On Monday
July 15, 2002, at 8:00 in the morning, the Israeli Defense Forces
attacked a plastics factory in Qalqilya, a northwestern city in
the West Bank, causing a massive fire and the death of one of
its workers.
Qalqilya was under curfew at the time,
which means that nobody is allowed outside. In the past month,
several people have died in Qalqilya during curfew; soldiers shot
and killed a 10 year old boy playing soccer in the street, a man
tending his field, and a pregnant woman standing inside her home.
On the morning of July 15, one of the factory workers was standing
outside the building. The army jeeps saw her, raced to the factory,
and threw a grenade into the building. At the time, there were
around 20 workers and 18 residents (living in apartments on the
third floor) inside the building. The flames from the first grenade
were extinguished by one of the workers inside. The army then
ordered everyone out of the building, and sent two more grenades
into the building. The factory, which manufactured plasic coverings
for steering wheels, contained highly flammable materials; a fire
quickly erupted and spread. As people ran out from the fire, the
army fired shots in their !
direction.
One man, Mahmoud Helel, did not run outside.
He had forgotten his identification papers at home that morning,
and was afraid that the army would harrass or arrest him. The
owner of the factory, Dr. Khaldoon Zaid, told one of the commanders
that he was 99% sure that one of his workers was still inside
the building. The commander asserted that there was no one inside,
that anyone could be seen through the windows, despite the fact
that there was thick black smoke coming from the burning plastics.
In the meantime, the local fire department was called. Due to
curfew, which prevents the movement necessary to stock up on supplies,
there was not enough gasoline in the fire truck to get to the
site. An army tank gave the fire truck some of its gas. This act,
of course, made it to the local news. However, further delays
were caused by the army vehicles, which obstructed the way to
the burning building. By the time the fire trucks reached the
building, the first two floors we!
re consumed in flames. Fire trucks from neighboring Salfit and
Kefar Sava arrived later. After 3 hours, the fire was extinguished.
A search team found Mahmoud's body, completely carbonized, on
the second floor.
Mahmoud was 22 years old. He lived and
worked in Qalqilya, and attended University Al-Quds in Jerusalem.
He was working in the factory to help pay for tuition.
The factory employed 47 full-time employees
as well as 15 auxiliary workers and 4 drivers. These people are
now without work, in a nation where employment is scarce. The
apartments on the third floor are not safe to live in; 2 families,
with a total of 12 children, are homeless. The factory sustained
damages of 2.5 million US dollars; these losses are not covered
by insurance, which does not assist with damage caused by the
military.
For more
information, contact the factory's general director, Dr. Khaldoon
Zaid: home 09-294-7737, or mobile 053-22-1413.
