Viewpoint Israeli soldiers attack Palestinian
fishermen
By NEVE GORDON
In addition to plundering Spanish
ships, the Elizabethan sea dogs used to engage in what today would be termed
state-sponsored terrorism. In Mercenaries, Pirates, and Sovereigns,
Janice Thomson says that sea dogs such as Francis Drake extorted large ransoms
from Spanish colonial cities by wielding the threat to destroy them if they
failed to pay up.
The sea dogs were virtually indistinguishable from other pirates,
except they were acting under the auspices of the crown. The queen orchestrated
their so-called private campaigns, and it was in large part due to these
state-sanctioned ravages that, by the late 16th century, England gained navel
superiority over Spain.
One would have thought that after 400 years this anachronistic
practice of employing ships to terrorize a population would have disappeared.
But even today pirates continue to sail the seas.
In Palestinian waters off the Gaza Strip coast, Israeli soldiers
in large military boats harass fishermen far away from CNN cameras and the
publics eye. For years, soldiers have been shooting arbitrarily at
Palestinian fishermen, trashing their property and at times injuring them. Like
Drake, who was knighted by the queen, they too are acting in the service of the
state, while mocking the rule of law.
I first learned about these modern-day pirates during a recent
trip to Gaza with family member Rivca Gordon. A member of the Gaza Team for
Human Rights, she had invited some members of the Israeli Knesset to meet a
group of about 35 fishermen, and I tagged along.
Khalil Mahmud Bardwail was the first to speak. He described how on
April 10, 1999, he had left the Han Yunis dock in his fishing boat together
with 13 other men. It was around 6 a.m., he said, adding that they
had set out to catch sardines.
When we were about three kilometers from the shore, an
Israeli military boat approached us. All of a sudden the soldiers began
shooting in our direction. We yelled at them to stop, and offered to show them
our fishing license. The soldiers ignored us and continued to shoot. One of our
men was wounded. There was blood. It was frightening.
We tried to get
the boat back to the beach, but it had been severely damaged -- afterward I
counted over 400 bullet holes -- and the military vessel blocked our way.
Finally, the soldiers backed off and allowed another boat to come and take the
injured fisherman to the shore.
Bardwail paused for a moment and then said: Over a year has
passed; the man cannot move his right hand and walks with a limp. My fishing
net was totally ruined, and I had to spend a fortune repairing the boat. By the
time it was fixed, the sardine season was over.
According to Gordon, each fisherman on Bardwails boat is
responsible for the livelihood of about 10 people -- when the boat was grounded
approximately 240 people suffered from that one attack.
Abed el-Rahman Alwan recounted how, on May 27, 1998, soldiers had
captured his boat and beat the crew. His 18-year-old son was traumatized by the
event and until this day can neither work nor study.
Gordon said she had filed complaints in January with the head of
Israels navy, Gen. Yedidia Yeari. She had also sent copies of the
complaints to Knesset member Tamar Gozansky, who, in turn, forwarded them to
the prime ministers office. Nonetheless, as of May, five months after the
complaints were sent, soldiers were still abusing the fishermen.
The mens rough appearance, worn garments and bare feet
suggested that they were poor, very poor. As we sat listening to their horrific
tales, the resemblance between Francis Drake and the Israeli soldiers struck
me. In both cases the state uses its pawns to bully and intimidate peaceful
inhabitants. In both cases the display of superiority is but a strategy to
subjugate and control another people.
Might, and nothing else, makes right in this line of business.
Neve Gordon teaches in the Department of Politics and
Government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He can be reached at
ngordon@bgumail.bgu.ac.il
National Catholic Reporter, September 1,
2000
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