• LAW Israeli army continues violations in the Palestinian Territories: Fatah leader killed in West Bank
• Christian Peacemakers Team Can you feel your anger?

LAW

Forty-nine-year-old Thabet Thabet, Secretary General of Tulkarem's Fatah branch was killed in the West Bank city yesterday morning.

Palestinian eyewitnesses reported that at 9:30 am, an Israeli military unit hiding in a truck opened fire at Thabet as he reversed his car, shooting him at least six times. He died in Tulkarem hospital at 10:30 am.

Eyewitnesses also reported that a nearby Israeli-registered car sped off after the attack and a military helicopter was hovering overhead.

According to LAW's documentation, Thabet is the eighth Palestinian victim of targeted assassination. The others were Hussein Abyat (37), Jamal Abdul Razik (30), Ibraheem Bani Auda (34), Anwar Hamran (28), Yusif Sawi (28), Abas Awiwi (26 ) and Hani Abu Bukra (32). According to some commentators, these killings may well amount to extra judicial executions, which is strictly prohibited under international law. Further, some commentators have argued that the onus is on the Israeli authorities to apprehend those they deem a risk to their security, and not to resort to a policy that has as its rationale, intentional physical elimination.

At 5:00 am yesterday an Israeli military unit opened fire at a group of Palestinian workers after the latter protested being searched in a humiliating way. The injured were:

Sa'id Al Harazin, 23, shot in the left knee,
Mohammad Nasir, 23, shot in the left knee,
Yasir Al Rantisi, 21, shot in the stomach,
Salman Al Aruki, 37, shot in the head.
Ambulance driver Ibraheem Shabat, 32, was also injured while trying to rescue the wounded. He was shot in the left leg.

Karar Shihada, 20, was shot in the head when a group of Israeli soldiers opened fire at Palestinian civilians east of Al Braij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Rafah also in the Gaza Strip, was bombed twice yesterday; first when Israeli forces fired five artillery shells that hit barricades, causing no damage or injury, then when they shelled Al Salam residential area and wounded four Palestinians.

LAW reiterates its call in the strongest terms to the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to act on their article 1 and inter-state obligation and enforce the provisions of the convention.

LAW notes the current negotiations, and urges states not to pressure the PLO into accepting an agreement that may hamper the realization of the rights of the Palestinian people as prescribed in public international law. Any agreement must safeguard existing rights.

Christian Peacemakers Team

Can you feel their anger?

By Rick Carter

It was 5:00 PM Thursday afternoon when I received a frantic phone call from Jowdy Jabber. Settlers were once again in his brother Atta's home, in the Beqa'a valley, east of Hebron.

The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) forced Atta to leave his home several weeks ago after a settler attack, and declared it a closed military zone. Soldiers are stationed there full time to keep settlers and Atta's family away. After Jowdy's call, we immediately called the Hebron police and learned the IDF had granted the settlers a one hour permit to hold a Hanukkah prayer service. Pierre Shantz and I immediately left to for the Jabber home. When we arrived, there were fires and candles burning all around the home and the settlers were dispersing.

As we watched from the porch of Atta's fathers home stones the size of softballs began crashing to the ground around us. The settlers were stoning the house from a 30 foot wall behind us. Ducking into the house for cover we called the Hebron police again to tell them of the attack and request assistance. We were told to go out and talk to the police across the street who are supervising the Hanukkah service. "That's not possible, we're under attack," we replied. Once the voice on the other end of the line decided that yes, it probably wasn't wise to leave the house, he dispatched police who stopped the stoning and came to the house to talk with the family.

The police assured us they were there to protect everyone, including Palestinians, offering their quick response as evidence of their protection. "What did you do with the settlers who were stoning," we asked. They were told to go home. (What happens to Palestinians who throw stones? They are shot.) "Why don't you make that 30 foot wall a closed military zone and keep settlers away?" We can't do that. They throw stones from there and attack this family every time there is violence against Israelis anywhere. This family is vocal about non-violence in the community and work closely with Israeli peace groups. "Why would the settlers even want to hold a service there if they didn't plan on claiming it? Why did you allow a prayer service at Atta's home if you don't plan to let them? You call this protection?" What if you were asking these questions about your home? Can you feel their anger?

The following morning on my way home I passed through a group of small boys, probably from eight to twelve years old. They looked mischievous. They possessed the smirk of just having done something they shouldn't have. The look that causes adults to be wary and look around for it's cause. Looking down the road I saw two soldiers, then eight more came running up. Ten heavily armed soldiers facing a group of unarmed boys. How would you feel if your local police responded to your children with lethal force? Can you feel their anger?

Later that day I was on my way to meet a friend for lunch. There was a clash between heavily armed Israeli youth (Israeli soldiers) and Palestinian youth armed with stones (Palestinian soldiers) in the street I was walking on, so I walked around it. But I got tear gassed anyway because the wind was blowing my direction. Cautiously looking down the street through my stinging and watering eyes, slinking across like some kind of fugitive, walking across the town square as close to the buildings as possible thinking about getting shot, the absurdity of the whole thing struck me. What if you had to do this just to go to lunch? Can you feel their anger?

This is a military occupation at the hand of a self proclaimed democracy, justified and supported by many other democracies around the world. These nations consistently turn a blind eye while the indigenous civilian population is brutalized, not only by the occupying military force but also by the occupier's civilian population who confiscate the land they are colonizing. This is a place where the civilian population is collectively punished in retaliation for resistance. This is a place where the occupying army seeks out and assassinates resistance leaders; where the occupiers who have guns and bombs are called soldiers and considered legitimate around the world, while those who resist with guns and bombs are considered criminal terrorists by the international community.