The brutal massacre of Palestinian civilians in Jenin by Israeli troops was re-enacted in a main square in Washington. Khaled Dawoud was there At 6.30pm sharp on Saturday nearly 100 activists, mostly young Americans, had set up their stage on Dupont Circle, the main square in one of the very few lively neighbourhoods in Washington DC. A few activists at the entrance to the square were carrying two big signs which read: "Jenin Refugee Camp. Occupied Palestine". Other signs bore slogans asking the United States government to refuse Israel's request for $14 billion in further aid, saying this money would mainly go to fund occupation and kill Palestinians. The activists were equipped with Apache helicopters, tanks and enormous D-9 bulldozers -- which are specially made for Israel by Caterpillar Tractor Corporation of Illinois. None of the hardware was real, of course, but the fruits of labour by the activists, who spent many hours cutting out cardboard to put together mock-ups of deadly weapons "Made in USA". This particular piece of information was emblazoned on each tank, helicopter and bulldozer, together with an equally important reminder: "Brought to you by American taxpayers' money." A few cardboard houses were also erected in the middle of the square to complete the setting for the re-enactment of the massacre of Jenin. One activist, playing the role of marshal, shouted orders through a megaphone, directing the crowd to divide into two groups, the Israelis and the Palestinians. Being all pro-Palestinian activists, a few reluctantly agreed to be on the side of the "bad guys". The "Israelis" were given helmets and camouflage jackets. "Palestinians" were given kuffiyas and a piece of paper assigning each of them a role: "Palestinian Child", "Palestinian Mother" and "Palestinian Father". The marshal finally gave the go-ahead and Israeli tanks and soldiers surrounded the refugee camp. Upon entering the camp, they opened fire on the "Palestinians" who retaliated by throwing rocks made of foil. A sound system provided a backing track of Apache helicopters screaming through the sky and tank shells exploding. When all those who tried to resist incoming troops were "killed", tanks and Caterpillar D-9 bulldozers then moved in to destroy the houses, burying their residents alive beneath the rubble. "For nine days, the Jenin camp became a slaughterhouse," said one activist, who was telling the story of Jenin camp while action was taking place on the ground. "Thousands of terrified civilians, women and children cowered inside their homes while Israeli helicopters dropped rockets and tanks fired shells into the camp," she added. Re-enacting the refusal of the Israeli Army to allow Red Cross workers access to the camp for 11 days during the massacre, activists dressed in Red Cross uniforms struggled with the "Israeli" soldiers in Dupont Circle. By this time a few dozen passersby had stopped to watch a scene which is rarely mentioned in the mainstream media, but which represents the daily harsh, ugly reality for Palestinians living under occupation. When the act was over, participants repeatedly chanted: "Not a penny, not a dime, Israel out of Palestine", and "Occupation is a crime, Israel out of Palestine". The group of activists belong to a group called SUSTAIN, which stands for "Stop US Tax-Funded Aid to Israel Now". They started their activity some months after the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, and many of them personally visited the occupied Palestinian territories as part of the International Solidarity Movement. This movement includes activists from all over the world, but mainly Europe and the US. Members of the Solidarity Movement seek to provide protection for the Palestinian people under occupation as well as acting as eyewitnesses to the daily atrocities committed by Israeli troops. SUSTAIN members have no main office or regular meeting place, and their main source of funding comes from personal donations and the sale T-shirts, which bear the slogan "We Are All Palestinians". The significance of this group is the manner in which they choose to convey their message to a largely misinformed US public, i.e. by making clear that their taxes are used to fund the violation of human rights by Israeli troops in the occupied Palestinian territories. "Americans are not educated about the conflict in Palestine, and the media does not pay much attention," said Ebie Dupont, a member of SUSTAIN. "So we thought the best way to make people connect with the situation there, was to point out that their tax money is funding Israel's occupation and the terrorisation of Palestinians." Among SUSTAIN's other activities is a campaign against Caterpillar to pressurise the huge corporation into refraining from selling bulldozers to Israel -- these very machines are used to destroy Palestinian dwellings. Over 9,000 Palestinian homes and 80,000 acres of olive groves have been destroyed by Israeli bulldozers since occupation began in 1967, according to a statement by the group. Members of the group even gate-crashed one of the company's board meetings a few months ago and handed members a "citizens' arrest warrant" for supplying Israel with the deadly bulldozers. Matt Bowles, who played the marshal's role in the Jenin re-enactment, said one of the reasons for his group targeting the company is the fact that it is one of the most vulnerable. "Most of the company's production is commercial. If we get support from the Arab world, with construction companies there threatening to boycott Caterpillar, that would definitely be significant, especially considering that Caterpillar sells more bulldozers to the Arab world than to Israel." He added that the company's supply of these bulldozers to Israel is tantamount to war crime and in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits collective punishment of civilians or the destruction of the properties of those living under occupation. Penny Howard, a SUSTAIN activist from Baltimore, said that, unlike many members of the group, she did not go to Palestine. "But I have been reading up on it, and I believe that it would be much better for the American government to spend the $5 billion it gives to Israel each year on improving our economy instead of funding occupation and human rights atrocities," she told Al-Ahram Weekly. Rafeef Ziadeh, SUSTAIN's media coordinator, who also lost members of her family in the Sabra and Shatilla massacre conducted by Israel in Lebanon in 1982, said one reason for holding their protest at this particular time was the possible upcoming US war against Iraq. "We try to link the two together, and warn that when war breaks out in Iraq, [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon might make use of this chance to expel Palestinians to neighbouring countries."
