Hello
all,
We've
had quite a busy two days here in Qalqilia. In addition to our
regular work with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society doing ambulance
runs we have had to deal with multiple invasions by the Israeli
military into town over the last 48 hours.
On 8/8
we had a birthday party at the office of the Red Crescent for
one of the ISM folks from Spain in our group. It was both to celebrate
her birthday and an opportunity for us to thank all of the wonderful
people from the Red Crescent and Union of Palestinian Medical
Relief Committees (UPMRC) folks we have been working with in Qalqilia.
The party was overshadowed by the fact that 2 Palestinians and
9 internationals were arrested the day before in Nablus. (The
latest update on this is that the 2 Palestinians were beaten and
released, the internationals are in Ramle prison awaiting deportation,
they will probably be deported tomorrow) The party began to wind
down around 12:30 am. At around the same time reports began to
filter in that tanks and soldiers had come into Qalqilia and were
arresting people.
Several
of us were sitting outside smoking an argila (water pipe) and
talking. There was also another group half a block a way cooking
kebab out on the street as they do every night. A military jeep
drove up and parked in the intersection right in front of us.
Two soldiers got out and kept watch on the two groups. The Red
Crescent volunteers asked us to stay where we were because if
you move inside suddenly when the soldiers come they will often
come after you because they think you're running from them (why
would anyone want to run from proven murderers with M-16's?).
We continued to hear reports of soldiers in different parts of
the city. Within about 15 minutes they told the other group to
pack up and go inside, which they did.
One of
the drivers from the Red Crescent needed to get home to his family
and so another driver drove him home, I went with them as an international.
During the 5 minute drive we saw one group of 1 tank, 1 APC and
2 jeeps on the main road. They flashed their light at us and made
us stop but ultimately let us return without stopping us long.
When we got back we saw that more vehicles and soldiers had arrived
across the street from the Red Crescent. I couldn't tell what
kind of vehicles they were but there were many soldiers out on
the street and they had obviously moved several people out of
the house they were targetting. At this point the soldiers told
us to go inside. The people at the Red Crescent, as with every
Palestinian I've met, are more concerned about our (meaning internationals)
safety than their own and so asked us to please come inside. We
did as they asked. We watched what was going on from some windows
in the stairwell. The soldiers across the street saw us through
the windows and began pointing their guns at us. One apparently
had one of those laser targeting red dot things you sometimes
see in movies. There's something very unnerving about having one
of those red dots move around over your face and chest and knowing
that that rifle is pointed directly at your face and one small
squeeze of a trigger could end your life. Needless to say after
they targetted us like that we were a little more cautious. And
stayed out of sight more. But we kept watching.
Eventually
they left. As the vehicles pulled away I saw that one of the armored
vehicles was an ambulance, marked by a red Star of David. I am
not absolutely positive but I am fairly certain I saw at least
one of the armed soldiers get into the ambulance before it left.
My understanding is that this totally violates all standards of
international law. You cannot transport regular soldiers in an
ambulance unless they are wounded.
Regardless,
after this two of us went across the street to the house they
had entered. The soldiers had piled furniture in one room. It
was a total mess. Everything just thrown into this room. At least
one person had been arressted. The family was left in the middle
of the night with a totally wrecked house, family members arrested
and no assurance that the military would not return.
During
this time others went on ambulance runs and continued to see large
numbers of tanks, APCs and jeeps throughout the city.
After
the soldiers left and with there being nothing much else we could
do we tried to get some sleep at about 4:00 am. Though no one
thought it a good idea for us to go back to the flat we have in
town so all of us stayed at the Red Crescent, making it very crowded
indeed.
End Part
1
More to come ....
=====
Garrick Ruiz
mobile phone (in Palestine): 067 371 507
(from the US) : 011 972 67 371 507
arhive of updates at http://www.straybulletins.com/Garrick
