Apartheid unmasked

Apartheid unmasked

Israel has provided its citizens with gas masks against a possible Iraqi
attack, but none to its 3.5 million Palestinian inhabitants. Talal
Jabari reports from the West Bank

An elderly Israeli couple leaves the Malcha Mall in Jerusalem carrying
some shopping bags and two small cardboard boxes with black rubber
straps. They have just been to the gas mask distribution centre in the
mall's basement to pick up their kits.
Israelis have been visiting malls and other centres across the
country over the past few months to pick up these kits. Their government
has been warning them of an impending war since last November.
A typical Israeli kit consists of a gas mask with filter and flask,
various powders to counter the effects of poisonous gases, and atropine
shots. But as Israeli Home Front Command officers hand out the few
remaining kits, and Defence Ministry officials debate the development of
new gas masks, the Palestinians have been left unprotected.
During the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq launched 39 Scud missiles with
conventional warheads against Israeli cities; Israelis had been equipped
with gas mask kits back then too. Some kits were also distributed to
Palestinians, but much of this equipment was past its expiry date.
Back in 1991, there was no peace deal between Israelis and
Palestinians, and no Palestinian Authority. The Israeli military -- in
control of the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip, and recognised
internationally as an occupying force -- had a duty to provide
protection for the population under its control.
After the Oslo Accords, the occupied territories were divided into
various areas: Area "A" came under full Palestinian control, Area "B"
under Palestinian civil control but Israeli military control, and Area
"C" under full Israeli control.
For over a year now, the Israeli Army has been carrying out military
campaigns in the West Bank that have left the infrastructure of the
Palestinian Authority in tatters, and the Israeli Army is once again in
de facto control of the entire West Bank.
Now, with perhaps only a few days to go before another Gulf War,
both sides are either unwilling or unable to protect the 3.5 million
Palestinians against a potential chemical or biological attack.
"The Palestinian Ministry of Health doesn't believe there is a
possibility that Saddam [Hussein] would use such weapons because they
don't believe he has them," said Dr Peter Qumri, director of Hussein
Hospital in Bethlehem.
Dr Qumri was responsible for Palestinian preparations during the
last Gulf War, and admits that neither his hospital -- one of the
biggest Palestinian government hospitals -- nor any others are prepared.
They lack even an adequate supply of atropine, the antidote for mild
nerve agents.
Dr Qumri feels helpless. "We hope and pray that nothing bad
happens."
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), provider of
medical assistance in the Palestinian territories, is just as unprepared
as the Palestinian Authority. Says ICRC spokesperson Ronald Ofteringer
in Jerusalem, "we will closely follow the situation and react
accordingly."
The Israeli government is trying to avoid scare tactics that would
alarm the entire Israeli population. Officials say the chances of Saddam
Hussein using weapons of mass destruction are lower than 12 years ago.
That has not stopped them from taking precautions. They have distributed
the gas mask kits and told their citizens to prepare sealed rooms in
case of an attack.
After all, some are worried about what Saddam Hussein might do when
cornered.
Most Palestinians, however, agree with the assessment that Iraq will
not launch non-conventional weapons. And despite United States Secretary
of State Colin Powell's speech last Wednesday to the United Nations
Security Council, the majority of Palestinians continue to firmly
believe that Iraq does not possess weapons of mass destruction.
"At this moment I don't think Iraq has anything," said Amanda
Shatara, a resident of Ramallah. Her brother-in-law Khalil is more
certain. "We know well that Iraq does not have anything."
The Shataras, like most Palestinians, have not made any special war
preparations. They have not received gas masks nor have they sealed a
room. But the virtual Israeli reoccupation of Area "A" and the curfews
lasting days on end means that most families are used to stockpiling
flour, sugar and other basic commodities.
They say these regular curfew preparations are also war preparations
because they expect the Israeli Army to impose long- term curfews in the
event of another Gulf War, fearing attacks against Israeli targets by
armed Palestinians or suicide bombers.
Although most agree it is highly unlikely that Iraq would target
areas near Palestinian population centres, the Israeli coastal cities
are a mere 15 miles away from the West Bank cities of Tulkarm and
Qalqilya downstream of the jet stream, meaning the chemicals would be
carried by the prevailing winds.
However, the Palestinian Authority maintains the stance that
citizens will not be provided with protective kits similar to those
issued to their Israeli counterparts. Sources in the Ministry of Health
have said they know, for certain, there is no risk of an attack using
weapons of mass destruction.
Meanwhile, an Israeli military source says that there are plans in
the pipeline to supply gas mask kits to around 60,000 Palestinians
living in Area "C", and possibly to the entire Palestinian population
"at the time when there are specific alerts of missiles falling on
Israel".
With only a 6-minute warning between the launching of missiles in
Iraq and their landing in Israel, they might not have enough time to get
masks to all in the danger zone.

C a p t i o n : Israeli students with gas masks on their faces show the
v-sign as they pose for the media during an exercise simulating a
chemical attack at a school in Tel-Aviv

© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved