Landmines: Palestine's hidden danger

[Aidoneus]

Landmines: Palestine's hidden danger
By Laila El-Haddad in Gaza
Saturday 10 January 2004

All over Gaza, large well-illustrated billboards sporting the UNICEF logo can be seen alongside major streets and busy intersections.

They show photos of Israeli-made bombs and mines, and carry a single in-your-face message: “Landmines and suspicious objects are a danger that threatens us all! Do not try to get near them!”

While landmines usually invoke images of places like once war-torn Angola or Afghanistan, the issue is gaining increasing prominence in the occupied Palestinian territories.

UNICEF representatives say the occupied West Bank and Gaza are littered with landmines dating back to the 1967 invasion.

--snip--

At least 23 children have been killed by landmines or UXO planted by the Israeli military in the occupied Palestinian territories since the start of the Intifada in September 2000.

In 2002, DCI documented 57 landmine and UXO casualties, including 13 deaths, 11 of them children; 31 of these casualties occurred in the period during and following Israeli military operations in the Jenin refugee camp in April 2002.

--snip--

Early last year in the Gaza Strip, five Palestinian children were killed when they stepped on a booby- trapped landmine. They were on their way to school in the Khan Yunis refugee camp.

Israeli officials said the booby trap was intended to prevent Palestinians from infiltrating into a neighbouring Jewish settlement.

“The problem has escalated, now it’s not only in military zones but in all Palestinian areas. We never imagined in Ram Allah there would be an explosion of unexploded munitions," said Abu Qtaish.

He was referring to an incident near the Bir al-Jadida school in Ram Allah, where three children were killed, and five others injured after stepping on a UXO.

--snip--

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/572F7C6F-802B-427E-9B8E-5A14E0D04BB4.htm

[JohnLocke]

1. Al-Jazeera isn't a reliable source.

[bluesoul]

2. So what they say about the landmines

is all untrue? What, must Jpost cover it for you to believe it? Jeezus...

[meti57b]

3. To assume something is true, I would expect to see it ....

in more than one news source. This particular topic does not seem to be in any other source of news.

I would especially expect to see it in more than one source before I believed it, if the only source it is in customarily reports only one side of the issue.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bluesoul]

5. Excellent Aidoneus!

that should be enough reading for those claiming Al Jazeera is a "non credible" source ;)

[Aidoneus]

6. hm, not pro-Israeli enough for ya?

(word or two shuffled around; send the other down the Memory Hole if you still see fit)

My sincere apologies, I don't have a membership to the Jerusalem Post to check there and I know that such is the preferred source material (behind LGF, but that's neither here nor there) with those who combined their efforts to complain about the earlier version of this reply, and I'm not sure if Arutz Sheva has picked up on any similar report.. the Internet Haganah has no interest in such material. But that is no problem, corraborating sources from other locations are not difficult to find on with just a few minutes of light effort, if one really has an interest in the subject.

http://www.icbl.org/lm/1999/palestine.html
http://www.icbl.org/lm/2000/palestine.html
http://www.icbl.org/lm/2001/palestine.html
http://www.icbl.org/lm/2002/palestine.html
http://www.icbl.org/lm/2003/palestine.html
http://www.dci-pal.org/press/2000/0014.html
http://www.dci-pal.org/press/2000/0013.html
http://www.dci-pal.org/press/2000/008.html
http://www.dci-pal.org/press/2000/00280.html
http://www.dci-pal.org/press/18jul02.html
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/cead694c4f65a41285256c14005202c5?OpenDocument

Here are just a few references, I could come up with a lot more if you'd like. These are just from sites that I'm already familiar with, not even bringing search engines into this yet..

I would appreciate it if you go through the original piece and point out any incorrect statements, and document the actual truth of any incorrect claims that it contains. Are there any specific objections that you had in mind, or was it just too much effort to research the matter in advance, and shooting off some shallow knee-jerk reply such as the above was instead preferential?

This limited subject leaves out the thousands of mines that the Israeli occupation forces left lying around in South Lebanon with their retreat (c.130,000 remaining out of tens of thousands--hundreds of thousands?--more planted originally by the Israeli occupation forces, this amount even after international efforts to remove these Israeli "gifts" in the past several years), which the Lebanese still regularly die from. A brief selection of materials on that, if you're interested (which I assume you're not, but I'll oblige anyway since I was going through it earlier looking for another item), is available at (among others):--
http://www.bintjbeil.com/E/mines/

[meti57b]

7. Although it doesn't come right out and say it ....

Al-Jazeera fully implies that landmines have been placed by Israel as a means of warfare.

According to the back-up sources you have provided,

"In addition to the mines that have been planted by numerous armed forces over the years, unexploded ordnance (UXO) left behind by the Israeli army following military training represent a threat to the Palestinian people."

and

"Most of the landmines were planted by the British army during the British Mandate or by the Jordanian army before the 1967 War. The purpose of planting landmines by the Jordanian army was to delay an Israeli possible military attack using tanks. Most of these minefields include anti-tank landmines are found on the sides of strategic roads that lead to the main towns of the West Bank."

Al-Jeezira seems to not have mentioned that. In addition,

"There is no definite information that the Israeli army has expanded the borders of the minefields after the occupation of the West Bank except for the main minefield east of Qalqilya.

After the occupation of the West Bank, Israel has not attempted to clean those fields although they are located in the center of the West Bank and have no military value. The exception was the removal of fences around the minefield near al-Nabi Elias village in the Qalqilya district and declaring the area as safe. A number of explosions took place since the removal of the fences that resulted in the injury of several Palestinian civilians."

Such that the landmines were for military training. Most of the landmines were put there by someone other than Israel. The source also states the landmines "have no military value", which confirms that Israel is not fighting Palestinians with landmines.

Still, I would agree that Israel should pick-up their own landmines, which indeed they may intend to do as I see a company in Israel has developed minefield shoes. However the article in Al-Jeezira is a piece of misleading rubbish and disinformation.

[JohnLocke]

8. Thanks, meti.

Appreciate it. :yourock: :yourock: