GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - http://www.gush-shalom.org/
International release
===================
Rafah Invasion - the end?
Adam Keller - Tel-Aviv, May 25, 2004
============================
At long last, the Israeli armed forces have ended their invasion and occupation of Rafah. It had cost the lives of 59
Palestinians - 12 of them unarmed civilians according to the army's own account. The invasion aroused worldwide
condemnation, including a censuring resolution by the UN Security Council which the United States exeptionally did not
veto, and aroused widespread controversy inside Israel.
After the fatal "warning shots" fired last Wednesday by a tank at an unarmed demonstration, it was widely expected that
the Rafah operation would be terminated. But with the tacit agreement of Washington, the army continued its operation
and even extended it into hitherto untouched neighborhoods of Rafah. On Sunday, there came the news of widespread home
demolitions at the Barazil Neighborhood - first from Ha'aretz correpsondent Amira Hass, the only Israeli journalist to
be present at Rafah from the beginning of the invasion. Then Kol Israel military correspondent Carmela Menashe gained
entry to Barazil and broadcast a shocking account on the station's noon news maganize, which she later published also in
a two- page article in the mass-circulation Yediot Aharonot. Finally, Israel's two commercial TV stations, Channel 2 and
Ch. 10, broadcast extensive footage of Palestinians digging in the ruins of their homes and trying to salvage some
possessions (such footage was conspicuously absent on the government- controlled Channel 1). In the cabinet meeting,
Justice Minister Yosef ("Tommy") Lapid sharply criticized the house demolitions, stating: "The sight of an old
Palestinian woman digging in the ruins for her medicines reminds me of my grandmother". Since Lapid is a Holocaust
survivor, this was taken as a comparison between the army's conduct and that of the Nazis. The fact that the Shinuy
leader said this means that he thinks it is what his constituency feels. Lapid, a former TV talk-show commentator, is
quite a demagogue.
This morning Kol Yisrael interviewed Brigadier-General Shmuel Zakai, commander of the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip,
and asked him to account for the fifty-six houses the army now admits to destroying at Rafah (after several days when
they claimed to have demolished "only five"). His answer: "We had reason to think that the Palestinians had mined the
roads, so we wanted to create a cleared space to let the tanks and armoured personnel carriers pass through". General
Zakai evidently assumed that the Israeli public would accept this as an acceptable reason for wiping out whole
streets...
Now, the army is out of Rafah, and the Israeli headlines are caught by Sharon's plan to pass through his cabinet some
form of a "Gaza Disengagement Plan" - though, it seems, one even more partial and vague than the earlier one. And
meanwhile, the issue of Rafah is far from off the agenda. In today's Yediot Aharonot General Gabi Ashkenazi, deputy
Chief-of- Staff, reiterated the army's position: "We must keep hold of the Philadelphi Route" (the Israeli-controlled
wedge seperating the Palestinian Gaza Strip from Egypt). The plans to widen "Philadelphi", at the expanse of destroying
some 2000 houses (!) at Rafah are not off the agenda, either. They are likely to resurface in the event of a new attack
on Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip - or of any other event which would provide a "need for a retaliation."
# The Colonel's Mother demonstrated against the military operation (translated from Yediot Aharonot, 25/5/04)
Aliza Tibon, mother of Colonel Noam Tibon who commands the Nahal Brigade and whose soldiers are engaged in various tasks
in the Territories, joined in yesterday's protest outside the Defence Minstry in Tel-Aviv calling for evacuation of the
army from Rafah. Tibon arrived there together with other women active in the left-wing movement "The Fifth Mother",
having last week participated in a vigil at the Kisufim Chackpoint at the Gaza Strip entrance to protest what the
movement termed "the harm caused to innocents". Tibon, who lives in Kibbutz Tzor'ah, came yesterday morning by train to
Tel- Aviv and stood in front of the Defence Ministry, holding a sign reading "Down With the Occupation". She told her
fellow activists that she could not remain silent in face of the sights from Rafah which she saw on TV, and felt she
must take personel action to help get the army outof there. She told journalists "I am proud to be Noam's mother and I
am proud to demonstrate against the occupation".
# For photos & report of May 21 demonstration at Kissufim Checkpoint: http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html
# Donations for the families in Rafah whose houses were demolished can be sent by cheque - in your own currency! - made
out to Anat Matar, 33 Bernstein-Cohen Street, Ramat Hasharon 47213. Bigger sums can be deposited to the Ta'ayush' bank
account: Bank Hapoalim, acc. no. 396608, Ramat Aviv branch 606 (Please avoid international bank transfer of two-digit
sums because of prohibitive bank fees). NB: in both cases you should inform Anat Matar about the sum you have donated,
by sending her the details at matar@post.tau.ac.il
**********
# Boycott List of Settlement Products (newly updated)
Hebrew
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boycheb.htm
English
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boyceng.htm
# Sharansky and the New Antisemitism, by Adam Keller -
http://otherisrael.home.igc.org/sharansky.html
More selected articles of The Other Israel May issue accessible via
http://otherisrael.home.igc.org/contents.html
Order your one time free sample (hard copy) from
NB: Don't forget to include your postal address
# Against the Wall
*
ðåëçåú áëôøéí îàéîéí ò"é äçåîä ìúàí òí
àééáé 064-604172 isichel@netvision.net.il
àøé÷ 050-607034 info@rhr.israel.net
Presence at villages threatened by the wall, contact:
Ivy Sichel 064-604172 isichel@netvision.net.il
Arik Asherman 050-607034 info@rhr.israel.net
*
Eye-witness reports from the Occupied Territories:
http://www.machsomwatch.org
(Israeli women monitoring the checkpoints)
http://www.palsolidarity.org/pressreleases/pressreleases.php
(internationals throughout OT)
# Refusniks
Constantly-updated refusniks lists:
English - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/english/prison/
Hebrew / òáøéú - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/prison/
English - http://www.newprofile.org/default.asp?language=en
Hebrew / òáøéú - http://www.newprofile.org/
Help us free our children from the military prison! (parents of The
Five)
For ENGLISH details please click
http://www.refuz.org.il/help.html
For HEBREW please click
http://www.refuz.org.il/hebrew/help.html
--
http://www.gush-shalom.org/ (òáøéú/Hebrew)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html (English)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/arabic/index.html (selected articles in
Arabic)
with
\\photos of recent actions
\\the weekly Gush Shalom ad
\\the columns of Uri Avnery
\\Gush Shalom's history & action chronicle
\\position papers & analysis (in "documents")
\\and a lot more
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