As of 17 April, the Israeli army has been rampaging through refugee camps in Palestine for weeks, bulldozing homes and using tanks and attack helicopters to murder refugees in Jenin and elsewhere.
Even more laughable and infuriating are when these fascists take to the air and claim they're keeping reporters out of the Palestinian refugee camps "for their own saftey" -- allegedly to protect them from snipers and booby traps. In order to ensure their saftey the army has harassed, beaten, shot at, and even killed a few of them. The media might be safer taking their chances with the snipers and booby traps. This begs the question, "Why are they so afraid to let reporters into the refugee camps?"
Despite the threats, the jailings, and the beatings ( "International Activists Detained, Beaten by Israeli Defense Force"), word is getting out from the camps (see below). And once the IDF is gone, a full accounting will be made, despite their attempts to cover up their crimes (the IDF has started removing the bodies of their victims and burying them miles away from the camps). From Human Rights Watch: Human Rights Abuses by the IDF in Jenin
When I read or see things like this, I can't help but think of a song written some years ago by Bruce Cockburn, "If I had a rocket launcher..."
Find out more for yourself at Palestine Independent Media and B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. These people are quite literally risking their lives to expose the truth about what's going on right now in Palestine. To quote former Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Bertrand Aristide, "Trying to bury the truth is like trying to bury water. It keeps seeping out."
And truth is what this site is all about.
A Strange Kind of Freedom Robert Fisk documents attacks on critics of the Israeli government.
Please Note: Some of the images, below, are graphic and very disturbing.
Unarmed demonstrators attacked in Beit-Jala, 2 April 2002:
A few seconds after these pictures were taken, the soldiers inside this vehicle opened fire on the demonstrators. One woman was hit in the chest with by a bullet, and several others were wounded by shrapnel.
A few days later, near the Palestinian Authority compound where Israel is holding Chairman Arafat hostage, Israeli soldiers opened up on reporters with live ammunition and stun grenades. Other attacks on newspeople have been reported throught the Occupied Territories. Ah, Israeli "democracy" at its finest.
There's a reason for these attacks: Israeli soldiers are committing atrocities against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and don't want to get caught. The picture below fairly well sums the army's attitude toward the people they are attacking and murdering. In one picture you see soldiers getting photographed over the body of a slain Palestinian, as if they were on holiday and the victim was some kind butchered animal. In the other picture are the bodies of Palestinian police officers who were executed (note the one bullet wound to the head) by Sharon's goons (read more about it HERE). Your tax dollars at work.
