The murder of innocent Palestinians has begun to outrage Israeli conscripts, Khaled Amayrah reports from Gaza The Israeli occupation army punctuated a fortnight of killings in the occupied Palestinian territories with yet another grisly crime. The latest victim was not a suspected resistance fighter, stone-thrower, or even a political activist. Nor was he killed in the supposed "cross-fire" that Israeli army spokespeople routinely employ to make the killing of Palestinian civilians appear less sinister. Ibrahim Mahmoud Khalafallah, a 70-year-old blind wheelchair-bound grandfather, was at home asleep in the Khan Younis refugee camp, when an Israeli bulldozer pulverised his meagre dwelling crushing him to death. His 30-year-old daughter Mona recounted the story to Al-Ahram Weekly. "Around midnight, we woke up to the sound of heavy machine gun fire and the screech of bulldozers that demolished our neighbours' homes without warning. Then, one huge bulldozer moved to demolish our home, forcing us to flee, despite the risk of being killed by gunfire. We appealed to the soldiers to stop the bulldozer from destroying our home, telling them in plain Hebrew there was a wheelchair-bound old man inside. We begged them to stop it, but to no avail, and they killed him in cold blood," she said. Mona, devastated by the loss of her father, said she could not find the words to describe the experience of helplessly watching him being crushed to death. "I think criminals all over the world look like boy scouts compared to the evil state called Israel," she said. An Israeli army spokesman sought to downplay the murder of the elderly Palestinian, calling it a "regrettable incident". Similar tragedies have become an all too common occurrence in the occupied territories. Human rights groups have recorded several other incidents of Palestinian civilians crushed to death when Israeli army bulldozers demolished their homes. The same night Khalafallah was killed, the Israeli army demolished as many as thirty homes in Khan Younis, rendering more Palestinian families homeless. Demolitions have been a routine Israeli measure against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and are used mainly as collective punishment aimed at inflicting maximum psychological pain and material loss. It is believed that since the eruption of the Intifada in September 2000, the Israeli army has destroyed 6,000 Palestinian homes in addition to hundreds of large public buildings. The widespread destruction makes Gaza look like post-World War II Europe, prompting several UN officials to call for efforts similar to the Marshall Plan to rebuild and rehabilitate the occupied territories. Some conscientious Israeli soldiers have chosen to go to prison rather than enforce the barbaric Israeli policies in the West Bank. One such soldier is Chaem Fildman, who has refused to join his reserve unit in the West Bank, citing moral reasons. On Monday the Israeli press published excerpts of Fildman's letter to his army superior in which he articulated the reasons for his refusal. "I have no intention to wear the uniform of the organisation called the Israeli Defence Force because it fires artillery shells on innocent civilians, including women and children. It is an organisation that erects racist walls that separate people from their livelihood, farms, groves and graveyards... It is an organisation that defends fascist settlers who routinely violate the law and uproot the olive trees of their neighbours... I am not willing to join such a criminal organisation," Fildman said.
