I spoke
with Paul last night (about 9am in Nablus). He, Nat, Leah, Alberto,
Jonathon and 2 other ISM volunteers (one from Ireland and the
other from Vancouver) are currently in a home in Nablus that has
been identified as being at risk of demolition. The 7 ISM internationals
arrived to the home last night as family members were stripping
the house of all valuables and personal items in anticipation
of the house being destroyed. All relatives have now left with
the exception of the 2 elderly grandparents (the grandfather is
disabled from a stroke), who are being accompanied by the internationals.
The house is anticipated to be a target because the son was a
suicide bomber. The family described the son as "going crazy"
as a result of several friends and family members killed, tortured
and taken away and after seeing what had happened in Ramallah
last March.
Israeli
troupes are throughout the town of Nablus. As Paul and I spoke,
I heard several explosions. The ISM volunteers had to hike cross-country
into the city as they were unable to pass through the checkpoint.
The group of internationals were repeatedly redirected by patrolling
soldiers as they walked through the city streets, at times being
unable to negotiate as warning shots were fired before they could
get close enough to be heard by the soldiers. Yesterday, Paul
and the others witnessed approximately 50 men being blindfolded
and loaded onto buses near the old city. There were many journalists
present. They also came
across a house which had been taken over by Israeli soldiers,
confining the two families who lived there to the bottom floor
and occupying the upper levels.
The internationals
successfully persuaded one of the soldiers to locate diapers in
the home and give these to the family, who had an infant locked
in with them. Also during the day, they observed two patrols searching
homes, following the soldiers from house to house and accompanying
the families as they were forced to stand in the street while
soldiers ransacked their homes. At one point, a soldier attempted
to leave with a 12-year old boy when Paul was able to call attention
to this and the boy was returned unharmed. As the soldiers went
on with their search, they forced a Palestinian man to enter each
home before the soldiers would go inside. The internationals asserted
to the soldiers that this is a violation of the Geneva Conventions,
forbidding the use of civilians as human shields. The soldiers
eventually stopped this tactic after being reminded that "The
Israeli army is said to be one of the most moral in the world,
and that such behavior has the appearance of calling that status
into question."
At this
point, the internationals are planning to stay at the house for
as long as it is considered to be a target. IndyMedia has been
notified and Paul's sister called KPFA and left a message there.
Apparently the Orange phone does NOT work in Nablus and only a
couple of them have other types of phones that are functioning.
There is no electricity in the house so they are unable to keep
non-Orange phones and video cameras charged. There is a landline
to the family's home, which is how we communicated.
