I now continue with the MER Reports dealing with the violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
This is Part III, again written by an eye witness who titled this section "The Smug Liar".
ISRAELI STUDENTS ARRESTED AND BEATEN PROTESTING THE KILLING
This eyewitness account from an Israeli student in Haifa who took on Haifa's Mayor, the former Military Commander for the West Bank in the days of the Intifada:
THE BIG SMUG LIAR!
The Haifa protest was probably the least violent of Palestinian protests inside the green line today. No deaths, only light injuries (up to broken bones). Here's some of what happened in Haifa today.
Several 100s [mostly Palestinians but also some Jews] were protesting and blocking Hatzionut/Khouri junction in Hadar (Wadi Nisnas). Just standing there shouting slogans against the occupation and the killings. Yesterday, a similar protest ended peacefully, when the police stayed away. But today, at some point, the police decided to open the blocked road. Maybe because there weren't that many Jews, unlike yesterday. They arrested a few, including our friends Yoram and Yoav (who pretty much volunteered to be arrested, instead of running away and letting others take the heat like most of us, the less heroic). Arrest means that you're dragged on the cement by the arms or legs, while beaten with bats.
They said we can block Khouri and they won't interfere. At that point the protest turned louder, and although illegal, still not violent. A few tires were put in Khouri and set on fire. More objects were put on the road to block it. Not a huge pile of them, but a symbolic pile of stones and other small objects. The police thought this was too much of a reaction to a little bit of killing, and moved in.
I missed a crucial 20 minutes, when I moved my car which was parked close to a burning tire and got stuck in traffic. In these 20 minutes there were stones thrown at the police, which was using tear gas and rubber bullets trying to disperse the protest. No serious injuries, but several light ones.
When I got back, Khouri was blocked by protestors, and the police were all around, occasionally moving in and arresting one or two more. Amram Mitzna (the mayor of Haifa and commander of the west bank during the Intifadah) came to cool things down. He thought he could do that by telling people that they were hurting the coexistance between Arabs and Jews in Haifa ('enemies of peace'). The crowd surrounded him and said they will let him go if the detainees are released. He said we should let him go and he promises they will all be released by midnight.
Yoav called from detention and said that his arm is broken and they won't let him see a doctor. From this point on, Iris (his wife) and I were focused on this issue. One of the lawyers involved was with us and said that a doctor was sent to the police station but wasn't allowed in. I went to Mitzna and had this exchange with the big smug liar:
Irit: Are you aware of the fact that there is a detainee who has a broken arm and is not receiving medical care?
AM: This is not true. You are nourished by rumors. If you will send a doctor he will be allowed in.
[Never mind the fact that the POLICE was the one which was supposed to find a doctor, and not me].
Irit: Why doesn't his lawyer know that?
AM: I don't care what his lawyer knows or doesn't know.
Irit: I brought the lawyer to Mitzna and he said that a doctor was sent and was not allowed inside.
AM: I'm not talking to him.
Irit: You lie to me and don't talk to him?
AM: I'm not talking to you either.
Irit: Is that your vision of coexistance? [The lawyer is a Palestinian].
AM: What are you doing for coexistance? You're just inciting!
Irit: [Loud, for everyone to hear]: You'll bring coexistance in Haifa just like you did in the West Bank during the Intifadah!
That was my brightest moment today.
This is already around 22:00. Yoav was arrested at about 18:00. It's not good to let a broken arm swell up unattended for hours.
We went down to the police station. We found there a doctor waiting on the doorsteps, not allowed inside. We waited and waited, while the policeman at the entrance said nothing but "I'm not an officer. I don't know. I can't answer..."
At some point two men came with a young woman who said she was almost raped. She looked very depressed. He said the officers are too busy to take care of her. He can't help her. She can wait but it will take a long time. She left. That's what the police is doing for you, in case you wondered.
We waited, with the doctor, outside. At exactly midnight, Yoav and Yoram came out. Yoram was limping and it turned out he was also beaten. His foot was very swollen. So we took them both to the hospital, where it turned out that Yoav's arm is indeed broken. Yoram's x-ray showed no broken bones, but his ankle was bandaged and he will limp for a while.
In emergency, we met one guy from Shfar'am. He was sitting next to his brother's bed. His brother was hit in the forehead by a rubber bullet which broke his skull.
Around 3 AM, we went home feeling very lucky, compared to those in Shfar'am.
(The author can be reached at Irit@MiddleEast.Org
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Thought for the Day:
"With the best intentions in the world, professional anthropologists have succeeded in hiding from the world the nature of its running sores. If these sores are to be cured, they must be exposed freely to the surgeon's scrutiny, and have their proper names given to them."
(Arthur Keith in A New Theory of Human Evolution)
Back to Table of Contents of the Oct. 2000 ZGrams