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U.S. Pro-Israel TV Channel Shifts Course on Jenin War Crimes
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Wedeman: There's something they don't want the world to see |
WASHINGTON, April 13 (IslamOnline) – In a rare departure from its pro-Israel
editorial line and in face of Israeli propaganda machine pressure, the U.S. Cable
News Network, better known as CNN, reported Friday on some Israeli occupation soldiers’ atrocities against Palestinian civilians during its latest invasion of Palestinian territories.
In a report by Ben Wedeman, one of CNN’s correspondents in the Palestinian
territories, the often pro-Israel TV station tried to investigate reports that the occupation forces committed war crimes during its assault on the refuge camp.
The report, “What happened in Jenin?” showed some scenes of Israel’s apartheid policy in the areas.
The few-minute report showed an 8-year old Palestinian boy describing how he
has been separated from his parents for the past ten days.
The boy, along with women, children and the elderly, were seeking shelter in a concrete building in the refugee camp. The building resembled concentration camps that the Nazi subjected Europeans Jews to during World War II.
According to the report, Israeli soldiers, using loud speakers, now routinely order men between 15 and 45 to gather in the camp’s main street, Haifa Street, for questioning and interrogations. Men walk with their hands up at the gaze of Israeli occupation soldiers equipped with American-made weapons and tanks.
The report showed women, and children cramped in the building with many looking gloomy and shaken. There were also scenes of crying, hysteria and panic as relatives were waiting for the return of their relatives. Some expressed their despair in the help coming from the outside world.
“We’ll die in tombs, we’ll die in tombs,” said one woman. “Only God will help us. Only God will help us.”
The report said that reporters were still trying to get into the refugee camp to find out what actually happened.
The Palestinian authority said that a massacre on the level of World War II took place in the camp, including public executions of dozens of Palestinian civilians, suspected by Israel to be occupation resistance activists, house demolition and control of food, water and electricity.
There were reports that houses are crumbling from the heavy impacts of tank
shells and burned out cars litter the road.
“In Jenin, the Israeli curfew was lifted for just two hours. I spoke to people who went around the city during that period, and they told us there were very few people on the streets. There were some people queuing up for bread, but very nervously indeed.
“The curfew ended at 2 p.m. local time ... at which point the Israeli forces went through the streets with loudspeakers, calling upon the people to go back to their houses. In one case, they shot over the head of one man who was tardy in responding to their calls,” said Wedeman.
“The Palestinians are reporting 500 dead. International relief sources are saying possibly as much as 200. So we would like to get in there and find out what's happening. However, every time we try, we run into Israeli soldiers who try to prevent us.
“The question at the moment here is, why aren't we being allowed in? I've been in Bethlehem, in Ramallah and Hebron and other areas where the Israelis have entered. And there were, on paper, restrictions to reporters' access. But we managed to get in anyway, and we never really were thrown out.
“The question that we would like to know and that we would like to direct to Israeli officials is why aren't we being allowed in that camp? We want to know what's going on,” he said.
Weidman added that the Israeli officials keep telling them that it is a closed military area.
“They're also saying that it's a closed military area. In fact, I'm in a closed military area right now, but that hasn't prevented me from reporting. The feeling is, is that they're hiding something -- there's something they don't want the world to see. And until they let us in, the suspicion is going to mount evermore. So really, the time has come for the Israelis to allow the international media into those camps to see what's going on,” said Wedeman.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, told the U.N. Human Rights Commission on
Friday the situation was dangerous and that sound the alarm over what the gravity of the situation there.
"The situation is so dangerous and the humanitarian and human rights situation so appalling that I think the proposition that a force should be sent in there ... can no longer be deferred," Annan told a news conference. "It is urgent. It is imperative."
The Israeli occupation army claims that only 100 Palestinians were killed in the camp after the resistance activists ran out of their ammunition. Palestinians say the toll in Jenin camp is a lot higher, and accuses Israel of trying to cover up the massacres.
Palestinian Information Minister, Yasser Abed Rabbo, on Friday accused Israel of digging mass graves for 900 Palestinians in the camp.
On Friday, the occupation army kept journalists at bay, turning them away at
roadblocks set up on approaching dirt roads.
Additional
Reporting By Steve Smith, IOL Correspondent in Washington
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