by Gideon Levy at Haaretz
Israeli soldiers abused people during a raid on a remote refugee camp in the territories. During their violent rampage, the troops detained 30 inhabitants, of whom 27 were released the next day
It was a night inhabitants of the Al-Fawar refugee camp won’t soon forget. Located in a remote part of the West Bank, south of Hebron, Al-Fawar is one of the less violent camps; it has no local armed groups like those in the camps of the northern West Bank. But still this camp, on which Israel has imposed a partial siege since the start of the war – compounded by almost total unemployment due to the ban on workers entering Israel – is also being subjected to frequent raids by the Israel Defense Forces.
The raid on the night of September 18-19 was perhaps the most vicious of all, in recent memory. No one was killed, but the soldiers’ behavior was violent – at times downright sadistic, according to the local residents we spoke with this week.
Late the next day, the troops left Al-Fawar with their “booty”: three young detainees. All the other young men they had taken into custody and had questioned overnight had quickly been released. The main purpose of the operation seems to have been to abuse the inhabitants, to put on a show of strength. Maybe also to provide some “action” for the soldiers, who must be envious of their buddies in the Gaza Strip, where perpetration of violence on the population is rampant. Maybe it was aimed at giving these troops the feeling that they’re doing “meaningful service.” It’s hard to find any other explanation for the invasion of Al-Fawar.
The main entrance to the camp, from Highway 60, the main West Bank thoroughfare, has been blocked by an iron barrier since the start of the war; we managed to enter via another route, through the city of Yatta. There was a semblance of routine life on the main street: hundreds of children on the way home from school, stores open, people walking about.
But the scene was deceptive, and rooted in the deepest despair. Most of the men in Al-Fawar have been jobless and idle for more than a year. The humiliation of the night of September 19 has only amplified their feelings of utter hopelessness…
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