Palestinians Won’t Make Clubs

Palestinian workers are refusing to make wooden clubs for Israeli troops who are beating Arab rioters in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, an Israeli newspaper said Monday.

The mass-circulation daily Yediot Aharonot said workers turned down jobs with Tel Aviv carpenter Shmariyahu Hazan, who is producing tens of thousands of clubs for the army.

“We are not stupid. We will not make clubs that our brothers will be beaten with,” the newspaper quoted a worker as saying.

Hospital and medical officials have said that hundreds of Palestinians have been injured by Israeli troops since Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin last week declared that the army would use “might, force and beatings” to put down protests that have troubled the occupied areas since early December.

The newspaper also reported that many soldiers patrolling the West Bank and Gaza were using an army manual of easy Arabic containing much-needed expressions like “Up against the wall,” “Hands up” and “Where were you last night?”