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The Curse of the curfew
by Khalid
Amayreh
I always knew that Israel had strong Nazi elements in its state ideology
and collective mindset. Her insidious apartheid, sinister occupation and
virulent treatment of its non-Jewish citizens and subjects left no doubt in
my mind as to the sheer evilness of the Jewish state.
However, it was the appalling massacres at the Jenin refugee camp, coupled
with the wanton destruction the Israeli army has been wreaking on
Palestinian population centers, that convinced me (and many others around
the globe) that Israel is actually a Nazi state, adopting a Nazi ideology,
following Nazi policies, and indulging in Nazi-like practices.
TThe nefariousness of Israeli behavior simply transcends reality. Ir defies
linguistic description, as Christian Orthodox leader Hanna Atallah rightly
described what he saw at the camp.
This article will shed some light on another virulent aspect of Israeli
behavior in the West Bank during the past six weeks, namely the "military
curfews," which truly caricature the brutal ugliness of Zionist mentality
and racism.
When the Israeli occupation army stormed Palestinian population centers in
late March, employing more than 700 battle tanks and 50,000 troops, the
fist step it took was to impose a draconian curfew on Palestinian towns and
villages, imprisoning millions of people in their homes…"until a further
notice."
The further notice could come up after a week, a month, two months, or
never, as has been the case in the old town of Hebron, which has been under
intermittent curfew since the outbreak of the intifada against Israeli
occupation and apartheid nearly 19 months ago.
This is not the sort of curfew local authorities would imposed on the
population for a few hours for public safety purposes.
It is a belligerent, harsh, hateful and hostile act of collective
punishment aimed at tormenting, frustrating and humiliating an entire
civilian population for political reasons.
The curfew usually begins with Israeli occupation soldiers announcing in
heavily accented Arabic that a given town or village is under curfew.
"Mamnou' al-Tajawul Hatta Isha'ren Akhar" or "curfew is in effect until a
further notice," come the hateful words out of the loudspeakers fixed at
the hoods of army jeeps.
The menacing announcement itself is often coupled with random shooting and
other insolent expressions aimed at terrorizing the population.
Sometimes, the curfew is imposed without a prior announcement, as happened
in Dura, 12 kilometers south West of Hebron, when the Israeli army invaded
the town, pop. 25000, on 9 April.
There, the occupation army started shooting at people at the outlying
neighborhoods who simply didn't know what was going on.
In one bloody incident, an Israeli apache helicopter gun-ship opened a
volley of machinegun bullets at a group of unsuspecting people at the
Rafadi neighborhood, who were going home, having just finished the dawn
prayer at the neighborhood mosque.
The perfidious bullets immediately killed Nayef Sayyed Ahnmed, who has just
graduated from college.
His cousin, Aref Sayyed Ahmed, a father of eight children, was moderately
injured in the strafing.
However, as the Israeli army adamantly refused to allow rescuers to reach
him, the poor man simply bled to death.
Both Men were ordinary citizens who struggled to make ends meet and had no
connection to any political groups or "terrorist organizations," the mantra
Israel evokes to justify her Nazi-like treatment of the Palestinian people.
They probably didn't realize that every Palestinian is a potential target
of Israel's death machine, regardless of any other considerations.
The murder of innocent civilians is only one aspect of the Israeli army's
criminal behavior.
Indeed, the invading troops barred the family of the victims from
collecting their bodies and bury them in dignified manner, threatening to
shot and kill anybody approaching the bodies.
Only after 72 hours had passed, did an Israeli officer allow two men to
take the bodies into the homes, where they were kept two more days, in
which case they already began to decompose, before they were finally
allowed to be buried.
Israeli occupation soldiers not only incarcerate people in their homes and
threaten to shoot those who step out of their homes or look through the
windows.
They also raid homes, humiliate families, and vandalize people's property
on a large scale and in a systematic way, apparently with the aim of
inflicting as much losses as possible on the civilian population.
For example, it has been reported that in hundreds of cases, Israeli
soldiers used powerful explosives to force-open doors of buildings or homes
whose occupants have moved elsewhere for safety.
And when the soldiers get inside, they indulge to every conceivable act of
savagery, theft, vandalism and ransacking, because "they have the guns and
could easily kill anybody opposing them."
Some of the bestial acts the soldiers indulge in include urinating and
defecating in living rooms, displaying their genitals in front of women,
and vandalizing television sets and computers.
In Ramallah, as elsewhere, Israeli soldiers reportedly looted many stores,
stealing easy to carry valuables such as expensive watches, mobile phones,
and similar objets.
Similar stories will certainly emerge when the curfews on Palestinian towns
are over.
Some Israeli soldiers indulge in deviant lewd acts especially when they
invade homes where there are young women alone, e.g. when male relatives
have been arrested.
According to al-Jazeera television report on 18 April, Israeli soldiers who
broke into a home in Bethlehem that day forced at gun point three young
women to undress.
Other soldiers watched sadistically, as the women were being tormented and
humiliated.
It is believed that this phenomenon is widespread and the reason they are
not disseminated and publicized is due to the fact that the generally
conservative Palestinians don't like to talk about sexual harassment by the
soldiers for fear of undermining their personal and family honor.
Another particularly wicked aspect of Israeli army behavior during the
administration of curfews is the suspension of all vital services to the
Palestinian population, often causing preventable deaths.
On 14 April, this writer called the emergency department at Dura city hall,
asking whether ambulances could move throughout the town under the curfew.
The person in charge had this to say: "The army told us they would shoot at
any car moving including ambulances."
I asked "and what if somebody needs urgent medical attention or
hospitalization?"
And this was his answer "He or she should wait and pray to God to end this
nightmare."
The curfews which the Israeli occupation army imposes for prolonged periods
of time on three and a half million Palestinians express the almost total
Israeli disregard and callousness toward the Palestinians, their needs,
their feelings, their lives, and their very humanity.
And the message is too clear, namely that "we are the masters and you are
the slaves, and the master can do whatever he likes to the slave."
Now, does the world have a better understanding of the suicidal bombers?
Source:
by courtesy & © 2001 Al-Ahram Weekly & Khalid Amayreh
by the same author:
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