Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002
more on palestine

> hey all,
>  
> thanks for the many messages of support i/we have had.
> just another update: 
>  
> 1) can people try to get out to the press that the 200
> people in the nativity church are NOT all gunmen; the
> majority are families from the locality who initially
> took refuge in the mosque untilit was destroyed. many
> civilians have been killed in the locality and most
> houses are being denied medical access - i may have
> mentioned that a tank was crushed here earlier,and the
> idf are presently surrounding a medical team in beit
> sahour. there are people taking refuge in many of the
> other churches as well. THIS MISINFORMATION IS
> INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS AND NEEDS TO BE COUNTERACTED AS
> SOON AS POSSIBLE.
>  
> 2) we are presently trying to arrange the presence of
> internationals in ambulances here tonight to try and
> protect the medical teams.
>  
> 3) there is heavy gunfire close by us at the moment,
> and flares have been shot over azza refugee camp; this
> is usually a precursor to attack, but we think at the
> moment that it is the tall buildings (good sniper
> posts) that the israelis are after.there is fairly
> heavy gunfightsand periodic shelling from not far
> off.and bethlehem university - about 500 yds away -
> has been occupied, with a number of monks there being
> searched and assaulted and one having to intervene in
> order to prevent the shooting of a civilian in a
> nearby home.
>  
> 4) there is also substantial tank movement in the
> direction of deheishe refugee camp.god help them,
> there are already a number of wounded there being
> denied access to medical care.
>  
> 5) on a lighter note,spirits here in the IMC are
> up,since we had a food delivery and are aware that
> there is another one awaiting us from the british
> embassy (the dogfood was starting to look appealing,
> we were that low while the curfew was 24 hour. i'm
> also smoking like a chimney, except when we ran
> out...). they came to evacuate a number of foreign
> nationals, including kunle, who had been prevented
> >from leaving for several days after the news of his
> father's death. for obvious reasons,some of the
> wounded internationals from the demo on monday also
> wanted to leave, although the worst injured, an
> australian womam with what the operating doctor
> believes was a direct gunshot wound to the stomach,
> cannot be moved at present. in the imc we are sleeping
> in shifts but still have electricity and therefore
> heat - it's bitter here - and we also have Indymedia
> Intifada, the rescued palestinian puppy, to cheer us
> up/pee on the floor. it's kind of surreal crawling
> round the kitchen floor to avoid sniper sights in
> order to prepare puppy food!
>  
> 6) whilst my political principles militate against it,
> getting in touch with governments and stuff really is
> important at the moment, as it is really one of the
> few things that can save people here. demos etc
> aregreat as pressure too,but in the end we need the US
> government to follow the lead of the EU in demanding
> instant withdrawal. Belgium and Egypt have cut
> diplomatic ties,and we need this to happen from other
> regimes too.
>  
> love to you all. sorry i can't reply to personal mails
> but obviously with our web connection periodically
> crashing and the need to get stuff on
> http://jerusalem.indymedia.org we have really limited
> time.
>  
>  xxx
> >from the centre of bethlehem under attack...

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