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Hundreds of Palestinians
Storm Hebron Prison
By Khalid Amayreh
Fearing a possible Israeli aerial bombing of the main Palestinian Authority security compound in Hebron, hundreds of Palestinians, including men, women and children, stormed the Mukata’a prison tonight, freeing scores of detainees and prisoners. PA policemen at the site attempted to prevent the angry multitude from storming the building by making a human chain at the entrance to the compound.
However, the small police force was soon overwhelmed and overpowered by hundreds of angry citizens who charged that the PA was unconcerned about their sons’ safety. “We can’t wait until a massacre takes place here if and when Israeli warplanes attack these buildings,” said one angry man. Another young man charged that Sharon and the Americans were trying to create an implosion within the Palestinian society. “They are telling Arafat he must keep all the resistance fighters behind bars, and then Sharon sends his warplanes to bomb the prisons to kill our sons and brothers.”
A high-ranking police officer in Hebron, who asked for anonymity, said he identified with the families and their just demands. “We simply can’t guarantee that Israeli warplanes wouldn’t attack the prison here, and we can’t rely on assurances from the Israelis or the Americans. If I had a son detained here, I would worry about his safety. We are facing a sinister enemy that stops at no red lines.”
Earlier today, Israeli F-16 and Apache helicopter gunships launched several air-to-ground missiles at the main security compound in Gaza where scores of Hamas and Islamic activists were being detained. Hundreds of Gazans converged on the buildings afterwards demanding that their sons be freed immediately. The PA apparently budged to the detainees’ families demands, freeing some of the detainees while the rest were transferred to safer locations.
—IAP [Islamic Association for Palestine] News, February 11, 2002
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