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During the invasion of Occupied Territories and the siege upon
innocent Palestinian lives,
the
Israeli Occupation forces have demolished several Palestinian towns,
Nablus being
one
of the major cities.
Nablus is a Canaanites city founded in Palestine in 2500 B.C. and
mentioned in reports of
Thutmose III. Nablus’ biblical name is Shechem. Nablus was rebuilt
as an Arab city upon
the
ruins of a Roman city in 1202 and is known as ‘Little Damascus’; due
to it’s cultural and
trade routes. The archeological sites of Nablus are abundant,
including the Old City with its
ancient Turkish baths, millennium old soap factories, Al Kabeer
Mosque and many original
ancient
Shops. Joseph’s Tomb where the Prophet Joseph is reportedly buried
has a Greek
Orthodox monastery on its site. Nearby is Jacob’s Well from which
Prophet Jacob dug to
obtain water for his followers and flocks upon his return from
Mesopotamia and the site
where Jesus met the Samaritan woman who offered him a drink of
water.
Today, much of the ancient stonework, factories and shops are gone.
The Israeli
Occupation’s siege upon the city has destroyed infrastructure,
schools, homes, municipal
buildings and databases, historical sites and of course human life.
On the night of April 3,
2002
hundreds of Israeli Occupation tanks, armored vehicles and
bulldozers entered the
city
of Nablus to form 3 axes, west, south and east and began one of the
darkest chapters
in
Nablus history.
Water- 70% of the water network destroyed
Electricity- 80% of low-tension network destroyed
50% of high-tension network
destroyed
Sewerage- 60-70% of the main sewerage and wastewater networks
Destroyed
Streets- 60% of city streets destroyed
80% of sidewalks damaged
25
municipal vehicles have been damaged, along with City Hall. Al-Kadra
Mosque, 1000
years old, has been 85% destroyed, Al-Kabeer and Al-Satoon Mosques,
which are 1600
years of age, have been damaged. The Greek Orthodox Church, 400
years old is nearly
half
way demolished. 300 homes destroyed amongst them 60 historical
homes dating
from
1500-1940 A.D. Al Shefaa Turkish bath, which is 400 years old, was
hit by three
rockets, 50% destroyed. Al-Fatimeya School, which is over 400 years
old was one third
demolished. Ancient soap factories, Roman water sources, the old
market, museums and
most
of the historical sites have been destroyed by the Israeli
Occupation siege. The
destruction lists have been taken from press releases of the
Municipality of Nablus.
Incalculable damage to schools, databases, libraries, museums,
banks, businesses, and
of course homes has to be repaired before normal
daily life can go on.
Bulldozed homes have resulted in loss of life and property. 3
families from the Shuabi clan
have lost lives. Mahmoud Shuabi commented,”
If Jews had been killed in this fashion, the
world would have been turned upside down. But because the victims
are Palestinian, the
world is silent. The murder of my family under the rubble of their
home and the way that
the world handled this ugly crime only proves once
again that only God will help us.”
Dynamited homes which collapsed also damaged surrounding homes and
businesses.
The
seven-story Hindiya building overlooking Balata Refugee Camp
collapsed over a local
car
dealership, destroying 24 brand new Subaru cars for sale. The
Haddadin market, one
of
Nablus’ most famous souqs has been erased from existence along with
the Fatimiya
Prep
School for Girls and the Ras Al Ein Kindergarten by rampaging
Israeli troops. The
Okasha family lost it’s matriarch and 3 young family members died
when a missile from a
helicopter hit their home in the Old City of Nablus on the first day
of the invasion.
On
the 5th day of the invasion the Al-Kabeer Mosque was
turned into a ‘field hospital’ for
the
International Red Cross/Red Crescent. Foreign journalists were
greeted by the smell of
decaying bodies in the mosque and streets, which were unable to be
approached and
treated by the international health services.
During the attack of Emperor Napoleon upon Nablus, the citizens of
Nablus defended
themselves and defeated Napoleon’s army by rolling down upon them
burning bales of hay.
This
time however, the citizens of Nablus were attacked and destroyed by
the aggression
of
the Israeli Occupation Authority and the hi-tech weaponry provided
to the Israeli’s through
billions of dollars in foreign aid.
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