Preparing for the Inevitable
By Andre Dabdoub
The US-led war on Iraq is coming very soon, with or without a UN resolution, and in spite of all international efforts to seek a peaceful resolution. Thousands of soldiers—with all possible military arsenal and advanced weapons—have already been deployed in the Gulf area and are ready for the green light. For months now, plans have been made to study the strategy of the war, its consequences, and the way to handle post-war Iraqi regime.
Similarly, people in the region are also preparing for the war to protect themselves from possible chemical and biological attacks they believe that Iraq might launch on neighboring countries in the wake of the first raids it would sustain. Yet, the precautions taken also include the fear of possible attacks by conventional Iraqi warheads similar to the Scud missiles launched during the first Gulf war back in 1991.
The one Iraqi enemy country that will most likely be directly affected by such claimed conventional, and non-conventional attacks, is Israel. The Palestinians in the West Bank occupied territories will also be affected especially in the absence of “clever” Iraqi missiles that would differentiate foes from non-foes.
Israel has already prepared its citizens for the war, both on the ground and
on the psychological levels, convincing them that Iraq does have biological and
chemical weapons, which it will almost certainly use against Israel.
On the ground, there have been calls in all Israeli media outlets for all the
Israeli citizens to exchange their first Gulf war masks with new ones.
The Israeli Ministry of Health has also urged the citizens to get immunity shots
against Anthrax and Small Pox—two possible main infections that could be caused
if truly a biological warfare erupts.
In addition, the Israeli Ministry of Civil Defense has called on all citizens to
transform one room—preferably with access to a toilet—in each apartment into a
shelter. These shelters need to be hermetically sealed—with nylon—and stocked
with bottled water, food, medicine, emergency light, radios, and
batteries—enough to serve for a few hours of continuous lockup.
In other cases, where such a possibility is unfeasible, citizens went out to buy
specially designed plastic tents with an area measuring 9 square meters and a
height of 2 meters and that can accommodate 3 people for a continuous period of
six hours. The tent is also equipped with a special battery operated air filter.
It has been estimated that an average family of 5 people could spend up to
25,000 Shekels (US$5,000) in preparing for the war.
Israeli fire brigades and paramedics, as well as the army, have also been trained to deal with cases of a presumed biological and chemical contamination; and all hospitals are equipped with the necessary equipment and medicine to treat cases of such contamination. Israeli Patriot missiles have been tested and proven effective in their counter attacks against any possible attack, and the early warning systems are functional and ready.
Furthermore, the Israeli Education Ministry has conducted comprehensive
training for the evacuation of students in schools in the event of a possible
Iraqi attack. Similar training has been conducted by the Israeli Civil Defense
in other large community public and private buildings.
On the psychological level, the Israeli government has been trying to calm its
citizens through declaring the war to be “short and intense” to the extent that
Iraqi arsenal will be destroyed before it [Iraq] could even think of launching a
counter attack offensive, even against Israel. Yet, precautions against alleged
Iraqi chemical and biological attacks are necessary.
Alas, and with all these preparations and precautionary measures, there has been
news that many Israelis have already made hotel bookings abroad especially in
Cyprus and Greece. Airline ticket reservations have also increased in Israel
with destinations to Europe and the USA. Also, and because Israelis feel that
Iraq would not attack Arab populated areas in the West Bank, many of them have
made plans to move to settlements in the West Bank or to Israeli cities adjacent
to the dividing line between Israel and the West Bank.
In contrast, Palestinians fear nothing from the coming war—a la guerre comme
a la guerre—although preparations for the war have been under way in most
Palestinian cities and even though they do not believe that Iraq possesses
either chemical or biological weapons.
Though there has been a call by the International Red Cross for Israel to
distribute gas masks to Palestinians, no one so far has confirmed the consent of
Israel to do so. Nor has any international humanitarian agency taken the
initiative to bring in gas masks to be distributed to Palestinians. Israel has
publicly but unofficially declared that it has made plans to distribute some
7000 masks only to Palestinians living in zone “C” (Israeli-controlled) in the
West Bank.
Even with or without gas masks, the deteriorating economy in the occupied West
Bank prevents most Palestinian families from stocking up food, bottled water, or
even medicine, in hermetically sealed rooms. Palestinians can hardly manage
their day-to-day staple food and other necessities.
When made possible, the sealed rooms in Palestinian homes would not
accommodate most Palestinian families because of the small size of the rooms in
comparison to the size of the average Palestinian family. The Israeli army
however will definitely hermetically seal the West Bank and impose prolonged
periods of house arrests and curfews on over three million Palestinian in the
occupied Palestinian cities—something that they have been doing for over a year
now even in the absence of war.
To add insult to injury, none of the Palestinian institutions (schools, office
buildings, public buildings, etc.) is equipped with the proper infrastructure to
absorb a panicky crowd. Let alone the absence of any trained staff, be it
medical or otherwise, to handle any alleged biological or chemical attack and
contamination.
Most of the Palestinians who could afford to prepare for the war have either
learned the methods to deal with the issue from their experience during the
first Gulf war in 1991, or else they follow first hand the Israeli news and
instructions Israel is addressing to its people.
Whatever the Palestinians would do, or not do, to prepare for the war in Iraq
would not be much more different from the way they are currently leading their
lives in the continuous presence of Israeli tanks roaming their streets and
Israeli American-made Apaches flying over their heads.
Note: The views of the article does not necessarily reflect the views of ICB