1.        The office in Ramallah was the primary administrative office for UPMRC, and contained extensive records dating back several decades on the health condition of the Palestinian people.  Like any modern office, these records were stored in computer format. Within the office, every single computer (more than 20) was destroyed, with the hard drives removed, and various other components strewn across the individual offices and meeting rooms. The data on these computers have disappeared.

2.        Other office equipment, including copy machines, fax, shredder, etc. have been rendered unusable by having components destroyed, by having coffee poured into the inner parts of the machines, and by other acts of extreme vandalism.

3.        A brand new and sophisticated video camera was stolen, as well as calculators, cell phones, etc.

4.        In Dr. Barghouthi’s office, the contents of his desk were simply thrown to the floor, and videotapes made of his recent arrest by Israeli authorities were pulled out of the cassettes, with large piles of videotape mixed on the floor with the contents of his desk.

5.        Throughout the offices, the contents of desks, files and shelves were dumped on the floor, often mixed with garbage from the soldiers’ meals and other trash.

6.        Garbage was also forced into relatively inaccessible sections of the office.  It appears that the primary objectives of garbage “disposal” by the Israeli soldiers were to contaminate valuable parts of office materiel and to make it extremely difficult for the offices to be effectively restored to a sanitary and usable condition.

7.        The phone and email system throughout the office was completely destroyed.

8.        Expensive hand-woven rugs from an exhibition of Palestinian crafts were used as rugs and sleeping mats, rendering them destroyed as objects of art.

9.        Random bullet holes were shot into the walls at various points.

10.       The sink in the office bathroom was destroyed.

11.       Graffiti was written on the walls, including renderings of the Star of David and pictures of bullets.

12.       On a display board in what was left of the office waiting room was written in Hebrew, “Thanks for your hospitality”.

13.       Several actions of the Israeli soldiers bring into question their sexual maturity and elimination training.

a.        Pornographic images were downloaded from the internet and scattered throughout the office.

b.        Pornographic magazines were also scattered throughout the office.

c.        A sanitary napkin was attached to one of the doors.

d.        A file room was filled with office records and used as a urinal.

e.        Men’s underwear was scattered throughout the office.

In short, the entire UPMRC office complex was subjected to wanton vandalism and destruction of the highest order.  One can only seriously question the internal discipline and control of the soldiers of the Israeli military.  It is clear that the intent of these soldiers was to destroy for destruction’s sakethere is no conceivable military justification for such acts.

         In discussion with Israeli colleagues, they believed that the soldier’s actions likely occurred without the knowledge of their officers (but one must wonder about the discipline and control of Israeli soldiers by the officer corps), and reflected the historic and prevailing attitudes of Prime Minister Sharon toward the Palestinian people.  They suggested that this vandalism, which was but one of many essentially identical examples in the West Bank, is designed to destroy Palestinian cultural identity, to destroy the Palestinian information infrastructure, and add to the continuing humiliation of the Palestinian people. The presumed desire and expectation would be that Palestinians will either leave the West Bank or will be so demoralized that they will accept complete and total subjugation by their Israeli overlords.

         It is difficult to imagine any other “rationale” for these despicable actions.  Either the Israeli military is a completely undisciplined organization, or they are operating with the implied consent of the Prime Minister, and by extension, a majority of the Israeli public.

***********************************

___________________________

  William J. (Bill) Thomson, Ph.D.

      (wthomson@umich.edu)

___________________________

 

"The single most important factor in providing protection to Palestinians during the recent invasions was the performance of the international protection forces."
         Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi--President of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees
         (To join these outstanding individuals, see last item--BT)
_________________________

Correction:  In my previous report I erroneously identified the destroyed offices as those of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees.  In actuality, they were the Ramallah offices of the Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute (see item below).  Dr. Barghouthi is associated with both organizations.--Bill

From: "Palestine Monitor Alquds" <palmon@upmrc.org>
Subject: HDIP - Press Conference Summary
Date: Fri, 26 Apr 2002 13:00:54 +0200

Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute, HDIP
Press Conference Summary
April 26th 2002

On the 24th of April, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti gave a press conference in the offices of HDIP, which were vandalized, with most of the equipment and contents destroyed as a result of the Israeli invasion to Ramallah on the 29th of March and the subsequent occupation of the offices by Israeli soldiers.

The press conference had two main threads: the actual destruction caused by the Israeli army, in particular the attacks on the health system, and secondly the overall Israeli policy of systematic invasion and destruction of Palestinian areas.

Throughout the past month the Palestinian health sector and health workers have come under unrelenting attack. For example Israeli soldiers used Dr. Muhammad Iskafi as a human shield while attacking and breaking into buildings on the fourth day of the Israeli invasion of Ramallah. This happened on more than one occasion with different health workers in different areas. Dr. Barghouti also explained how the Israeli army attacked and humiliated emergency health workers, forcing them to crawl on the ground, hit them with mud, removing them from their vehicles and holding them for hours at a time and forcing them to strip naked in public places.

Dr. Barghouti stated that since the beginning of the invasions on the 29th of March there have been 128 attacks against medical teams. This also included attacks against governmental and non-governmental health organizations and hospitals, such as the Medical Care Hospital in Ramallah, five UPMRC clinics and centers, the Palestinian Red Crescent in Al-Bireh and the Al-Razy Hospital in Nablus, which was shelled by an Israeli tank which resulted in the killing of a female patient. The soldiers also banned the Al-Razy medical team from rescuing an injured man, who was less than two meters away from the hospital's gate. He died as a result.

“Among the other systematic attacks is abandoning the injured to let them bleed to death. This is a clear evidence that the atrocities committed by the Israeli army can only be described as massacres", Dr. Barghouti argued.  He pointed out that the army also prohibited the burial of the dead.  Consequently, 25 corpses were buried in a common grave in the yard of Ramallah Hospital. In addition, in Nablus, for six days the Israeli army did not allow 67 injured people to be moved from the field hospital in Al-Baiq
Mosque in the Old City of Nablus, to hospitals where they could receive life saving treatment. As a result dozens of people died.

Dr. Barghouti also pointed to the dangers of diseases spreading among Palestinians; especially as restricting Palestinians freedom of movement has lead to children being deprived of receiving the necessary vaccinations. In addition, 260 governmental and non-governmental clinics stopped working, which means 73% of Palestinians in rural areas have been left without medical care. The curfew and closure of all of the West Bank towns and villages has also had a negative effect with the prevention of access to medical treatment. “We have monitored many death cases as a result of restricting the movement of Palestinians. For example, the son of Ali Sha'ar from Nablus died a few hours after he was born when the Israeli army denied him access to hospital. Tabarak Odeh, from Dair El-Hatab, died when the Israeli army refused, for 10 days, to let medication get to her. In Al-Walajeh in Bethlehem province, Halima Al-Atrash gave birth to a stillborn baby when she was not allowed to pass the che ckpoint to take the ambulance, which was only ten meters away” Dr. Barghouti said.

The second theme covered by Dr. Barghouti in the press conference was the invasion and the destruction wrecked upon Palestinian institutions, buildings and the population as a whole.

He considered the latest invasion of Palestinian cities, towns and refugee camps as a part of a systematic operation aimed at inflicting a great deal of destruction upon governmental and non-governmental organizations thereby destroying any potential to establish an independent Palestinian state.  “This systematic approach is apparent in the attacks undertaken by the Israeli army. In all the areas they invaded, they broke into houses, stole from the people, attacked private property, shot at civilians and used them as human shields, dug up roads, stole and destroyed data, just all-round destruction" Dr. Barghouti added.

“For ten years, since the beginning of the Oslo process, Palestinians have invested in and developed the areas under the rule of the Palestinian Authority. Hundreds of millions of dollars have flowed in from Palestinians in the Diaspora and international aid and development agencies. Roads were made, buildings sprung up, private schools were established, kindergartens and nurseries were opened, internet cafes abounded, cafes, NGOs, private banks, restaurants and shops ­ all the trappings of city life had been established. The Authority too began to develop, ministries were set up ­ education, health etc. We have a Central Bureau of Statistics.  This is what was attacked. The very essence of what Palestine was developing into ­ the institutions that would one day be the state and civil society institutions of an independent Palestine. The financial aspect of the destruction is difficult ­ and we will need help rebuilding. But it is not just the expense of the hardware and brok en glass and destroyed offices that we have to meet. The loss is incalculable in dollar terms, because it has taken us years to build up to this point. It is the human effort and intellectual work that that has gone into the years of research, planning and development to build our future that we have lost, to improve our health system, our education system, to promote private enterprise ­ these are the things that were sabotaged, putting back the efforts for Palestinian independence.

In addition, Dr. Barghouti talked about the effects of the Israeli invasion on the other aspects of Palestinian life. “The Israeli invasion has paralyzed the social, economic, health and educational aspects. Israel has also attempted to create a security vacuum by targeting the Palestinian security institutions. Moreover, the Israeli army has imposed curfew on some villages for 25 successive days and is attempting to create isolated cantons that are much worse than the apartheid system that was prevailing in South Africa.”

Dr. Barghouthi also spoke of the Israeli claims that they had withdrawn from Palestinian cities, characterizing these claims as “a big lie because the tanks are still present, and can, and have, reinvade whenever they wish”.  When discussing the role of the Palestinians in the current crisis Dr. Barghouti stated that “we have to enhance our national unity and not allow Israel to achieve political gains from its attack, or to create newpolitical facts on the ground”. Also, Palestinians have to form national and grass roots revival committees to rebuild what the occupation has demolished and to distribute aid in a fair and transparent way in order to prevent corruption. In this regard, he asked donor countries to announce the amount of funds they would distribute to the Palestinians and the receiving organizations. He called upon Palestinians to enhance the popular, non-violent nature of the Intifada since it is considered as a national liberation movement that aims to end the occupation. He also called for strengthening the Palestinian grass roots organizations and civil society institutions since they constitute the base for the establishment of the
Palestinian state.

Dr. Barghouti praised the steadfastness of Palestinians, saying, “What happened during the last weeks has also shown the limitation of the ability of the Israeli military power to achieve political goals. Israel might have been able to destroy infrastructure, roads and buildings ­ but they have failed, and will continue to fail to destroy Palestinian hopes to be free from the occupation and oppression.”

He also praised the role of the international solidarity groups who “came here in thousands and at their own expense, with the GIPP, to provide protection for the Palestinians, including the group who managed to break the siege around President Arafat, and managed to stay with him.”

HDIP
+972 (0) 67 325418
+972 (0) 2 2985372
www.palestinemonitor.org

***********************************
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 2002 17:55:23 -0400
From: "Nabeel Abraham" <NABRAHAM@hfcc.net>
Subject: Daschel: "Israel, Right or Wrong"

Dear All,
Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle was quoted on NPR saying that as long as he is the Senate majority leader, Israel will always have total support " Right or Wrong". It appears that Mr. Daschle is planted so deeply in the pocket of AIPAC, he can barely sees straight and has lost his moral and integrity. I believe he needs to hear for all of us.

Please take the time today to e-mail him or call at:

Daschle, Thomas (D - SD)
509 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2321
http://daschle.senate.gov/webform.html