Report from Rafah-Gaza
Report from Joe - ISM - April 4, 2003

The single largest military operation I’ve ever experienced. I can only imagine what the
people of Bagdad and Basra must feel like right now.

In the house in which I’ve been staying, the mood had already been tense and sad as it was to be our last night in this house that Laura and I had grown to love so much. Several activists were planning to leave the following day, which made it impossible to stay in all the houses to which we had commitments. This one was the newest and least threatened, so it obviously had to go. The family was virtually devastated, I think a combination of feeling like they’d done something wrong, and afraid of what may happen to them and their house without the presence of internationals.

At around 9:30pm, the phone started ringing, and a neighbor woman came over to warn us that 15 tanks and bulldozers were headed our way down the border. The family freaked out, and was completely out of the house within minutes. We tried to inquire whether they wanted us to come with them, or stay with the house, but our limited Arabic and the adrenaline of the situation made such a rational decision impossible, and we both ended up staying in the house. Within 10 minutes we began to hear and see them. There was an enormous explosion that shook the entire house and into the depths of my soul. It came from where the mosque had been destroyed a few days ago. Turns out it was a resistance-planted land mine that damaged a tank and wounded some Israeli soldiers. Bulldozers and tanks poured off of the border and into Rafah, in the Brazil area about 150 meters east of our house. Then our turn came. We saw the convoy approaching, so we grabbed our battery-powered fluor! escent strip light, large banners and the megaphone and went to the roof. We watched two huge D10 Bulldozers (like the one that killed Rachel) lead several Macarver tanks, the big kind with the huge cannons designed to take out other tanks, followed by dozens of Armored Personnel Carriers (APC), which I imagined to each be full of soldiers. They turned off the border and drove onto the street with in meters of our house. We waved the banners and shouted with the megaphone, and made our presence clear. The convoy continued passed our house and into Rafah, out of vision. It was a relief to have them pass, but also horrifying to wonder what they were going to do to the people of Rafah.

We began to hear shooting and explosions, followed by ambulance sirens. Apache Helicopters (US handouts) flew overhead and occasionally fired missiles into Rafah buildings and houses. This was especially terrifying, as one never knows where a missile will land next. The horrors of an air war.

We knew the power would be cut at any time, so we began gathering any kind of candle or gas lantern we could find in the house. They didn’t have much, so I found what I needed to make vegetable oil lamps out of wire and string. I had one made before the power went out, and then made several more. We continued to hear the sounds of machinery coming in and out of Rafah along our road and others. Sometimes APCs would park right outside our house, giving us the chance to holler at them over our megaphone. We demanded that they disobey their commanders, and let these people alone. Laura told them to go home and not return until they came in peace. She invited them to put down their guns and come drink tea. It was a nice idea, and eased the tension a little.

I did a few interviews, but tried to save my phone battery. We had no idea whether this was the beginning of whole-scale occupation, or just a slight incursion to intimidate and assassinate/arrest a few wanteds. We hopped the latter, but neither were very favorable.
We stayed awake until around 4am when we finally passed out. It had quieted down a little by then, but we could still hear machinery moving around.

It was relieving this morning to find them all gone, I half-expected to see soldiers walking around the streets enforcing 24-hour curfew or something like that. But the destruction is unnerving. They rammed a house about 200 meters west of us. I watched them do it, but no idea of the destruction it had caused. A whole wall is missing from a room that had faced the border, and much earth and sand was pushed up through the floor, ruining much furniture and large appliances. The force of the bulldozer rams shook the house to the point of breaking all windows, and knocking over dressers and cabinets, and damaging the structure of the house. I don’t know if the family is intending to try and repair it, or if they will abandon it as hundreds of others have been forced to do. Dozens of houses were damaged like this last night, but only 4 were completely destroyed. I say only as if 4 houses, more than 6 families made homeless is a small number. But the media convenient! ly only reports on the 4 destroyed (if they cover the event at all) and don’t include all the families facing massive expenses or even the equivalent of a destroyed house. The same is true for the 4 Palestinians killed. It’s a myrical that so few died in such a large incursion, but dozens were injured, which can sometimes be worse when facing insane medical expenses and/or a lifetime handicap.
But the headlines read “4 gunmen dead”, totally missing the gravity of such an event. Not to mention the terror and trauma. Can any of you even imagine having that number of hostile military machinery role through your city and past your house? These people live with this treat every day.

Lets hope that this wasn’t a rehearsal for a future massive invasion, and lets hope it wasn’t just an American war game in preparation for Bagdad. Remember this account whenever military invasion is discussed, and decide if its ever worth it.

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