Page 84 - The Winter of Islam and the Spring to Come

THE WINTER OF ISLAM AND THE SPRING TO COME
82

A PHOTOGRAPH
FROM THE
ARCHIVES

The Israelis carry
out their killings
before the eyes
of the world.

The conditions faced by the Palestinians in the refugee camps and
the regions under Israeli occupation are particularly unpleasant. These
people have difficulties in meeting even their most basic human needs.
They can enjoy electricity and water only to the extent that the state of
Israel gives permission, and have to walk miles to poorly paid jobs in
order to make a living. Even journeys of just 10-15 minutes, to go to
work or visit relatives in a nearby refugee camp, are not easy for a
Palestinian. They are subjected to identity checks at frequent intervals
along the road, and to verbal and physical abuse. Sometime Israeli sol-
diers close roads for "security" reasons, and Palestinians are then un-
able to go to work, or anywhere, not even to hospital if they are ill.
As well as all this, they survive every day with the constant fear of

being killed, injured or detained. That is because the people living in
the camps are frequently subjected to armed attacks by some fanatical
Jews particularly during the night.
In his book The Israeli Connection, Benjamin Beit Hallahmi, a pro-
fessor of psychology at Israel's Haifa University, describes the situation