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BBC Transcript of "Israel's Secret Weapon" (part 1)

29 June 2003

Israel declared over the weekend that it is cutting off ties with the BBC to protest a repeat broadcast of a documentary about non-conventional weapons said to be in Israel. The program was broadcast for the first time in March in Britain, and was rerun Saturday on a BBC channel that is aired all over the world. The boycott decision was made by Israel’s public relations forum, made up of representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Foreign Ministry and the Government Press Office. It was decided that government offices won’t assist BBC producers and reporters, that Israeli officials will not give interviews to the British network, and that the Government Press Office will make it difficult for BBC employees to get press cards and work visas in Israel. Before the broadcast Saturday, Israeli officials tried to pressure the BBC to cancel the broadcast, saying that the program was biased and presented Israel as an evil dictatorship. Here is a complete transcript of the program. 

Nablus: Ras al Ain

6 May 2002


On Thursday 4 April, the Israeli forces bombarded the Al Khadra Mosque during the invasion of the West Bank town of Nablus. They were trying to enter the Old Town through the mosque and destroyed most of it. Al Khadra Mosque is one of the oldest building in Nablus, established in 1187 during the Mamluk era. 

My way to Ras al-Ain

Arjan El Fassed Nablus, Palestine 14 January 2000

While I sat there I was remembering “A Million Suns in my blood”, a poem by Tawfiq Zeyad. “They stripped me of water and oil / And the salt of bread, the shining sun
the warm sea, the taste of knowledge / And a loved one who - twenty years ago - went off / Whom I wish (if only for an instant) to embrace”. 

A sharp increase in torture, ill treatment and violence in GSS interrogations

Public Committee Against Torture in Israel 25 June 2003

On the occasion of the UN International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture tomorrow, June 26, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI) published some of its finding on torture in Israel. These findings are part of a report that will be published by PCATI in the coming weeks. 

Nablus bakery

6 May 2002


During its April invasion of Nablus between 3 April and 21 April 2002, Israeli forces shelled a bakery in the old city of Nablus. Nablus was especially hard hit, especially in its old city, which contained many buildings of cultural, religious and historic significance. Much of the destruction appears to have occurred in the fighting as a result of the use by Israeli tanks, helicopter gunships and bulldozers. 

Confronting Impunity for War Crimes: The Choice before Belgium -- and All of Us

Laurie King 27 June 2003

“Seasoned and objective analysts have been surprised and alarmed at American officials’ extreme reactions to Belgium’s recently modified universal jurisdiction law. US threats seem excessive and hysterical, especially since the new law successfully filtered out two cases lodged in the Belgian courts against US officials for alleged war crimes committed in Iraq in 1991 and 2003. Could there be any unspoken reasons for the unprecedented and impolitic arm-twisting of the Belgian government by US officials in recent weeks?” Laurie King-Irani examines the political context of recent attempts to gut Belgium’s admirable universal jurisdiction law. 

Destruction of Jenin refugee camp

24 April 2002


In the early hours of 3 April 2002, Israeli forces invaded Jenin refugee camp. By the time the Israeli forces partly withdrew and the lifting of the curfew on 18 April, 52 Palestinians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed. More than 150 homes were destroyed and more rendered homeless. On April 25, 2002, Charity Crouse visited Jenin refugee camp and witnessed the destruction. 

One thousand days, more than 3000 people killed

26 June 2003

One thousand days of violence have killed just over 3,000 people (2,398 Palestinians and 704 Israelis) and left 28,000 injured (23,150 Palestinians and 4,849 Israelis) in Israel and the Palestinian Autonomous and Occupied Territories. This is the human toll since the second Intifada started on September 29, 2000, according to figures from the Palestine Red Crescent (PRCS) and Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s equivalent of a Red Cross or Red Crescent Society. 

Israel's June 25th incursion into Rafah's Hay Salaam district

Lora Gordon Rafah, Gaza Strip 26 June 2003


“It is no longer surprising to anyone here that American citizens get treated as Palestinians. It has been clear for ages that America does not take care of its own, much less those who come from such forgotten places as Rafah. As US passport holders, we have been advised by our embassy to leave the area. It is our own fault for being there if we are injured; our country has aligned itself nicely with Israel’s new policy of disclaiming any responsibility for human life in the Gaza Strip.” Laura Gordon writes from occupied Rafah. 

The road to peace needs no map

Hasan Abu Nimah 26 June 2003


“It is true, and it must be recognised, that without immense US pressure, the Sharon government would not have endorsed the roadmap. But it is also true that by endorsing the dozen or more reservations that Israel conditioned its acceptance upon, Washington has rendered the Israeli acceptance of the roadmap meaningless. What followed from that point on has been totally futile, obstructive, even dangerously counterproductive.” Hasan Abu Nimah comments.