Harrison Healy, Nablus
Over several days beginning on February 19, the Israeli army conducted a series of incursions in the Balata refugee camp, claiming it was trying to track down 16 Palestinian resistance fighters.
According to camp residents, the Palestinians sought by the army had not been involved in attacks beyond the Green Line (which marks the border with internationally recognised Israeli territory), nor had they attacked Israeli settlements or checkpoints. They were primarily defensive fighters who fought back against the Israeli army in Nablus.
The Balata refugee camp is on the outskirts of Nablus with a population of about 30,000 people crammed into two square kilometres. Many are refugees from the 1948 Al Nakba (meaning "catastrophe" in Arabic, describing Israel's establishment and the loss of the Palestinian people's homeland), and others displaced from the 1967 war.
Unlike the temporary refugee camps made up of tents that can often be seen on television, displacement has become permanent for the Balata refugees and a whole impoverished town has been set up. According to the Palestine Monitor, one-fifth of all casualties since the second intifada (uprising) originate from this place, and it isn't hard to see why.
The first invasion of Balata started on February 19 and lasted until February 21. The second day-long invasion occurred on February 23 and there were subsequent incursions in neighbouring parts of Nablus.
Five people were killed, including two 17-year-old friends, Mohammed Ahmad Natur and Ibrahim Ahmad Sheikh Issa, who were shot by snipers from an occupied house across the street. One of the young men's brothers was also shot in the leg. The army claimed that the pair were constructing a bomb, yet it was well-known that the house across the road was occupied by soldiers, casting serious doubt on whether the men would have engaged in bomb-making in plain sight of the military. The army's claims also don't explain why the bomb squad wasn't called and the men's access to hospital was delayed.
Natur and Sheikh Issa weren't the only civilians indiscriminately attacked. Twenty-one people were wounded with live ammunition during the incursion, including a 22-year-old man who was shot in a major artery while watching televison in his home. Another 37 people were injured by plastic-coated steel bullets (commonly refered to as "rubber bullets"), 28 people were beaten and 14 suffered serious bruising or fractures caused by collisions with Israeli Hummers.
As the soldiers were pulling out after the first incursion, they shot a Palestinian kid in the head. During the second invasion, a Dutch woman received bullet wounds and a US volunteer was injured by explosive shrapnel. Jirar Candola, an ambulance driver with the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, and Ihab Mansour, a medical volunteer, were both shot.
Here, collective punishment is the norm. During the incursion, houses where resistance fighters had been hiding were bulldozed following their arrests. The Kitawi family, whose son was one of the wanted men, had their house raided, electrical appliances destroyed, clothes and food thrown everywhere and money stolen.
The Israeli army instructed people not to leave their homes. The shops were closed but people roamed the streets in open defiance of the curfew. Many people didn't feel safe so they stayed at home, peering out of their windows. To prevent anyone from leaving, the army placed large slabs of concrete in front of all the camp's side entrances. The Israeli army frequently occupies houses in Balata. They hold the families hostage to prevent attacks by fighters. During the invasion there were five houses occupied by the Israeli army, and military jeeps drove up and down the streets. This is despite Nablus and Balata being in "Area A", which, according to the 1993 Oslo agreement, is supposed to be under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
This was the first incursion into Balata for a year and a half, but residents expect the army to re-enter the camp soon. The powerlessness forced upon Palestinians during an event like this means they feel they have nothing to lose. If the army can shoot people who are watching television, destroy families' houses, kill children, delay ambulances, shoot medics and trap people at home, then many are prepared to do anything to resist.
[Harrison Healy is a member of the Australian socialist youth organisation Resistance and is currently working with the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine. Visit his blog at <http://www.palestinepal.blogspot.com>.]
From Green Left Weekly, March 8, 2006.
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