetration of terrorist attacks, including inside Israel), and the arrest of senior operational activists. Amongst the senior activists arrested, the most prominent are Ali Safuri (involved in the direction of a large number of terrorist attacks, including suicide and killing attacks inside Israel) and Thabet Mardawi (directed a large number of terrorist attacks, including suicide and killing attacks inside Israel).
c. Fatah/Al Aqsa Brigades/Tanzim - The Fatah network in Jenin (with all its names) served as a central terror focus. Local Fatah activists who according to captured documents were in close contact with Marwan Barghouti, perpetrated many shooting and explosive charges attacks in the West Bank and inside Israel, against the IDF and Israeli civilians. The last of these attacks was the suicide attack in a coffee shop in Tel Aviv on 30 March 2002 (One Israeli civilian killed and 45 wounded). Amongst the senior Fatah activists, the most notable are Jamal Hawil (responsible for direction of lethal terrorist attacks, arrested by the IDF) and Ita Abu Ramila (Fatah and Preventive Security Apparatus activist in Jenin).
3. Expressions of the scope and power of the terror infrastructures in the Jenin refugee camp, in Jenin and in the nearby villages (Qabatiyah and Tubas for example) can be found during Operation Defensive Wall: The intense fighting in the refugee camps which exacted a heavy price from the IDF, the large quantities of arms and explosives laboratories captured (see Appendix A) and the high number of senior and junior terrorist activists arrested or killed - all these are evidence of the depth of the terror infrastructure in the Jenin region.
4. During the fighting, a large number of gunmen in small squads operated in the Jenin refugee camp from inside civilian buildings. Unlike in other towns, senior PIJ activists remained in the camp, stubbornly fighting against the IDF. The instructions they received were clear: There must be no surrender and you must spill as much as blood as possible from the IDF soldiers. Contrary to the Palestinian claims of a massacre ostensibly carried out by IDF soldiers in the camp, in which framework 500-600 innocent civilians were killed, in practice, according to IDF reports (correct for 16 April), 46 bodies were found in the refugee camps, 44 bodies of gunmen/fighters and 2 bodies of civilians).
5. It is important to emphasize that the terror activists who transformed the refugee camp into their "fortress" made cynical use of the local civilian population:
They operated from inside populated houses, knowing that this would restrict the IDF reaction and with the hidden hope that severe casualties to civilians will damage Israel's image and lead to international pressure on it. (according to a press report, there were 1,500 civilians in Jenin refugee camp during the fighting and they did not leave the camp.
They activated explosive charges whose detonation caused the destruction of homes and property of civilians. Thabet Mardawi, a senior PIJ activist from Jenin, admitted during his interrogation that during the battle with IDF soldiers in Jenin refugee camp, he exploded gas cylinders which destroyed homes in which civilians lived.
Characteristics of the Terror Infrastructure in Jenin and its Refugee Camp According to Captured Documents
The captured documents unveil the extensive scope of the terror infrastructures of the various organizations and the terrorist attacks originating from the Jenin area, and principally from Jenin refugee camp. Below are the main characteristics of this terror infrastructure according to captured documents examined so far:
The depth of the human terror infrastructure in Jenin. In a Fatah report from Jenin refugee camp addressed to Marwan Barghouti, it is written that from all the districts, Jenin district is "overflowing with fighters of tremendous quality and quantity" who belong to Fatah and the other national and Islamic movements. The report states that Israel defines Jenin as a "hornet's nest" and this name is indeed correct since there are many youths in Jenin who are willing to sacrifice themselves, and therefore Jenin has been called the "Suiciders Capital" (and indeed many suicide and killing attacks which resulted in the deaths of dozens of Israelis and the wounding of hundreds were ""exported" to Israel by the terror infrastructure in Jenin. For details see Appendices B and C).
The mention of terrorist attacks, including killing and suicide attacks which were directed and perpetrated by the terror infrastructure in Jenin in order to weaken Israel. The captured documents mention attacks carried out against soldiers and civilians which originated in Jenin and the names of the organizations and terrorists who planned them. For example:
Thabet Azmi Mardawi, a senior activist in the PIJ military arm, of whom it is written that he "participated in the preparation of a few suicide acts" (Mardawi is now under arrest in Israel. He is responsible for a large number of terrorist attacks, including suicide attacks inside Israel such as the suicide attack in Binyamina [16 July 2001] and the bus explosion in Wadi Ara [20 March 2002]).
2) Ali Suleyman Al-Safuri, a senior activist in the PIJ military arm, of whom it is written that he "has a prominent role in the preparation of explosive belts and charges" (Al-Safuri is under arrest in Israel. He is responsible, amongst other things, for the suicide attacks in Binyamina [16 July 2001] and Hadera (28 October 2001).
3) Muhammad Salah Salim Yassin, a senior activist in the PIJ military arm, of whom it is written that he "participated in the perpetration of a few suicide acts" (Yassin was killed by the IDF on 7 March 2002 and was indeed involved in killing attacks inside Israel).
4) Wa'el Ahmad Jalamnah from the PIJ (he is known to have driven his partner to the suicide attack in "Paris Square" in Haifa [26 February 2002] and succeeded in escaping to Jenin refugee camp). According to a captured document, the two activists departed from Jenin refugee camp. According to the document, Jalamnah succeeded in fleeing to Jenin (after the attack in Haifa was foiled and his partner was arrested).
5) A captured document mentions the "murder of a settler" and the wounding of 20 others during activity of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades originating from Jenin.
A captured document mentions the implementation of the "Umm Al Fahm act" in "Israel's depth" which was perpetrated by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (the intention is to the firing carried out on 28 April 2001 at a car in Umm Al Fahm. An Israeli civilian was killed in the attack and another was wounded).
7) An additional captured document mentions a suicide attack in Afula in which PA intelligence apparatus activists from Jenin were involved together with the PIJ (the intention is to the killing attack in Afula on 27 November 2001 perpetrated by the PIJ and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades).
c. The existence of a strong terror infrastructure which was built by the PIJ and Hamas, which depends, amongst other things, on intensive use of its financial resources. According to the documents, the large amounts of money flowing to Jenin from Damascus (see below) enable PIJ and Hamas to recruit to their ranks youths with motivation, provide them with a monthly salary and solve their financial problems (while posing a challenge to Fatah which does not have such large financial resources and whose members, as reported in one document, receive financial aid from PIJ). The strength of their financial sources enabled these organizations, inter alia, to penetrate the ranks of the Palestinian intelligence apparatuses, bribe senior commanders of apparatuses in the Jenin area and receive assistance from them in operational activity and in protection against expected PA moves.
d. The existence in Jenin of a terror infrastructure of the Fatah and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades/Tanzim which is in contact with Marwan Barghouti, who provides them with money and budgets, and which competes with PIJ and Hamas. A captured document states that Jenin "refugee camp" is considered to be a Fatah "fortress" in the (Jenin) district and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the camp are those "who consolidated Fatah's presence and operational capabilities". According to a captured document from May 2001, there are 63 Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades fighters in the Jenin district divided into four military units (it is assumed that their number has since risen). Their activity, it is written "focuses on the weakening of the Israeli enemy" and the defense of the refugee camp (in cooperation with other elements). The main constraint which blocked their progress (at least in the first half of 2001) was the financial constraint, and the Fatah activists in Jenin expected Marwan Barghouti to assist them in overcoming this problem.
e. Trans-organizational operational cooperation expressed by joint terrorist attacks in Israel and joint preparations to defend Jenin. There are a few expressions of this cooperation in the captured documents:
The existence of joint frameworks for all the terrorist organizations. The documents mention the "combined force" which apparently operates in the context of a defense plan for Jenin and whose men belong to all the organizations operating there (it is possible that the units operating in this framework are called "guard units". One document mentions a joint operations room in Jenin.
The existence of inter-organizational operational cooperation in the perpetration of terrorist attacks inside Israel. One document notes that the commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the Jenin area recruited one of the terrorists who took part in the suicide attack in Afula (on 27 November 2001 in which 2 Israeli civilians were killed and approx. 50 wounded). The responsibility for this attack was indeed jointly claimed by the PIJ and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. We are familiar with additional cases of inter-organizational cooperation (Fatah and PIJ) in perpetration of terrorist attacks inside Israel which originated in the Jenin area (see Appendices B and C).
Cooperation in various realms between Fatah and local PA intelligence apparatuses and the PIJ and Hamas. This is expressed not only in joint terrorist attacks but also in warnings of expected activities by the PA which were transferred to the PIJ by the Deputy Chief of the Preventive Security Directorate in Jenin; in early reporting of expected arrests and names of wanted persons by the PA, in the procurement of arms by Preventive Security officers for the PIJ and Hamas in the Jenin area. One captured document states that the Deputy Head of the Preventive Security Directorate supplied Hamas and PIJ with weapons from "the arms depot in northern Palestine whose contents were stolen" (the intention is to the arms stolen from Kibbutz Manara, some of which, according to a press report was found by the IDF in Jenin).
The direction of the PIJ terror infrastructure in the Jenin area by the organization's headquarters in Damascus. In this framework, one document states that Dr. Ramadan Shalach, the PIJ secretary, transfers large sums of money to PIJ activists in Jenin, for financial aid to the families of martyrs and also for payment of expenses for suicide and killing attacks. According to this document, he transferred a large sum of money for the suicide and killing attacks in Afula (27 November 2001), whose "sundry expenses" was a sum of $31,000. In addition, a sum of $127,000 is mentioned as aid to support the families of martyrs and activists under arrest (these sums of money also constituted a source for corruption and internal strife amongst PIJ members in Jenin.
One captured document indicates ties between senior activists in the Jenin terror infrastructure and Israeli Arabs, while exploiting the fact that the refugees living in the Jenin area originate from the Galilee. The document notes that Bassam Ragheb Al Sa'adi, a senior PIJ activist in Jenin who deals in money transfers, conducts "extensive ties with people inside the green line (areas)". (Bassam Sa'adi is known to be a PIJ senior activist in Jenin who is responsible for the perpetration of a few bomb attacks inside Israel including in Hadera (25 May 2001) and Netanya (30 January 2001).
click here to download the translated documents
"This was not a slaughter! It was not a massacre!…The Nazis would go into an area or town and purposefully pull out the women and children and either murder them or send them off to death camps. The men got only the first option, murdered on the spot. That is massacre. This was not the case in Jenin. You can't believe what you see. I saw it with my own two eyes."
"First, we didn't think we were going into 'war.' We weren't ready for what we found there. The whole place was one big booby trap with secret tunnels and enough explosives to blow up all of Israel twice. Don't forget, this is a place (specifically the Jenin Refugee Camp) that not even the Palestinian Authority could go into. This was the undisputed territory of the Islamic Jihad and the Hamas.
"Our guys were getting picked off like sitting ducks. I saw our dead as they were brought back to the infirmary. Each was hit by one bullet to the head or neck. They had sharpshooters at every strategic location possible and all were well trained and their rifles were exactly calibrated. One sniper would shoot from atop of some home, and the same guy would pop up a minute or two later from on top of another home on the other side of the street. We found that they had an elaborate system of tunnels in which to get around in. We were paying the price for our policy of deliberately not attacking non-fighters in the midst of close conflict. We could have saved a lot of our guys had we just used the missiles or bombs of the F-16s to demolish buildings at a distance. We tried all we could to hit only those who were shooting at us.
"When we'd get to a building from which we were being constantly shot at, we'd try returning fire when we could. But they knew the camp to its millimeter, and realized exactly where they could pin us down. We'd use bullhorns to call for anyone in the building to come out before we would raise the level of our response. Again, this was out of concern for innocent lives.
One time, and I saw this right before my eyes, a couple of families came out. There was a man, a woman, some boys, girls and even babies. Another family of more or less the same makeup also emerged. Now, we're in our armoured vehicles. We couldn't open the hatches or step out cause every time we tried, we'd be shot in the first second. We called for them to raise their shirts so that we could be sure that they weren't "wearing" any explosives. Only the men raised their shirts. When we called for everyone to do the same, the second the women raised their garments...B O O M. Everybody standing there was blown all over the place. They exploded themselves-entire families! It was horrific. It was also obvious that we would be blamed for having slaughtered them. It was insane.
"Sometimes, when all else failed, we'd call in an Apache helicopter that would fire its rapid fire gun into the window from where the fire was coming. Within seconds, the shots continued down at us. The Apache would then fire an exact hit of a missile into that same window. It wouldn't help - the fire continued down on us. Too many soldiers were injured or killed when they tried to enter a house, only to find it booby trapped or see the fighters firing from behind the family who lived in the house. Many died because they wouldn't fire into innocent civilian shields.
When nothing else would end the standoff, a new vehicle was called in to take out the fire. When nothing else would end the standoff, a D-9" (a new vehicle, modeled from a Caterpillar construction chain-tractor, but armored so that almost nothing can damage it) "was called in to take out the fire. Again, as in the other instances, we called a few times for everyone to come out and that, if necessary, we would destroy the building. When no one did, the D-9 nudged a corner of the building to give them a warning. Again we gave a verbal warning over the loudspeaker Again, no response. The D-9 would take out a corner pillar of the building and we would wait for some response. Again the verbal warning would go out. And so on till the assassin would fall with the building. Only afterward can one accurately find out who was in the building. Horrific.
"A commander I knew went into one of the houses from where there was firing. He found a Kalatch (AK-47 Kalatchnikov automatic rifle) on the table and picked it up. It was booby trapped and exploded. The explosion detonated a grenade on his belt and blew away the lower half of his body. Horrible stuff. You can't imagine.
“ I was carrying soldiers out, under fire, on my back. The rain was relentless, creating waist deep mud from the hashed earth where the tanks had passed. I was filthy with my uniform and face black with mud. When I was out of the rain for a while, I still felt that my back was wet. When I took off my shirt, I saw that it was soaked in the blood of the soldiers whom I'd carried. A young Nachal soldier, a kid; we worked on him for an hour and a half. When we finally got a helicopter down to take him to hospital, the copter doctor checked him and said, 'Sorry-too late.' I'd been stroking his forehead for an hour and a half. And he was gone. Just a kid. What can I tell his mother?…"
Infantry officer, commanding an aid post in Jenin.
“I was in the Jenin refugee camp on April 16. In addition to noting that there was no smell of death in the camp and that the booby-traps and anti-personnel bombs laid out by the Palestinian gunmen were still very much in evidence, I heard a story, which I did indeed find chilling. It was told to me by Dr. David Zangen, chief medical officer of the Israeli paratroop unit, which bore the brunt of the fighting in Jenin. Zangen stated that the Israelis not only worked to keep the hospital in Jenin open, but that they offered the Palestinians blood for their wounded.
“The Palestinians refused it because it was Jewish blood.
“That is a chilling story to an American of my age, with memories of white, bigoted-racial purists refusing to accept blood from African Americans in the segregated South.
“The Israeli response, which could easily have been, "fine, have it you own way," was to fly in 2,000 units of blood from Jordan, via helicopters, for the Palestinians. In addition, they saw to it that 40 units of blood from the Mukasad Hospital in East Jerusalem went to the hospital in Ramallah, that 70 units got to the hospital in Tul Quarem and they facilitated the delivery of 1,800 units of anti-coagulants that had come in from Morocco, and thus, were somehow acceptable to the Palestinians where Jewish blood was not. (This information was later confirmed to me by Col. Arik Gordin [reserves] of the IDF Office of Military Spokesman, who supplied the exact numbers of units of blood and anticoagulants and the names of the hospitals to which they were delivered.)
”So the question to ponder, before the circus leaves town, is how do you negotiate with a hatred so great that it will refuse to accept your blood, even to save its own people¹s lives? How does an international community vilify a nation that offers its own blood to its enemies, while its own soldiers lie dying, and that, when faced with race hatred that brands their blood unfit, diverts military flights to bring blood more suitable to the taste of those who would destroy them?”
Dan Gordon is the author of five books and the screenwriter of such films as "The Hurricane" and "Murder in the First." He is also a former sergeant in the Israel Defense Forces and a peace activist who has held meetings with Arab leaders in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza.
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