Cover
story International activists: a non-violent force
By CLAIRE
SCHAEFFER-DUFFY
Even as the U.N. withdrew its staff
from Ramallah, hundreds of international activists entered the West Bank city
offering themselves as human shields for Palestinians anticipating an Israeli
military assault. The attack began March 28 in retaliation for a suicide
bombing that killed 22 Passover diners the day before.
At the start of the Easter weekend, foreign civilians provided
protective accompaniment for Palestinian medics and doctors seeking access to
the wounded within the compound of Palestinian president Yasser Arafat. But as
Israeli forces fanned out into the city, engaging in house to house searches
and raids on the Ramallah Hospital, the internationals began interposing
themselves between soldiers and civilians in an attempt to stem atrocities.
They have subsequently followed Israeli troop movement into the West Bank
cities of Beit Jala and Bethlehem, continuing their nonviolent intervention
wherever possible.
I think if we lived in a sane world, wed be writing
songs and making movies about these people, said Tom Saffold, U.S.
coordinator for the International Solidarity Movement, a group of
internationals who have twice joined Israeli and Palestinian peace activists in
nonviolent protests.
As of April 2, 100 international activists have reportedly
distributed themselves between Ramallah and Bethlehem. The group within the
compound, comprised of civilians from France, Brazil, Canada, Belgium, Britain,
Ireland, Germany and Israel stated April 1 that they would not leave until the
siege is lifted. They appealed to their respective ambassadors to come and meet
with Arafat who, along with reportedly 100 Palestinians, remains confined
there.
We are trying to create a human shield against an Israeli
attempt to attack and kill President Arafat and his assistants, said
Israeli activist Netta Golan, speaking from the compound.
Israeli forces have declared Ramallah and Bethlehem closed
military zones. Requests from consuls to meet with the foreign activists
confined in the presidential compound have been denied.
Most of the internationals, who entered Ramallah on the morning of
Holy Thursday, just hours before the Israeli assault, were European members of
the Grassroots International for the Protection of the Palestinian People,
according to The Guardian. The few Americans in the group included Adam
Shapiro, who lives in Ramallah, and Karrin Wheeler of Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Guardian also reported that 200 Italians were turned
back by Israeli troops at the Kalandiya roadblock just south of Ramallah.
Approximately 30 or 40 Americans arriving throughout the weekend
were deployed to Bethlehem in anticipation of an invasion there.
Throughout Easter weekend, the internationals in Ramallah,
communicating via mobile phones and terse e-mails, focused on maintaining
medical access for the wounded. The ambulances of the International Red
Cross, Red Crescent and U.N.
are coming under fire and international
civilians have been trying to act as human shields on board, one e-mail
reported.
They concentrated on the compound and were able to escort in five
ambulances, three doctors and some medical supplies.
Claire Schaeffer-Duffy is a freelance writer living in
Worchester, Mass.
National Catholic Reporter, April 12,
2002
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