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Lesser-Known
Stories from the
Only
Democracy in the Middle East
by
Ran HaCohen
Dissident
Voice
October 27, 2003
The Man Who Had Five Heads
Israel's
former Prime Minister Barak and his present successor Sharon made
extra-judicial killing – euphemised at first as "targeted
assassination", later as "targeted prevention" – a key element
in Israel's "defence" policy. Gideon Levy of Ha'aretz (14.9.2003)
wonders:
Last week, the Israel Defence Forces
(IDF) announced that soldiers from the undercover unit Duvdevan had liquidated
Ahmed Bader, describing him as 'the head of the Hamas military wing in Hebron.'
Seven weeks earlier, on June 22, we were informed that a force of the Border
Police and the Shin Bet security service had eliminated 'the head of the
military wing of Hamas in Hebron.' On that occasion the part was played by
Abdullah Qawasmeh. Three months before that, on March 18, it was reported that
the IDF had terminated Ali Alan, who was also 'the head of the military wing of
Hamas in Hebron.' Seven months prior to that, on August 28, 2002, it was
announced that the IDF had arrested "the head of the military wing of
Hamas in Hebron," Abdel Halek Natshe. Less than a year before that, in
November 2001, the IDF reported that a helicopter-launched missile killed Jail
Jadallah – 'the head of the military wing of Hamas in Hebron.'
Yes, within less than two years Israel
liquidated and arrested five people all of whom were described as 'the head of
the military wing of Hamas in Hebron.'
How 10 Dead Killed 180 Living
Uri
Misgav of the Tel-Aviv weekly Ha'Ir (25.9.2003) conducted a survey into 10
cases of "targeted assassination" and Palestinian attacks launched in
retaliation for them. All these assassinations followed periods of relative
quiet. Synopsis:
31.7.2001:
2 Hamas activists assassinated in Nablus.
"Collateral
damage": 4 Palestinian adults and 2 children killed.
5.8
– 9.8.2001: 18 Israelis killed in four terror attacks.
27.8.2001:
Popular Front leader assassinated in Ramallah.
29.8
– 9.9.2001: 7 Israelis killed in four terror attacks.
17.10.2001:
Popular Front combatants assassinate an Israeli cabinet minister.
23.11.2001:
Hamas activist assassinated north of Nablus.
"Collateral
damage": 2 Palestinian adults killed.
24.11
– 2.12.2001: 35 Israelis killed in eight terror attacks.
10.12.2001:
Islamic Jihad activist assassinated in Hebron.
"Collateral
damage": 2 Palestinian children killed.
12.12.2001:
10 Israelis killed in revenge in Immanuel.
14.1.2002:
Tanzim commander assassinated in Tul Karm.
14.1
– 22.1.2002: 11 Israelis killed in five retaliation attacks.
22.7.2002:
Hamas senior killed by a one-ton-bomb on his house in Gaza.
"Collateral
damage": 5 Palestinian adults and 9 children killed.
26.7
– 4.8.2002: 27 Israelis killed in seven counter-attacks.
9.11.2002:
Islamic Jihad activist killed in Jenin.
16.11.2002:
14 Israelis killed in revenge in Hebron.
10.6.2003:
Hamas political leader Rantissi slightly injured in Gaza.
"Collateral
damage": 4 Palestinian adults and a child killed.
11.6.2003:
17 Israelis killed in retaliation in Jerusalem.
9.8.2003,
15.8.2003: 3 Hamas combatants killed in Nablus and Hebron.
An
Israeli soldier was killed in action.
12.8
– 20.8.2003: 25 Israelis killed in two revenge attacks.
6.9.2003:
Israel bombs a meeting of the leadership of Hamas in Gaza, but fails.
9.9.2003:
15 Israelis killed in two counter-attacks.
Sum
total: 10 wanted Palestinians assassinated; 30
innocent Palestinian killed; 180 innocent Israelis killed in retaliation
directly following the assassinations.
As
the Israeli Chief-of-Staff so often boasts, "the 'targeted prevention'
policy is working perfectly."
Your Home Is My Castle
The
Apartheid
Wall – the so-called "security fence" – presently being erected
deep in occupied Palestinian land has already left about 12.000 Palestinian
villagers outside it, trapped between the Wall and the Green Line. All this
territory, between the Apartheid Wall and Israel proper, has been termed
"the seam zone." The Israeli Army recently issued clear and detailed
orders concerning this zone, as reported by Amira Hass of Ha'aretz
(14.10.2003):
"An
individual will not enter the seam zone and will not stay there; An individual
found in the seam zone will have to leave it immediately."
What
about a Palestinian who lives in the seam zone? -Well, he "will be
permitted to enter the seam zone and stay there, so long as he bears a permit
in writing" issued by the Israeli Army.
So
if you happened to have your house in the seam zone, and you are aged 12 or
older, you have to persuade the Israeli Army to give you a permit to stay at
home, or to go home. If you expect a visit, first make sure your guest fills one
of the 12 relevant application forms – for an owner of a business in the seam
zone; a merchant; an employee; a farmer; a teacher; a student; an employee of
the Palestinian Authority; a visitor; an employee of an international
organization; an employee of a local authority or infrastructure company; a
member of a medical team; or for 'all other objectives' – the Israeli Army
thinks of everything. Once your guest has filled out the form, and has been
lucky enough to obtain the permit, he is most welcome to visit you.
Obviously,
the Israeli Army may or may not issue the permit. The Army may limit its
validity, withdraw it, or suspend it at will. It may take you several days to
get a permit, it may take months. But it may also depend on the applicant: he
may be politely asked – in a discrete conversation with an anonymous agent in
dark sun-glasses – to keep an open eye on his neighbours or family if he wants
to get a permit, or to grant the Israeli intelligence some other service: No
free lunch.
Obviously,
these draconic measures are not really applied to everybody. Some people do not
need a permit. These are:
"1.
A citizen of Israel;
2.
A resident of Israel;
3.
Anyone entitled to immigrate to Israel according to the Law of Return."
So
if your mother happened to be Jewish, and you live in Montreal, in Mexico City
or in Johannesburg, you need no permit at all to go to the small West Bank
village of Salim. But if you are a Palestinian, even if you and your family
have been living in Salim for centuries, you cannot stay there without a
written permit from Major General Moshe Kaplinski "or someone acting on
his behalf", as the order goes.
Major
General Moshe Kaplinski has not been summoned to the International Criminal
Court in the Hague yet for this racist order. I doubt whether he ever will be.
But
if you ever wondered what the world would have looked like if Hitler had won
the War, I think this could give you a pretty good idea.
Happy
Halloween.
Ran HaCohen
teaches
in the Tel-Aviv University's Department of Comparative Literature, and is
currently working on his PhD thesis. He also works as a literary translator
(from German, English and Dutch), and as a literary critic for the Israeli
daily Yedioth Achronoth. HaCohen’s semi-regular “Letter from
Israel” column can be found at AntiWar.com, where this
article first appeared. Posted with author’s permission.
Other Recent Articles by Ran HaCohen
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