amigocabal

The response of the army, judiciary and the government of Ariel Sharon to
Jewish opponents of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza-and to
foreign peace activists-is becoming ever more brutal.

Israeli protester Gil Na'amati was shot in the legs by Israeli Defence
Forces troops during a demonstration against the West Bank separation fence
on December 27 near the village of Maskha. In a demonstration organised by
Anarchists Against the Fence, the protesters were cutting a length of the
fence when they were met with live fire by the IDF-seriously injuring Na'
amati and slightly injuring an American citizen.

The IDF regularly use live ammunition to disperse Palestinians, but this was
the first time troops have opened fire on Jewish protesters.

A military investigation later found the soldiers were following the rules
of engagement. The IDF said in a statement, "Given all the factors involved,
including the fact that the soldiers felt they were under a real threat, the
lack of accessible riot control gear and the rules of engagement the force
was operating under, there was no deviation from the normal rules of
engagement."

IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon told reporters he had "full confidence in
the testimony of the soldiers, who said they felt threatened" by the
demonstrators and "did not believe they were dealing with Israelis."

Earlier Anarchists Against the Wall and the Association for Civil Rights in
Israel had organised a press conference during which Na'amati's father, Uri,
said, "One must be drunk to believe the IDF's version" of the circumstances
of the shooting.

Uri Na'amati said the IDF soldiers "not only shot Gil, but also failed to
evacuate him, lied, and did not learn their lesson. The IDF version has only
one true element-the shooter's name."

According to reports, the material presented at the press conference and an
independent probe by Haaretz newspaper disproves many of the army's claims.

Video footage taken using three cameras at the site of the shooting shows
that contrary to the IDF statements, the soldiers could not have believed
their lives were in danger. The soldiers were also aware that the protesters
were Israelis, because the distance between the troops and the demonstrators
was just 26 meters rather than the 100 meters claimed by Ya'alon when
speaking to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. Protesters
were shouting at the soldiers in Hebrew.

The footage proves that the soldiers had not warned the demonstrators before
shooting at them. It shows that soldiers were in shooting posture even when
demonstrators were only shaking the fence. They could not have felt
threatened because there was no chance the demonstrators could get through
to the settlement behind the soldiers. Zionist settlers felt safe enough to
cheer and dance beside the soldiers in the back of a pickup truck and were
not prevented from doing so by the IDF.

The IDF also maintained that Na'amati was "the chief instigator" of
violence, but the video shows he arrived late on the scene and was not
masked as the army claimed.

Israel began to build what it calls a security fence and its opponents often
refer to as "The Wall" in June 2002. Costing US$1.8 billion, the barrier
slices through the Occupied Territories splitting villages in two and
preventing free movement and access for Palestinians to vital services such
as schools.

On New Year's Day around 15 people were wounded as they took part in another
protest against the construction of the security fence. Two of those injured
were foreign peace activists who were taking part in the third such protest
in the West Bank village of Budrus, near Modi'in.

Some 30 protesters and one border policeman were injured.

The security fence runs along the western edge of Bodrus, cutting off some
farmers from their land. After a hundred-strong protest march, some youths
began throwing stones at soldiers who responded with a volley of tear gas
and plastic bullets. The IDF imposed a curfew on the village and carried out
house-to-house searches. Five Palestinians were arrested.

Four Israelis and four foreigners were also arrested, including Swedish
Green Party MP Gustav Fridolin, who was later freed and escorted onto a
flight to Stockholm by Swedish Embassy officials. Fridolin said that the
arresting soldiers had "manhandled" him. The other three foreigners were
Fredrik Batzler from Sweden and Americans Katherine Rafael and Kimberly
Gray.

Many of those arrested are activists with the International Solidarity
Movement, which has been targeted for particularly vicious treatment by the
Israeli state.

In March 2003, US citizen Rachel Corrie, 23, was murdered by the IDF while
trying to stop an army bulldozer demolishing Palestinian homes in the Rafah
refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. On April 5, US citizen Brian Avery, 24, was
shot in the face in Jenin by IDF soldiers. On April 11, British citizen Tom
Hurndall was a shot in the head while helping Palestinian children flee the
scene of IDF gunfire in the Rafah. He has been in a coma ever since and is
expected to die. It was only this month that an IDF soldier admitted to
shooting Hurndall, claiming it was a deterrence shot.

Since the start of the Palestinian intifada, the Israeli military police
have opened only 72 inquiries, and only 13 prosecutions have resulted from
these.

In another expression of the hard-line stance being taken against internal
opponents of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, on July 4 the
military court in Jaffa imposed one-year prison sentences on five
conscientious objectors who refused to enlist in the IDF. This is the first
time since 1981 that conscripts have been tried in a military court for
refusing to serve in the armed forces on grounds of conscience.

Haggai Matar, Matan Kaminer, Shimri Zameret, Adam Maor and Noam Bahat are
high school students who signed a letter almost two years ago refusing to
enlist in the IDF as long as it continued to function as an occupying army.

They were put in trial for nine months before being convicted of gross
insubordination for refusing to obey an order. The three judges denounced
the five conscientious objectors as draft dodgers who were giving Israel a
bad name during a period of conflict that demanded national unity. The 14
months that the protesters have already served in detention will not be
deducted from their sentences. One of the judges had recommended harsher
sentences of up to 22 months. Draft-dodging bears a maximum penalty of three
years in jail.

The court ruled that the objectors' freedom to follow their conscience must
be balanced against its impact on national security. The court also insisted
that as the five acted as a group with the explicit goal of bringing about a
change in Israeli policy, their action was not conscientious objection but
civil disobedience.

Most significantly the judges ruled that the sentences were meant to serve
as a warning to others, especially in light of the recent spate of elite
reservists refusing to serve in the territories. The military prosecutor
added that the sentence was "significant for the State of Israel" and would
force the five to "understand the error of their delinquent ways."

Hundreds of soldiers have refused to serve in the West Bank and Gaza,
including recently 13 members of the elite Sayeret Matkal unit. A group of
27 Israeli Air Force pilots also issued a letter last September declaring
their refusal to take part in military operations in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip. Far more are evading the draft by citing medical reasons or religious
objections. Hence, the determination of the courts to make an example of
five young students, when dissenters more typically face a month or so in
detention.

The five young men refused to be intimidated. Shimri Tzameret predicted,
"Ethical people will follow in our footsteps. The coming months will see
other conscientious objectors like us undergoing this process."