Tanks and telephone calls at three o'clock in the morning
Amira Hass | 25.10.2001 02:24
A highly agitated pre-dawn caller says his village is being attacked by the IDF, people have been shot and no one is being allowed to approach the wounded. Another in a series of reports from El Bireh by Amira Hass
By Amira Hass
By Amira Hass
The tanks provided an early wake-up call at around 3 A.M. For some reason, yesterday it sounded like there were more tanks than usual. They moved around the neighborhood, their turrets jutting out from every corner. It might have been a change of shifts, who knows. Or maybe they were leaving - after all, yesterday the news reported that there had been some American pressure. Is that the reason for the increased traffic?
The sound of the phone ringing at around 3:15 A.M. is practically swallowed up by the noise from the street. It was A. from Beit Rima, so agitated that he even forgot to apologize for the strange time to call: The Israel Defense Forces is now attacking the village, located east of the settlement of Halamish. This is Area A, the adjacent village - Nabi Salah - is already Area B. They attacked and took over the police station, as far as he could tell, and were going to arrest people.
He talks hurriedly, expressing his concern about the situation: "They took my brother, G., as an escort for the soldiers making the arrests, to use as a human shield." How do you know? "Because they broke into our house, ordered me to come with them, saw that I wasn't wearing shoes, my brother was wearing shoes, changed their minds and told him to come with them, they didn't even take his identity card. They need someone to be with them so that they won't be fired at as they move around."
The brother is a nurse in a Jerusalem hospital. A. works in an office in Ramallah. Since the Al Baloua' and Al Arsal neighborhoods were captured, they, like the residents of 35 other villages, cannot leave their villages to go to Ramallah, the area's largest city. Up until a week ago, for an entire year, they persevered and traveled on narrow, winding roads to reach their work places. They changed cabs once or twice, then walked a kilometer or two or three. Now, the village of Sudra - the only passage that remained open - is blocked because of the capture of Al Baloua' and the curfew.
A little before 7 A.M., A. calls again: His brother, G., has not returned yet. People are trapped inside their houses and don't know what's going on, but there are reports of several injuries from IDF fire. The IDF fired from helicopters and tanks, he says. There is talk that the police building was destroyed. The IDF does not allow medical teams to approach the injured and they are bleeding. The number of injured and the severity of their injuries is not known, says A. When everyone is holed up at home, the rumors spread.
Dr. Bassam Rimawi, a resident of Beit Rima and a director in the Palestinian Ministry of Health, confirms to Ha'aretz: He tried to leave his house to go to where he guessed the injured were, and an IDF unit barred him from doing so. He also related that two ambulances had been waiting for three hours (since 4 A.M.) at the two entrances to the village, and they were not being allowed to go in.
One ambulance, which took a roundabout route from Salfit, is at the entrance to Nabi Salah, adjacent to Halamish. A second ambulance that had come from El Bireh and also took a roundabout route (due to the roadblocks) was being delayed near the village of Kafr Ein, to the north. Some said there were four injured, others said there were more. Some said that among the injured there are also two dead. It is hard to know, if permission to approach them is not given.
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, the director of the Medical Relief Committees - a large network of non-governmental Palestinian clinics - telephoned people from the Physicians for Human Rights organization early in the morning. When an Israeli organization intervenes, the army listens a bit more. The information also reaches Attorney Tamar Peleg, from Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual. She phones the IDF's deputy legal adviser in the West Bank.
As of 8 A.M., according to information received from the Israeli side, military doctors are treating the injured. According to other information, Dr. Rimawi was to accompany people from the office of the Coordinator of Activities in the Territories and look for the injured. In the end, it turns out that only at eight in the morning did military doctors arrive, and the Palestinians ambulances were allowed to approach the injured. Barghouti reported one person with a chest injury, who had lain bleeding for five hours.
Was there really any fighting? A. believes the armed Palestinians did not really get a chance to fight: There were shots fired at the Israeli force and they were immediately silenced with massive shooting. People in the village also reported a large number of arrests, including that of a 14- or 15-year-old youth whose uncle was apparently active in the Popular Front. Members of the Popular Front and Fatah were arrested. There were also radio reports that a member of the preventive security force had been arrested.
The methods of enforcing the curfew in Al Baloua' seem to be effective. Starting at eight in the morning, there is already a reminder about the curfew, unlike in the early days. The tanks roar through the streets more quickly than in the early days and people are hastily pushed out of the way. The loudspeaker announcing the curfew is louder, and the voice is tenser and repeats the announcement several times. "Go, go" the voice on the loudspeaker urges people.
The tanks and the people "play" cat and mouse. When the former turn around, the people disappear. When the tanks move away, the people come out onto the street again. Fewer taxis try their luck and start up the hill. More and more pedestrians climb the hill to the next roadblock: a mound of dirt, in the middle of a dirt road, just north of Al Baloua'. There they climb up an incline and get into taxis headed for Jalazun. Around 300-500 meters to the east of them is the old asphalt road that always connected Ramallah with Jalazun and the villages of Jifna, Dura, Al Kara and Ein Yabrud. The road runs alongside the settlement of Beit El. For the safety of its residents, the road is closed to Palestinian traffic.
All in all it is around a kilometer and a half walking distance, on an incline, between the seam line separating the "liberated section" and "occupied section" of Al Baloua' and the dirt mound. There are continuous convoys of people walking. Young men with a light step, young women walking in groups, children who overtake them all and older people. Some lean on canes, some are supported by young people who had some compassion. Like the woman from Jalazun, around 70 years old and wearing a traditional village dress, who climbed for half an hour or so on the terraces (a monument to the area's agricultural past) a third of the way up the steep hill until the first paved road bisecting the hill. Two youths supported her, held her packages and climbed with her. She collapsed on the sidewalk, covered in sweat and gasped to catch her breath.
A single car from the neighborhood decided to break the curfew and drive the woman and the two youths: They will still have to help her walk the remaining 200 meters, not traversable by car, between the path and the dirt mound and then also help her into a taxi. The woman collapsed on the seat, did not say a word and began sobbing.
The sound of the phone ringing at around 3:15 A.M. is practically swallowed up by the noise from the street. It was A. from Beit Rima, so agitated that he even forgot to apologize for the strange time to call: The Israel Defense Forces is now attacking the village, located east of the settlement of Halamish. This is Area A, the adjacent village - Nabi Salah - is already Area B. They attacked and took over the police station, as far as he could tell, and were going to arrest people.
He talks hurriedly, expressing his concern about the situation: "They took my brother, G., as an escort for the soldiers making the arrests, to use as a human shield." How do you know? "Because they broke into our house, ordered me to come with them, saw that I wasn't wearing shoes, my brother was wearing shoes, changed their minds and told him to come with them, they didn't even take his identity card. They need someone to be with them so that they won't be fired at as they move around."
The brother is a nurse in a Jerusalem hospital. A. works in an office in Ramallah. Since the Al Baloua' and Al Arsal neighborhoods were captured, they, like the residents of 35 other villages, cannot leave their villages to go to Ramallah, the area's largest city. Up until a week ago, for an entire year, they persevered and traveled on narrow, winding roads to reach their work places. They changed cabs once or twice, then walked a kilometer or two or three. Now, the village of Sudra - the only passage that remained open - is blocked because of the capture of Al Baloua' and the curfew.
A little before 7 A.M., A. calls again: His brother, G., has not returned yet. People are trapped inside their houses and don't know what's going on, but there are reports of several injuries from IDF fire. The IDF fired from helicopters and tanks, he says. There is talk that the police building was destroyed. The IDF does not allow medical teams to approach the injured and they are bleeding. The number of injured and the severity of their injuries is not known, says A. When everyone is holed up at home, the rumors spread.
Dr. Bassam Rimawi, a resident of Beit Rima and a director in the Palestinian Ministry of Health, confirms to Ha'aretz: He tried to leave his house to go to where he guessed the injured were, and an IDF unit barred him from doing so. He also related that two ambulances had been waiting for three hours (since 4 A.M.) at the two entrances to the village, and they were not being allowed to go in.
One ambulance, which took a roundabout route from Salfit, is at the entrance to Nabi Salah, adjacent to Halamish. A second ambulance that had come from El Bireh and also took a roundabout route (due to the roadblocks) was being delayed near the village of Kafr Ein, to the north. Some said there were four injured, others said there were more. Some said that among the injured there are also two dead. It is hard to know, if permission to approach them is not given.
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, the director of the Medical Relief Committees - a large network of non-governmental Palestinian clinics - telephoned people from the Physicians for Human Rights organization early in the morning. When an Israeli organization intervenes, the army listens a bit more. The information also reaches Attorney Tamar Peleg, from Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual. She phones the IDF's deputy legal adviser in the West Bank.
As of 8 A.M., according to information received from the Israeli side, military doctors are treating the injured. According to other information, Dr. Rimawi was to accompany people from the office of the Coordinator of Activities in the Territories and look for the injured. In the end, it turns out that only at eight in the morning did military doctors arrive, and the Palestinians ambulances were allowed to approach the injured. Barghouti reported one person with a chest injury, who had lain bleeding for five hours.
Was there really any fighting? A. believes the armed Palestinians did not really get a chance to fight: There were shots fired at the Israeli force and they were immediately silenced with massive shooting. People in the village also reported a large number of arrests, including that of a 14- or 15-year-old youth whose uncle was apparently active in the Popular Front. Members of the Popular Front and Fatah were arrested. There were also radio reports that a member of the preventive security force had been arrested.
The methods of enforcing the curfew in Al Baloua' seem to be effective. Starting at eight in the morning, there is already a reminder about the curfew, unlike in the early days. The tanks roar through the streets more quickly than in the early days and people are hastily pushed out of the way. The loudspeaker announcing the curfew is louder, and the voice is tenser and repeats the announcement several times. "Go, go" the voice on the loudspeaker urges people.
The tanks and the people "play" cat and mouse. When the former turn around, the people disappear. When the tanks move away, the people come out onto the street again. Fewer taxis try their luck and start up the hill. More and more pedestrians climb the hill to the next roadblock: a mound of dirt, in the middle of a dirt road, just north of Al Baloua'. There they climb up an incline and get into taxis headed for Jalazun. Around 300-500 meters to the east of them is the old asphalt road that always connected Ramallah with Jalazun and the villages of Jifna, Dura, Al Kara and Ein Yabrud. The road runs alongside the settlement of Beit El. For the safety of its residents, the road is closed to Palestinian traffic.
All in all it is around a kilometer and a half walking distance, on an incline, between the seam line separating the "liberated section" and "occupied section" of Al Baloua' and the dirt mound. There are continuous convoys of people walking. Young men with a light step, young women walking in groups, children who overtake them all and older people. Some lean on canes, some are supported by young people who had some compassion. Like the woman from Jalazun, around 70 years old and wearing a traditional village dress, who climbed for half an hour or so on the terraces (a monument to the area's agricultural past) a third of the way up the steep hill until the first paved road bisecting the hill. Two youths supported her, held her packages and climbed with her. She collapsed on the sidewalk, covered in sweat and gasped to catch her breath.
A single car from the neighborhood decided to break the curfew and drive the woman and the two youths: They will still have to help her walk the remaining 200 meters, not traversable by car, between the path and the dirt mound and then also help her into a taxi. The woman collapsed on the seat, did not say a word and began sobbing.
Amira Hass
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