Operation Defensive Shield: Witnesses to Israeli War Crimes

On March 29, 2002 the Israeli army launched Operation Defensive Shield, the largest military offensive against Palestinian civillians since the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. During the operation, the military used the most advanced weaponry at its disposal: Merkava tanks, Apache attack helicopters and F-15 fighter jets. When the operation ended on April 21, Israel had destroyed the Palestinian economic and social infrastructure, leveled large swathes of residential area, killed 220 people, injured hundreds more and arrested thousands. This book documents these events through a collection of electronic witness narratives written by Palestinians who were under attack, and by Israeli and international peace activists who witnesses the results of these attacks. These narratives offer a uniquely intimate account of the daily reality for Palestinians who endured Ariel Sharon’s military strategy, and the death and destruction that strategy has caused throughout the Occupied Territories. The editors argue that Operation Defensive Shield is a prelude to Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. They provide historical context, a chronology and an analysis of the conflict that situates the horror of these days in their proper perspective.