Hostages in their own Homes
In the early hours of Tuesday morning of August 28, at 1:00 a.m., the inhabitants of Beit-Jala were woken up at the rumbling noises of the Israeli tanks rolling into Beit-Jala, a scenario witnessed 34 years ago in 1967, during the Six Days War. A few minutes later, the occupants of seven houses were alarmed with banging on their front doors, and only to discover to their horror that their houses are being taken over as advanced military positions for the Israeli army to pursue its military assault against the unarmed population of Beit-Jala. These houses and their unarmed occupants, including women and children, have been turned as advanced strong points for the army to achieve its objectives. Each of the seven families was then herded into one of the rooms of the building and restricted to that space with no contact with the outside world.
Similarly, the orphanage of the Lutheran Church in Beit-Jala was also taken over and the orphaned kids, ages between 7 and 18 were used as human shields. News have come in today indicating that the army did withdraw from the orphanage after an international outcry by religious, democratic and political circles condemning such an action and demanding the army to immediately vacate the premises of the Church..
Last but not least the Beit-Jala Mosque was not spared and its minaret is now being used as an outlook post, if not as a sniper position.
Forty hours later, these seven families, forgotten to a certain extent by the media, are still being held hostage each inside one of the rooms in their own house. Strict restrictions on movement inside their own houses have been imposed. To reach the restroom, requires an approval from the supervising officer. Getting a change of clean clothes from an adjacent bedroom is strictly forbidden. Communicating with the outside world by telephone, like one’s next of kin, is not allowed, but after twenty hours of incarceration they were allowed to make one phone call under the listening ears of the supervising officer. Cooking a hot meal on a gas stove is out of the question. The list of the “not allowed” goes on and on….
The only crime that these families did commit is that they live in houses with a view, and the Israeli army fancied to take advantage of this view irrespective of the damage it could cause to these families. Putting the lives and property of these families at the center of a military assault is an act condemned by the various conventions to protect civilians in times of wars and is an act that cannot be condoned by any democratic society or the free world.
The families that have been held hostage inside their own houses are the following:
1- William Al-Sha’er family2- Edmund & Jabra Shehadeh families
3- Bishara Kharoufeh family3- Farid Ayyoub family
5- Nicola Al-Alam family6- Ni’meh Al-Tahhan family
7- Saba El-Sheikh family
- Join us in publicizing the terrible ordeal that these families are passing through.
- Demand that normal life be restored to these families by the immediate withdrawal of the Israeli army from their houses and from Beit-Jala.
August 29, 2001
6:00 p.m.