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| Israel-Palestine |
| Palestinians destroy graves in Gaza Commonwealth cemetery |
| 2004-05-10 |
| Wielding axes and shovels, Palestinian vandals desecrated a Commonwealth war cemetery in Gaza in anger over the reports of abuse of Iraqi prisoners by British and American soldiers. By the time they were chased out late Sunday, the vandals had destroyed or desecrated 32 graves, breaking the headstones of some and gluing photos of the abuse on others. The message: "We will revenge," was printed in English on a photo of a naked Iraqi prisoner tied to a leash being held by a U.S. soldier. Reports of prisoner abuse in Iraq have reverberated throughout the Arab world and further intensified anti-Western sentiment stoked by the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. Arabs were further horrified by the photos, which show naked Iraqi men in humiliating positions flanked by smiling U.S. soldiers. The desecration of the war cemetery began Sunday evening, when about 10 Palestinians, some armed with rifles, entered the neat 10-acre plot, which is surrounded by a large stone wall, said Issam Jaradeh, chief gardener of the cemetery. Jaradeh and his brothers, who live in a house bordering the plot, ran into the cemetery when they spotted the vandals and chased them off, he said Monday. By that time the vandals had already damaged the cemetery, with its perfectly aligned head stones, well-kept lawn and rows of flowers and trimmed bushes. Several gravestones were smashed, including one, presumably the final resting place of an unknown soldier that was engraved with a cross and the words: "A soldier of the Great War known unto God." Other headstones were covered with pictures of the reported abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, emblazoned with a swastika and the words "U.S.=U.K." The vandals also uprooted flowers. The British consulate in Jerusalem said it was investigating the incident. "It’s very, very worrying," said Andy Fretwell, the regional supervisor for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, an organization charged with maintaining the graves of Commonwealth fighters around the world. "It’s the first time that anything of a political nature has taken place in that cemetery." Jaradeh and his family were shocked at the desecrations. "Our religion as Muslims and our tradition as Palestinians forbid such acts," he said. Gaza was the site of several World War I battles, when the British captured the region from the Ottoman Empire. During the World War II, Gaza housed several Australian hospitals and was a base for the Australian and British air forces. The cemetery, one the eastern edge of Gaza City, holds the graves of more than 3,000 World War I Commonwealth fighters and 210 fighters from World War II, including Muslims, Jews and Christians from 17 countries. More than 200 fighters from other nations are also buried there. Jaradeh’s family has been taking care of the cemetery since it opened nearly 90 years ago. His grandfather worked there and his father, Ibrahim, retired as caretaker last year after being named a Member of the Order of the British Empire, or MBE, by Queen Elizabeth II for his years of service, Fretwell said. "This place is part of our lives and we care about it more than anyone can imagine," Jaradeh said. Before the current uprising began in September 2000, the cemetery was regularly visited by families of those killed. "We’ve always had an awful lot of respect from the local people. This why it is such a shock," Fretwell said. The vandalism was reported to the police, he said. Beyond that, there was little the commission could do, he said. "All we can really do is repair the damage ... and hopefully it doesn’t happen again," he said. |
| Posted by:TS(vice girl) |
| #5 Sounds like a case of the |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-10 8:13:17 PM |
| #4 oh, no....gentle confirmed that.. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-05-10 6:35:36 PM |
| #3 Amazing. Those incidents in Iraq are totally unrelated, and these Paleo scumbags somehow just have to seethe over it. Jaradeh and his family were shocked at the desecrations. "Our religion as Muslims and our tradition as Palestinians forbid such acts," he said. This guy has got to be joking. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-05-10 6:05:09 PM |
| #2 You know, it's strange that most Palestinians act like pigs. Maybe the prohibition on eating pork stems from a distaste for cannibalism. We should cut off all US funding, both directly and indirectly through the UN and NGOs, that goes to support these swine. If they had to work to eat, like real people, they wouldn't have time for this sort of behavior. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-05-10 5:48:18 PM |
| #1 This is an understandable echo of the widespread desecrations of Muslim graves in the US after the contractors were brutally slaughtered and their bodies defiled in Fallujah. Oh, wait, that was in an alternate universe, sorry. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H 2004-05-10 4:59:35 PM |