The FdCA has produced a special English-language version of its monthly news-sheet on the occasion of the international day of anarchist solidarity with the struggle in Palestine and the Israeli anarchists. "Alternativa Libertaria" is a 2-page PDF file and can be freely downloaded, printed and distributed by anarchist groups and organizations. You can find it at:
http://www.fdca.it/AL/ottobre04EN.pdf
This month's issue includes:
* Israeli Anarchists
* Anarchists in the world
* Peacefully Confronting the Wall in Budrus (see below)
* How much is this occupation costing us?
* We will not be stopped!!
We remind you also of the special 70-page pamphlet we have produced for the occasion: "We Are All Anarchists Against The Wall". This too can be freely downloaded and used.
Cover: http://www.fdca.it/wall/media/anarwall_EN_cover.pdf
Text: http://www.fdca.it/wall/media/anarwall_EN.pdf
Cover & Text zipped: http://www.fdca.it/wall/media/wall_english.zip
Italian versions are also available on the FdCA website.
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Peacefully Confronting the Wall in Budrus
I live in Budrus, a village of 1,200 people, west of Ramallah. The Wall will completely surround Budrus and eight other villages, separating us from the rest of the West Bank. There are no hospitals, universities, or civil institutions in these nine villages, and many of the people work in Ramallah. The Wall will prevent thousands of Palestinians from going to work, school, universities, and hospitals. We already live in a prison, surrounded by settlements and checkpoints. So with the Wall, it will become a prison within a prison. As a young Palestinian woman, I dream of becoming a doctor. However, the Wall may prevent me from studying in a university.
On Nov 23rd, 2003, Wall construction started in Budrus and we immediately began holding peaceful demonstrations opposing it. The Israeli authorities planned to take 250 acres of Budrus' land and bulldoze our olive groves. The day construction began, the soldiers formed a line to prevent us from reaching the bulldozers, but I was able to cut through the line and sit in front of the bulldozer. We stopped Wall construction that day.
We protested peacefully for three months until March 1, when the Israeli authorities said they would move the Wall to the Green Line, so Budrus would not lose land. Recently, they told us that they still want to take 44 acres of our land, and Budrus and eight other villages will also still be surrounded by the Wall. So we will continue to struggle against the theft of our land.
Though our demonstrations were peaceful, the Israeli soldiers wounded 102 persons. They used sound bombs, teargas, and rubber-coated steel bullets, and beat men and women with clubs. In Biddu and Beitunia, villages near Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers killed six people during protests against the Wall. The Israeli military tried to stop Budrus' peaceful protests by arresting participants. Thirteen men from Budrus, including my father, two uncles, two cousins, and a 15-year-old classmate were arrested. The soldiers' violence scares me, but to make my dreams a reality I have to take part in the peaceful struggle against that Wall. Nonviolent resistance against the Wall requires everyone. Our entire community participated in protests, men with women, elders with children, and Palestinians with Israelis and internationals.
I had never dealt with Israelis as friends before. Israelis were always occupiers and soldiers. During the first demonstration I met three women who became my first Israeli friends. They believe the Wall will not bring them security, and they wish more Israelis would see what is happening on the ground. I now have many Israeli friends. A friendly relationship between Palestinians and Israelis is important, because I look to the future when there will be a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders next to Israel. Security and understanding requires friendship. Please support us in ending this oppressive Israeli military occupation of our land.
[From an article by Iltezam Morrar, aged 15, in The Electronic Intifada, 16 July 2004.]
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FEDERAZIONE DEI COMUNISTI ANARCHICI
http://www.fdca.it
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