[Peace] Fwd:[ANSWER]: EYEWITNESS RAMALLAH: A whole people imprisoned

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EYEWITNESS RAMALLAH
Palestine: A whole people imprisoned
-Report from Wednesday, May 22-

A fact-finding delegation dispatched to the West Bank and  Gaza that includes legal and public health experts and 
human rights activists is investigating the conditions of 
the Palestinian people living under harsh Israeli 
occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. The delegation was  organized by the International A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition - - 
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism. The delegation will 
prepare a report describing its findings in the coming 
weeks. Below is their initial dispatch from Ramallah.

REPORT FROM RAMALLAH, WEST BANK

*Still Under Siege*

Contrary to U.S. media reports that Israeli Defense Forces  (IDF) have withdrawn from the main cities in the West 
Bank, the IDF have merely stepped back to the city 
perimeters and have blockaded West Bank cities and 
villages, leaving Palestinians in a continued state of 
siege.

The mainstream media, however, has largely withdrawn from  the area despite the escalating harsh conditions of 
existence and human rights violations imposed by the 
Israeli military on Palestinian civilians through the 
continued occupation. Meanwhile, the Israeli military has  reinforced its encirclement of the eight major cities of 
the West Bank - - Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus, Jenin, 
Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Jericho and Hebron - - which now exist  as isolated ghettos. Tanks rest poised on the perimeter of  Ramallah, apparently ready to attack on a moment?s notice.

Today, the A.N.S.W.E.R. delegation observed new evidence  of siege and blockade in Ramallah. New barbed wire and 
cement block barriers have been erected around the 
perimeter of the city, preventing the movement of 
residents and the shipment of goods. The blockading 
perimeter is broken by a very few number of watch towers  and guard posts, at which passage is arbitrarily allowed  or denied by the Israelis. It requires hours, or even 
days, simply to traverse a few miles. When the delegation  arrived in the early morning at the Kalandia checkpoint, 
the only entry into Ramallah from East Jerusalem, there  were already hundreds of Palestinians stopped in the 
queue.

Access through and about the area for Jewish Israelis is  facilitated by a system of separate roads. Vehicles with  Israeli plates - - even large trucks - - speed through 
checkpoints without delay or inspection.

The delegation received information and recorded testimony  attesting to the devastating personal and financial impact  that these virtual lock down conditions and Israeli 
imposed restrictions on movement have on the Palestinian  people. Residents are barred from leaving their town 
without a permit. Adult children are unable to check on 
and assist their parents living only a few miles away. 

The complete information and testimony will be presented  in the delegation?s final report.

*Thousands of Innocent Detainees Held in Unconscionable  Conditions*

The A.N.S.W.E.R. delegation met with attorneys who had 
minutes before just completed the first inspection of 
conditions at Camp Ofer, the makeshift Israeli detention  center which holds approximately 900 Palestinian men 
rounded up during the mass arrests conducted as part of  the Israeli invasion of the West Bank. This inspection 
visit ? on May 22nd ? was the first allowed since the 
arrests, dating back to March 29th, took place. Detention  Camp Ofer is located outside of Ramallah in a closed 
military area.

The attorneys, who work with Addameer, the Palestinian  Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association, report  that conditions in the camp fail to meet minimum standards  for health, h