Israel carries out 'anti-terrorist' census in reoccupied Bethlehem

Use of census to control terror cells.

AIDA REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — “Who lives here?” asks the Israeli occupation army officer, backed up by half a dozen soldiers carrying out house-to-house searches in Bethlehem's Aida refugee camp Sunday, building up what they call an “anti-terrorist” census.
Equipped with a map of the neighbourhood, the soldiers establish a list of the sector's residents who are called on to present their identity cards to the army, which reoccupied the self-rule town early Friday after a suicide bomber from Bethlehem killed 11 in Jerusalem.

The curfew imposed since then on the town, which had just enjoyed three months free of occupation, makes the soldiers' task simpler.

The information thus gathered is scrupulously noted down on lists marked in Hebrew with the words “Chain Reaction,” the name of the military aggression that was launched to avenge Thursday's suicide blast on a packed rush hour bus in Jerusalem.

The army quit Bethlehem on Aug. 19 under a deal whereby Palestinian security forces would prevent further anti-Israeli attacks, but that understanding collapsed after last week's suicide bombing.

Israel said that in the intervening three months Bethlehem became a “terrorist sanctuary” and Israeli forces were blamed for the death of a Palestinian activist in October who was killed when the phone booth he was using exploded.
[more]