AUGUST 2004

By zvi bar'el

We did it. The Arabs in Israel got the State Cup in soccer. That's coexistence, man. Never, but never, again will they be able to claim discrimination. Just let them dare not sing the national anthem when they win in Europe. And let's hope they win, too. Not because they'll be better players but so that we can see them standing at attention and singing "Hatikva." Now they're ours, as though they're Jews and not just Israelis, not to mention Israeli Arabs. They won, so let them behave like Jews who beat the goyim.
How many symbols have been attached to the victory, which took place two days after the anniversary of the Nakba and on the day that other Israelis were leveling Rafah. What rhetoric-heavy hope was riding on those two hours of soccer. Sports papered over the dispute, soccer closed social gaps, from now on the Arabs are loyal citizens of the state. No more Shin Bet interrogations or arrests, building permits by the handful, new computers in every classroom, every unrecognized Arab village will now be treated like a settlement. There'll even be a stadium in Sakhnin. It's the country of all its citizens come true.
But if you'll allow us, dear Arabs, to address just two more minor subjects. Don't get angry if we don't come to Sakhnin to celebrate our victory, because for the past three and a half years we haven't approached an Arab village. We don't eat in your restaurants and we don't want to hear from you. It's nothing personal, just a habit.
And the second thing, really, don't be offended if when you get to the airport to leave for Europe, you discover that the guys there didn't hear about your victory and don't remember that the country's president presented you with the cup. Don't start again with that whole routine of your being Israelis like all the others and that they should stop checking your sports bags and your soccer shoes as though you're enemies.
You know that's not really what we think about you. Hey, you saw how we applauded your win. It's only a matter of security, you know how it is. The country is surrounded by enemies. Arabs.
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St. George's soccer team. One of its proudest feats was to beat the American University of Beirut's team on the latter's home ground in 1909.


A soccer match in the Palestinian quarter of Bab Al-Zahirah (Herod's Gate), outside the Old City walls to the northeast - perhaps the earliest photograph of a sports event in Jerusalem.

Palestinian Flag To Flutter In Athens Olympics

By Samer Khuwayera, IOL Correspondent

GAZA CITY, July 12 (IslamOnline.net) – As the countdown of the Athens Olympics starts, Palestinian athletes are ready to compete in the prestigious event, wishing to do the lap of honor and make their flag fluttering high.

Four athletes will represent Palestine in the Summer Games due to kick off on August 13, including 800-meter runners Sana Abu Bekhet, Abdul Salam Al-Dibji and butterfly swimmer Raad Hussein Ewisat.

And in a great show of solidarity, a former Greek Olympian, 47-year-old female javelin thrower Sofia Sakorafa, will also compete under the Palestinian flag.

Head of the Palestinian Olympic Committee Ahmad Al-Qidwa said the Palestinian delegation to the Olympics is a source of pride to all Palestinians.

"Palestine is present in all international events despite all obstacles and challenges," Qidwa told IslamOnline.net Sunday, July 11.

‘Palestinian Ambassador’

Bekhet, 19, takes all kinds of pains everyday to train herself to be up to the cut-throat competition under deplorable conditions imposed by the Israeli occupation.

"I want to be an ambassador to my country and tell the entire world that Palestine does exist despite all sufferings," jubilant Behket told IOL.

Though her winning chance is almost slim due to poor training, she pledged to try her best in the events.

"I adapt to all hardships around and do it all by myself in the absence of proper sports infrastructure," she said.

"I’m, for instance, training in a nearby rocky field in the Gaza Strip and running across the beach," enthusiastic Bekhet added.

Her colleague Ewisat, 17, is only four seconds off the Olympic time.

"Countries spend millions to make an Olympic champion, but our staunch will is our sharpest weapon," said Ewisat, who trains in a makeshift swimming pool in Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem).

The International Olympic Committee first recognized the Palestinian Olympic Committee in 1934. But after the Israeli occupation in 1948 and the declaration of the state of Israel, its name was changed to the Israeli Olympic Committee.

It was re-recognized in 1993 after the signing of an interim Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement known as the Oslo Accord.

A Palestinian team competed in the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics in 1996 and 2000 respectively, but secured no medals.

But disc-throwing champion Hossam Azzam was awarded a bronze medal in the Sydney Special Olympics.On June 26, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat carried the Olympic flame to Kalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Al-Quds.

He even said he was committed to an "Olympic truce" during the international games.

The Olympic flame returned to Greece on July 9 after an international tour on all five continents, through 26 countries and 34 cities.

It will now continue its travels in Greece until it arrives at the Athens Olympics Stadium on the evening of August 13.

According to Ha'aretz"Six Armed Palestinians Killed in Tulkarem" Last Night ?
Biased and inaccurate reporting by Ha'aretz and the Israel military sources


Ha'aretz Daily on-line Sunday evening: "Six armed Palestinians were killed by Border Police undercover troops in the West Bank town of Tul Karm on Sunday... Military sources said the six were members of Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and were on their way to carry out a terror attack. A gunbattle ensued in which six of the militants were killed, including two local leaders of the group." (See the rest of the Ha'aretz article pasted below)

This Ha'aretz description bears little resemblance to what happened on the ground. Six Palestinians were assassinated 100 meters from the ISM apartment where three ISM volunteers were staying at the time. Only two of the six Palestinians assassinated were members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. According to reliable sources in Tulkarem, the other four were simply innocent bystanders.

The Ha'aretz account, which relies on Israeli military sources, distorts reality by portraying all the victims as members of the armed resistance, by suggesting that Palestinians opened fire and were about to carry out a "terror attack", by failing to note the killing of four Palestinian civilians and the wounding of at least
three others and the denial of access for Palestinian medical personnel.

This account in Ha'aretz, probably the most reputable Israeli newspaper, presents an inaccurate description to Israelis and to the world of one Israeli military operations in the Occupied Territories and of how Palestinians experience Israeli military occupation. The Ha'aretz account is complicit in covering up brutal Israeli military killings of four innocent Palestinian civilians. The hundreds of stories of this type that are printed every year, where every Palestinian killed is a "militant" on his way to carry out a "terror attack", portray an entirely different reality from what occurs on the ground daily. This type of one-sided reporting dehumanizes Palestinians and covers up Israeli military crimes rather than increasing readers' knowledge and understanding.


1. "Six members of Al Aqsa Brigades" ?: Of the six who were assassinated, only two were members of Al Aqsa Brigades. Hani Awaida (27 years old) and Mahdi Tambouz (25) were well-known leaders of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in Tulkarem who the Israeli military had tried to kill or capture many times. For example, about three weeks ago ISM volunteers visited a barber shop shortly after six Palestinians were arrested (including two barbers) by Israeli soldiers only minutes after Mahdi had left the shop. All said that the soldiers were looking for Mahdi that day.

Sayed Abu Qumra (24 years old) and Ahmed Barouq (26), both killed, were both civilians who happened to be in the area visiting friends. They had no relationship to armed resistance.

Abderrahim Hassan Shadid (34) was also killed. He was an agent in the Palestinian security services who may have been walking through the area to go to a nearby police station. He was reportedly on his cellphone with colleagues telling them that something was happening when the line went dead.

18 year old Mohammed Shanti was our next door neighbor. He had just succeeded in passing his high school graduation exam a few weeks ago. Mohammed had no relationship with the Palestinian resistance.


2. "A gunbattle ensued" ?: From 100 meters away ISMers heard all the shooting. There was one long burst of shooting, a short burst, and then minutes later another medium length burst. The sound of all the gunshots was the same. They were all fired from the same type of weapon, all Israeli weapons. There was no sound of shooting from Palestinian weapons. Witnesses confirmed that there was no Palestinian shooting, saying that the six were shot suddenly and at
close range by Israeli special forces in a Palestinian-plated car before any of them could react.


3. "Six armed Palestinians" ? Two of the six may have been armed. Though witnesses saw no evidence of weapons, Palestinian sources suggests that it is possible that Mahdi and Hani were armed at the time, as they frequently were armed. If they had any weapons, the Israeli army must have taken them as there were no weapons near the bodies when soldiers withdrew.

Security agent Abderrahim Shadid was unarmed, as were the other three civilians who were killed.


4. "On their way to carry out a terror attack" ? Awaida and Tambouz were standing by the side of the street eating when they were assassinated. The Israeli army has tried multiple times over the last months to kill Awaida and Tambouz, who are members of the Palestinian armed resistance. There is no reason to believe that at the moment they were killed they were about to carry out an attack. This just happened to be the moment when soldiers were, once again, tipped off by a collaborator as to their whereabouts.


Crucial Points Ommitted from the Ha'aretz Article

In addition to failing to note that four of the six Palestinians assassinated were innocent civilians, Ha'aretz did not report on these points:

5. Israeli soldiers deny access for Palestinians medical personnel: The Israeli military prevented Palestinian medical personnel from reaching the area and treating the men who were shot for at least 20 - 30 minutes. For at least 15 of those minutes three ISMers wearing florescent orange vests were standing in view of an Israel soldier and about 70 meters from and in view of the body of 18 year old Mohammed Shanti, who was dying in the street. The ISMers shouted that he needed medical care. In response at one point an Israeli soldier aimed his laser rifle sight at the chest of an ISMer.


6. Three other civilians wounded by Israeli gunfire: In addition to the four civilians who were killed, at least three other civilians were wounded by the random Israeli gunfire. Ten year old Mohsen Na'im was shot in the leg. 60 year old Khalil Zeidan was shot in the back while sitting on the street, and 19 year old Hashim Jarrad was shot in the wrist while attempting to seek cover inside
his uncle's barber shop.


I don't think we will have the heart to tell our neighbors that
Ha'aretz reported to the world that their assassinated eighteen year
old son, Mohammed, who just graduated from high school and happened
to be in the wrong place at the wrong time was a dangerous terrorist.


For More Information from Tulkarem contact:palsolidarity@yahoogroups.com

Ha'aretz Daily
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/455715.html
Troops kill 6 militants; ...... By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, News Agencies and Haaretz
Service

Six armed Palestinians were killed by Border Police undercover troops in the West Bank town of Tul Karm on Sunday.

Military sources said the six were members of Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, and were on their way to carry out a terror attack.

Witnesses said troops raided the town after dark and ambushed a group of eight militants. A gunbattle ensued in which six of the militants were killed, including two local leaders of the group. The other two gunmen fled, the sources said.

Fatah leaders produced a statement Sunday night in Tul Karm promising they will react quickly and painfully to the killing of members of their faction. The statement alluded to a strike "deep in Israeli territory."