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Supplement #5Go And See the Truth For Yourself, I Did From a British medical journal October 7, 2007 I have been following the debate in these columns with a mixture of interest and incredulity. I wonder how many of those who accuse Tom Hickey and Derek Summerfield of 'anti-Israel bias' and 'anti-Semitism' have actually visited the West Bank or Gaza to see the facts for themselves. I had the good fortune to visit Israel and the West Bank for two weeks in August. What I saw there changed my life forever. We spent a lot of time at checkpoints in the West Bank. Unfortunately, the word 'checkpoint' sounds so benign that it hardly conveys the horror of the place. Have you seen a cattle shed crammed full of animals? With only one gate to get out, guarded by a farmer with a stick? Well, just replace him with an Israeli soldier with a rifle- and the animals with Palestinians- and you're not far. At Huwwara checkpoint near Nablus, we saw a queue extending for half a kilometre out of the cramped shed and into the merciless sun. One by one, the Palestinians were called forward and their documents inspected. Some got through, others were turned back. Depending on the mood of the soldier. The explanation given for the checkpoints- 'security'- is a lie, as the barriers mostly stand between Palestinian cities and towns, not between Palestine and Israel. Israel, through its system of 700 checkpoints, roadblocks and earth mounds in the West Bank strangles the Palestinians' freedom of movement. 68 women have been forced to give birth at checkpoints since the year 2000 (http://www.ifamericansknew.org)./Half of the babies involved have died, as have 4 of the women. Many of the babies born have suffered irreversible brain damage. Imagine being the helpless husband or son of a woman forced to endure the pain of labour on the baking earth at a checkpoint- with an armed soldier looking on- and you will begin to understand how suicide bombers are born. 18000 houses have been demolished by Israel since 1967, often over the heads of their inhabitants (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions- http://www.icahd.org)./The reason given again? The big lie- security. The truth is that even if a Palestinian owns a piece of land, to build or extend an existing dwelling on it, he must put in an application costing $20000. This is almost uniformly rejected, and as his family grows, he is forced to build illegally. Then in come the bulldozers. The Palestinian then has to clear the rubble themselves and pay the Israeli government for the cost of demolishing his house. There have been several references in these columns to the attempted terrorist attacks by Muslim doctors in Britain. Such people would do well to remember that the first 'doctor terrorist' was Jewish- Baruch Goldstein, who gunned down 29 Palestinians at prayer in the city of Hebron in 1994, injuring 150 others. A shrine to Goldstein has been erected in the fanatical settlement of Kiryat Arba- a plaque there reads: "To the holy Baruch Goldstein, who gave his life for the Jewish people, the Torah and the nation of Israel". It has become a pilgrimage site for those with extreme right-wing views. In the old city of Hebron, 400 fanatical settlers- protected by Israeli Defence Force soldiers- hold 30000 Palestinians to ransom. They stone and kick the inhabitants, while the Israeli army forbids Palestinians to drive- in some areas, even to walk- on the streets. I saw for myself the concrete blocks, rubbish and human excrement thrown down onto passing Palestinians by the illegal settlers occupying the flats above Arab shops. The racist graffiti is shocking: - 'Arabs to the gas chambers!' - 'Watch out Fatima, we will rape all Arabs!' - 'Mohammed is a pig'. Below this is a drawing of a pig reading the Quran. - 'If you Arabs had just used a f***ing condom, then none of this would have happened!' (If anybody finds this unbelievable, give me your email address and I shall be all too happy to send you photographic evidence.) || - page index - || - chapter index - || - Exit - ||
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