2006-05-24
Dear friends,
Crushed by Gate of Occupation
Today it was Ramallah's turn. At around 3PM, right when schools were letting out and kids were heading home, an undercover unit of the Israeli occupation forces entered the city center. They were identified and Palestinians attacked the car. Details are still shady but it seems that the Israeli soldiers entered a commercial building (the Lou Lou Building) in the center of the city to arrest some Palestinians.
A clash ensued and about 12 Israeli armored vehicles and 2 Apache helicopter gunships entered to back up the undercover soldiers. Heavy gun fighting could be heard for over an hour as parents rush to pick up their children and get out of the cross-fire. Not all did. Reports have it that an 11th grader from the Friends School, my daughters' school, was seriously injured while on his way home. 3 Palestinians were killed and over 35 wounded. These are all initial reports.
Who knows what will happen tomorrow morning as we go bury our dead?
In the meantime, I just finished an article about another Palestinian death - one that has stuck with me since learning about it. The story is in the attached in a Word file. I preferred to send as an attachment to maintain the formatting.
In light of all this, the US Congress is baking in pride about passing a bill that puts further pressure on the Palestinians -- as if we will disappear because some Congresspersons jump to Israeli demands. Where are the American people? Better yet, where are the Israeli people?
Wishing the injured a speedy recovery, Sam
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