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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
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