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ISRAELI ARMY CARRIES OUT COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT IN JENIN FOR ITS OWN MISTAKEFriday 12 Jul 2002
author: Huwaida Arraf
summary
12.7.05.
A report by Huwaida Arraf at the INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
[JENIN] Israeli Army forces have stormed into Jenin this morning in a raid of house-to-house searches and arrests and indiscriminate shooting in the city. The Army is claiming this is in response to Thursday's "unrest" in Jenin. However, according to international civilian eyewitnesses in Jenin and a Reuters cameraman, it was the Army's own actions that created all problems in the city. As reported yesterday, an Israeli armored personnel carrier (APC) intentionally drove into an electricity pole, knocking it down and subsequently causing the live wires to land atop the APC. Soldiers in accompanying tanks and jeeps then opened fire on crowds in Jenin, which were out stocking up on food during the lifting of curfew. Now, the Israeli Army is "retaliating" for its own blunder, by imposing a 24-hour curfew and threatening to "shoot to kill" anyone who steps outside. Seven civilian homes have been occupied in the city and four homes have been blown up by the Israeli military.
Israeli soldiers have been going house-to-house detaining all men between the ages of 15-50, forcing them into a backyard of a mosque. Among those detained is Canadian citizen Mohammed Loubani, who came from New Brunswick, Canada as part of the International Solidarity Movement to work with Palestinians this summer.
In another development, Emad Abd Al-Aziz, the freelance journalist who was shot at a distance of 8-10 feet by an 800 mm round from a tank-mounted gun, died earlier this morning from his wound.
Internationals are in Jenin and monitoring the situation.
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