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Re: Vandalism and
Looting by the Israeli Army
Please find below:
"IDF admits `ugly vandalism' against Palestinian property"
By Amos Harel (Ha'aretz, 30 April 2002)
E/36/2002)
BADIL Resource Center
Fwd from Ha'aretz, 30 April 2002
1 May 2002
For preliminary detailed
documentation of destruction to Palestinian public institutions and NGOs
caused by the Israeli army, please request the reports prepared by the
Palestinian NGO Emergency Initiative in Jerusalem, via rhammami60@yahoo.com
or hanafi@p-ol.com
For information about how the Israeli army/military prosecutor handle
investigations of crimes committed by soldiers, see recent reports of
B'tselem (www.btselem.org)
IDF ADMITS 'UGLY VANDALISM' AGAINST PALESTINIAN PROPERTY
By Amos Harel
Israel Defense Forces sources have admitted that Palestinian claims of the
systematic destruction of property, particularly computers, during the
recent military operations in Ramallah are, for the most part, true.
"There were indeed wide-scale, ugly phenomena of vandalism," a
senior military sources told Ha'aretz yesterday.
And while another military source said that the army had yet to undertake
a full investigation into the matter, there are already many individual
cases that are being prosecuted through the military justice system.
Within the context of Operation Defensive Shield, an intelligence unit
specialized in
systematically going through public institutions of the Palestinian
Authority and collecting hard disks from computers in offices, for the
purposes of examining them based on the assumption that some would contain
information on terrorist activity.
The IDF sources explained that because various PA institutions, including
civil authorities, were involved in terror, some of the computers had
indeed included valuable intelligence.
However, the sources admitted that in many cases the searches had turned
into systematic
vandalism, without any justification.
"It was not an order
from above," said a senior source, "but that's how it was
understood in the field. The infantry, both the conscripts and the
reservists who accompanied the intelligence teams, understood that they
were allowed - or indeed expected - to destroy the property in the
offices."
"The result," the source continued, "was damage running
into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Soldiers smashed computer monitors
and destroyed keyboards. There were places in which bank branches were
destroyed and automatic tellers were raided. In some cases, theft
accompanied the vandalism. It was significant damage, widespread and
totally illogical."
The source said that while the extent of the damage was clear, the IDF had
yet to undertake a serious investigation into what had taken place.
A reserve officer who played a senior role in the Ramallah area said that
he believed most of the damage had been done during hunts for wanted men
and munitions. "We found weapons and sabotage equipment in what were
seemingly civil institutions," the officer said. "There were
instances in which soldiers broke open doors because nobody was inside.
Clearly there was looting, but most of the damage was done during the hunt
for people and weapons. This was war, not a lab operation."
A veteran intelligence officer said the explanation for the IDF's behavior
was to be
found in the difference between the fighting in the territories and
previous wars in Lebanon and the Sinai. "Those were clear-cut enemy
territories; and it was clear to the
intelligence units that they would take everything because everything was
military
equipment. In the Palestinian Authority, everything was mixed up -
civilian, security,
terrorist. It is very difficult to make the distinction. Some of the
damage was done by the
unit, and some by other soldiers, at their own initiative."
Reservists who served in the Ramallah and Bethlehem areas said they had
witnessed many instances of deliberate damage caused by soldiers to Palestinian
property. Some also spoke of cases of looting.
"The extent of the looting is much greater than could have been
expected in advance," a senior legal source told Ha'aretz. "This
is an ugly and serious phenomenon."
Some cases involved two or three soldiers who had worked together, the
source said, noting that reservists as well as conscripts had been
involved. Some of the suspects were combat troops, the source added; and
in certain cases, military defenders had reservations about representing
suspects due to the nature of the crimes.
Most of the incidents are expected to end in plea bargains, with the
convicted serving prison sentences. The majority of the looting took place
in Ramallah, though there were reports of instances in Bethlehem as well.
Most of the cases are in Central Command's JAG unit. |