| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"ArKLyte_" |
| Date: |
06 May 2004 04:35:42 AM |
| Object: |
Not in Allah's name - Worth reading ... |
Not in Allah's name
by John Huang
The images were spine-chilling, horrific. The gruesome scenes of
prisoner abuse and humiliation were beyond the pale. Detainees,
handcuffed to cell doors, were left naked in chilly lockups in
isolation for long stretches at a time. Former inmates say molestation
and other sadistic misdeeds, far from aberrations, were routine at
notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
The news sent shock-waves across the world. Pardon me? It didn't send
shock-waves? Not even a teensy-weensy itty-bitty shock-wave? Not even
at CNN? Oh wait -- you're right. No shockwaves -- that was Abu Ghraib
under Saddam and his henchmen pre-invasion.
But now with the Yanks in charge, news of abuse of Saddam's henchmen
did send shock-waves across CNN. Sure these inmates may have tortured
and maimed thousands, sure they're rapists and thugs, but it's not
like they're guilty of working for Halliburton.
Outrage and shock was not limited to CNN either. The Arab Street,
still celebrating the 9/11 attacks, suspended celebrations long enough
to express outrage -- outrage that these abuses were not inflicted in
the name of Allah. The problem isn't abuse of prisoners per se, but
that torturers and terrorists were being "tortured" and "terrorized"
by Infidels and Crusaders, and not Islamists. These abuses violate the
sanctity of Islamic abuses. And give torture a bad name, say
torturers.
Instead of Saddam's state-of-the-art testicle-crushers and dismemberment
gear, readily at their disposal at Abu Ghraib, the prison guards opted
for fraternity rituals. (Prisoners were handcuffed, kept in isolation cells
naked, and prevented from making phone calls to Mark Geragos).
Arab newspapers, which accuse the Great Satan of wanting to mutilate
every Arab on the planet, expressed shock that the Great Satan had not
treated Saddam's Arab henchmen humanely, as Arab newspapers had
expected. It's one thing to gas and rape Kurdish women and children by
the thousands, but humiliate the gassers and rapists? (CNN has
provided few details on the gassing and raping of Kurds under Saddam).
Arab intellectuals say the fact that Coalition soldiers took
prisoners, rather than burn and hang their remains from a bridge in
Fallujah, shows just how brutal Coalition soldiers can be. (No word
yet on whether senior terrorist officials will probe the murder and
mutilation of four U.S. contractors). Commentators at Al-Jazeera call
the prison photos nothing more than humiliation of Arabs by occupiers
who win only by brute force. Commentators at Al-Jazeera also call the
U.S. "retreat" at Fallujah nothing more than humiliation for occupiers
who don't have the stomach to use brute force -- just like Osama told
us!
U.S. Democrats, who claim servicemen had "personally raped, cut off
ears" and mutilated every civilian in Vietnam (see Kerry), expressed
shock that servicemen at Abu Ghraib had not treated inmates humanely,
as they had expected. (It's not like these inmates were Branch
Davidians or anything like that). Democrats decried the abuses as on a
scale unique in human history. Democrats also asserted the abuses were
not unique but widespread in the military. (There are no reports that
guards had personally raped, cut off ears or mutilated any prisoner.
Which means these guards won't be running for the Democrat
presidential nomination or for Senate in Massachusetts). Newspaper
editorials said sexual abuse and humiliation is not the way we do
things in America. Michael Jackson begged to differ.
Ominously, the prison controversy dangerously threatens U.S. efforts
to contain growing anti-U.S. fervor among . . . U.S. Democrats.
Even groups which don't normally get distracted by human rights were
outraged. Like human rights groups. Amnesty International has called
for an "independent and public inquiry" headed up by Janet Reno.
Photos of U.S. soldiers abusing prisoners loyal to Saddam appeared on
the front page of Iraqi newspapers everywhere, raising fear among
experts of a national uprising -- a push to bring back Saddam and the
good 'ol days of acid baths, ax-beatings, amputations, cannibalism,
rape and electric shock. Reaction to the photos on the Iraqi street
has been so intense, that nothing happened. There were warnings that
nothing would continue to happen. In fact, angry street demonstrations
are a total No-Show -- just like Teresa's tax returns.
(Attention residents of Palm Beach County: None of this is to excuse
what these soldiers at Abu Ghraib have done. Their conduct was clearly
wrong and taints unfairly the 99.99% of decent uniformed men and women
who follow the rules and who are now in greater danger. Justice will
-- and is -- being meted out against the perpetrators. That's what
separates us from the bad guys. In the stinking rat-hole Saddam ran
for 25 years, the perps at Abu Ghraib would be rewarded. That said,
the hypocrisy oozing from U.S. media and Arab capitals is so thick,
it reminds me of Kerry's hair).
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1130490/posts
--
"War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it."
- General William Tecumseh Sherman
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| User: "neptune3" |
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| Title: Re: Not in Allah's name - Worth reading ... |
06 May 2004 09:33:22 PM |
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On Thu, 06 May 2004 09:35:42 GMT, ArKLyte_ <ArkLyte_@Now.Net> wrote:
Not in Allah's name
by John Huang
The images were spine-chilling, horrific. The gruesome scenes of
prisoner abuse and humiliation were beyond the pale. Detainees,
"Having read most of the posts under the recent heading ' Are they
talking torture' I am amazed at the apparent naivety of most of those
posting.- Israel has been using all kinds of torturing methods for
decades, knowingly backed by the USA.
Within the last year there was an excellent program on Channel 4
England which looked in to the methods used in one infamous camp
called Khiam -- a snip below
(Palestinians arrested and 'interrogated' have been and are tortured
in one form or another. Although a place of such ghastly atrocities
that the Israeli government tried to deny it for many years, the
Khiam Detention and Interrogation Centre it maintained in Lebanon
from 1985-1999 during its occupation there is one of the most well
known (3, 4).) Unsnip.
The channel four programme was not easy to watch - from the many
methods described graphically, was that of the wives and children
being
tortured to make the prisoner confess, the TV team were at the now
closed camp - very atmospheric.
One search with Google, showing tens of thousands of different sites
will prove to him and anyone else that those in power must know.
A bit from one site =
Israel Shahak, head of the Israeli League for Human Rights, says:
"Slapping the face, beating the head against the wall, and beating
all parts of the body are common methods."
Victims are usually beaten by stick, boots, and gun butt all over the
body - on the head, limbs, stomach, genitals, accompanied by threats
of detaining or raping family members, or making them lose their
jobs.
But for Rhateb several other methods were used - he was wired up to
electrodes and bolts of high voltage current coursed agonizingly
through
his body. Later, he was hanged from the ceiling by one arm for hours.
After a few days, a man brought a water jug and told Rhateb that he
could drink as much as he wanted. However, acid was diluted in the
water and this caused him intense pain and severe burns.
The deprivation of basic necessities should also be considered as a
part of this torture; food and medical care are not provided and
sleeping is forbidden. Due to such methods, more than 500
Palestinian prisoners have died. More lucky ones suffer diseases
while others are maimed and physically disabled.
Last week, Amnesty International's annual report revealed that
Israeli forces arrested 1,200 Palestinians in 1997 for "security
reasons." Meanwhile, Israel also issued more than 1,900
administrative detention orders and detained 354 Palestinians at the
end of year.
Bear in mind, many of these people are not guilty of any crimes.
But just living on the wrong side in Palestine.
When doing a search just use the words ' Israel and torture', any way
round, you can also use 'camps'
John.
But isn't israel a "democracy"?"
John Bates
www.spearhead-uk.com http://www.natvan.com
http://www.altermedia.info/ www.nsm88.com
http://www.nationalism.org/rnsp/display_ENG.htm
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| User: "E.E.Bud Keith" |
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| Title: Re: Not in Allah's name - Worth reading ... |
06 May 2004 11:44:19 PM |
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"neptune3" <nptn3@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:iatl905g4rk0u8c88bj40ljccfaf0m51i0@4ax.com...
On Thu, 06 May 2004 09:35:42 GMT, ArKLyte_ <ArkLyte_@Now.Net> wrote:
Not in Allah's name
by John Huang
The images were spine-chilling, horrific. The gruesome scenes of
prisoner abuse and humiliation were beyond the pale. Detainees,
"Having read most of the posts under the recent heading ' Are they
talking torture' I am amazed at the apparent naivety of most of those
posting.- Israel has been using all kinds of torturing methods for
decades, knowingly backed by the USA.
Within the last year there was an excellent program on Channel 4
England which looked in to the methods used in one infamous camp
called Khiam -- a snip below
(Palestinians arrested and 'interrogated' have been and are tortured
in one form or another. Although a place of such ghastly atrocities
that the Israeli government tried to deny it for many years, the
Khiam Detention and Interrogation Centre it maintained in Lebanon
from 1985-1999 during its occupation there is one of the most well
known (3, 4).) Unsnip.
The channel four programme was not easy to watch - from the many
methods described graphically, was that of the wives and children
being
tortured to make the prisoner confess, the TV team were at the now
closed camp - very atmospheric.
One search with Google, showing tens of thousands of different sites
will prove to him and anyone else that those in power must know.
A bit from one site =
Israel Shahak, head of the Israeli League for Human Rights, says:
"Slapping the face, beating the head against the wall, and beating
all parts of the body are common methods."
Victims are usually beaten by stick, boots, and gun butt all over the
body - on the head, limbs, stomach, genitals, accompanied by threats
of detaining or raping family members, or making them lose their
jobs.
But for Rhateb several other methods were used - he was wired up to
electrodes and bolts of high voltage current coursed agonizingly
through
his body. Later, he was hanged from the ceiling by one arm for hours.
After a few days, a man brought a water jug and told Rhateb that he
could drink as much as he wanted. However, acid was diluted in the
water and this caused him intense pain and severe burns.
The deprivation of basic necessities should also be considered as a
part of this torture; food and medical care are not provided and
sleeping is forbidden. Due to such methods, more than 500
Palestinian prisoners have died. More lucky ones suffer diseases
while others are maimed and physically disabled.
Last week, Amnesty International's annual report revealed that
Israeli forces arrested 1,200 Palestinians in 1997 for "security
reasons." Meanwhile, Israel also issued more than 1,900
administrative detention orders and detained 354 Palestinians at the
end of year.
Bear in mind, many of these people are not guilty of any crimes.
But just living on the wrong side in Palestine.
When doing a search just use the words ' Israel and torture', any way
round, you can also use 'camps'
John.
But isn't israel a "democracy"?"
John Bates
In your little mind it is however perfectly acceptable for Arabs to blow up
children or have their own children blow themselves up just to kill jews.
There is more then enough blame to go around in the handling of prisoners,
and it has been that way since the begining of time.
But all you left wing socialist/democratic assholes can see is those that
were commited by Isreal and by extension
your own contry. Try for a change to point out the egregious activities of
the enemies of your country, but it sure looks like you are the real enemy.
www.spearhead-uk.com http://www.natvan.com
http://www.altermedia.info/ www.nsm88.com
http://www.nationalism.org/rnsp/display_ENG.htm
.
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| User: "neptune3" |
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| Title: Re: Re: Not in Allah's name - Worth reading ... |
07 May 2004 07:00:33 PM |
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On Thu, 6 May 2004 23:44:19 -0500, "E.E.Bud Keith"
<budk101@comcast.net> wrote:
In your little mind it is however perfectly acceptable for Arabs to blow up
children or have their own children blow themselves up just to kill jews.
There is more then enough blame to go around in the handling of prisoners,
and it has been that way since the begining of time.
But all you left wing socialist/democratic assholes can see is those that
I plead not guilty to the left wing part. And I am certainly not a
democrat ( or an *****).
were commited by Isreal and by extension
Charles E. Carlson
Israeli official sources claim that suicide bombers from Palestine
have killed 248 Israeli under the age of 18 years since the Intifada
began in 1987. Human rights groups say 2931 Palestinians have been
shot or bombed to death, including 541 children, in just the last
four years. Men in uniform deliberately fractured the arm of a 10-
year old boy named Kamal, and the life was crushed out of an American
girl named Rachael under a Caterpillar bulldozer. "SUICIDE BOMBERS"
ARE BLAMED, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FOR NEARLY EVERY DEATH IN ISRAEL.
This writer has consistently argued that it is far more accurate to
lay the responsibility for deaths on both sides on the doorstep
of "Christian-Zionist" leaders of American churches and "celebrity
media Christians" who, we find, are more bloody handed than a handful
of young adults with crude homemade bombs. Were it not for these
failed religious men of peace there would be no suicide bombers,
there would have been no Day 911, Iraq would not have been destroyed
and 600 dead American military would still be alive, as would
countless Iraqis who been killed. See ENDING OUR PLAGUE:
( http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?articles/EndPl.htm )
Without Christian-Zionist influence there would be an uneasy peace
between the Muslims and secular Jews who were forced long ago to
share Palestine, and the Christian-Zionist followers who enable war
are proud of what they have done. They are the crucifiers of the
Palestinian people. To see why, we must examine the issues-suicide
bombers, torture and assassinations-in context.
AN EXCUSE FOR MURDER
Israel needs an excuse for its public assassinations policy, which it
claims has killed 327 Palestinians. It is not acceptable before the
eyes of other world leaders to execute a crippled and aged religious
leader, even if he is politically active. Other politicians cannot
help but wonder if one of them might be next. World revulsion is
rising. The excuse offered is that Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, 66, founder
and political leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), was
involved in the "suicide bombings." (http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?
rpr/Yassin.htm)
Israel must also have an excuse to build a thirty-foot concrete wall
around three million people. It is not enough to call it a "fence."
Again, the excuse is the "suicide bombers."
Israel's policy of torturing detainees could not exist without an
excuse. Israel's excuse for each and every brutal act is always the
same. But do the acts of the human bombs validate assassination and
torture? The statistics and logic say no.
OBSERVATIONS IN GAZA
I will refer to the Gaza Strip because I have contacts there and
first-hand observations to rely on, having personally witnessed a
missile attack against civilians and interviewed persons and agencies
that specialize in the impact of mass terror on an imprisoned
society. In Gaza I studied the motivation behind the suicide bombing.
Are the acts of the human bombers a valid reason for the murder of
Sheikh Yassin and those who were with him at prayer on a Friday
dawn? Statistical reports from American and Israeli media and
testimony from mental heath agencies in Gaza City say they are not.
Human bombs are a result, not a cause of Israel's ongoing aggressions.
THE TERM "SUICIDE BOMBER" IS ITSELF ORWELLIAN. There is nothing
suicidal about these humans who carry the bombs. It is doubtful that
a single bomber ever "committed suicide" in the sense of carrying out
a bombing for the deliberate purpose of killing himself or herself.
According to the Israeli government, most "suicide bombers" are
unsuccessful and never detonate a bomb. If the motive was to end
their lives, a Palestinian man or woman could hardly pick a less
certain way to do it. They face extreme physical challenges and a
terrible risk of being taken prisoner. There are easier ways to kill
oneself, such as drowning in the nearby Mediterranean or jumping off
a three-story building. The bomber's purpose is to end the lives of
others, which is also the purpose of every "smart bomb" fired by the
Israelis. The bomber's own life is a sacrifice. Suicide bombers are
soldiers without uniforms.
WHERE ARE THE BOMBERS WHO LIVED?
Based on the Israeli claims, the vast majority of human bombs are
killed, captured, or arrested in advance. It is reasonable to
wonder, based on Israel's human right record, if they die a terrible
and lonesome death, for as best I can tell, they are never heard from
again. One must ask, what becomes of them?
People in Gaza have told me the Israeli spy system is the best in the
world; anyone can be watched at any time. Israel no doubt does
discover most bombers before they get started, since the bombers are
operating from within a closely guarded prison. They must first make
a jailbreak in order to carry a bomb out of Gaza into Israel. Theirs
must be a most frightening mission, requiring determination and
extreme courage far beyond what I can even imagine.
The thought of being taken alive by the Israelis while in possession
of a bomb must be terrifying, given the knowledge that capture will
probably lead to a slow, agonizing death far worse than instant
incineration or decapitation. Israeli interrogators are capable of
inflicting suffering more painful than even Mel Gibson was able to
portray in his movie of Christ's death on the Cross. Based on
Israel's record, known to every Gaza child, the Israelis do things to
extract information that Gibson could not dare portray on the screen!
If most human bombers are caught, as Israelis claim, what becomes of
these prisoners? Why do we never hear about them again? I have yet
to hear of a trial of an "attempted suicide bomber." What is done to
the hundreds of young adults Israel says it intercepts? It is time
we found out.
It is also time we found out about the tens of thousands who have
been arrested and who remain in custody, sometimes for years without
charges, simply because they were suspected of something. Sheikh
Yassin lost an eye in a beating he sustained during interrogation
before his release from an Israeli prison in 1991. Israelis did not
spare a quadriplegics in a wheel chair.
Israel uses incidents it brings upon itself to justify its policies.
Thus, when a youth, a man or a woman bomber destroys a bus on which
dozens of Israeli soldiers are probably riding, Israel accelerates
its daily air raids against the civilian population of Gaza. It
never stops bombing, invading, molesting, assaulting, humiliating and
detaining. It only increases or decreases the pressure and the
viciousness of the attacks, all of which are characterized as
reprisals.
GREATLY EXAGGERATED
In the entire 17-year history of the uprising against the occupation,
generally referred to as the Intifada, there have only been about one
hundred human bombs exploded; Israeli government reports are somewhat
confusing as to exact numbers when it comes to the "suicide
bombers." Ariel Sharon reported in a speech during the 2003 Jenin
occupation that there had been 58. Our count is taken from Israeli
Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports. The Israeli Defense Force also
produces slightly conflicting reports in a monthly bar chart
listing "attempts" versus "successful suicide bombings." In February
2004 its charts show a total of 136 explosions from September 2000
through December 2003. Whichever number is correct, 58 or 136, it is
a small number indeed. We will use 100, because we have the name,
age, and rank of every person killed in those 100 reported bombings.
Each human bomb carries a very small charge of explosives--only the
amount one person, sometimes a woman, can carry. Incidents of mass
terror by Israelis using warplanes, tanks and helicopters are much
greater in number and limited in killing power only by how much US
taxpayers will finance. These attacks go on somewhere every night
and probably number in the thousands. The attack I witnessed was one
of three I could hear in the distance in a single week. Mercifully,
it stopped at 4:00 AM after 40 missiles were fired. I photographed
about 20 of them before my camcorder battery went dead.
Shootings and beatings at checkpoints and in homes, detainments and
harassment never end and do not even make print unless a foreign
reporter or photographer happens to be on hand. Palestinian hospital
records and records of humanitarian organizations indicate that as
many as 2000 of their children have been killed by Israeli since the
beginning of the First Intifada in October of 1987, and many more
have been wounded and maimed. It is children of this war who have
grown up to be the human bombers.
Torture of Palestinian prisoners
Torture in Israel is no secret; it is acknowledged at the highest
level of its government, the Supreme Court. Alexander Cockburn,
author of THE POLITICS OF ANTI-SEMITISM, states, "every government
tortures prisoner; Israel is the only one that admits it."
The barbaric practice of extracting confessions from "detainees" by
torture has always been used in Israel and was legitimatised in
Israel by the 1994 Landau Decision. Human rights groups have fought
against the use of torture for some 50 years, and it has been the
subject of many UN resolutions, including one that declared Israel to
be a "terrorist state."
For a few years Israel forbade the practice, probably to get
the "terrorist" sanction lifted, but the Landau decision legalizes
what has always been practiced. * The Landau Commission Report
(CAT/C/16/Add.4) permits "MODERATE PHYSICAL PRESSURE" as a lawful
mode of interrogation. See committee against Torture: Israel. 12/6/94
Any Israeli military or policeman may torture detainees as long as it
can be passed off as "moderate pressure." The problem is, nobody is
allowed to watch to see how "moderate" the torture really is.
Extreme pressure can be applied as long as no one is officially
watching and the pressure does not leave extreme and obvious marks on
the victim. Israel has developed torture methods that do not show
much, but some signs can be clearly seen anyway.
"Torture" is a terrifying word in the English language, too horrible
to contemplate. It is truly an instrument of terror. It is a word
we associate with the sadist Henry the 8th. It is the kind of
terrorism perfected in the Russia gulag by the Bolsheviks. Millions
have migrated to Israel. Alexander Solzhenitzyn's books on life in
the gulag have sections devoted to the interrogation methods used.
Israel has adopted the same methods.
Among the common forms of extreme torture used by Israelis is the
breaking of bones of boys caught throwing rocks. We reported one
such incident three years ago. A 10 year old boy named Kamal Ali
As'idah who lives with his parents and four sisters in Jerusalem was
caught throwing rocks on April 6, 2001 and was "detained" by Israeli
defense forces.
Young Kamal happened to be photographed by a Reuters photographer
while being dragged away by six soldiers much larger than him. So
frightened was the boy that his jeans were visibly soaked with his
own urine. Israelis contemptuously referred to Kamal as "the *****
child."
KAMAL IS ONE OF MANY
What is unique about Kamal's detention is that some Americans
actually went to the trouble to see what happened to Kamal in
detention. His father later told the Editor of Washington Report
that his son was released after eight hours, badly beaten to the head
and legs and with his throwing arm was broken. But this brutality
against the child was not the end of it. As retribution for his
son's act, Kamal's father was fired from his job with an Israeli tour
bus company when the employer learned of the incident.
See the stories of Kamal with vivid photos:
http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?articles/011123pw.htm and
http://www.whtt.org/whtt.shtml?articles/010725pw2.htm
Israelis beat and break the bones of 10 year olds all the time and
the media ignores it. Mid-eastern doctors have told me that men are
often raped with sharp instruments and beaten on every body part,
particularly the genitals. Electric shock leaves few outward marks.
Women prisoners are not excluded from torture.
Selective execution is another form of the systematic physiological
torture inflicted on the entire population of Gaza. Israel's
admitted assassinations of some 327 suspected persons all rely on the
same justification: "suicide bombings." But statistics reveal this
is a flimsy excuse. Physical and mental torture (terrorism) is an
everyday fact of life in Gaza. Civilians are bombed, burned,
incinerated and buried. Everyone knows victims, and reprisals
against families are and always have been standard fare in occupied
Palestine.
Bombing where least expected is a form of psychological torture that
implants fears in the minds of innocent civilians, especially the
children, who learn their parents cannot hide or protect them.
Bombings and the constant threat of bombings are forms of torture
inflicted on every Gazan mother, father and child. They live with the
knowledge that a bomb or tank shell could come through a wall any
time. Children in the camps are killed on their doorsteps by rubber-
coated zinc bullets shot by soldiers who will be held blameless
regardless of circumstances.
I did not feel "awe" at the enormous show of American firepower as I
watched hovering Apaches pounding away from over my rooftop; I felt
anger and frustration that there was no way to resist it. It did not
make me want to leave Gaza; it made me want to be a Palestinian,
maybe even a human bomb if there was no other way.
I began to resent the Israelis at the checkpoints and the American
government's ongoing gifts of guided bombs to be fired from Apaches
and F-16s supplied and paid for by American taxpayers. I resented
the night vision magic that allow the men in the Apaches to see me on
my rooftop without me being able to see them. I resented the
churches back home for their blind enabling of the genocide they
support and faun over but refuse to look at. There is no room for
disbelief in Gaza. When you are there you see the mass torture.
The effect on the people of Gaza was explained to me vividly by Dr.
Eyad R. El Sarraj, founder of the GAZA COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH
PROGRAMME. Dr. Sarraj told me of the epidemic of bedwetting that
plagues the families, who are living in amazingly tight quarters,
sometimes eight or more in a single room. As seen with Kamal, the
brave little rock thrower who the Israelis insulted after breaking
his arm, bedwetting comes from terror.
Dr. Sarraj also stated that his organization systematically tracks
down the families of "suicide bombers," whose homes are always
immediately destroyed. He stated that in every case, without
exception (this was in March 2002) every bomber had witnessed one or
more acts of abuse against his father by the Israelis, such as a
severe beating or a long period of imprisonment. What father's son
cannot understand such an emotion? It made me wanted to go out with
them and throw rocks.
According to a 1993 British Medical Journal study of 1500 Gaza
children, 90% had been tear-gassed, 52% had been beaten, 11.2% had
been detained, 97% had seen their homes raided, and 1.1% had seen
their homes destroyed.
In another study of 477 former "detainees" it was found that 29.14%
required psychiatric intervention, 24.72% had some form of organic
brain damage, and 41.9% had trouble adapting to family life. This
study went on to say, "70% of the children in the Gaza Strip had been
exposed to 4 or 5 traumatic experiences."
(Source: PALESTINE IN TRANSITION, GAZA COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMME)
TORTURE OF DETAINEES
"Detainee" is an Israeli euphemism for someone who is taken away
without arrest or charge, to be tortured and held indefinitely
without contact with the outside world. The detainee disappears just
as the Russians described by Solzhenitzyn disappeared into the "Black
Mariahs" (prison vans) of the gulag. The detainee is allowed no
lawyer or phone call. Some are never seen again, and of those who
are, most report they were questioned and systematically tortured
both mentally and physically.
By torture I do not mean the mild inconvenience and discomfort one
might encounter in any police station in America if you are
arrested. I once experienced painful overly tight handcuffs clamped
on me by a person who wanted it to hurt. It did. My arms may not
have been quite the same for a while, but this is not torture, as the
detainee experiences it. I was not terrorized because I knew the
surly cop would not kill me. I was never afraid, just
uncomfortable. Terror is the fear that comes from knowing you might
be killed and there is no one to protect you. That is what the Gazan
faces when he is detained.
Everyone in America knows that torture is illegal and he will only be
pressed to the point of discomfort. Not so in Israel where tight
handcuffs that cut off the blood and leave little scars and bruises
would be a picnic for a detainee. He faces unchecked deliberate
brutality called "moderate pressure." Israeli style torture has been
carried to the point of death in more than a few well-documented
cases, and permanent physical and mental impairment that cannot be
measured is a routine result of the Israeli policy of violent shaking
considered "moderate force." Abuse that can be detected, like
Kamal's broken arm, is just shrugged off as an accident resulting
from resistance. This is clearly seen in interviews with the Israeli
military in the award winning film, People and the Land (link)
Israel justifies all torture by blaming it on the "suicide bombers."
No matter what it does or how many people it maims and kills, its
acts are always laid at the feet of those few who go on impossible
raids to bomb Israeli targets with a few pounds of explosives by
walking into their very lair and exploding the bomb by hand. Israel
makes no other effort to justify reprisals, detention, assassination
or torture; it offers no explanation for why it executes entire
families because one member is "suspected."
If you debate an Israeli about the bulldozer driver who purposely
mashed an American college student named Rachel Corrie to a pulp,
your opponent will invariably respond that she was defending
suspected "suicide bombers" and deserved her punishment, as did the
homeowners of the house being bulldozed. If you ask about the
deliberate starvation of Gazan children by locking down the Gaza
Strip, just as the USSR locked down the gulags, the answer will be
that the "bombers" cause it.
The separation "wall" that is a functional replica of the Berlin Wall
is, we are told, in response to the "bombers." The raping of men
with sharp instruments while under interrogation, or the crushing of
reproductive organs with batons and boots are all needed because of
the "bombers." Never mind that there were no "suicide bombers" for
the first 39 years of the Israeli conflict and that torture was at it
worst in those early years because there was so little international
interest or concern.
Torture is carried on against mothers and dads by the constant din of
nighttime bombings and the hunger that threatens many. Every act of
brutality, be it the breaking of 10 year old Kamal's arm, the murder
of aged religious leader Sheik Yemeni, the assassination of human
rights protesters or photographers who photograph the wrong scenes,
the building of a wall that encroaches on and cuts up still more
Palestinian land and deprives Palestinians of still more water--all
are excused as responses to the acts of less than 100 young people
who knew they and their people had little or no future.
Israel is perhaps the only country in the world where torture is
legal, and it is not denied. What is denied is that the practice of
brutalizing prisoners is carried out far beyond the allowable limits,
as thousands have reported. Israel practices terrorism
against "detainees" as a method of deterrence. It breaks the arms of
children caught throwing rocks, imposes indecent humiliation and pain
to extract the names of family and friends, and shakes men almost to
death to destroy their brain cells, making some incapable of being an
enemy -all to deter them from standing up against Israel.
The people living in the cantons of Gaza and the West Bank have been
subjected to crucifixion for 54 years. It is documented and
undeniable. Compare this to the frail acts of 100 human bombers who
all died at the end of their mission.
WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS (www.whtt.org)
Strait Gate Ministries
P.O. Box 14491
Scottsdale, AZ 85267
480 947 3329 (cecarl@whtt.org)
To be added to our list, type "Subscribe" in the subject line.
your own contry. Try for a change to point out the egregious activities of
the enemies of your country, but it sure looks like you are the real enemy.
I don't have a country.
www.spearhead-uk.com http://www.natvan.com
http://www.altermedia.info/ www.nsm88.com
http://www.nationalism.org/rnsp/display_ENG.htm
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