CPTnet
April 26, 2002
BETHLEHEM: Which Infrastructure is being destroyed?
By Kathleen Namphy and Bob Gross
On April 22 and 23, during brief breaks in the curfew, CPT delegation and
team members conducted patrols through the market area of Bethlehem. On
the 22nd, Samir Abdeh called urgently to the delegation to see the damage
done to his house night before in a second attack by Israeli Defense Forces.
CPT team member Rick Polhamus recognized Abdeh, whose story international
news media had given wide coverage, as the man whose mother and brother were
killed by soldiers in the
April 2 Israeli invasion of Bethlehem.
Abdeh told the team that the night his mother and
brother were shot by soldiers breaking into his home, a neighbor had called
to the soldiers, telling them, "There are women and children in that room!"
The soldiers replied, "No, there are terrorists in there."
Abdeh showed the delegation through his home, including the room on the
ground floor where the two members of his family were slain. On the upper
floors of the house, the delegation witnessed the newly vandalized
furniture, doors, walls, light fixtures and other furnishings and
housewares. His computer was smashed and the drives and disks were stolen,
along with other electronic items.
On the 23rd, the delegation was approached by Dr. Jamal Salsa. Salsa showed
delegation members the remains of his medical clinic, which had been
attacked on April 19. The pattern of destruction was much the same: the
steel door was
opened with an explosive charge and automatic weapons fire, the interior was
thoroughly ransacked, furnishings and equipment trashed, and interior walls
riddled with bullet holes. Soldiers had stolen the computer and destroyed
the monitor. Left intact above Salsa's ruined medical instruments was a wall
hanging embroidered with the words, "God Bless Our Home."
These two incidents exemplify what many Palestinians have experienced in
this invasion of the West Bank. Israel says it is trying to destroy the
"terrorist infrastructure." Palestinians believe the Israelis are trying to
demolish the human and technological infrastructure necessary for a viable
state.
The CPT team now in Bethlehem includes Hebron Team members Anne Montgomery
and Rick Polhamus, along with Emergency Delegation members Kathleen Namphy,
Ken Sehested, Harriet Taylor, and Bob Gross.
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