Headlines
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 09, 2024
U.N.: Israel Carrying Out “Starvation Campaign” as the Entire Gaza Strip Remains in Urgent Need of Food
Sep 09, 2024
Israel’s war on Gaza has entered its 12th month as the official death toll nears 41,000 — though that is believed to be a vast undercount. Israel killed at least eight Palestinians Saturday in an airstrike on a school housing displaced people in the Jabaliya refugee camp. Meanwhile, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, has accused Israel of carrying out a “starvation campaign” in Gaza. The World Food Programme warns some 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza remain in urgent need of food and humanitarian aid.
Israeli Forces Kill American Activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi in Occupied West Bank
Sep 09, 2024
In the occupied West Bank, a funeral is being held today for Turkish American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot dead Friday by Israeli forces. She was a 26-year-old recent graduate of the University of Washington who was volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement. She was shot while taking part in a weekly protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita. The Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak witnessed the shooting.
Jonathan Pollak: “By the time this had happened, it was completely quiet here. We were standing for 10, 15 minutes without anything happening. The reason why no one was filming is because it was completely quiet. And then, all of a sudden, two shots. And the sniper or the soldier that was there took a kill shot.”
We will have more on this story after headlines.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops are also accused of fatally shooting a 13-year-old Palestinian girl named Bana Laboum. She was hit by a bullet while inside her own home in the village of Qaryut, which had been attacked by Israeli settlers. Bana’s mom spoke out after her daughter was killed.
Iman Lebwam: “She was in her room along with her sisters. She was afraid, in fear, and suddenly a bullet got in through the window and hit her while she was on her bed. This is what happened. There were scuffles outside with the youth, but we were surprised that a bullet came through the window and onto her.”
Israelis Take to Streets for Mass Protests Calling for Hostage Deal, Removal of Netanyahu
Sep 09, 2024
As many as 750,000 Israelis took to the streets Saturday in Tel Aviv and other cities calling for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal in what’s been described as one of the largest protests in Israeli history. This is Zahiro Shahar Mor, whose uncle Avraham Munder died in captivity in Gaza.
Zahiro Shahar Mor: “As long as Netanyahu remains in power, we will keep getting hostages back in body bags. Netanyahu must be removed from power in order to save the lives of the hostages and the country itself.”
Israel Temporarily Closes Border Crossings with Jordan After Shooting of 3 Israeli Security Guards
Sep 09, 2024
A Jordanian truck driver shot dead three Israeli security guards at a border crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan on Sunday. Israel responded by temporarily closing all border crossings with Jordan. Pedestrian traffic has resumed on the Allenby Bridge, the site of the shooting.
Separate Israeli Attacks Kill 3 Paramedics in Lebanon, 16 People in Syria
Sep 09, 2024
Three Lebanese paramedics were killed and two were injured Saturday in an Israeli attack on southern Lebanon. The Lebanese government said the paramedics were killed as they were responding to fire sparked by recent Israeli airstrikes.
In related news, Israel is accused of attacking Syria overnight, killing at least 16 people in Hama province. Another 36 people were wounded.
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Justice for Ayşenur Eygi: As Israel Kills Another American in West Bank, Will U.S. Demand Accountability?
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 09, 2024
A funeral is being held today in the occupied West Bank for Turkish American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, who was shot dead Friday by Israeli forces while taking part in a weekly protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita. The 26-year-old recent graduate of the University of Washington was a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement. Witnesses say she was fatally shot in the head by an Israeli sniper after the demonstration had already dispersed. The Turkish government has said it holds Israel responsible for Ayşenur’s death, while the U.S. government has offered condolences and called for Israel to investigate the incident. At least 17 Palestinian protesters have been killed in Beita in protests against illegal Israeli settlements since 2020.
Juliette Majid, a friend of Eygi at the University of Washington, remembers the slain activist as being “passionate about justice” and involved in various causes. “She’s no longer with us, but her spirit and her love and who she was and who she impacted in our community are still with us every day,” says Majid. Filipino American activist Amado Sison, who also volunteered in the occupied West Bank and was himself shot in the leg by Israeli forces on August 9 during a weekly protest in Beita, says the U.S. government must demand an independent investigation and end Israeli impunity. “If they took it seriously that a U.S. citizen was shot a month ago, maybe Ayşenur would be here right now,” he says.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
In Nablus in the occupied West Bank, a funeral procession is underway at the time of this broadcast for the Turkish American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi. She was killed by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank on Friday. Ayşenur was a 26-year-old recent graduate of UDub, the University of Washington, in Seattle. She was shot dead by Israeli forces during a weekly Friday protest against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita.
According to eyewitnesses, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and live ammunition, forcing the protesters to disperse down a hill on the edge of the town. Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak, who was on the scene, said the shooting took place about half an hour after the protesters had dispersed and the situation was calm. He said Ayşenur and other foreign volunteers were standing about 200 yards from the Israeli military. He described what happened.
JONATHAN POLLAK: So, after retreating from the hilltop, I was right there where the garbage can is. And that’s — it was completely quiet already back then. The clashes had dissipated. And then, after 10 or 15 minutes it was completely quiet, I heard two distinct shots of live ammunition. One hit a metal object, and then I retreated a little bit backward into the olive grove, and then, a few seconds after, maybe two or three seconds, a second shot. And I heard someone calling my name and saying in English, “Help! Help us! We need help! Come over.” So I chased — I raced through the olive grove down there.
Her head was gushing with blood. She was lying here. I put my hand behind her back to try and stop the bleeding, which didn’t stop. I looked up and saw a direct line of sight from where the soldiers were on that rooftop, some 200 meters away. I quickly took her pulse. It was very, very weak. Her eyes were rolled back. Her skin started becoming yellow. And we panically called for the ambulance to come.
By the time this had happened, it was completely quiet here. We were standing for 10, 15 minutes without anything happening. The reason why no one was filming is because it was completely quiet. And then, all of a sudden, two shots. And the sniper or the soldier that was there took a kill shot. And this happens in context. This isn’t an isolated incident. It happens in the context of the 17 people who were killed in demonstrations in Beita since 2021. We have heard nothing about them because they’re not Americans.
AMY GOODMAN: That was Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak.
Ayşenur was taken to a hospital in Nablus, where she was pronounced dead on arrival. The governor of Nablus told reporters Saturday an autopsy confirmed that Ayşenur was, quote, “killed by an Israeli occupation sniper’s bullet to the head,” unquote.
The Israeli military said in a statement it was, quote, “looking into reports that a foreign national was killed” and that, quote, “details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review,” unquote. The statement added Israeli forces had, quote, “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them,” unquote.
The Turkish government has said it holds Israel responsible for Ayşenur’s death. On Saturday, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan blasted Israel for the killing.
PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN: [translated] Yesterday, they heinously murdered our young child Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi. To date, they have killed over 40,000 innocent civilians, including 17,000 children. They attack barbarically and shed blood indiscriminately, whether it be children, women, youth or the elderly.
AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, the White House has called on Israel to investigate the attack. This is Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaking on Friday.
SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: First, I just want to extend my deepest condolences, the deepest condolences of the United States government to the family of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi. We deplore this tragic loss. Now, the most important thing to do is to gather the facts. And that’s exactly what we’re in the process of doing, and we are intensely focused on getting those facts. And any actions that we take are driven by the facts. So, first things first, let’s find out exactly what happened, and we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that.
AMY GOODMAN: Ayşenur’s family has called for an independent investigation, saying, quote, “We welcome the White House’s statement of condolences, but given the circumstances of Ayşenur’s killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate. We call on President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary of State Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a U.S. citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties,” end-quote.
At least 17 Palestinian protesters have been killed in Beita in protests against illegal Israeli settlements since 2020.
For more, we’re joined by two guests. Amado Sison, which is a pseudonym, is a Filipino American citizen who was shot in the leg by the Israeli forces one month ago today, on August 9th, during the weekly protest in Beita in the occupied West Bank. Sison was volunteering with the international nonviolent protective presence group Faz3a, the same group Ayşenur was with along with being a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement. Amado Sison a high school English teacher from Jersey City in New Jersey. We’re also joined by Juliette Majid. She was friends with Ayşenur at the University of Washington. Juliette Majid is now a Ph.D. student at North Carolina State University. She’s joining us from Raleigh, North Carolina.
Juliette, let’s begin with you. Tell us who Ayşenur is. She, like you, just graduated from UDub, from the University of Washington, in Seattle, where she grew up since, well, her family came there from Turkey, since before she was 1 year old.
JULIETTE MAJID: Yeah. First of all, thank you for saying who she is. She’s no longer with us, but her spirit and her love and her — who she was and who she impacted in our community are still with us every single day. The family, I think, in their statement had beautiful, beautiful words that I want to uplift on who she was. She was amazing, a staunch advocate and organizer. She was passionate about justice. She was compassionate and kind, and she wore her heart on her sleeves. She always made you feel like you were listened to. You never had to think when talking to her; you just had to be. That’s how she was. She just was herself, nobody else. She inspired everybody she ever met. She inspired me. And I know that, going forward, I will keep holding her in my heart, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Juliette, I know this is incredibly difficult for you. She was killed on Friday. This is just Monday. And our deepest condolences to you and to Ayşenur’s family, which I know extends beyond her own family, but to the whole community at UDub, those who were involved, like you and her, in the encampment there, like there were encampments all over the United States, protesting the Israeli war on Gaza. Can you talk about her activism — you talked about how she inspired you — and also about learning of her death on Friday? She had just gotten to the occupied West Bank — right? — did a training on Wednesday and was killed on Friday. And you’re now a student in North Carolina.
JULIETTE MAJID: Yeah, so I met Ayşenur at the University of Washington. We both graduated in June. More than just the student encampment, she was a community organizer in Seattle. She was always volunteering to help, always volunteering in the community, in the campus, before the encampment and after. So many people met her during the encampment. She was just always around, always willing to help. She moved in a wonderful grassroots way that was just always willing to assist wherever it was needed. She never asked much of herself. She always asked what others wanted from her, what they needed from her, how she could help, what she could do. She was very passionate about the student movement at UDub. She was very involved on campus. And the community is absolutely reeling, heartbroken, trying to come to terms with what happened. It was, as you said, so recent, on Friday. So many, I think, community members learned through the media on Friday morning, an absolutely heartbreaking way to find out for those who loved her. And there are so many. Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: This is the second loss in the UDub community, because on October 7th, Hayim Katsman was killed when Hamas raided, came over from Gaza. We spoke to his sibling Noy, who also immediately called for peace and said that their brother Hayim was a peace activist, as well.
JULIETTE MAJID: I can only speak to who I knew, and that was Ayşenur, who was upholding a long tradition of international observers in the West Bank, who was deliberately killed while she was peacefully observing. I want to uplift what the family has asked for, which is a independent U.S. investigation. We don’t — I don’t want to just rely on the Israeli military to investigate themselves. An American citizen, a member of our community, an American human rights activist who was passionate about the liberation of all peoples, here in the States and abroad, was taken from us. We want an investigation. We want our government to — I want our government to investigate this and to hold the guilty parties accountable. Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: Juliette, we’re joined here in New York by another activist who joined those protests in Beita, just as Ayşenur did last week. Amado Sison, not his real name, a pseudonym, is a Filipino American, a Jersey City teacher, who was shot in the leg by Israeli soldiers a month ago today, August 9th, during that protest in Beita, volunteering with the international nonviolent group Faz3a. If you could explain with that is, Amado?
AMADO SISON: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: And also working with the International Solidarity Movement. In a moment, we’re going to talk with Rachel Corrie’s parents, who was killed 20 years ago, also with the ISM, protesting the Israeli occupation. If you can talk about what happened a month ago, the fact that you, too, were shot, and what the U.S. government has done about this?
AMADO SISON: Yeah. So, to clarify, so, ISM and Faz3a, we both work together in training. We’re two separate organizations. And Ayşenur was part of ISM, and I was part of Faz3a. But we see each other during those protests. So —
AMY GOODMAN: You’re walking with a cane now.
AMADO SISON: Yeah, I’m walking with a cane. They shot me in the leg.
AMY GOODMAN: Why were you protesting in Beita? Explain what it is.
AMADO SISON: Yeah. So, every week, our organizations come to Beita to protest the illegal settlement that was built upon Beita’s land, the Evyatar settlement, I believe. And there’s a Jum’ah prayer that happens. And after the prayer, that’s when the chanting starts. We never got to get to the settlement, for them to return to the land, because tear gas happened. So, they shoot tear gas at us. They shot live rounds at us. We’ve had to hide behind concrete walls. You could see the dust coming off of the concrete wall when the live rounds hit. When they come down, we run.
And then, on that day, we regrouped, and then we were at the foot of the street that goes up to where the watchtower was, where the Israeli army was. We saw them coming down, and we saw Palestinians running from our left, so we ran through the olive groves. So, when I was running, I got shot in the back of my leg. And I thought it was a tear gas canister, because it was a — it felt like a blunt object hit me. But when we got —
AMY GOODMAN: We’re actually showing, for our TV audience —
AMADO SISON: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: — your leg when you were shot.
AMADO SISON: Yeah, yeah. I only saw that twice. So, yeah, so, when I got to the clearing, the Palestinians raised me up, put me in a pickup truck, got me to the clinic, transferred me to an ambulance. And getting to the hospital, we had two trucks blocking us and then two checkpoints where they demanded to see who was inside, so it delayed my care further. But the Palestinians showed me so much care and love, and I am indebted to them for saving me that day.
AMY GOODMAN: I wanted to go to Jonathan Pollak, the Israeli activist who held Ayşenur as she died, has taken part in the weekly protests against the settlement in Beita for months. Jonathan couldn’t join us today because he’s taking part in this funeral procession for Ayşenur in Nablus. We spoke to him yesterday, and this is some of what he had to say.
JONATHAN POLLAK: I would just like to say that her death is not an isolated incident. The bullet that was shot at Ayşenur is the exact same bullet that was shot at Amado Sison a few weeks ago, like, hitting him in the leg, another American citizen hurt in exactly the same place. It is the same bullet used by Israeli forces to kill — to kill the people in Nur Shams and in Jenin. And these are the same bullets that killed a 13-year-old girl on the same day that Ayşenur was killed, just a few kilometers to the south. These are the same bullets that Israel uses to perpetrate the genocide in Gaza with complete impunity. And all these bullets are provided to Israel by the American taxpayers’ money. And the one thing that sets this incident apart is that on Friday, American bullets killed an American citizen. And this is why we hear of it now.
But it is really time for this to stop. It is time that Israel is held accountable and is forced to end its colonial regime over Palestinians and ensure Palestinian liberation. Now, that kill shot — and this soldier took a kill shot — was meant to convey a message. And that message is that any sort of Palestinian resistance to Israeli colonialism will not be tolerated, whether it be Palestinians resisting Israeli occupation or solidarity activists standing with Palestinians as they fight for liberation. And however violent the Israeli message is going to be, our message to the Israelis is that, no matter what, we will continue to stand with Palestinians in the struggle for liberation.
AMY GOODMAN: So, that’s the Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak, who held Ayşenur as she died. She was there then. He went in the ambulance with her to the hospital in Nablus. He described to us also how this was after the weekly protest that they hold, this weekly protest every Friday. And they were done. It was very calm, when Ayşenur was shot in the head. Amado Sison, just staying with you for a moment, you were shot a month ago. What did the — you’re a U.S. citizen. You’re a teacher in Jersey City. What did the U.S. government do? Did you speak to the U.S. Embassy?
AMADO SISON: Yeah, so, it was just the U.S. Embassy. They reached out when I got shot.
AMY GOODMAN: In Israel?
AMADO SISON: Yeah. And we filed a report, don’t have any updates about what that turned into. I did give them a report, as well, consent. But no State Department, no politicians, nobody has reached out to me. And what I think is, if they took it seriously that a U.S. citizen was shot a month ago, maybe Ayşenur would be here right now.
AMY GOODMAN: So, did the ambassador or staff come to you in the hospital? Did the State Department here speak to you when you returned, shot in the leg?
AMADO SISON: No, nothing. I heard nothing from them.
AMY GOODMAN: You’ve demanded an investigation?
AMADO SISON: I demand an investigation now for when I was shot, for, you know, Ayşenur’s murder, an independent U.S. investigation, because what the Israel report was was it was a mistake shooting me. Mistakes usually come from above and down. They shot me through my right thigh all the way through.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, they said they shot in the air.
AMADO SISON: They said it was a mistake. So, I don’t know what a mistake would be when you’re pointing and shooting straight through someone’s thigh. So, I don’t know what they’re going to conclude about Ayşenur, but I know that if they investigate themselves, they will find a way to cover it up. So, I want to uplift her family’s demands, as well.
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Rachel Corrie’s Parents Mourn Death of Ayşenur Eygi, Warn of Israeli Military Cover-Up
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 09, 2024
As friends and family mourn the killing of Turkish American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, we speak with the parents of Rachel Corrie, another American killed while volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement to protect Palestinians from attacks and displacement. Corrie was just 23 years old when she was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza in 2003 as she attempted to use her body to stop the destruction of Palestinian homes. Cindy and Craig Corrie have since devoted their lives to their daughter’s cause and founded the nonprofit Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice. They say the news of Eygi’s death brought back painful memories. “It thrusts us back to that moment on March 16, 2003, about noon, when we were in Charlotte, North Carolina, and got the word about Rachel,” says Cindy Corrie. “It’s a parent’s nightmare.” Craig Corrie echoes calls by Eygi’s family for an independent probe into her killing. “Israel does not do investigations; they do cover-ups.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn right now to a family that knows the pain of a daughter’s death. Ayşenur Eygi had been volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement, or ISM, to try to protect Palestinians from attacks by the Israeli military and settlers. That’s the same group that Rachel Corrie, also a U.S. citizen — she was a student at Evergreen College in Washington, in Olympia. She was volunteering with ISM in 2003 when she was crushed to death. It was actually three days before the U.S. invaded Iraq. It was March 16, 2003. She was crushed to death in Gaza by an Israeli military bulldozer. She was trying to protect the home of a Palestinian pharmacist’s family in Rafah that was about to be demolished. She was 23.
We’re joined right now by Rachel’s parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie. After Rachel was killed, they devoted their lives to her cause, founded the nonprofit Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice. Cindy is the foundation’s president; Craig, the treasurer. They’ve also gone on interfaith peace missions to Israel, to Gaza and the West Bank.
Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Cindy and Craig. I remember seeing you at Evergreen College. It was the largest graduation Evergreen ever had, in Olympia, that year, 2003, but it was missing one student who was supposed to have graduated, your daughter Cindy, who was killed in Rafah. When you heard this news of Ayşenur on Friday, I was wondering your response. And if you can talk about what you see as the parallels?
CINDY CORRIE: Thank you, Amy. And thank you to all of your guests who have shared this very tragic story.
We learned, we started to get word about what had happened to Ayşenur on Friday morning. And it was, of course, very disturbing and emotional for us. I think, for me, you know, it thrusts us back to that moment of March 16th, 2003, about noon, when we were in Charlotte, North Carolina, and got the word about Rachel. And I remember, you know, just the horror and the pain of that news. And so, for me, on Friday morning — I remember wondering, you know: Would I ever feel whole again? Would I ever be the same person again? Could I ever enjoy life? I mean, it’s a parent’s nightmare. And so, Friday morning, knowing that there was another family so nearby, in Seattle, who was getting that same kind of news was just very, very disturbing. And we continue to just feel deeply about what that family is experiencing right now.
AMY GOODMAN: Craig, if you can tell us — I mean, we actually just recently spoke to the two of you. You also called for an investigation. What ultimately came of the death of Rachel Corrie, killed by an Israeli military bulldozer, which was a Caterpillar bulldozer?
CRAIG CORRIE: Well, of course, we did call for a U.S. investigation into Rachel’s killing. Let me say that what we’re hearing today, it’s upsetting to our family to hear our State Department again, and I would expect them to say, that they are trying to find out the facts and looking to Israel for that. Israel does not do investigations; they do cover-ups. So, let’s face it, nothing’s going to come out of there that’s going to help these citizens or whoever may be killed in the future. That’s what we’re trying to stop. Our family worked for an investigation into Rachel’s killing, and we wanted some consequences out of that. And we hoped — even though we didn’t know the names of the people that would be killed in the future, we hoped that that would stop and it would not happen.
I think, at this point, yes, U.S. has to do an investigation, but there needs to be consequences. As Jonathan pointed out, these are American weapons that are being used. That’s against U.S. law, and it should be stopped. I know from working with members of Congress and their staff, working with the State Department, that under the Leahy Law, usually they’re asking for proof that it was a U.S. weapon. If I write a check, I don’t need proof about what’s going wrong. I need people to cooperate and determine that it’s not our money that’s being used that way. Israel does not do that, to my knowledge. So, we also need to look for international help here. I think that the U.N., the International Criminal Courts, they’re places that need to get involved. But we’re just sick and tired of hearing platitudes from the State Department. And these are people we’ve met. We have met with Antony Blinken before he became secretary of state. He’s a decent person. But there needs to be consequences, and there needs to be consequences that are enforced by the entire U.S. government and the international community.
CINDY CORRIE: We heard those words that we hear so often when something like this happens, that the U.S. had asked for a thorough, credible, transparent investigation. We did pursue help from the State Department, from our government, and we kept pursuing that help for many years. And, you know, we were still getting statements in — I believe it was 2008 from the State Department. Michelle Bernier-Toth wrote to us about how many people in the administration at that time had spoken to their counterparts in Israel about a thorough, credible and transparent investigation for Rachel’s case. And she — these were people like Secretary of State Colin Powell talking to his counterpart, a long list of names that you would recognize. And at the close, she said those requests go unanswered or ignored.
And when you think about what we’re doing, what we’re supplying to the Israeli military, to the Israeli government, the kind of backing that’s being given to them, it’s really — it was just really shocking that there would be this verbal request for accountability, or at least for an investigation, on the part of Israel. But the U.S. acknowledged that that hadn’t happened. And in fact, now-Secretary of State Tony Blinken in 2010 confirmed for us that the position of the U.S. government in Rachel’s case remains that there has not been a thorough, credible and transparent investigation in her case.
Also, the U.S. — we fought for investigation for years, U.S. investigation. There’s a very — we were told there’s very limited statute that allows for that to happen in the U.S. The Justice Department and FBI, apparently, ultimately, looked for that possibility. But we were told that policy impacts whether they take that on, and that even if there were investigation, prosecution of someone would be extremely unlikely through the U.S. So it’s one of the reasons that we are saying there needs to be an international element here, an international commitment to ensuring that an unbiased investigation happens, that an impartial investigation happens.
We ultimately went to the Israeli courts, which we learned are also implicated in furthering Israeli policy and occupation. And we heard the lead investigator, who completed the military investigation — and it’s important for people to understand Israel’s investigations are military investigations. It became clear that that was conducted in order to exonerate the Israeli military, not to find truth and what really happened. And that’s what our family was pursuing. But the lead investigator stated under oath in Haifa court that he believed that they were at war with everyone, including the peace activists from the International Solidarity Movement. I think that’s really important information for people to understand now as we move forward in this tragic case.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to end with the words of Congressmember Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who’s head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the largest caucus in Congress, on the killing of the Turkish American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi. She said, “I am very troubled by the reports that she was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. The Netanyahu government has done nothing to stop settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank, often encouraged by right-wing ministers of the Netanyahu government. The killing of an American citizen is a terrible proof point in this senseless war of rising tensions in the region,” she said.
I want to thank you all for being with us, Rachel’s parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, speaking to us more than two decades after Rachel was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer in Gaza near Rafah. I want to thank Amado Sison, Filipino American shot in the leg by Israeli forces a month ago today in Beita, where Ayşenur was also killed. Juliette Majid, Ph.D. student, North Carolina State University, speaking to us from Raleigh, dear friend of Ayşenur Eygi at the University of Washington, where they both graduated.
Coming up, we look at the raids in Jenin. We’ll speak with the Palestinian journalist Mariam Barghouti. Stay with us.
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“The Brutality Is Truly Unprecedented” in West Bank: Mariam Barghouti on Israel’s Deadly Incursions
by Amy Goodman
DemocracyNow!
September 09, 2024
Israel is continuing its military assault across the occupied West Bank, with soldiers storming the Palestinian city of Tulkarm after midnight Monday, just days after Israeli forces withdrew from Tulkarm and Jenin following a brutal incursion that lasted over one week. Israeli troops have also raided other towns and villages across the occupied territory as part of the largest Israeli military operation in the West Bank in about two decades, deploying hundreds of soldiers backed by armored vehicles, bulldozers, fighter jets and drones. Israel has killed dozens of Palestinians since launching the operation on August 28. “The brutality is truly unprecedented,” says Palestinian journalist Mariam Barghouti, who adds that in many of the targeted areas, Israel has “bulldozed the overwhelming majority of the civilian infrastructure.” Her recent piece for +972 Magazine is titled “Inside the brutal siege of Jenin.”
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman.
We return now to the occupied West Bank, where Israeli soldiers stormed the city of Tulkarm just after midnight today in new raids that come just days after Israeli forces withdrew from Tulkarm and Jenin. Israeli troops also raided the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank earlier today, and in Abu Shukheidim, near Ramallah, Al Jazeera reports Israeli forces were seen raiding homes.
On Friday, Israeli forces temporarily retreated from Jenin, Tulkarm and other areas in the occupied West Bank after laying siege to the cities for 10 days, killing dozens of Palestinians, including children and elders, and leaving a trail of destruction. Simultaneous raids also took place across Nablus, Bethlehem, Hebron and Ramallah in the largest Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank in two decades, with hundreds of troops backed by armored vehicles, bulldozers, fighter jets and drones.
During the raids, Israeli soldiers fired live rounds at Palestinian journalists documenting the attacks, injuring at least four of them in the town of Kafr Dan. Footage also surfaced of Israeli forces in an armored tank rolling over the dead body of an 82-year-old Palestinian man in Jenin who was killed Friday by Israeli soldiers and denied medical attention.
Meanwhile, Israeli settlers have continued their attacks in the West Bank. In Qaryut, near Nablus, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl was killed by Israeli gunfire as settlers attacked the village. Bana Laboum was hit by a bullet Friday while she was in her bedroom. Her mother described the Israeli attack ahead of her daughter’s burial.
IMAN LEBWAM: [translated] She was in her room along with her sisters. She was afraid, in fear, and suddenly a bullet got in through the window and hit her while she was on her bed. This is what happened. There were scuffles outside with the youth, but we were surprised that a bullet came through the window and onto her.
AMY GOODMAN: Over 650 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October, nearly 150 of them children, most of them during near-daily raids by the Israeli military. That’s added on to the more than 40,000 Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza, and that figure is expected to be much higher, 16,000 of them children.
We go now to Ramallah, where we’re joined by Mariam Barghouti, Palestinian writer and journalist. Her recent piece for +972 Magazine is titled “Inside the brutal siege of Jenin.”
Mariam, welcome back to Democracy Now! Explain what has happened there in Jenin.
MARIAM BARGHOUTI: Thank you for having me, Amy.
So, what we have seen in Jenin specifically, but generally in the northern areas of the West Bank, is an escalated attack and an offensive under the title of Operation Summer Camps by the Israeli military. And what we have seen is the Israeli military basically greenlighting the use of lethal force excessively and sporadically, which is why we’re hearing news of young children being shot by bullets, as well as journalists being sniped by Israeli snipers.
And what the Israeli military did was essentially bring in D9 Caterpillar bulldozers within the city of Jenin, likewise in Tulkarm within the city, and then moving deeper towards the camp, and where they bulldozed nearly — the overwhelming majority of the civilian infrastructure, that includes water pipe, that includes electric wiring, that includes the sewage system. And the Israeli military basically besieged the entire city.
Entry and exit was dangerous and risky, because you can get shot, even as press. Medical personnel, as well as ambulances, were obstructed from moving patients, not simply banning injured persons from the camp throughout the nine-day siege, but patients from Jenin city were unable to reach the only governmental hospital in Jenin that is adjacent to the camp and was basically placed under siege by the Israeli military.
So, what we saw was an intensification and a brutal offensive. Again, this is an offensive by the Israeli military under the — and I quote — it’s a “preemptive strike against Palestinian terrorists.” But what I have seen on the ground is it was targeting essentially civilians mostly, and there was a very clear attempt to conceal what is happening from media, and that means from global audiences.
AMY GOODMAN: Again, you said they call this Operation Summer Camps?
MARIAM BARGHOUTI: Yes. So, the Israeli military has called this Operation Summer Camps. It was officially declared between August 27th or 28th of last month. And the Israeli military claims that they are basically targeting refugee camps. That’s why “summer camps.” But again, what we have seen is they’re targeting civilians. And they said the refugee camps, because that’s primarily where Palestinian combatants are operating from. Again, this is the Israeli military going into these areas and attacking these areas, under the statement of “this is a preemptive strike against terrorism.” But what we have seen is a focus on the civilian infrastructure and near destruction of the refugee camps, which are Area A and, under the Oslo Accords, outside the jurisdiction of the Israeli military or government.
AMY GOODMAN: So, can you describe what Jenin was like and the level of destruction left behind? Palestinians in the camp describe being forced out of their homes by gunpoint.
MARIAM BARGHOUTI: Yeah. So, Jenin has been under constant attack by the Israeli military for the past two years specifically, but generally, across time, in Palestine. But we have seen an intensification. So, every other month, the Israeli military would actually invade Jenin refugee camp and carry out lethal attacks against its community.
But this time what we have seen is that the brutality is truly unprecedented. The Israeli military, not just in the camp, but even on the outskirts, went into civilian buildings and, at gunpoint, forced families out of their homes to places unknown, to a fate unknown. They didn’t know where they will sleep, how long they will be away from their houses. And when they returned on Friday to their homes after the Israeli withdrawal, what I saw was complete destruction of their homes and their apartments. The furniture was ruined. Mattresses, they had dung on them. There were attack dogs that were put in these homes. The refrigerators would be destroyed. There would be Hebrew graffiti on the walls.
And inside the camp, it’s truly very difficult to capture it in words. I just saw families cleaning up the rubble, cleaning up the trash left behind by the Israeli military. The walls are full of bullets. It’s just rubble all over the ground. It’s so difficult to walk. Cars can’t move within the camp. And the families, you know, when I would ask them, “Are you going to rebuild? What are you going to do now?” they would respond with, “Why would we rebuild now, if the Israeli army is only going to come for another invasion, as we have seen happen in Tulkarm last night?” Again, after withdrawal from Tulkarm refugee camp, the Israeli military just kept going back.
So, people are frightened. They feel abandoned. They have zero protection. And again, in an impoverished area to rebuild, which is going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild the infrastructure, it’s truly a cost and a toll, and clearly, it is put to cripple Palestinian civil society.
AMY GOODMAN: Mariam, can you explain who is the Jenin Brigade? What’s their role in Jenin versus the security forces affiliated with the Palestinian Authority?
MARIAM BARGHOUTI: Right. So, in Jenin refugee camp, to what the military, Israeli military, dubs as the “wasps’ nest,” we have seen a rise of Palestinian armed youth groups, starting within 2021 until today. And these are small battalions. These are youth that grew up in the camp. Many of them have been imprisoned by Israel under administrative detention, meaning no trial, no charge, only torture. And they decided to take up arms, essentially, because they found that across the last decade, any efforts of Palestinians, whether it is in negotiations or whether it is in unarmed and nonviolent confrontation, has only allowed Israel to continue its expansion of settlements on Palestinian lands and continue its escalation of violence on Palestinians. So they see themselves as the force that is trying to push back. Even though they’re limited in resources, they are protecting their homes.
And please remember that these are the refugees that, essentially, Israel and its militia, its Zionist militias, had kicked out of their original homes in 1948 that are located within heartland Palestine, or what is now Israel. The difference between them and the Palestinian Authority is that the Palestinian Authority, which has been given the role of an administrative role under the Oslo Accord —
AMY GOODMAN: We just have 15 seconds.
MARIAM BARGHOUTI: — has actually done nothing, has done nothing to protect Palestinians, and actually, during the siege, remained within the headquarters, letting Palestinian families just being bombed constantly throughout the siege.
AMY GOODMAN: Mariam Barghouti, Palestinian writer and journalist, we’ll link to your piece for +972 Magazine, “Inside the brutal siege of Jenin.” Part 2 online at democracynow.org, when we ask her what it’s like to be a journalist reporting on Jenin.