Arafat Accuses Israel of Tattooing Numbers on Prisoners' Arms

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, March 12, 2002

Arafat Accuses Israel of Tattooing Numbers on Prisoners' Arms

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday accused Israeli troops of tattooing numbers on the arms of dozens of Palestinian prisoners in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday accused Israeli troops of tattooing numbers on the arms of dozens of Palestinian prisoners in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank.

In an interview with the Abu Dhabi-based Gulf Arab satellite TV channel in the day, Arafat described the action as "the same the Nazi was doing against the Jews in Europe."

"Did you see what the Israeli soldiers put on the arms of the Palestinian prisoners in Tulkarem? They tattooed numbers on their arms. Is it the same thing the Nazi did against Jews?" said Arafat.

Sources from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed that Israeli troops tattooed numbers on the arms of several Palestinians arrested in the past few days in an Israeli detention camp near Tulkarem.

"What else do they (Israelis) have to say? Isn't this a racism and a new Nazism?" said Arafat in the interview.

However, Israel Radio quoted an Israeli army spokesman as saying that the Israeli army was using color pens in writing numbers on the hands of the prisoners, and noting that those colored numbers can be easily erased.

The action was taken "to organize the prisoners," said the spokesman, adding that "it is ridiculous to compare what the Nazi did to the Jews with what the Israeli troops are doing in the territories."

"The Israeli army's regulations are to respect the values of human rights," the spokesman said.

Several Israeli Knesset (parliament) members have voiced resentment for the action and called upon the Israeli army chief to stop the action as soon as possible, said the radio.

Palestinian sources said that Israeli troops forced Palestinian prisoners at the Ofra detention camp near the West Bank city of Ramallah to sign on documents considering them as "prisoners of war."

In response, the Israeli army spokesman said that it was an administrative mistake and Israel has no intentions to consider Palestinian prisoners "as prisoners of war."

During raids on several Palestinian refugee camps, Israeli troops arrested hundreds of Palestinians aged between 15 and 50, and put them into several detention camps in the West Bank.

Questions?Comments? Click here