A protest camp in Dir-Balut village is a joint Palestinian, Israeli, and international action against the Apartheid Wall. The protest camp was created on Friday the 19th, and will stay there till next Friday, January 2nd.
The camp is located in the yard of the newly built primary school of the village of Dir Balut. The works on the new school were stoped by the occupation authorities, as the building stands on the path of the Wall, and is now due to distruction.
The Wall will circle the village from 3 directions, will seperate it from its lands and from the road to the south (the road to the east was blocked 3 years ago, and was never opened again). The inhabitants will be pushed into a crowded enclave, a getto, together with a few nearby villages - surrownded by walls, fences, road blocks, army and settlements.
The camp is a pure grassroots activity. It was not created by any established organisation -- it is a beautifull collaboration between the local community, international volunteers, and Israeli activists.
The Israeli youth who organise the activity are a small group who work under the name "Anarachists Against the Wall". The camp has an agenda of activities -- from demonstrations, direct actions, visits to nearby villages such as Mes'ha, work with the local community and daily MAHSOM-watch (a human rights observation and presence by military checkpoints) at the closest roadblock.
Dan Shohet is a student in Tel Aviv University and a peace activist. To attend the camp, or for further information, please contact Yonatan 066-327736, or Franchesca 064-494030.
by Dan Shohet
================================
Ed. Note: During the first of two weeks' camp (till the action in Masha - their third direct action against the apartheid hall), about 1200 persons visited/participated in the camp.
See also:
English texts:
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/nov/ainfos00203.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/nov/ainfos00221.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00416.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00415.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00413.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00395.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00394.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00392.html
Portuguese, Italian, Spanish translations for some of the posts are avilable too at http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/
Monday, December 29, 2003
Sunday, December 28, 2003
Israel-Palestine, An account of the shooting of Israeli protester Gil Na'amati in the Anarchists Against The wall initiative* 28/12/03
In the early afternoon today, in the middle of a direct, nonviolent action against the Apartheid system of walls and fences in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli citizen was shot in his leg by soldiers of the Israeli army.
Gil Na'amati, whom I hadn't met until today, was on the front line of Israeli activists who went to the fence to cut it or break it down. I was a few meters behind him, watching the soldiers and helping to take care of the barrier of the road just behind the fence. 20 meters ahead of us were the soldiers, 2 or 3 military jeeps.
The rest of the protesters were 10 meters behind us, including all the Palestinian participants, who were on purpose left behind, knowing that any Palestinian presence in the nonviolent direct action, would end in a violent bloodshed, with the soldiers stopping the action in the most brutal ways there are.
Further behind us, to the east, was the Palestinian village of Mas'Ha -- where we all just came from. And further in front, behind the soldiers on the other side of the fence, were the lands of Mas'Ha, and three Israeli settlements that were built upon them, now unofficially annexed to Israel by the Apartheid wall and fence. The location of the action was a perfect example of all that is bad and racist about the separation wall/fence -- and now, that spot is also stained with the blood of an innocent young man.
We left Tel Aviv earlier in the morning, in a bus full of Israeli activists. Next to the village of Mas'Ha, we met with many Israeli and international activists, most of them coming directly from the village of Deir Balut, after staying the night in the protest camp being held there for the same reason. With them came several of Deir Balut people, including the village's mayor, in solidarity with their brothers in Mas'Ha.
After a short gathering, for the planning and coordination of the action, we met in the village center with about 100 Palestinians, and started marching towards the fence. All together, we were maybe close to 200 people.
As we reached the fence some of the Israelis and internationals went out front, trying to tear down that symbolic piece of the fence. The soldiers reacted almost immediately by shooting live bullets in the air. There was no use of tear gas, nor even a use of loud speakers to warn of shooting towards us.
None of the soldiers (or anyone else) was threatened, no violence was used by the protesters towards anyone, and the soldiers were clearly aware that there were Israelis there. Shouting and chanting in Hebrew were yelled towards them, including the chant "Refuse! Refuse!". Just a few minutes later, when the soldiers shot again, I thought it was again just shots in the air. Then I saw one of the protesters being carried back with blood covering his pants and dripping on the road. Another foreign citizen was injured in her leg, less seriously.
Some of us went backwards. Others went forwards, in spite of the shooting, and with a very effective and short effort, broke a part of the fence, opening the road to Mas'Ha land. Than all the protestors retreated to the village.
We stayed in the village for about an hour more. As we left, we heard reports from the village about military activity inside the village. Of course, the Apartheid system prevents Palestinians from crossing the fences and walls and getting out -- but does not prevents soldiers from coming in.
One of the reports was about a curfew declared there in the middle of the day. A group of us had decided to go back to the village, until later in the day or next morning, to make sure the army did not come back to punish the Palestinians for direct action protest by Israelis who want peace. Another group, including friends of Gil, the Israeli who was wounded, had gone to see him in the hospital. And others went back to Deir Balut, where the protest camp is based until next Friday.
Coming home, I have heard in the media several of the lies the military spokesman office had published: that the soldiers had warned us, that they were trying to evacuate us peacefully, that they had used tear gas first, and that the protesters were violent, and that the action was a "riot".
These are the exact same lies I have heard many times before, whenever the Israeli media publishes anything about the "riots" of Palestinians, or about Palestinians who were killed after "meeting the security forces". The same system that allows and encourages soldiers to commit crimes against Palestinians -- and then denies those crimes and claims they never happened -- was apparent in this case too.
Normally, this "lie and deny" policy is used after a crime towards Palestinians. But this time, after a crime towards an Israeli citizen, who was no threat to anyone in any way, I guess we Israelis can only blame ourselves for not being effective enough struggling against the oppression of the Palestinian people. After so many years of oppressing others, the Israeli regime is now clearly oppressing us too.
I talked a bit with Gil's friends later on. He is a young man, from a kibbutz in the south of Israel. He was not active before today's demo, though he always believed in peace and human rights.
From other media reports and from e-mails being passed around, I learned that Gil is still at the hospital and is regarded to be seriously wounded. Also, I know that Yonatan, one of the Israelis who coordinated the action and camp in Deir Balut was arrested later on, after giving a testimony about the shooting. How typical -- unarmed protesters were shot at, yet a protester is arrested and not the soldiers who shot or the commander who gave the order.
The struggle against the Apartheid walls and fences goes on, and will probably become bigger, stronger, and more radical. Already tomorrow at noon, Saturday, there will be a big demonstration in the town of Qalqilya, which is completely surrounded by a wall. In the evening there will be a protest in front of the ministry of "security" and army headquarters, in the Kirya in Tel Aviv, against the shooting today. And, of course, the camp in Deir Balut is still on, for another week.
by Dan Shohet
====================
* Ed. Note:
The last initiative background is years of Intifada and mild protest and other activities of the reformist Communist influenced Ta'Ayush' and the "two states" slogan shared by them and Zionist left opponents to the occupation.
Fed up with the activities of the Zionist left and authoritarian left, the Israeli anarchists organized their own initiative called Anarchist Against the wall. The present activity was an enhancement of a persistent activity of nearly a year.
The previous direct action against the wall was carried by Anarchist Against the wall initiative in Zabuba.
The present direct action was part of the two weeks international camp initiated by Anarchist Against the wall at Deir Balut.
The present activity and the big demonstration at Saturday in protest of the shooting were the first one the slogan "two states for two people" was absent.
Gil Na'amati, whom I hadn't met until today, was on the front line of Israeli activists who went to the fence to cut it or break it down. I was a few meters behind him, watching the soldiers and helping to take care of the barrier of the road just behind the fence. 20 meters ahead of us were the soldiers, 2 or 3 military jeeps.
The rest of the protesters were 10 meters behind us, including all the Palestinian participants, who were on purpose left behind, knowing that any Palestinian presence in the nonviolent direct action, would end in a violent bloodshed, with the soldiers stopping the action in the most brutal ways there are.
Further behind us, to the east, was the Palestinian village of Mas'Ha -- where we all just came from. And further in front, behind the soldiers on the other side of the fence, were the lands of Mas'Ha, and three Israeli settlements that were built upon them, now unofficially annexed to Israel by the Apartheid wall and fence. The location of the action was a perfect example of all that is bad and racist about the separation wall/fence -- and now, that spot is also stained with the blood of an innocent young man.
We left Tel Aviv earlier in the morning, in a bus full of Israeli activists. Next to the village of Mas'Ha, we met with many Israeli and international activists, most of them coming directly from the village of Deir Balut, after staying the night in the protest camp being held there for the same reason. With them came several of Deir Balut people, including the village's mayor, in solidarity with their brothers in Mas'Ha.
After a short gathering, for the planning and coordination of the action, we met in the village center with about 100 Palestinians, and started marching towards the fence. All together, we were maybe close to 200 people.
As we reached the fence some of the Israelis and internationals went out front, trying to tear down that symbolic piece of the fence. The soldiers reacted almost immediately by shooting live bullets in the air. There was no use of tear gas, nor even a use of loud speakers to warn of shooting towards us.
None of the soldiers (or anyone else) was threatened, no violence was used by the protesters towards anyone, and the soldiers were clearly aware that there were Israelis there. Shouting and chanting in Hebrew were yelled towards them, including the chant "Refuse! Refuse!". Just a few minutes later, when the soldiers shot again, I thought it was again just shots in the air. Then I saw one of the protesters being carried back with blood covering his pants and dripping on the road. Another foreign citizen was injured in her leg, less seriously.
Some of us went backwards. Others went forwards, in spite of the shooting, and with a very effective and short effort, broke a part of the fence, opening the road to Mas'Ha land. Than all the protestors retreated to the village.
We stayed in the village for about an hour more. As we left, we heard reports from the village about military activity inside the village. Of course, the Apartheid system prevents Palestinians from crossing the fences and walls and getting out -- but does not prevents soldiers from coming in.
One of the reports was about a curfew declared there in the middle of the day. A group of us had decided to go back to the village, until later in the day or next morning, to make sure the army did not come back to punish the Palestinians for direct action protest by Israelis who want peace. Another group, including friends of Gil, the Israeli who was wounded, had gone to see him in the hospital. And others went back to Deir Balut, where the protest camp is based until next Friday.
Coming home, I have heard in the media several of the lies the military spokesman office had published: that the soldiers had warned us, that they were trying to evacuate us peacefully, that they had used tear gas first, and that the protesters were violent, and that the action was a "riot".
These are the exact same lies I have heard many times before, whenever the Israeli media publishes anything about the "riots" of Palestinians, or about Palestinians who were killed after "meeting the security forces". The same system that allows and encourages soldiers to commit crimes against Palestinians -- and then denies those crimes and claims they never happened -- was apparent in this case too.
Normally, this "lie and deny" policy is used after a crime towards Palestinians. But this time, after a crime towards an Israeli citizen, who was no threat to anyone in any way, I guess we Israelis can only blame ourselves for not being effective enough struggling against the oppression of the Palestinian people. After so many years of oppressing others, the Israeli regime is now clearly oppressing us too.
I talked a bit with Gil's friends later on. He is a young man, from a kibbutz in the south of Israel. He was not active before today's demo, though he always believed in peace and human rights.
From other media reports and from e-mails being passed around, I learned that Gil is still at the hospital and is regarded to be seriously wounded. Also, I know that Yonatan, one of the Israelis who coordinated the action and camp in Deir Balut was arrested later on, after giving a testimony about the shooting. How typical -- unarmed protesters were shot at, yet a protester is arrested and not the soldiers who shot or the commander who gave the order.
The struggle against the Apartheid walls and fences goes on, and will probably become bigger, stronger, and more radical. Already tomorrow at noon, Saturday, there will be a big demonstration in the town of Qalqilya, which is completely surrounded by a wall. In the evening there will be a protest in front of the ministry of "security" and army headquarters, in the Kirya in Tel Aviv, against the shooting today. And, of course, the camp in Deir Balut is still on, for another week.
by Dan Shohet
====================
* Ed. Note:
The last initiative background is years of Intifada and mild protest and other activities of the reformist Communist influenced Ta'Ayush' and the "two states" slogan shared by them and Zionist left opponents to the occupation.
Fed up with the activities of the Zionist left and authoritarian left, the Israeli anarchists organized their own initiative called Anarchist Against the wall. The present activity was an enhancement of a persistent activity of nearly a year.
The previous direct action against the wall was carried by Anarchist Against the wall initiative in Zabuba.
The present direct action was part of the two weeks international camp initiated by Anarchist Against the wall at Deir Balut.
The present activity and the big demonstration at Saturday in protest of the shooting were the first one the slogan "two states for two people" was absent.
Israel-Palestine, Tel-Aviv, NO to the Getos! ... leaflet distributed by "Anarchists Against The Wall" in demonstration 28/12/03
NO to the Getos! NO to the wall between people! End the occupation!!! - leaflet distributed by "Anarchists Against The Wall" in demonstration 28/12/03
Saturday, December 27, 2003
Israel-Palestine, Tel-Aviv, NO to the Getos! ... leaflet distributed by "Anarchists Against The Wall" in demonstration 28/12/03
NO to the Getos!
NO to the wall between people!
End the occupation!!!
leaflet distributed by "Anarchists Against The Wall"
A leaflet distributed in the demonstration Saturday evening in front of the Israeli war office in Tel Aviv in protest of shooting a comrades during the direct action against the wall at Mesha the previous day. NO TO THE GETOS! NO TO THE WALL BETWEEN PEOPLE! END TO THE OCCUPATION Yesterday we experienced the reality of our Palestinian brothers.
The shooting of the Israeli army on us, Israeli activists, is a crossing of a red line never crossed before, but it must remind us the daily atrocities of the army in the occupied regions. In this weekend too the killings, the closures, the strangulation, the invasion and the annexation continue. The shooting on us will not deter us from continuing actively resisting the Apartheid wall built before our eyes. Yesterday we break the gate of Mesha, but it must be remembered that all along the route of the wall the gates stay blocked and the Palestinian people remain with no access to their source of income. We will continue to try to block the occupation with our bodies, to open a breach in the wall of hatred, and to put with our actions a lively and kicking alternative to the geto policy of the Israeli government.
We express solidarity with our comrade Gil from Kibbutz Reim who was shoot at by the Israeli army just few weeks after he was released from army service. Gil was hit in his two legs by live ammunition and was taken unconscious to Beilinson Hospital diagnosed there as in serious condition. To day, Saturday Gil regained consciousness for the first time, and was able to smile and talk. The condition of his legs still not clear. We send him our wishes for his quick recovery.
We express our solidarity with our comrade Jonathan from Tel Aviv, held by the Ariel Police since the action as he refused to sign on commitment not to enter the occupied territories for three months. He is scheduled to be brought in Saturday to court in Rishon-Letsion for prolonging his arrest*. We call from here to immediate release of Jonathan.
Description of the direct action:
About 13:00 we came to the gate of the apartheid fence built between the village Mesha to the illegal settlement Elkana. In spite of the army promise all the last few weeks the gate stayed shut, and prevented the inhabitants of Mesha to reach their fields and sources of income. It was a nonviolent demonstration in which we wanted to do a symbolic act of protest against the building of the fence and the closure of the gate. To our astonishment, the soldiers started to through on us big stones, then they shoot in the air, and on the ground near us. In spite of our calls "do not shoot, this is non violent demonstration, we have no intention to heart you", and the holding high of signposts in Hebrew against the wall, after just few minutes and without warning the soldiers started to shoot with live ammunition towards the bodies of the demonstrators. From this shooting Gil's legs were hit. In contradiction to the army spokesperson, no tear gas was shoot towards us and no warnings were given by the soldiers. The have not communicate with us in any way before the shoot to hit with live ammunition.
The activity was carried as part of the protest camp against the wall started a week ago in the village Dir-Balut in Sumeria. The camp inhabited 24 hours a day by Israeli and Palestinian people is located on the route of the apartheid wall within the half built school of Dir-Balut. The building of the school was stopped after the confiscation of the land needed for the building of the wall. We invite the media who believe in the promises of the promises of the prime minister Ariel Sharon, about the so called evacuation of the illegal settlements, to come and see for themselves the project of annexation of land and the expansion of settlements that continue even these days.
For pictures and video from the action:
Daniel - ; Noa - ; Shay -
For more information:
Ury ; Ronen - ; Francesca -
--- ANARCHISTS AGAINST THE WALL ---
[The leaflet was distributed at the Saturday demo in protest of the shooting in front of the Israeli war ministry in Tel Aviv before details of Gill injuries were known: He lost consciousness after being shot with a live bullets in his legs which one of them was brocken - and was taken by an ambulance. Everything was photographed by both still - and video camera - see addresses in the end. Next day - after his shattered knee was operated.
Jonathan who was arrested after the shooting was released and came at the of the demo.
The anarchists against the wall is not so disorganized as described in the media. They even have a declared collective named "One Struggle" with a web site in Hebrew.
Army claimed the shooting was as part of the procedure of "aresting of suspect" regulation - applied to any one who is warming the fence/wall (an exeption to the regular procedure of only shooting those who are known armed parestinians or attakers of soldiers.
Other posts on the subject:
English texts:
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/nov/ainfos00221.html
(en) Israel - Palestine, Tel Aviv - Zububa, Twenty meters of fence removed - in
joint Israeli/Palestinian action
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/nov/ainfos00203.html
(en) Israeli anarchist group - One Strle - initiated an internationalist action against the wall
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00416.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00415.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00413.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00395.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00394.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00392.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00435.html
Portuguese, Italian, Spanish translations for some of the posts are avilable too at http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/
NO to the wall between people!
End the occupation!!!
leaflet distributed by "Anarchists Against The Wall"
A leaflet distributed in the demonstration Saturday evening in front of the Israeli war office in Tel Aviv in protest of shooting a comrades during the direct action against the wall at Mesha the previous day. NO TO THE GETOS! NO TO THE WALL BETWEEN PEOPLE! END TO THE OCCUPATION Yesterday we experienced the reality of our Palestinian brothers.
The shooting of the Israeli army on us, Israeli activists, is a crossing of a red line never crossed before, but it must remind us the daily atrocities of the army in the occupied regions. In this weekend too the killings, the closures, the strangulation, the invasion and the annexation continue. The shooting on us will not deter us from continuing actively resisting the Apartheid wall built before our eyes. Yesterday we break the gate of Mesha, but it must be remembered that all along the route of the wall the gates stay blocked and the Palestinian people remain with no access to their source of income. We will continue to try to block the occupation with our bodies, to open a breach in the wall of hatred, and to put with our actions a lively and kicking alternative to the geto policy of the Israeli government.
We express solidarity with our comrade Gil from Kibbutz Reim who was shoot at by the Israeli army just few weeks after he was released from army service. Gil was hit in his two legs by live ammunition and was taken unconscious to Beilinson Hospital diagnosed there as in serious condition. To day, Saturday Gil regained consciousness for the first time, and was able to smile and talk. The condition of his legs still not clear. We send him our wishes for his quick recovery.
We express our solidarity with our comrade Jonathan from Tel Aviv, held by the Ariel Police since the action as he refused to sign on commitment not to enter the occupied territories for three months. He is scheduled to be brought in Saturday to court in Rishon-Letsion for prolonging his arrest*. We call from here to immediate release of Jonathan.
Description of the direct action:
About 13:00 we came to the gate of the apartheid fence built between the village Mesha to the illegal settlement Elkana. In spite of the army promise all the last few weeks the gate stayed shut, and prevented the inhabitants of Mesha to reach their fields and sources of income. It was a nonviolent demonstration in which we wanted to do a symbolic act of protest against the building of the fence and the closure of the gate. To our astonishment, the soldiers started to through on us big stones, then they shoot in the air, and on the ground near us. In spite of our calls "do not shoot, this is non violent demonstration, we have no intention to heart you", and the holding high of signposts in Hebrew against the wall, after just few minutes and without warning the soldiers started to shoot with live ammunition towards the bodies of the demonstrators. From this shooting Gil's legs were hit. In contradiction to the army spokesperson, no tear gas was shoot towards us and no warnings were given by the soldiers. The have not communicate with us in any way before the shoot to hit with live ammunition.
The activity was carried as part of the protest camp against the wall started a week ago in the village Dir-Balut in Sumeria. The camp inhabited 24 hours a day by Israeli and Palestinian people is located on the route of the apartheid wall within the half built school of Dir-Balut. The building of the school was stopped after the confiscation of the land needed for the building of the wall. We invite the media who believe in the promises of the promises of the prime minister Ariel Sharon, about the so called evacuation of the illegal settlements, to come and see for themselves the project of annexation of land and the expansion of settlements that continue even these days.
For pictures and video from the action:
Daniel - ; Noa - ; Shay -
For more information:
Ury ; Ronen - ; Francesca -
--- ANARCHISTS AGAINST THE WALL ---
[The leaflet was distributed at the Saturday demo in protest of the shooting in front of the Israeli war ministry in Tel Aviv before details of Gill injuries were known: He lost consciousness after being shot with a live bullets in his legs which one of them was brocken - and was taken by an ambulance. Everything was photographed by both still - and video camera - see addresses in the end. Next day - after his shattered knee was operated.
Jonathan who was arrested after the shooting was released and came at the of the demo.
The anarchists against the wall is not so disorganized as described in the media. They even have a declared collective named "One Struggle" with a web site in Hebrew.
Army claimed the shooting was as part of the procedure of "aresting of suspect" regulation - applied to any one who is warming the fence/wall (an exeption to the regular procedure of only shooting those who are known armed parestinians or attakers of soldiers.
Other posts on the subject:
English texts:
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/nov/ainfos00221.html
(en) Israel - Palestine, Tel Aviv - Zububa, Twenty meters of fence removed - in
joint Israeli/Palestinian action
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/nov/ainfos00203.html
(en) Israeli anarchist group - One Strle - initiated an internationalist action against the wall
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00416.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00415.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00413.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00395.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00394.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00392.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/ainfos00435.html
Portuguese, Italian, Spanish translations for some of the posts are avilable too at http://www.ainfos.ca/03/dec/
Israel-Palestine, Tel-Aviv, NO to the Getos! ... leaflet distributed by "Anarchists Against The Wall" in demonstration 28/12/03
NO to the Getos!
NO to the wall between people!
End the occupation!!!
leaflet distributed by "Anarchists Against The Wall"
A leaflet distributed in the demonstration Saturday evening in front of the Israeli war office in Tel Aviv in protest of shooting a comrades during the direct action against the wall at Mesha the previous day. NO TO THE GETOS! NO TO THE WALL BETWEEN PEOPLE! END TO THE OCCUPATION Yesterday we experienced the reality of our Palestinian brothers.
The shooting of the Israeli army on us, Israeli activists, is a crossing of a red line never crossed before, but it must remind us the daily atrocities of the army in the occupied regions. In this weekend too the killings, the closures, the strangulation, the invasion and the annexation continue. The shooting on us will not deter us from continuing actively resisting the Apartheid wall built before our eyes. Yesterday we break the gate of Mesha, but it must be remembered that all along the route of the wall the gates stay blocked and the Palestinian people remain with no access to their source of income. We will continue to try to block the occupation with our bodies, to open a breach in the wall of hatred, and to put with our actions a lively and kicking alternative to the geto policy of the Israeli government.
We express solidarity with our comrade Gil from Kibbutz Reim who was shoot at by the Israeli army just few weeks after he was released from army service. Gil was hit in his two legs by live ammunition and was taken unconscious to Beilinson Hospital diagnosed there as in serious condition. To day, Saturday Gil regained consciousness for the first time, and was able to smile and talk. The condition of his legs still not clear. We send him our wishes for his quick recovery.
We express our solidarity with our comrade Jonathan from Tel Aviv, held by the Ariel Police since the action as he refused to sign on commitment not to enter the occupied territories for three months. He is scheduled to be brought in Saturday to court in Rishon-Letsion for prolonging his arrest*. We call from here to immediate release of Jonathan.
Description of the direct action:
About 13:00 we came to the gate of the apartheid fence built between the village Mesha to the illegal settlement Elkana. In spite of the army promise all the last few weeks the gate stayed shut, and prevented the inhabitants of Mesha to reach their fields and sources of income. It was a nonviolent demonstration in which we wanted to do a symbolic act of protest against the building of the fence and the closure of the gate. To our astonishment, the soldiers started to through on us big stones, then they shoot in the air, and on the ground near us. In spite of our calls "do not shoot, this is non violent demonstration, we have no intention to heart you", and the holding high of signposts in Hebrew against the wall, after just few minutes and without warning the soldiers started to shoot with live ammunition towards the bodies of the demonstrators. From this shooting Gil's legs were hit. In contradiction to the army spokesperson, no tear gas was shoot towards us and no warnings were given by the soldiers. The have not communicate with us in any way before the shoot to hit with live ammunition.
The activity was carried as part of the protest camp against the wall started a week ago in the village Dir-Balut in Sumeria. The camp inhabited 24 hours a day by Israeli and Palestinian people is located on the route of the apartheid wall within the half built school of Dir-Balut. The building of the school was stopped after the confiscation of the land needed for the building of the wall. We invite the media who believe in the promises of the promises of the prime minister Ariel Sharon, about the so called evacuation of the illegal settlements, to come and see for themselves the project of annexation of land and the expansion of settlements that continue even these days.
For pictures and video from the action:
Daniel - ; Noa - ; Shay -
For more information:
Ury ; Ronen - ; Francesca -
--- ANARCHISTS AGAINST THE WALL ---
NO to the wall between people!
End the occupation!!!
leaflet distributed by "Anarchists Against The Wall"
A leaflet distributed in the demonstration Saturday evening in front of the Israeli war office in Tel Aviv in protest of shooting a comrades during the direct action against the wall at Mesha the previous day. NO TO THE GETOS! NO TO THE WALL BETWEEN PEOPLE! END TO THE OCCUPATION Yesterday we experienced the reality of our Palestinian brothers.
The shooting of the Israeli army on us, Israeli activists, is a crossing of a red line never crossed before, but it must remind us the daily atrocities of the army in the occupied regions. In this weekend too the killings, the closures, the strangulation, the invasion and the annexation continue. The shooting on us will not deter us from continuing actively resisting the Apartheid wall built before our eyes. Yesterday we break the gate of Mesha, but it must be remembered that all along the route of the wall the gates stay blocked and the Palestinian people remain with no access to their source of income. We will continue to try to block the occupation with our bodies, to open a breach in the wall of hatred, and to put with our actions a lively and kicking alternative to the geto policy of the Israeli government.
We express solidarity with our comrade Gil from Kibbutz Reim who was shoot at by the Israeli army just few weeks after he was released from army service. Gil was hit in his two legs by live ammunition and was taken unconscious to Beilinson Hospital diagnosed there as in serious condition. To day, Saturday Gil regained consciousness for the first time, and was able to smile and talk. The condition of his legs still not clear. We send him our wishes for his quick recovery.
We express our solidarity with our comrade Jonathan from Tel Aviv, held by the Ariel Police since the action as he refused to sign on commitment not to enter the occupied territories for three months. He is scheduled to be brought in Saturday to court in Rishon-Letsion for prolonging his arrest*. We call from here to immediate release of Jonathan.
Description of the direct action:
About 13:00 we came to the gate of the apartheid fence built between the village Mesha to the illegal settlement Elkana. In spite of the army promise all the last few weeks the gate stayed shut, and prevented the inhabitants of Mesha to reach their fields and sources of income. It was a nonviolent demonstration in which we wanted to do a symbolic act of protest against the building of the fence and the closure of the gate. To our astonishment, the soldiers started to through on us big stones, then they shoot in the air, and on the ground near us. In spite of our calls "do not shoot, this is non violent demonstration, we have no intention to heart you", and the holding high of signposts in Hebrew against the wall, after just few minutes and without warning the soldiers started to shoot with live ammunition towards the bodies of the demonstrators. From this shooting Gil's legs were hit. In contradiction to the army spokesperson, no tear gas was shoot towards us and no warnings were given by the soldiers. The have not communicate with us in any way before the shoot to hit with live ammunition.
The activity was carried as part of the protest camp against the wall started a week ago in the village Dir-Balut in Sumeria. The camp inhabited 24 hours a day by Israeli and Palestinian people is located on the route of the apartheid wall within the half built school of Dir-Balut. The building of the school was stopped after the confiscation of the land needed for the building of the wall. We invite the media who believe in the promises of the promises of the prime minister Ariel Sharon, about the so called evacuation of the illegal settlements, to come and see for themselves the project of annexation of land and the expansion of settlements that continue even these days.
For pictures and video from the action:
Daniel - ; Noa - ; Shay -
For more information:
Ury ; Ronen - ; Francesca -
--- ANARCHISTS AGAINST THE WALL ---
Israel, Tel-Aviv, A demonstration in front of the war office in protest of shooting Gil during the Anarchists Against The Wall action 27/12/03
A quick organization of demonstration in protest of the shooting to hit of direct action against the apartheid wall brought few hundreds participants. Anarchists, libertarian communists, other antiauthoritarians and other opponents of the wall assembled in front of the war office compound in Tel Aviv. The more militants blocked the road for about two hours. After it was in the main media and police arresting few people from the road block, about hundred made a march through the city to the police station in solidarity action.
After a stand still and negotiation, police accepted to release the arrested on condition we disperse and the arrested commitment not to return to demo in front of the war office for two weeks.
After a stand still and negotiation, police accepted to release the arrested on condition we disperse and the arrested commitment not to return to demo in front of the war office for two weeks.
Friday, December 26, 2003
Israeli anarchist seriously injured and ISP one moderatly in activity against the aparthide wall 26/12/03
In activity against the apartheid wall an Israeli anarchist was seriously injured by Israeli forces live ammunition and an internationalist by rubber bullet. They were shot at as 100 activists have damaged the wall near the village Mesha.
The activity initiated by the Anarchist Movement against the Wall (The One Struggle collectiv)* Israel occupation soldiers shot and wounded two people during a demonstration against the West Bank security fence Friday. An Israeli anarchist - Gil Naamaty of Kibbutz Nirim sustained serious live ammunition wounds, while International Solidarity Movement comrade was moderately wounded by rubber bullet.
The incident occurred close to the Palestinian village of Mahase, east of Rosh Ha'ayin, while protesting against the construction of the security fence.
During the protest, troops used live ammunition shooting to hit. At a later stage, the ISP activist was wounded by a rubber bullet. Gil, whose friends said was hit by two bullets, and the ISP volunteer were evacuated to Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva.
The troops involved in the incident are from a Golani company stationed in the area. According to military sources, known lately for their lies, said one live shot was fired in the direction of the demonstrators, who were attempting to cut through the security fence with wire cutters. One demonstrator was hit in the leg by the shot, the sources said. "The shot was fired in accordance with regulations," the sourcesinsisted.
One of the demonstrators, Jonathan Faulk, told Haaretz that a group of soldiers opened fire in his direction, from a distance of several meters. Faulk said that there was no warning before the shots were fired, and that "the soldiers' lives were never in any danger."
* See:
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/nov/ainfos00221.html
(en) Israel - Palestine, Tel Aviv - Zububa, Twenty meters of fence removed - in
joint Israeli/Palestinian action
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/nov/ainfos00203.html
(en) Israeli anarchist group - One Strle - initiated an internationalist action
against the wall
The activity initiated by the Anarchist Movement against the Wall (The One Struggle collectiv)* Israel occupation soldiers shot and wounded two people during a demonstration against the West Bank security fence Friday. An Israeli anarchist - Gil Naamaty of Kibbutz Nirim sustained serious live ammunition wounds, while International Solidarity Movement comrade was moderately wounded by rubber bullet.
The incident occurred close to the Palestinian village of Mahase, east of Rosh Ha'ayin, while protesting against the construction of the security fence.
During the protest, troops used live ammunition shooting to hit. At a later stage, the ISP activist was wounded by a rubber bullet. Gil, whose friends said was hit by two bullets, and the ISP volunteer were evacuated to Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva.
The troops involved in the incident are from a Golani company stationed in the area. According to military sources, known lately for their lies, said one live shot was fired in the direction of the demonstrators, who were attempting to cut through the security fence with wire cutters. One demonstrator was hit in the leg by the shot, the sources said. "The shot was fired in accordance with regulations," the sourcesinsisted.
One of the demonstrators, Jonathan Faulk, told Haaretz that a group of soldiers opened fire in his direction, from a distance of several meters. Faulk said that there was no warning before the shots were fired, and that "the soldiers' lives were never in any danger."
* See:
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/nov/ainfos00221.html
(en) Israel - Palestine, Tel Aviv - Zububa, Twenty meters of fence removed - in
joint Israeli/Palestinian action
http://www.ainfos.ca/03/nov/ainfos00203.html
(en) Israeli anarchist group - One Strle - initiated an internationalist action
against the wall
Israel-Palestine, Anoncement by ANARCHISTS AGAINST THE WALL 26/12/03
[The following message was distributed before details of Gill injuries were known: He lost consciousness after being shot with a live bullets in his legs which one of them was brocken. - and was taken by an ambulance. Everything was photographed by both still - and video camera - see addresses in the end.]
No to the ghetto that's being built by Jews!
No to walls between people!
Stop the occupation!
Israeli, Palestinians and international activists Bringing down the apartheid wall in mash'a In this moment, friday afternoon {seventh candle of hanuka} dozens of activists are tearing apart and breaking down the gate of the apartheid wall which is also known as the "separation fence", to enable a free passage for the people of mas'ha to their lands. The activists, equiped with tools, are breaking the gate that has remained closed since the wall was built two monthes ago.
The farmers, whose land is on the other side of the fence were told that they would be able to cross through the gate to work their lands. That promise turned out to be a methodical, crude and cruel lie. All throughout the suffocating wall the gates are remaining blocked and the Palestinian residents remain with no access to their only source of income.
The army is present - at the Mas'ha village gates which are located next to Elkana settlement - and yet, its not clear how will the confrontation between the army and the activists will end. The activists are calling for a joined active resistance of Israelis and Palestinians toward the ghettoizing policy that the Israeli government is issuing.
The action is being held as a part of The Alternative Protest Camp Against The Apartheid Wall that started a week ago in Deir Balut. The camp is hosting Israelis and Palestinians, and located on the path of the Apartheid Wall, on the land of the village's elementary school. (The building of the school was stopped due to the land being confiscated for the building of the wall.)
We invite the media that follows Ariel Sharon's promises, for the so called evacuation of he settlements, to come and see for them selfs the land confiscating and settlement expansion operation that is operating this days. Deir Balut protest camp and other protest actions that take place and that will take place in the future will set a live and kicking alternative to the occupying, stealing and confiscating actions that the Sharon government and the Israeli army are responsible for.
For more details and for pictures and video footage from the action:
Liad:067-724519
Jonathan:066-327736
Franceska:064-494030
ANARCHISTS AGAINST THE WALL
No to the ghetto that's being built by Jews!
No to walls between people!
Stop the occupation!
Israeli, Palestinians and international activists Bringing down the apartheid wall in mash'a In this moment, friday afternoon {seventh candle of hanuka} dozens of activists are tearing apart and breaking down the gate of the apartheid wall which is also known as the "separation fence", to enable a free passage for the people of mas'ha to their lands. The activists, equiped with tools, are breaking the gate that has remained closed since the wall was built two monthes ago.
The farmers, whose land is on the other side of the fence were told that they would be able to cross through the gate to work their lands. That promise turned out to be a methodical, crude and cruel lie. All throughout the suffocating wall the gates are remaining blocked and the Palestinian residents remain with no access to their only source of income.
The army is present - at the Mas'ha village gates which are located next to Elkana settlement - and yet, its not clear how will the confrontation between the army and the activists will end. The activists are calling for a joined active resistance of Israelis and Palestinians toward the ghettoizing policy that the Israeli government is issuing.
The action is being held as a part of The Alternative Protest Camp Against The Apartheid Wall that started a week ago in Deir Balut. The camp is hosting Israelis and Palestinians, and located on the path of the Apartheid Wall, on the land of the village's elementary school. (The building of the school was stopped due to the land being confiscated for the building of the wall.)
We invite the media that follows Ariel Sharon's promises, for the so called evacuation of he settlements, to come and see for them selfs the land confiscating and settlement expansion operation that is operating this days. Deir Balut protest camp and other protest actions that take place and that will take place in the future will set a live and kicking alternative to the occupying, stealing and confiscating actions that the Sharon government and the Israeli army are responsible for.
For more details and for pictures and video footage from the action:
Liad:067-724519
Jonathan:066-327736
Franceska:064-494030
ANARCHISTS AGAINST THE WALL
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Israel-Palestine, Tel Aviv - Zububa, Twenty meters of fence removed - in joint Israeli/Palestinian action 11/11/03
Another report From cat about the Tel Aviv-based "One Struggle" anarchist collective initiative of "Anarchists Against Fences" action with the Zabuba people:
Hi A. Here is a report about yesterday's action. A bit late, I'm sorry, but I have a good excuse - I had to go to the hospital because of teargas poisening. J. We made clear that no walls would stand between the people.
Some two hundred Palestinians, 35 Israelis and a similar number of internationals gathered yesterday in the village of Zububa to mark the international day of solidarity against the wall, by tearing a portion of it down. Our day started much earlier though.
Zububa is the village located farthest north in the occupied territories, and adjacent to a village named Salem, inside the 1948 borders. In the days before the wall became a cold and hard fact it had been a matter on mere minutes walking between the two villages. Nowadays the two villages are cut from each other completely, and so was our easy route to Zububa.
We were forced to go through a military checkpoint in the wall, 10 kilometers away, where we were to switch to a Palestinian bus. 10 kilometers may not sound all that much, but in the reality of the occupation this short ride took us over an hour and a half of dirt roads and roads regarding which even former term will seem like an unreasonable euphemism.
We were very lucky. The Army is regularly patrolling these roads, but with no regularity as to when and where. Indeed, as we were slowly driving we spotted an APC taking a left at a crossroads we were about to get to five minutes later. It was creeping slowly as if insisting that we remember that the picturesque scenery isn’t really such a pleasant one.
When we finally made it to Zububa we were led to the municipality building where a short meeting took place, roles were set and our Hebrew signs were uncovered. A march formed and we were heading to the site of the fence, bolt cutters and pooling hooks in our hands, unwilling to stop. We found a white military jeep waiting for us, but proceeded nevertheless. Shouting slogans in Hebrew for the soldiers to hear, we started cutting at the barbed wire. The soldiers were shocked. Five minutes later we were already past the barbed wire and at the electronic fence. By the time more army forces arrived, the fence was already noticeably cut. We continued. It took half an hour of teargas, concussion grenades and some twenty meters of fence removed before we were pushed back. No arrests were made.
As we retreated slowly towards the village, the soldiers fired warning shots over our heads. The village Qadi [religious leader] addressed the soldiers in Hebrew asking them to leave and come back without their weapons. “How can there be any peace when we are imprisoned in ghettos?” He talked about partnership with us, the Israelis present; he spoke about freedom.
When we were already on the bus ready to leave, a strong explosion was heard followed by three military jeeps heading towards Salem military camp but provocatively taking the route through the village. Kids were throwing stones. We later found out that the explosion had been a concussion grenade thrown in the direction of the municipality. But, for the time being the people can go to their fields.
Photos and video footage available from cat-A-squat.net
Hi A. Here is a report about yesterday's action. A bit late, I'm sorry, but I have a good excuse - I had to go to the hospital because of teargas poisening. J. We made clear that no walls would stand between the people.
Some two hundred Palestinians, 35 Israelis and a similar number of internationals gathered yesterday in the village of Zububa to mark the international day of solidarity against the wall, by tearing a portion of it down. Our day started much earlier though.
Zububa is the village located farthest north in the occupied territories, and adjacent to a village named Salem, inside the 1948 borders. In the days before the wall became a cold and hard fact it had been a matter on mere minutes walking between the two villages. Nowadays the two villages are cut from each other completely, and so was our easy route to Zububa.
We were forced to go through a military checkpoint in the wall, 10 kilometers away, where we were to switch to a Palestinian bus. 10 kilometers may not sound all that much, but in the reality of the occupation this short ride took us over an hour and a half of dirt roads and roads regarding which even former term will seem like an unreasonable euphemism.
We were very lucky. The Army is regularly patrolling these roads, but with no regularity as to when and where. Indeed, as we were slowly driving we spotted an APC taking a left at a crossroads we were about to get to five minutes later. It was creeping slowly as if insisting that we remember that the picturesque scenery isn’t really such a pleasant one.
When we finally made it to Zububa we were led to the municipality building where a short meeting took place, roles were set and our Hebrew signs were uncovered. A march formed and we were heading to the site of the fence, bolt cutters and pooling hooks in our hands, unwilling to stop. We found a white military jeep waiting for us, but proceeded nevertheless. Shouting slogans in Hebrew for the soldiers to hear, we started cutting at the barbed wire. The soldiers were shocked. Five minutes later we were already past the barbed wire and at the electronic fence. By the time more army forces arrived, the fence was already noticeably cut. We continued. It took half an hour of teargas, concussion grenades and some twenty meters of fence removed before we were pushed back. No arrests were made.
As we retreated slowly towards the village, the soldiers fired warning shots over our heads. The village Qadi [religious leader] addressed the soldiers in Hebrew asking them to leave and come back without their weapons. “How can there be any peace when we are imprisoned in ghettos?” He talked about partnership with us, the Israelis present; he spoke about freedom.
When we were already on the bus ready to leave, a strong explosion was heard followed by three military jeeps heading towards Salem military camp but provocatively taking the route through the village. Kids were throwing stones. We later found out that the explosion had been a concussion grenade thrown in the direction of the municipality. But, for the time being the people can go to their fields.
Photos and video footage available from cat-A-squat.net
Monday, November 10, 2003
Truth from the land of Israel - Palestine - Israeli anarchist group - One Struggle - initiated an internationalist action against the wall 10/11/03
An Israeli anarchist group which combine in a unique way internationalist social class struggle with animals rights - did to day a direct action against the naZionist Wall. In the context of the international day against naZionist Apartheid Wall on the day the Berlin wall collapsed, a direct action was initiated. About 30 Israelis with about 10 Internationalist Solidarity people and about 100 Palestinians destroyed a small part of the Wall near the Palestinian village Zabuba.
First thing in the morning the Israelis traveled to the Palestinian village Zabuba. There they joined the local people and the Internationalist volunteers. Together they marched to the Wall with placard on which was written: "We fell the Berlin Wall - we will fell Sharon Wall as well"; "Stop the transfer fell the fence"; and the like.
When they reached the vicinity of the fence there was already there few soldiers in a car. The activists approached the fence shouting slogans in Hebrew, Arabic and English. First about 15 activists with cutters cut the auxiliary barbered wire fence and open the way for the others to the main fence.
Two more military cars with soldiers arrived, but they only shouted with megaphone in Hebrew and Arabic.... The activists started to dismantle parts of the fence using tools and ropes. Soon came a lot of police cars and gendarmes who started to throw on the activists stoning and tear gas grenades. Few of the activists threw back some of the tear gas grenades, and the wind was on their side too so most of the tear gas gone to the soldiers... The dismantling continued in earnest and the furious soldiers kicked activists and tried to snatch their tools. The soldiers started also to shoot warning fire with live ammunition.
At that stage the activists decided to return to the village where they heard local people speeches about the suffering the fence is inflicting and about the importance of Jewish - Arab partnership.
Photographs: http://indymedia.org.il/imc/webcast/71934.html
Contacts with "One Struggle"
http://www.onestruggle.org - vegan_politics-A-yahoo.com
First thing in the morning the Israelis traveled to the Palestinian village Zabuba. There they joined the local people and the Internationalist volunteers. Together they marched to the Wall with placard on which was written: "We fell the Berlin Wall - we will fell Sharon Wall as well"; "Stop the transfer fell the fence"; and the like.
When they reached the vicinity of the fence there was already there few soldiers in a car. The activists approached the fence shouting slogans in Hebrew, Arabic and English. First about 15 activists with cutters cut the auxiliary barbered wire fence and open the way for the others to the main fence.
Two more military cars with soldiers arrived, but they only shouted with megaphone in Hebrew and Arabic.... The activists started to dismantle parts of the fence using tools and ropes. Soon came a lot of police cars and gendarmes who started to throw on the activists stoning and tear gas grenades. Few of the activists threw back some of the tear gas grenades, and the wind was on their side too so most of the tear gas gone to the soldiers... The dismantling continued in earnest and the furious soldiers kicked activists and tried to snatch their tools. The soldiers started also to shoot warning fire with live ammunition.
At that stage the activists decided to return to the village where they heard local people speeches about the suffering the fence is inflicting and about the importance of Jewish - Arab partnership.
Photographs: http://indymedia.org.il/imc/webcast/71934.html
Contacts with "One Struggle"
http://www.onestruggle.org - vegan_politics-A-yahoo.com
Saturday, August 9, 2003
Israel / Palestine is not a nice place to live in - it is a war zone 09/08/03
Israel / Palestine is not a nice place to live in - it is a war zone. It developed gradually as a Zionist project supported by the Western empires for more than 120 years. It belongs to the family of settler colonialist projects which tried to build new European-like nations in colonies. In the case of Israel this involved the immigration of Jews from all over the world, mainly from the less developed countries, and the expulsion of the indigenous Palestinians.
In spite of the efforts of the Zionist establishment with imperialist support there are still more Palestinians in the region after all these years than the 5 million Jews. Due to the agreements at the end of 1948 war Israel could not get rid of all the Palestinians living in the territories occupied in that war and it had even less success in the territories occupied in the 1967 war. About one million Palestinians live as second class Israeli citizens. Another one and a half million live in the tiny Gaza strip occupied in 1967; About two million more live on the West side of the Jordan, also occupied in 1967; More than two millions are on the East side of the Jordan (in the kingdom of Jordan); and more than half a million live in the refugees camps of Lebanon and Syria.
Till this day the majority of Israeli's remain Zionists and dream of the big Israel. Some of them dream of the biblical borders including the East side of the Jordan and Golan hights... The majority of them dream 'only' of the territory west of the Jordan... of course without the Palestinians. Before the peace agreement with Egypt most of them added the Sinai pennisula to their Zionist dream. Reluctantly however, the majority may agree with a 'painful compromise' including equality for the Palestinian citizens of Israel, but it does not yet include the return to the 1967 borders, and the taking of responsibility for the creation of the refugee problem (mainly in the 1948 war) . Nor does it include agreement that the Palestinian state be entirely sovereign and independent of any Israeli authority.
The Oslo agreement was an effort of the Israeli Zionist establishment to bribe the national leadership of the Palestinian refugees who were exiled from the occupied territories. One aim, the secondary one was obvious - so they would stop the armed struggle against Israel. The second one, the essential one was the expectation that in return for giving them the right to return and a kind of autonomous rule for them and the elite of the Palestinians in the occupied region they were supposed to extinguish the flames of uprising within the parts of Palestine occupied in 1967.
The background of increased resistance by the Palestinians and the global increase in fundamentalist Islam has also made the imperialist powers uneasy. The Oslo agreement was intended to make the Palestinian state a neo- colony of the Israeli capitalists - both a source of low wages workers and a captive market. It was supposed to enable the settlers to continue with their projects in parts of the occupied territories.
However, in the Oslo agreement Israel promised more than they intended to fulfill, and immediately they started to apply economic pressure and the suppression of freedom of movement, in order to prepare to obtain additional concessions from the Palestinians in any final settlement.
The refusal of the Israelis to fulfill the agreement according to timetable and the exposure of Israel's conditions on the final settlement of conflict removed the possabilty of the Palestinian elite surviving such an agreement so the second Intifada started in October 2000. All through the last 16 months, Israel has increased the pressure on the Palestinians of the occupied territories, and on their elite. However, it seems that the Israeli elite have started to realize that they cannot force the Palestinians to accept the settlement as they planed due to military and political circumstances, and that the long term preservation of the status quo is also out of the question due to two main processes
The ability of the present Israeli elite to continue the pressure is hampered the most by growing internal pressures. These have resulted recently in a sharp increase in opposition to the war.
The first factor is the split within the elite between the older Zionist establishment and the emerging capitalist section who suffer from the decline of the economy due to the war. The tourism industry has collapsed. The markets for local products are constricted both within Israel, in the occupied territories and in the markets of the neighboring Arab countries; 'The peace bonus' for the Israeli capitalists is in the process of slowly vanishing. The commercial contacts of exporters suffer because buyers do not dare to come to the region. The increased suppression of the Palestinians has decreased their availability as cheap workers.
The second more threatening factor is the growing dissatisfaction of the working class. The unemployment rate among the Jews, and even more so among Israeli Palestinians, has risen over the last few years due to neoliberalization and globalization (lowering tarifs, "export of work intensive industry", up to 10% of working people formally employed as menpower companies, ) accompanied by huge number of "guest workers" (brought to appease the Israeli capitalists). The contribution of the uprising of the Palestinians to the economic hardship is clear for all to see - including the drastic climb of unemployment - over 10% among the Jews and nearing 20% among Israeli Palestinians.
Against the back ground of the general recession in the capitalist world system, and the local aggravation, the increased use of terror and guerilla tactics by the Palestinian resistance has made the life of many unberable. The fact that in spite of the harsh Israeli retaliations the uprising continues, makes people start to doubt the government in all spheres.
The pluralistic nature of the Jewish citizens of Israel can be seen in the following example: The collapse of the Oslo agreement due to the failed Israeli efforts to blackmail the Palestinian leadership into further concessions they could not impose on their people, resulted in the second Intifada. This uprising of the Palestinians added to the world economic crisis and influenced Israelies in very serious ways. On top of this you can add the failure of Sharon to force the Palestinians into submission, even using the harshist measures possible, which only resulted in an increased level of terrorist acts and guerilla struggle. When it was made clear he intended to continue the ugly efforts to force the Palestinians to submission, but with out probable success and resulting in harsh retaliations from the Palestinians, the fermenting discontent started to soar.
The latest expression of this discontent is the petition of reservist commanders of elite units. They declared that they will refuse to serve in the occupied regions of the 1967 war. This petition during the last first weeks of February rose from 50 to 250 signatories. It is explained by them declaring that the continuation of the occupation is a war crime they refuse to participate in.
The terrorist acts of Israel in January 2002 are on the background of relatively lower intensity of Palestinian activity. During the time they occurred the media was full of predictions of provocation from Sharon based on his behavior in the previous months. The attacks were supposed to prevent peace talks with the Palestinians, and they succeeded... As a result people who only suspected it and people who knew but needed a clear proof started the beginning of revolt. It was expressed clearly in the more pro capitalist media, which reported more, and more on Israeli war crimes. It was highlighted when in the main respected capitalist daily and weekend supplements there appeared calls for resisting service involving war crimes.
This call to resist military service was not the first. Nor was it the first to appear as an ad in the respected dailys but it was unique in two ways: First, it was signed by combat commander reservists who are the backbone of Israeli power. The second, one third of the costly ad was paid by the most prominent heart surgeon in Israel. In addition, public polls revealed 15% to 32% public support for the commanders who published the original petition. (The difference in support is due to the measure and kind of support described in the polling question.)
In the first two Saturdays of February we even had big demonstrations of a few thousand participants supporting the petitionaries and calling for an immediate end to the occupation.
However, the interests of the Israeli capitalists, and the Israeli workers to put an end to the continued conflict (because of its cost) are not big enough to over come the interests of those who refuse any compromise with the Palestinians, and those who gamble that the increased pressure will yield a better settlement. People continue to ask when and what will be the end of the conflict between the Zionist settler colonialist project in the region, and the local Arab people - mainly the Palestinians.
The old secular nationalist Palestinian solution offered, was that only one secular state with equal rights for all citizens and with the right of return to all refugees of 1948 and 1967 wars of Zionist occupation will resolve the conflict.
The old Israeli libertarian communists (Jews and Palestinians) solution (since 1962) was that only social revolution in the whole 'Middle East' region which will respect the self determination of the working people of Jewish origin, can recruit them to the side of revolution, put an end to the Zionist settler expansionism, and resolve the conflict between the Jewish citizens of Israel and the Palestinians.
But the developments of the last years of struggle point towards the possibility for a capitalist peace . This was both enabled by change in the power balance of the region of the last 10 years or so, - the collapse of the USSR and the absorption of the region into global capitalism. (More so for Israeli capitalism, but also that of the emerging capitalism of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and even Syria.) The capitalist peace is conditioned on the completion of that shift of the power in the region to the modern capitalist elites in both the Israel and its neighboors.
One dominant factor is the increase of the relative power of the classic capitalist class of Israel &endash; who in all the years proffeted by exploiting the labour of the Palestinians. All through the years (since the beginning of the Zionist project) the Palestinian workers could be hired for about 1/2 to 1/3 of the wages of organized Jewish workers. All these years the capitalist class preferred to exploit them rather then expelling them as the zealous Zionists wanted. The privatization of the previously held industry and services according to the neo-liberal receipe contributed immensely to the diminishing power of the old elite, the settler colonialist bureaucracy and the capitalist interests local and abroad cooperating with it.
The other factor is the increased militancy of the Israel working people and their wish for a comfortable life at the level of the European working class. The more the number of second and third generation decendants of the original immigrants rise the less and less the working people are motivated by nationalist false consciousness/ideology and the more possible seems a compromise with the Palestinians, Especially as the Israeli working class are now suffering the consequences of neo-liberalism which has resulted in high unemployment, less secure employment, and a halt to the previous continuous increases in living standards.
The third is the actual absorption of a significant part of the Palestinian refugees into the capitalist system and the promises of further absorption if the conflict will be resolved. Both for the uprooted peasants and the working people who are no longer forced to be in idle in refugee camps, and the Palestinian capitalist class. Now, they may have the option of exchanging their nationalist Dreams for the option of living in a relatively modern capitalist state.
The decrease in power of these interested in the continuation of the conflict; the increase of the capitalist interests who want to exploit the Palestinians and the workers of neighboring countries , the interests of the European countries in decreasing the appeal of fundamentalist Islam trends; and the decrease of the willingness of Israeli workers to be used as canon fodder point to a new optimism It seems that like in other countries the most despised settler colonialist system will be replaced by a still despised, but less so, modern capitalist system.
One can see the growing awareness in Israeli society that the Israeli Palestinians cannot be kept much longer as second class citizens and that the efforts to subdue the Palestinians into submission to a Bantustan solution under Israeli rule have no chance to succeed. And most of all we can see the growing awareness that the continuation of the conflict is costing too high a price.
It might be that the latest Israeli attacks are the last throw of the dice both initiating a harsh Palestinian response and mounting Israeli internal opposition. If the Israeli side will consent to let the Palestinian capitalists manage their own independent state in the 1967 borders with minimal adjustments the Palestinian elite may be able to solve the refugee problem with the economic support of the rich countries.
Ilan Shalif is an Israeli anarchist who has been active for many years in "persistent and principled opposition to Zionism".
Declaration - May 2001 (unofficial text of small libertarian communist group in Israel)
The occupation continues, the occupation will continue, is there any solution? [excerpts]
The truth is now there for all to see: there is no peace agreement between Zionist Israel and the Palestinian Arab people, and there will never be. Zionist Israel is a state which adheres to discrimination between its Jewish citizens (and actually all the Jews of the world), and the rest of its citizens.
Zionist Israel is a state that stubbornly refuses to mend, even in minor steps, wrong doings it inflicted on the Palestinians. It not only refuses to dismantle the settlers' colonies and to allow the return of any number of the refugees, it even refuses for more than 40 years to let the evacuees of the villages Ikrit and Bir'im return from neighboring places despite the Supreme Court verdict.
Every agreement achieved in the short run between Israel and the Palestinians will express the present power balance between an occupying force and the occupied, between the oppressor and the oppressed between the strong and the weak between the masters and the enslaved. In other words, every agreement that will be achieved in the near future will be based on the trampling of the Palestinians as a people and as individuals.
The solutions suggested for the present are based on "compromise" between two sides that are not equal. The formula for a "Palestinian state besides the Israeli state" is in the present conditions a big fraud. Even if Israel will agree in the near future to the establishment of such a state ruled by the PLO, it will necessarily be like a Bantustan in the time of Apartheid in South Africa: A state divided into at least two parts, with no real army, with only partial control of its borders, ground and water; A state inflicted with high unemployment, flooded by hundreds of thousands of returning refugees, while a very high percent of its population will be dependant on the Israeli economy.
A "state" like this will not only be a Bantustan, but also a social and political ticking time bomb and for sure it would be not any kind of solution.
This is the reason we do not find any value in searching for or offering any solution for the present or the near future. However, there is a strong reason to put forward principled demands worth fighting/struggling for:
1) Immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Israeli army from ALL the territories occupied in 1967 war.
2) Recognition of the right of the Palestinian people for self-determination.
3) Cancellation of all the discriminatory rules that Israel has and replace them with fully equal rights for all those who live in Israel .
4) Recognition of the right of the Palestinians ("refugees") to return to their homeland.
All the solutions offered by the Israeli and Palestinian "left" based on equality are impossible to achieve in the near future (if at all): "two states for two nations", "state of all its citizens", "bi-national state", "secular and democratic state".... Are they worthy to fight for in the long run?
All these "solutions" take for granted the hierarchical structure of the state and not contesting the capitalist system. Within the capitalist system these reformists solutions are impossible to achieve and are not even worth dreaming of.
Only a social revolution of all the region (as part of change in the social order of all the world) which will abolish the capitalist exploitation and the hierarchical structure of the states and other oppressing and discriminating mechanisms - will put end to the conflict ignited in the region by the super power states and the Zionist project they nourished.
Such a solution is both worth fighting for and dreaming of.
This article in Italian as Israele/Palestina non è un bel posto in cui viverci - è zona di guerra
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/trans/italian/israel.html
In spite of the efforts of the Zionist establishment with imperialist support there are still more Palestinians in the region after all these years than the 5 million Jews. Due to the agreements at the end of 1948 war Israel could not get rid of all the Palestinians living in the territories occupied in that war and it had even less success in the territories occupied in the 1967 war. About one million Palestinians live as second class Israeli citizens. Another one and a half million live in the tiny Gaza strip occupied in 1967; About two million more live on the West side of the Jordan, also occupied in 1967; More than two millions are on the East side of the Jordan (in the kingdom of Jordan); and more than half a million live in the refugees camps of Lebanon and Syria.
Till this day the majority of Israeli's remain Zionists and dream of the big Israel. Some of them dream of the biblical borders including the East side of the Jordan and Golan hights... The majority of them dream 'only' of the territory west of the Jordan... of course without the Palestinians. Before the peace agreement with Egypt most of them added the Sinai pennisula to their Zionist dream. Reluctantly however, the majority may agree with a 'painful compromise' including equality for the Palestinian citizens of Israel, but it does not yet include the return to the 1967 borders, and the taking of responsibility for the creation of the refugee problem (mainly in the 1948 war) . Nor does it include agreement that the Palestinian state be entirely sovereign and independent of any Israeli authority.
The Oslo agreement was an effort of the Israeli Zionist establishment to bribe the national leadership of the Palestinian refugees who were exiled from the occupied territories. One aim, the secondary one was obvious - so they would stop the armed struggle against Israel. The second one, the essential one was the expectation that in return for giving them the right to return and a kind of autonomous rule for them and the elite of the Palestinians in the occupied region they were supposed to extinguish the flames of uprising within the parts of Palestine occupied in 1967.
The background of increased resistance by the Palestinians and the global increase in fundamentalist Islam has also made the imperialist powers uneasy. The Oslo agreement was intended to make the Palestinian state a neo- colony of the Israeli capitalists - both a source of low wages workers and a captive market. It was supposed to enable the settlers to continue with their projects in parts of the occupied territories.
However, in the Oslo agreement Israel promised more than they intended to fulfill, and immediately they started to apply economic pressure and the suppression of freedom of movement, in order to prepare to obtain additional concessions from the Palestinians in any final settlement.
The refusal of the Israelis to fulfill the agreement according to timetable and the exposure of Israel's conditions on the final settlement of conflict removed the possabilty of the Palestinian elite surviving such an agreement so the second Intifada started in October 2000. All through the last 16 months, Israel has increased the pressure on the Palestinians of the occupied territories, and on their elite. However, it seems that the Israeli elite have started to realize that they cannot force the Palestinians to accept the settlement as they planed due to military and political circumstances, and that the long term preservation of the status quo is also out of the question due to two main processes
The ability of the present Israeli elite to continue the pressure is hampered the most by growing internal pressures. These have resulted recently in a sharp increase in opposition to the war.
The first factor is the split within the elite between the older Zionist establishment and the emerging capitalist section who suffer from the decline of the economy due to the war. The tourism industry has collapsed. The markets for local products are constricted both within Israel, in the occupied territories and in the markets of the neighboring Arab countries; 'The peace bonus' for the Israeli capitalists is in the process of slowly vanishing. The commercial contacts of exporters suffer because buyers do not dare to come to the region. The increased suppression of the Palestinians has decreased their availability as cheap workers.
The second more threatening factor is the growing dissatisfaction of the working class. The unemployment rate among the Jews, and even more so among Israeli Palestinians, has risen over the last few years due to neoliberalization and globalization (lowering tarifs, "export of work intensive industry", up to 10% of working people formally employed as menpower companies, ) accompanied by huge number of "guest workers" (brought to appease the Israeli capitalists). The contribution of the uprising of the Palestinians to the economic hardship is clear for all to see - including the drastic climb of unemployment - over 10% among the Jews and nearing 20% among Israeli Palestinians.
Against the back ground of the general recession in the capitalist world system, and the local aggravation, the increased use of terror and guerilla tactics by the Palestinian resistance has made the life of many unberable. The fact that in spite of the harsh Israeli retaliations the uprising continues, makes people start to doubt the government in all spheres.
The pluralistic nature of the Jewish citizens of Israel can be seen in the following example: The collapse of the Oslo agreement due to the failed Israeli efforts to blackmail the Palestinian leadership into further concessions they could not impose on their people, resulted in the second Intifada. This uprising of the Palestinians added to the world economic crisis and influenced Israelies in very serious ways. On top of this you can add the failure of Sharon to force the Palestinians into submission, even using the harshist measures possible, which only resulted in an increased level of terrorist acts and guerilla struggle. When it was made clear he intended to continue the ugly efforts to force the Palestinians to submission, but with out probable success and resulting in harsh retaliations from the Palestinians, the fermenting discontent started to soar.
The latest expression of this discontent is the petition of reservist commanders of elite units. They declared that they will refuse to serve in the occupied regions of the 1967 war. This petition during the last first weeks of February rose from 50 to 250 signatories. It is explained by them declaring that the continuation of the occupation is a war crime they refuse to participate in.
The terrorist acts of Israel in January 2002 are on the background of relatively lower intensity of Palestinian activity. During the time they occurred the media was full of predictions of provocation from Sharon based on his behavior in the previous months. The attacks were supposed to prevent peace talks with the Palestinians, and they succeeded... As a result people who only suspected it and people who knew but needed a clear proof started the beginning of revolt. It was expressed clearly in the more pro capitalist media, which reported more, and more on Israeli war crimes. It was highlighted when in the main respected capitalist daily and weekend supplements there appeared calls for resisting service involving war crimes.
This call to resist military service was not the first. Nor was it the first to appear as an ad in the respected dailys but it was unique in two ways: First, it was signed by combat commander reservists who are the backbone of Israeli power. The second, one third of the costly ad was paid by the most prominent heart surgeon in Israel. In addition, public polls revealed 15% to 32% public support for the commanders who published the original petition. (The difference in support is due to the measure and kind of support described in the polling question.)
In the first two Saturdays of February we even had big demonstrations of a few thousand participants supporting the petitionaries and calling for an immediate end to the occupation.
However, the interests of the Israeli capitalists, and the Israeli workers to put an end to the continued conflict (because of its cost) are not big enough to over come the interests of those who refuse any compromise with the Palestinians, and those who gamble that the increased pressure will yield a better settlement. People continue to ask when and what will be the end of the conflict between the Zionist settler colonialist project in the region, and the local Arab people - mainly the Palestinians.
The old secular nationalist Palestinian solution offered, was that only one secular state with equal rights for all citizens and with the right of return to all refugees of 1948 and 1967 wars of Zionist occupation will resolve the conflict.
The old Israeli libertarian communists (Jews and Palestinians) solution (since 1962) was that only social revolution in the whole 'Middle East' region which will respect the self determination of the working people of Jewish origin, can recruit them to the side of revolution, put an end to the Zionist settler expansionism, and resolve the conflict between the Jewish citizens of Israel and the Palestinians.
But the developments of the last years of struggle point towards the possibility for a capitalist peace . This was both enabled by change in the power balance of the region of the last 10 years or so, - the collapse of the USSR and the absorption of the region into global capitalism. (More so for Israeli capitalism, but also that of the emerging capitalism of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and even Syria.) The capitalist peace is conditioned on the completion of that shift of the power in the region to the modern capitalist elites in both the Israel and its neighboors.
One dominant factor is the increase of the relative power of the classic capitalist class of Israel &endash; who in all the years proffeted by exploiting the labour of the Palestinians. All through the years (since the beginning of the Zionist project) the Palestinian workers could be hired for about 1/2 to 1/3 of the wages of organized Jewish workers. All these years the capitalist class preferred to exploit them rather then expelling them as the zealous Zionists wanted. The privatization of the previously held industry and services according to the neo-liberal receipe contributed immensely to the diminishing power of the old elite, the settler colonialist bureaucracy and the capitalist interests local and abroad cooperating with it.
The other factor is the increased militancy of the Israel working people and their wish for a comfortable life at the level of the European working class. The more the number of second and third generation decendants of the original immigrants rise the less and less the working people are motivated by nationalist false consciousness/ideology and the more possible seems a compromise with the Palestinians, Especially as the Israeli working class are now suffering the consequences of neo-liberalism which has resulted in high unemployment, less secure employment, and a halt to the previous continuous increases in living standards.
The third is the actual absorption of a significant part of the Palestinian refugees into the capitalist system and the promises of further absorption if the conflict will be resolved. Both for the uprooted peasants and the working people who are no longer forced to be in idle in refugee camps, and the Palestinian capitalist class. Now, they may have the option of exchanging their nationalist Dreams for the option of living in a relatively modern capitalist state.
The decrease in power of these interested in the continuation of the conflict; the increase of the capitalist interests who want to exploit the Palestinians and the workers of neighboring countries , the interests of the European countries in decreasing the appeal of fundamentalist Islam trends; and the decrease of the willingness of Israeli workers to be used as canon fodder point to a new optimism It seems that like in other countries the most despised settler colonialist system will be replaced by a still despised, but less so, modern capitalist system.
One can see the growing awareness in Israeli society that the Israeli Palestinians cannot be kept much longer as second class citizens and that the efforts to subdue the Palestinians into submission to a Bantustan solution under Israeli rule have no chance to succeed. And most of all we can see the growing awareness that the continuation of the conflict is costing too high a price.
It might be that the latest Israeli attacks are the last throw of the dice both initiating a harsh Palestinian response and mounting Israeli internal opposition. If the Israeli side will consent to let the Palestinian capitalists manage their own independent state in the 1967 borders with minimal adjustments the Palestinian elite may be able to solve the refugee problem with the economic support of the rich countries.
Ilan Shalif is an Israeli anarchist who has been active for many years in "persistent and principled opposition to Zionism".
Declaration - May 2001 (unofficial text of small libertarian communist group in Israel)
The occupation continues, the occupation will continue, is there any solution? [excerpts]
The truth is now there for all to see: there is no peace agreement between Zionist Israel and the Palestinian Arab people, and there will never be. Zionist Israel is a state which adheres to discrimination between its Jewish citizens (and actually all the Jews of the world), and the rest of its citizens.
Zionist Israel is a state that stubbornly refuses to mend, even in minor steps, wrong doings it inflicted on the Palestinians. It not only refuses to dismantle the settlers' colonies and to allow the return of any number of the refugees, it even refuses for more than 40 years to let the evacuees of the villages Ikrit and Bir'im return from neighboring places despite the Supreme Court verdict.
Every agreement achieved in the short run between Israel and the Palestinians will express the present power balance between an occupying force and the occupied, between the oppressor and the oppressed between the strong and the weak between the masters and the enslaved. In other words, every agreement that will be achieved in the near future will be based on the trampling of the Palestinians as a people and as individuals.
The solutions suggested for the present are based on "compromise" between two sides that are not equal. The formula for a "Palestinian state besides the Israeli state" is in the present conditions a big fraud. Even if Israel will agree in the near future to the establishment of such a state ruled by the PLO, it will necessarily be like a Bantustan in the time of Apartheid in South Africa: A state divided into at least two parts, with no real army, with only partial control of its borders, ground and water; A state inflicted with high unemployment, flooded by hundreds of thousands of returning refugees, while a very high percent of its population will be dependant on the Israeli economy.
A "state" like this will not only be a Bantustan, but also a social and political ticking time bomb and for sure it would be not any kind of solution.
This is the reason we do not find any value in searching for or offering any solution for the present or the near future. However, there is a strong reason to put forward principled demands worth fighting/struggling for:
1) Immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Israeli army from ALL the territories occupied in 1967 war.
2) Recognition of the right of the Palestinian people for self-determination.
3) Cancellation of all the discriminatory rules that Israel has and replace them with fully equal rights for all those who live in Israel .
4) Recognition of the right of the Palestinians ("refugees") to return to their homeland.
All the solutions offered by the Israeli and Palestinian "left" based on equality are impossible to achieve in the near future (if at all): "two states for two nations", "state of all its citizens", "bi-national state", "secular and democratic state".... Are they worthy to fight for in the long run?
All these "solutions" take for granted the hierarchical structure of the state and not contesting the capitalist system. Within the capitalist system these reformists solutions are impossible to achieve and are not even worth dreaming of.
Only a social revolution of all the region (as part of change in the social order of all the world) which will abolish the capitalist exploitation and the hierarchical structure of the states and other oppressing and discriminating mechanisms - will put end to the conflict ignited in the region by the super power states and the Zionist project they nourished.
Such a solution is both worth fighting for and dreaming of.
This article in Italian as Israele/Palestina non è un bel posto in cui viverci - è zona di guerra
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/trans/italian/israel.html
Monday, March 24, 2003
The Mas'ha camp in the eyes of a Palestinian activist By Nazeeh Sha'alabi 24/3/2003
On March 24, 2003 Israeli bulldozers and other heavy construction machinery shocked the Masha community. They were uprooting our trees and destroying our fields to clear land for the Apartheid Wall. As a volunteer on the General Committee of the Land Defense Committee, I called the organization's coordinator in Salfeet. We started to organize resistance to the Wall with the different Palestinian political parties and other institutions in the region, because of the devastating effect it would have on our future and our existence on our land. We also got in contact with the International Women's Peace Services (IWPS), the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and Israeli peace groups.
We organized our first demonstration on March 29, 2003. When we returned home, we realized that it was a good action, but not enough. We called another meeting of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals in which we decided to initiate the Mas'ha Camp Against the Wall.
On April 5, we organized a big demonstration that was attended by about 500 people. It ended with pitching the tent that would become the center of the Masha Camp. For four months Palestinians, Israelis and international activists lived together on Masha land confiscated by the Wall. The tent was moved from location to location, depending on where the bulldozers where working. It found its final place in front of the house of Hani Amer, which will be completely closed in between the Wall and the fence surrounding the Elkana settlement.
With the Camp we organized photo exhibits, gave speeches, wrote reports about the situation, and visited Palestinian communities affected by the Wall. We visited the Emergency Centers Against the Wall in Qalqilya and Tulkarem and organized joint activities. We also cooperated with the Palestinian National Committee Against the Wall. Two more anti-Wall demonstrations were organized on April 17, and on May 15, the commemoration of the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe) of the Palestinian people.
We succeeded in bringing the issue of the Wall to the front page of the newspapers and to national and international TV and radio stations. The Palestinians whom we visited became aware of the threat of the Wall. All this was the result of the efforts of all of the groups who participated: the Palestinian organizations PENGON, PARC, Land Defense Committee, and LAW, the international groups IWPS and ISM, and many Israeli peace groups, including Gush Shalom, One Struggle, anarchists, Black Laundry and others.
We, the Mas'ha farmers and our supporters, knew from the beginning that we could not stop the Wall in Mas'ha or remove it. But we wanted to show that the Israeli people are not our enemies; to provide an opportunity for Israelis to cooperate with us as good neighbors and support our struggle; to show that the Wall is condemned by the international community; to expose that the Wall is not for security, but is about confiscating land; and to focus the mass media's attention on this issue.
We all condemn the occupation. Through our efforts together, we proved that the ultimate goal of the Wall is to block the creation of a Palestinian state and to imprison the Palestinians in ghettos, denying them a chance to live a normal life. Through our cooperation at the camp as Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals, we proved that the occupation is the enemy of the Palestinians as are the settlers who rob our land and kill our children.
Our camp showed that peace will not be built by walls and separation, but by cooperation and communication between the two peoples living in this land. At Masha Camp we lived together, ate together, and talked together 24 hours a day for four months. Our fear was never from each other, but only from the Israeli soldiers and settlers.
On August 5th, our fears became reality when the Israeli military tried to close down the camp and arrested 46 of the Palestinians, internationals and Israelis present. On August 6th, they raided the camp again and arrested 26 Israelis. On August 13th, they declared the area of the camp a Closed Military Zone and confiscated our tent. The soldiers threatened Hani Amer, the owner of the house, that if they saw it again they would demolish his house.
The internationals that were arrested were barred from entering the West Bank again during their stay, and the Israelis were forbidden to enter the West Bank for two weeks. While everyone else was released after less than one day, I remained in prison for three days. I was finally released on a bail of NIS 1500 ($300). The hearing for my case will be on October 21.
The occupation will not stop our struggle. It will not stop until the Wall is removed and until we live in a free and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, according to United Nations resolutions and international law.
I want to ask every person who loves justice and peace and human rights to support the Palestinians in our struggle for our rights and our right to decide our own destiny and build our state.
We organized our first demonstration on March 29, 2003. When we returned home, we realized that it was a good action, but not enough. We called another meeting of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals in which we decided to initiate the Mas'ha Camp Against the Wall.
On April 5, we organized a big demonstration that was attended by about 500 people. It ended with pitching the tent that would become the center of the Masha Camp. For four months Palestinians, Israelis and international activists lived together on Masha land confiscated by the Wall. The tent was moved from location to location, depending on where the bulldozers where working. It found its final place in front of the house of Hani Amer, which will be completely closed in between the Wall and the fence surrounding the Elkana settlement.
With the Camp we organized photo exhibits, gave speeches, wrote reports about the situation, and visited Palestinian communities affected by the Wall. We visited the Emergency Centers Against the Wall in Qalqilya and Tulkarem and organized joint activities. We also cooperated with the Palestinian National Committee Against the Wall. Two more anti-Wall demonstrations were organized on April 17, and on May 15, the commemoration of the 1948 Nakba (Catastrophe) of the Palestinian people.
We succeeded in bringing the issue of the Wall to the front page of the newspapers and to national and international TV and radio stations. The Palestinians whom we visited became aware of the threat of the Wall. All this was the result of the efforts of all of the groups who participated: the Palestinian organizations PENGON, PARC, Land Defense Committee, and LAW, the international groups IWPS and ISM, and many Israeli peace groups, including Gush Shalom, One Struggle, anarchists, Black Laundry and others.
We, the Mas'ha farmers and our supporters, knew from the beginning that we could not stop the Wall in Mas'ha or remove it. But we wanted to show that the Israeli people are not our enemies; to provide an opportunity for Israelis to cooperate with us as good neighbors and support our struggle; to show that the Wall is condemned by the international community; to expose that the Wall is not for security, but is about confiscating land; and to focus the mass media's attention on this issue.
We all condemn the occupation. Through our efforts together, we proved that the ultimate goal of the Wall is to block the creation of a Palestinian state and to imprison the Palestinians in ghettos, denying them a chance to live a normal life. Through our cooperation at the camp as Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals, we proved that the occupation is the enemy of the Palestinians as are the settlers who rob our land and kill our children.
Our camp showed that peace will not be built by walls and separation, but by cooperation and communication between the two peoples living in this land. At Masha Camp we lived together, ate together, and talked together 24 hours a day for four months. Our fear was never from each other, but only from the Israeli soldiers and settlers.
On August 5th, our fears became reality when the Israeli military tried to close down the camp and arrested 46 of the Palestinians, internationals and Israelis present. On August 6th, they raided the camp again and arrested 26 Israelis. On August 13th, they declared the area of the camp a Closed Military Zone and confiscated our tent. The soldiers threatened Hani Amer, the owner of the house, that if they saw it again they would demolish his house.
The internationals that were arrested were barred from entering the West Bank again during their stay, and the Israelis were forbidden to enter the West Bank for two weeks. While everyone else was released after less than one day, I remained in prison for three days. I was finally released on a bail of NIS 1500 ($300). The hearing for my case will be on October 21.
The occupation will not stop our struggle. It will not stop until the Wall is removed and until we live in a free and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, according to United Nations resolutions and international law.
I want to ask every person who loves justice and peace and human rights to support the Palestinians in our struggle for our rights and our right to decide our own destiny and build our state.
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