Israel is Planning for Ethnic Cleansing
Sapa- AFP
15, April 2003Shell-shocked after a fellow peace activist was rendered clinically dead by an Israeli sniper a day earlier, Nick and Tom still feel their work as human shields protecting Palestinians from army fire and bulldozers in the southern Gaza town of Rafah has been worth it.
But the two teenagers are now considering going home after Friday's shooting, which has raised fears that international volunteers are becoming a target for the Israeli army.
"Back home, I believed when a child was shot, something must have happened, but I've discovered here that it can actually happen just like that, without a reason," said 18-year-old Tom Diale from Britain.
"When it is clear Israel does not give a damn and shoots at us, there is really nothing you can do about that," he said heatedly.
"I expected a certain level of violence, but I did not expect the level of planning by the Israeli state; it's planning for ethnic cleansing, for wiping out the 'evil Arab menace'," he said.
Diale arrived in the Palestinian territories five months ago to join the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a group of about 40 pro-Palestinian activists who engage in non-violent direct action to protect civilians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
He was among the first ISM activists to set foot in Rafah, a densely populated Palestinian area at the southern tip of Gaza which has been the scene of frequent Israeli raids over the past 30 months.
"I came here because I was academically interested in the conflict. I meant to stay for three weeks but stayed on, first moving around the West Bank," said the young man.
But after he witnessed his friend Rachel Corrie being crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in March and fellow Briton Thomas Hurndall being shot by an Israeli sniper in Rafah refugee camp on Friday, Tom isn't sure if he will stay.
And in any event, given the increase in foreign casualties, the ISM will have to reconsider the way it operates, he said.
"I imagine we'll have to review the ways we operate at the border area and heavily restrict our work there. Maybe we should opt for less confrontational actions as human shields," reflected Diale who, as a veteran, instructs new recruits.
"In the past we would try to stop military operations; now maybe we'll go to a location beforehand so there won't be any Israeli action," he mused, still visibly unsettled by Friday's shooting.
Diale and other activists who witnessed the incident said Hurndall was trying to pull two children out of danger when shots were fired from an army watchtower 100m away.
"Thomas was wearing a bright orange reflective jacket, like we all do, and like Rachel had been wearing too. There is no way the army did not see them," he said.
Hit in the head by the bullet, Hurndall was critically wounded, and shortly after arriving at hospital, doctors pronounced him clinically dead.
The army had no comment but said it would look into the event. It is still investigating the cause of Rachel's death a month earlier.
Nick, a 19-year-old Scot, wanted to "do something and not just participate in anti-war demonstrations".
"I wanted to see what was going on with my own eyes and help Palestinians fight for their legitimate rights," he said.
Nick was studying Scottish literature at Glasgow University but dropped out and came to Rafah in early March after undergoing a two-day training course at the ISM's West Bank headquarters in Bethlehem.
Although the training included cultural history and geography, and tips on how to prevent the demolition of houses and wells, there was no preparation for dealing with being fired on by the army.
Nick is now considering shortening his trip.
"I'll go embittered but with my eyes open wider. It has made me older. I can go back and alert the world, and having actually been here will give me greater credibility," he said.
In Rafah itself, the foreign volunteers have clearly made a deep impression, with local police saying a roundabout is soon to be named "Rachel circle" as a tribute to the young US volunteer killed in March.
Grocery shop owner Zuheir Madi said he would miss the ISM volunteers if they leave: "They're wonderful. They came from abroad as human beings, because we all want peace, beyond countries and races - the Israelis included."
This article was originally published on page 4 of The Star on 14 April 2003