Condemn Massacre of Palestinian Refugees in Jenin
15 April 2002
The Jenin refugee camp has been the latest scene of the Israeli government's war against the Palestinian people. Jenin is a 1 square km camp in the West Bank established in 1953 with 13,000 refugees, half of whom are under 18 years of age. The camp has been heavily shelled, bulldozers have indiscriminately demolished homes with people inside them, and much of the camp's water supply and electricity have been cut off. While the exact numbers of those killed are unknown, it is clear that hundreds have been shot, executed, buried under the rubble of their homes, used as human shields, and many wounded have been left to die bleeding on the streets while ambulances have been denied access. Males aged 15 to 50 who have been unable to escape the carnage have reportedly either been arrested or killed. Horror stories continue to emerge from survivors, including that corpses have been bulldozed into mass graves and others are being removed from the area by the Israeli military. Many of the camp's residents have fled, while several thousand, mainly women and children, remain trapped in the camp.
The Israeli government's attack on Jenin camp is nothing short of a massacre. The International Federation of Iranian Refugees strongly condemns this war crime and crime against humanity of the Israeli government and Ariel Sharon. The Israeli government's attacks and the Islamists' suicide bombings and killings of innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians have pushed the Middle East to the brink of an all-out war; the responsibility for this situation, however, lies firstly with the Israeli state. Only the establishment of a Palestinian state can bring about peace and security in the Middle East and create conditions for the elimination of Islamic terrorism in the region.
The war on the Palestinian people, including refugees, must cease immediately. This can only be done with the intervention of progressive people in Israel, the Palestinian territories as well as throughout the world. IFIR calls on groups and individuals to exert pressure on the Israeli and USA governments and defend the Palestinian people and refugees. Demand:
1. An end to the Israeli government war on the Palestinian people and refugees.
2. An immediate withdrawal of Israel from all occupied territories.
3. Condemnation of the Israeli government and the prosecution of Ariel Sharon as a war criminal.
4. Condemnation of the assassination of Israeli civilians by Islamic terrorists.
5. Open borders and the right to asylum for Palestinians seeking protection.
6. A right of return for Palestinian refugees.
Send letters of protest to:
Ariel Sharon
Office of the Prime Minister
Fax: +972 2 566 4838
Email: pm@gov.il
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
Ministry of Defense
E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il
Fax: +972-3-696-27-57
Mary Robinson
Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
E-mail: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch
Fax: +41 22 917 9012
Romano Prodi
European Commission
E-mail: romano.prodi@cec.eu.int
George Bush
The White House
Email: president@whitehouse.gov
Fax: +1-202 456 2461