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02.01.03, 17:18
Israel's human shields draw fire
Human rights groups return to court over army's use of Palestinian civilians
Chris McGreal in Hebron
Thursday January 2, 2003
The Guardian
Basem Maswadeh knew he was in trouble when an Israeli soldier pushed him into
the barber's chair and reached for the clippers.
The humiliation of a shaved head - or, more accurately, having chunks of hair
ripped out by the brutal wielding of the shears - was the start of an ordeal
that culminated with Mr Maswadeh and two friends standing in a Hebron street
as Israeli troops shot over their shoulders at stone-throwing Palestinians.
"The soldiers hid behind our backs as they pushed us forward," said Mr
Maswadeh. "Then they put their guns on our shoulders and began shooting. We
felt our eardrums burning, but when we tried to put our hands over our ears,
they beat our hands away. The noise was terrible because the gun was right
next to my ear."
The soldiers fired dozens of plastic bullets, using the three Palestinian men
as shields, before the crowd dispersed.
In May, as Israeli human rights groups sought a supreme court order barring
soldiers from seeking protection behind human shields after their widespread
use during the army's assaults on Jenin and other West Bank cities, the
military admitted the policy was illegal and said it would stop.
But human rights groups will return to court on Sunday to argue that the army
has only ended such abuses selectively, and is in breach of court orders.
"The method is the same each time," says Israel's most prominent human rights
group, B'Tselem. "Soldiers pick a civilian at random and force him to do
dangerous tasks that put their lives at risk."
Sergeant Nati Aharoni gave the army magazine, B'Mahaneh, an example of a case
showing how they go about it.
"We had previously seized this building, so we were concerned that explosives
would be waiting for us when we came back. Acting according to customary
practice in such cases, we took a Palestinian who lived nearby and had him
comb the site. He opened all the doors and cabinets, and didn't find
anything," he said. "We shook his hand and said thanks."
The army says it has issued an order barring the use of human shields, but it
contends that another policy, known as the "neighbour procedure", can
continue because it is not illegal.
The "neighbour procedure" involves soldiers "requesting" of civilian that
they enter buildings and demand that wanted men inside surrender. Human
rights groups say that almost no one does such a thing voluntarily.
In August, soldiers pressed 19-year old Nidal Abu Mukhsan to enter the house
of a Hamas activist and tell him to come out quietly. The activist, Nasser
Jarar, mistook Mr Abu Mukhsan for a soldier and shot him fatally in the head.
The army says it is not at fault. It says Israeli soldiers "did not go into
the building with him, so there are no grounds for contending that this was a
case of using a human shield".
But human rights groups say the "neighbour procedure" is in direct
contravention of a second court order, in August, barring its use, yet it is
still widespread.
"The army is really convinced that use of the "neighbour procedure" protects
civilians," said Yael Stein, the research director of B'Tselem.
"They say that if a Palestinian is knocking on the door, then anyone inside
is less likely to start shooting. They have told the court this. But this is
very dangerous for the people they force to do it, and it is completely
illegal under international law."
Mr Maswadeh's experience in Hebron followed a different pattern. He owns a
barber's shop. Like many firms, it defies the Israeli curfew. That is how
Hebron's Palestinians survive.
When an army patrol swept along the road on December 3, shopkeepers quickly
brought their shutters down. But the soldiers wanted to know who was in the
barber's.
"We were scared," said Mr Maswadeh. "When the soldiers pay attention to you,
they always abuse you. We did not want to open the door."
So the four Israeli soldiers grabbed the owner of the neighbouring grocery
shop, Bilel Abu Qwaider.
"They told me, 'We are going to break your bones and destroy your shop if you
don't get your neighbour to open his door,'" Mr Abu Qwaider said. "They were
pointing their guns at me and threatening to shoot everyone inside. I begged
Basem to open."
The barber realised he had little choice. "There were five of us, and they
took us one by one into the street and beat us," Mr Maswadeh said. "Then they
brought us back in and a soldier ordered me to sit in the barber's chair."
"He grabbed the electric clipper and brought it very slowly down on my head.
It was very painful. I was bleeding because he was ripping my hair out. I
knew I was in trouble when I opened the door, but I never imagined this."
Word of the beatings at the barber's shop quickly spread, and a crowd began
throwing stones at the soldiers. It was then that Mr Maswadeh and two friends
were marched outside and used as shields as the soldiers fired into the
crowd.
When the mob backed off, the incident took another strange twist.
"They took pictures of us. They took some pointing their guns at us, and some
resting their guns on our heads. One of the soldiers had a picture taken of
him using one of my friends as a chair," Mr Maswadeh said.
The army's attorney general says he has ordered a military police
investigation into the case.
Human rights groups say the army only investigates when forced by publicity,
and it rarely punishes those responsible for such abuses. They say the
military's attitude to people in the occupied territories was exposed by the
Israeli army chief of staff, Moshe Ya'alon, when in a newspaper interview he
likened the Palestinians to cancer and said he was administering
chemotherapy.
"There is no doubt a culture of impunity," said Ms Stein. "Soldiers are
rarely charged. There are not many military police investigations. Soldiers
can do what they want.
The message soldiers are getting is, 'Don't violate the law, but we won't do
anything if you do, unless it's a severe case'. The message is blurred," she
said.
