international press center

=20

`Leave the = house now -=20 bulldozers are outside'

By = Amira = Hass

Monday, January = 14,=20 2002

RAFAH - At = 2 A.M. on=20 Thursday, January 10, Abu Ahmed was roused by knocking on = his front=20 door. A few seconds went by before the groggy father of = five,=20 grasped that the sound wasn't rainfall dropping on his = asbestos=20 roof; instead, people were standing outside, yelling = something. He=20 opened the door, and found himself facing a few young people = whose=20 job is to protect the neighborhood - the "O" block in = Rafah's=20 western refugee camp in Gaza, which straddles the Egyptian = border.=20

"Get = out of the=20 house right now," they shouted. "The Jews are coming to = demolish it.=20 There are bulldozers outside."

On Abu=20 Ahmed's reckoning, no more than five minutes passed between = the=20 moment he was awakened, and the crash of a bulldozer against = one of=20 the walls in his house.

After=20 receiving the sudden warning, Abu Ahmed grabbed his three = little=20 children, aged between two to four, and asked his wife Sahba = to get=20 the other two, aged seven and nine; all dressed in pajamas, = they=20 fled into the street.

"It = wasn't like=20 waking up children when it's time to go to school," Abu = Ahmed=20 related yesterday. "We grabbed them, and pulled them away=20 immediately. They were half asleep."

One of Abu Ahmed's brothers, who lives in the = same=20 building, ran outside while holding his two young twins in = his arms.=20 He couldn't carry a third child, a daughter, as well. When = he=20 returned to the building, after leaving the two outside, the = bulldozer had already razed a wall in a room next to where = she was=20 sleeping, the brother says.

Within=20 three hours before dawn last Thursday, three to five IDF = bulldozers=20 demolished 58 homes in Rafah in which 102 families, and some = 700=20 residents, lived. Fleeing in the cold night, residents of = the camp=20 didn't take a close look at the IDF hardware that was = destroying=20 their neighborhood - some said three bulldozers did the job; = others=20 say there were five.

Some = reported=20 hearing gunfire around 10 P.M., thinking these were routine = shots=20 fired by IDF men in armed personnel carriers who patrol up = and down=20 the border fence. Others claim there was no gunfire, saying = that=20 their neighbors were confused by the noise of the bulldozers = crunching up walls.

Hassan = a-Najar,=20 an accountant with the Red Crescent organization, was = awakened by=20 the sound of the bulldozers. His house was soon partly = demolished:=20 Its kitchen was destroyed, along with a bathroom, three = bedrooms,=20 and an asbestos rooftop. Rain later entered the rooms which = remained=20 intact; mattresses and furnishings are soaking wet.=20

Members of a-Najar's family = stare at=20 the rubble in their home, rubbing their eyes in disbelief. = A-Najar=20 labored for 20 years in Egypt so that he could expand the = small home=20 in which his parents and grandparents had dwelt. His story = is=20 similar to that of many in the neighborhood: The bare = concrete homes=20 were built and expanded thanks to savings accumulated by = family=20 members who labored outside the area, many in Israel.=20

All residents of the = neighborhood=20 fled for nearby streets when the bulldozers came. Residents = of=20 buildings that weren't demolished also left their homes - = who knew=20 which houses would be destroyed, and which would be left = standing?=20 Early in the morning, people returned to view the rubble = into which=20 their houses were now condensed. There were disfigured iron = doors,=20 broken concrete, shattered asbestos rooftops, overturned, = broken=20 chairs and desks. Immediately after the IDF demolition work = was=20 completed, family members could be seen poking around the = rubble.=20

Yesterday, children from = the=20 neighborhood roamed around the ruined structures, guiding=20 journalists and members of European solidarity groups. Here, = they=20 yelled, come look at a pair of shoes belonging to a = grown-up, and=20 another pair belonging to a young child; there's a bicycle = tire from=20 some kid's broken bicycle. Wet, ripped school textbooks were = there=20 to be found among the rubble as well, along with boxes of = Materna=20 baby formula, plastic olive oil containers, busted pillows, = a broken=20 radio and spilled rice.

Thursday's=20 incident was the sixth or seventh time IDF bulldozers have=20 demolished residential buildings in Rafah. This time around, = the=20 bulldozers got to the greatest number of families and = residents.=20

Having learned from the = travail=20 suffered by neighbors, most residents of the refugee camp=20 neighborhood didn't keep jewelry or cash in their homes, = explains=20 Abu Ahmed. For his part, he forgot to put on a pair of = trousers in=20 which he had stashed most of his cash. He was luckier when = it came=20 to his important personal papers and documents - neighbors = had=20 advised him to store the papers by the side of the door; and = on=20 Thursday, Abu Ahmed remembered in time to grab the case by = the door=20 where he had put the documents.

Yesterday Abu Ahmed, wearing clothes he borrowed = from=20 neighbors, spent NIS 300 and bought his children and wife = some=20 clothes, and shoes.

Some of = the=20 families whose homes were destroyed received $5,000 = donations over=20 the weekend "from Saddam Hussein," meaning the pro-Iraqi = Arab=20 Liberation Front. Up to now, Iraq has supplied $10,000 to = any family=20 which has sustained a martyr/casualty. This is the first = time the=20 Iraqis have donated money to persons who lost their homes.=20

In addition, the UN Relief = and Works=20 Agency distributed $1,000 per family, to cover rent money = for the=20 first several months, along with clothing, electricity and = other=20 expenses. The Palestinian Authority also is supposed to = provide NIS=20 8,000 to each family whose house was demolished, but local = residents=20 who suffered the last round of home demolitions, in = November, are=20 still waiting for this NIS 8,000 relief grant.=20

Furor over figures = in Rafah=20 demolition

Israel = Defense Forces=20 Southern Command head Doron Almog said yesterday that 21 = homes were=20 demolished in the pre-dawn IDF action Thursday at the Rafah = refugee=20 camp. "The number of houses was not 70 or 100," as = Palestinians have=20 claimed, the IDF major general stated.

Interviewed on Channel Two's "Meet the Press" = program,=20 Almog claimed that the demolished houses had been abandoned = during=20 the past three months. "These are houses from which persons = fired at=20 IDF troops. In the past three months, they've been used by = persons=20 who planted bombs," Almog added.

Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer does not = believe=20 that the IDF home demolition action in Rafah transgressed = orders=20 given by the political leadership. The home demolition was=20 authorized by Ben-Eliezer and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon = before the=20 bulldozers started their work. Ben-Eliezer, however, is = expected to=20 demand a detailed report from the IDF Chief of Staff = regarding the=20 activity in Rafah, and its results.

IDF sources acknowledged yesterday that the home = demolition in Rafah "photographed poorly" and created = problems for=20 Israel in the international arena.

Opposition leader MK Yossi Sarid (Meretz) = demanded=20 yesterday that Ben-Eliezer disclose immediately figures = concerning=20 the number of homes that were demolished in Rafah, and the = number of=20 people who remain homeless as a consequence of the IDF = action. Sarid=20 said: "Once again it appears that the IDF wasn't accurate = when it=20 disclosed information. Later we wonder why Israeli public = relations=20 and diplomatic efforts fail. Credibility is the most = important=20 compoment of media-information efforts." (Amos=20 Harel)