In the last Friday too the activists of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and the people who join us split forces. The main locations were as usual the last Fridays, Abud (near the village Rantis) and Bil'in (near Modi'in Elit settlers town. The activity in Bil'in was centered - like the last 10 days, around the new structure of the Bil'in center for joint struggle for peace, located few hundreds meter on the west side of the fence which separate the Bil'in village (on the East side of the fence from most of its olive orchards - gradually uprooted to make place for the Israeli orthodox settlement town. The struggle took a strange and unexpected turn when at Sunday night of the second coming of the center, while it was raining and the Israeli state forces were not wise to it, the activists there built a 3X5 meter structure.
Because Bil'in is in the center of attention of the Israeli media and present in the international media too, and its case is supposed to come before the highest Israel court of "justice" for verdict - the state forces hesitate a lot. They confiscated the second container on Monday, but refrained from eviction and destruction of the structure. They even refrained from harassing people and preventing movement to the center both from Bil'in on the other side of the route of the fence or from the Israeli side.
Since the army decree for stopping the enlargement of the building and dating a hearing on 5.1.06 activists and guests congregate in the center and in its "court yard". Few Israelis and Palestinians stayed there at nights to be on the safe side and for strengthening the point.
Friday morning, we got out of the sleeping bags for another day of activity in the center to the blessing of "Sabakh El Heir" (good morning) from the comrades who stayed all the night around the small fire adjacent to the structure - after the guests and other activists present during the day returned to Bil'in or their homes. The blessing was accompanied with a morning coffee and tea to smooth the beginning of a new day.
Not much later, people from Bil'in, from Israel, and from further away started to congregate.
First came a group of Bil'in women of the activists families with children and materials for the promised meal. Very soon, the smell of the baking in the portable taboon were all around mixed with the sounds of joy of the young children playing around. Then, the bigger crowd start to arrive - both people from Bil'in and Israel, and few special guests - including Cindy and Craig Corry, parents of the late American peace activist murdered by Israeli state forces at the Gaza strip. Present as well were also Palestinian political figures Kaddoura Fares, Mustafa Barghouti, and Kais Abu Leila.
All these hours, the Israeli occupation forces who increased their numbers in the vicinity kept a clear distance, but refrained - like the other days of the week from harassing the people or blocking the free movement to the center and from it - both for the people of Bil'in (who cross the route of the separation fence days and nights), and for the Israelis who come through the settlement town. They even kept bigger distance than the armored car who spies on the center days and nights to see it will not be enlarged.
Towards noon, after a lot of nonformal contacts, small meeting circles and explanation to both media, guests from abroad, and Israeli first comers, and after the food distribution there was a general meeting of about two hundreds people, which was followed by a Friday noon prier of most of the Bil'inians.
After the prier, people continue with small circles get together while most of the people of Bil'in started to return to the village.
Even in this activity a score of youngsters were reluctant to miss the weekly confrontation of stone throwing with the soldiers tear gas grenades... They climbed on a high pile of construction gravel facing the further away state forces and starting to through towards the soldiers... Though the state forces were too far away, to be on the safe side, the activists of the Bil'in village popular comity "herded" the youngsters away and made them return to the village.
At the afternoon, most of the people left the location leaving some activists to "hold the post".
Friday, December 30, 2005
Monday, December 26, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, Media do not let the joint struggle to be ignored: Bil'in demonstrators return to outpost 26 Dec
A group of 22 Israeli and Palestinian demonstrators lit Hannuka candles Sunday night at an illegal caravan erected for a second time near the West Bank settlement of Modi'in Elite.
The lighting of the first candle at this spot, said Yossi Bartal, an activist from Anarchists against the Wall, represented "the fight for freedom from occupation."
The group's choice in symbols was a provocative one given that the Maccabean revolt that Hannukah commemorates broke out in ancient Judean town of Modi'in. Likewise, the caravan was located adjacent to the new neighborhood of East Mattityahu, named after the rebellion's famed patriarch priest.
But protesters contended that the victims nowadays were the Palestinian residents of the village of Bil'in, a half a kilometer away.
The route of the security fence blocks villagers from their farm land and protects ever-expanding settlements, they said.
"The barrier cuts off Bil'in from one-half to two-thirds of its agricultural land and is meant to protect the settlements of Kiryat Sefer and Modi'in Elite," said Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Ascherman, who heads Rabbis for Human Rights, a left-wing association that has also trumpeted the cause of Bil'in, said that the caravan was illegal - but so were the new settlement neighborhoods.
Both were set up without government permits, he said.
Last Thursday, about 50 activists barricaded themselves in a similar outpost at the same location, but soldiers removed the caravan, and police briefly detained seven demonstrators.
The expansion in the East Mattityahu neighborhood went unhindered.
"The quick evacuation of the first outpost, within 24 hours of it being set up, exposes the blatant policies of Apartheid and selective enforcement going on in the Occupied Territories," said Yonatan Pollack, another anarchist.
Pollack promised that Sunday's caravan "will become the foundation stone for a West Bil'in."
At the last outpost demonstration, soldiers fired tear gas to keep additional protesters from reaching the caravan, but this time around, a police and IDF jeep passed by without responding.
Military sources said the outpost, like the last one, "would be removed by the police and the IDF Civil Administration."
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http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309646601&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/662203.html
The lighting of the first candle at this spot, said Yossi Bartal, an activist from Anarchists against the Wall, represented "the fight for freedom from occupation."
The group's choice in symbols was a provocative one given that the Maccabean revolt that Hannukah commemorates broke out in ancient Judean town of Modi'in. Likewise, the caravan was located adjacent to the new neighborhood of East Mattityahu, named after the rebellion's famed patriarch priest.
But protesters contended that the victims nowadays were the Palestinian residents of the village of Bil'in, a half a kilometer away.
The route of the security fence blocks villagers from their farm land and protects ever-expanding settlements, they said.
"The barrier cuts off Bil'in from one-half to two-thirds of its agricultural land and is meant to protect the settlements of Kiryat Sefer and Modi'in Elite," said Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Ascherman, who heads Rabbis for Human Rights, a left-wing association that has also trumpeted the cause of Bil'in, said that the caravan was illegal - but so were the new settlement neighborhoods.
Both were set up without government permits, he said.
Last Thursday, about 50 activists barricaded themselves in a similar outpost at the same location, but soldiers removed the caravan, and police briefly detained seven demonstrators.
The expansion in the East Mattityahu neighborhood went unhindered.
"The quick evacuation of the first outpost, within 24 hours of it being set up, exposes the blatant policies of Apartheid and selective enforcement going on in the Occupied Territories," said Yonatan Pollack, another anarchist.
Pollack promised that Sunday's caravan "will become the foundation stone for a West Bil'in."
At the last outpost demonstration, soldiers fired tear gas to keep additional protesters from reaching the caravan, but this time around, a police and IDF jeep passed by without responding.
Military sources said the outpost, like the last one, "would be removed by the police and the IDF Civil Administration."
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http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309646601&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/662203.html
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, Media: activists rebuild the center for joint struggle for peace outpost in occupied lands 25 Dec
The first outpost which was established last Wdnesday morning was destroyed Thursday evening. See (en) Palestine-Israel, Media, Haaretz, Bil'in residents set up 'outpost' west of separation fence - http://ainfos.ca/05/dec/ainfos00279.html
and: (en) Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, the joint struggle against the separation fence intensify towards the highest court decision at 1st February http://ainfos.ca/05/dec/ainfos00296.html
Palestinian residents of the West Bank town of Bil'in along with left-wing activists have rebuilt an "outpost" Sunday two days after the Israel Defense Forces removed the container from the identical spot west of the route of the separation fence near the settlement of Upper Modi'in.
Last week, the Palestinians erected the outpost as part of their plan to establish a "center for the joint struggle for peace." They even brought cement to the site, adding that they intend to build "the western neighborhood of Bil'in."
An IDF spokesperson that the army evacuated the container because it was placed in a closed military zone and that "it is forbidden to transport caravans" in the territories.
"Private Palestinian land is in question here, not state land. The village council approved setting up a caravan and thus this is a legal structure," Attorney Michael Sfard, who represents the Bil'in residents, said last week.
"This will be blatant proof of the fact that there is selective law enforcement if they deal with the poor caravan before the hundreds of housing units built illegally in Upper Modi'in," he added.
Sfard submitted a letter in the name of Peace Now to the Civil Administration demanding a halt to the construction within a week. At the end of this time, Sfard wrote in the letter, he will turn to the Supreme Court.
"After what happened today in Bil'in, there is no reason that the state should defend its decision to continue the construction" in Matitiyahu, Sfard said.
"Now the truth is out, and the truth is that Jews are allowed to break the law and Palestinians are not.
"This," Sfard continued, "is called apartheid."
and: (en) Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, the joint struggle against the separation fence intensify towards the highest court decision at 1st February http://ainfos.ca/05/dec/ainfos00296.html
Palestinian residents of the West Bank town of Bil'in along with left-wing activists have rebuilt an "outpost" Sunday two days after the Israel Defense Forces removed the container from the identical spot west of the route of the separation fence near the settlement of Upper Modi'in.
Last week, the Palestinians erected the outpost as part of their plan to establish a "center for the joint struggle for peace." They even brought cement to the site, adding that they intend to build "the western neighborhood of Bil'in."
An IDF spokesperson that the army evacuated the container because it was placed in a closed military zone and that "it is forbidden to transport caravans" in the territories.
"Private Palestinian land is in question here, not state land. The village council approved setting up a caravan and thus this is a legal structure," Attorney Michael Sfard, who represents the Bil'in residents, said last week.
"This will be blatant proof of the fact that there is selective law enforcement if they deal with the poor caravan before the hundreds of housing units built illegally in Upper Modi'in," he added.
Sfard submitted a letter in the name of Peace Now to the Civil Administration demanding a halt to the construction within a week. At the end of this time, Sfard wrote in the letter, he will turn to the Supreme Court.
"After what happened today in Bil'in, there is no reason that the state should defend its decision to continue the construction" in Matitiyahu, Sfard said.
"Now the truth is out, and the truth is that Jews are allowed to break the law and Palestinians are not.
"This," Sfard continued, "is called apartheid."
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, the joint struggle against the separation fence intensify towards the highest court decision at 1st February 24 Dec
The outpost which was built on the lands of Bil'in on the west side of the separation fence - adjacent to the illegal building site of the settlement town Modi'in Elit, on the robbed lands of Bil'in, existed a day and a half. The outpost that was named "Bil'in center for the joint struggle for peace" got lot of Israeli and international media cover. During its short time existence till it was destroyed, it was held mainly by activists of Bil'in and Israelis of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative. A nice surprise was the friendly visit of 5 orthodox Jews from the already inhabited area of the settlement. Thursday evening, the armed forces of Israel brought to the outpost about 150 police, soldiers, and fire brigade personnel. They force entered the big metal container used as the out post center, and after detaining the people confiscated it and took it away.
Most of the activists involved were released immediately except 7 of the Israelis who were among the people in the outpost structure or on its roof, who were taken to the Givat Zeev police station. When it was announced in Bil'in that the outpost was destroyed, few hundreds marched towards the separation fence and confronted the Israeli armed forces there, who dispersed the demonstrators with tear gas grenades. Few hours later, the 7 Israelis were released though they refused to sign a bail with the usual condition that they will not return to Bil'in for two weeks.
The usual Friday demonstration was held nearly as usual. The theme of this demo was similar to the one of the previous week - the illegal building of settlement on the lands robbed from Bil'in villagers using the separation fence. At the front of the demo people held a big three languages banner: "This is an illegal construction". Participated in it about 100 people of Bil'in, about 70 Israelis mobilized by the anarchists against the wall initiative, about 20 international activists and about 10 from the Bir-Zeit university. Because of the frequent rain showers, many of the participant held umbrellas, while marching and chanting and singing.
As usual, the armed state forces blocked our way on the road about 50 meters from the route of the fence, but though they pushed the people brutally, they could not prevent us from constructing a big tent on the side of the road. This tent was announced as replacement to the center for joint struggle for peace destroyed the evening before the other side of the fence.
And as usual, participants of the demo tried to reach the route of the fence through the olive orchards on the side of the road. And as usual, the armed forces pushed the people back and showed us and read loudly the document declaring the region closed for Israelis... and as usual no one took it seriously - not even when the level of brutality escalated and four of us were injured and needed medical treatment.
And as usual, not far from the nonviolent demonstration, youngsters confronted with stone throwing the soldiers who responded by shooting at them tear gas canisters....
During the nonviolent demonstration and the violent actions of the state forces two Israelis and one Palestinian were detained. The Israelis were released on the spot at the end of the demonstration while the Palestinian comrade was taken to the Givat Zeev police station with intention to relocate him to the Ofer concentration camp.
After three hours of verbal and physical confrontation with the armed forces and frequent raining showers, it was announced that the demo was ended but the big tent that was declared as a replacement for the center for joint struggle for peace destroyed the evening before on the other side of the fence will stay and be held by Bil'inians and Israelis - at least till the confiscated container of the outpost will be returned.
Media Report: Security forces beat four protesters near Bil'in village http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/661809.html
Protesters clashing with IDF troops during a protest against the security fence near the West Bank village of Bil'in on Friday. http://www.haaretz.com/hasite/images/iht_daily/D231205/bilin2.jpg Security forces beat four anti-fence protesters near the West Bank village of Bil'in, and one of them was beaten after he was arrested, demonstrators in the area said Friday.
Three of the protesters were lightly hurt and the condition of the arrested demonstrator is unknown.
The clashes erupted Friday after 200 Israelis, Palestinians and foreigners tried to arrive at Bil'in in order to erect a protest tent against the expansion of the settlement of Upper Modi'in on lands confiscated from the Palestinian residents of Bil'in.
On Thursday Israel Defense Forces troops evacuated some 50 left-wing activists who had barricaded themselves inside a caravan "outpost" built near the Bil'in on land cut off from the village by the separation fence.
The fence cuts village residents off from approximately half of their lands.
According to activists at the scene, the IDF force numbered some 150 troops, who broke into the caravan using sledgehammers and chains. The caravan was later lifted in the air by a crane to prevent people from returning.
Several activists were also detained for questioning. The activists inside the caravan included 30 Palestinians and 20 left-wing Israeli activists.
The caravan was situated on land adjacent to the Matityahu East neighborhood of Upper Modi'in, where hundreds of illegal Jewish housing units have recently been constructed.
Security sources said that it was clear to them that immediately after the evacuation, they would need to explain to the court why they are hurrying to act against Palestinian illegal construction and tarrying on curbing illegal construction in the settlements.
According to one of the sources, the Palestinian outpost "turned into a security problem the moment there was no fence separating the caravan dwellers from Israeli territory."
Bil'in has become the symbol of the struggle against the separation fence, serving as the site of dozens of joint Palestinian-Israeli demonstrations in the past year. Some of the demonstrations have ended in violent altercations with security forces.
Dealing with the caravan is liable to be an embarrassment for the IDF and the Civil Administration.
Akiva Eldar of Haaretz recently exposed the Civil Administration's admission that 750 housing units had been built illegally with no permits whatsoever. The caravan, which arrived Wednesday from inside Israel, was standing approximately 100 meters away from the Matityahu East construction site.
According to the law, the Civil Administration can take down the container within a month of its placement without legal proceedings. But the IDF is well aware that if this is done, the Palestinians will formally accuse the Civil Administration of discrimination in hurrying to dismantle a lone Palestinian caravan while ignoring hundreds of illegal units in an adjacent Jewish neighborhood.
Civil Administration sources said that the construction in Upper Modi'in is indeed illegal and "the head of the Administration is examining its options to address the situation."
Most of the activists involved were released immediately except 7 of the Israelis who were among the people in the outpost structure or on its roof, who were taken to the Givat Zeev police station. When it was announced in Bil'in that the outpost was destroyed, few hundreds marched towards the separation fence and confronted the Israeli armed forces there, who dispersed the demonstrators with tear gas grenades. Few hours later, the 7 Israelis were released though they refused to sign a bail with the usual condition that they will not return to Bil'in for two weeks.
The usual Friday demonstration was held nearly as usual. The theme of this demo was similar to the one of the previous week - the illegal building of settlement on the lands robbed from Bil'in villagers using the separation fence. At the front of the demo people held a big three languages banner: "This is an illegal construction". Participated in it about 100 people of Bil'in, about 70 Israelis mobilized by the anarchists against the wall initiative, about 20 international activists and about 10 from the Bir-Zeit university. Because of the frequent rain showers, many of the participant held umbrellas, while marching and chanting and singing.
As usual, the armed state forces blocked our way on the road about 50 meters from the route of the fence, but though they pushed the people brutally, they could not prevent us from constructing a big tent on the side of the road. This tent was announced as replacement to the center for joint struggle for peace destroyed the evening before the other side of the fence.
And as usual, participants of the demo tried to reach the route of the fence through the olive orchards on the side of the road. And as usual, the armed forces pushed the people back and showed us and read loudly the document declaring the region closed for Israelis... and as usual no one took it seriously - not even when the level of brutality escalated and four of us were injured and needed medical treatment.
And as usual, not far from the nonviolent demonstration, youngsters confronted with stone throwing the soldiers who responded by shooting at them tear gas canisters....
During the nonviolent demonstration and the violent actions of the state forces two Israelis and one Palestinian were detained. The Israelis were released on the spot at the end of the demonstration while the Palestinian comrade was taken to the Givat Zeev police station with intention to relocate him to the Ofer concentration camp.
After three hours of verbal and physical confrontation with the armed forces and frequent raining showers, it was announced that the demo was ended but the big tent that was declared as a replacement for the center for joint struggle for peace destroyed the evening before on the other side of the fence will stay and be held by Bil'inians and Israelis - at least till the confiscated container of the outpost will be returned.
Media Report: Security forces beat four protesters near Bil'in village http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/661809.html
Protesters clashing with IDF troops during a protest against the security fence near the West Bank village of Bil'in on Friday. http://www.haaretz.com/hasite/images/iht_daily/D231205/bilin2.jpg Security forces beat four anti-fence protesters near the West Bank village of Bil'in, and one of them was beaten after he was arrested, demonstrators in the area said Friday.
Three of the protesters were lightly hurt and the condition of the arrested demonstrator is unknown.
The clashes erupted Friday after 200 Israelis, Palestinians and foreigners tried to arrive at Bil'in in order to erect a protest tent against the expansion of the settlement of Upper Modi'in on lands confiscated from the Palestinian residents of Bil'in.
On Thursday Israel Defense Forces troops evacuated some 50 left-wing activists who had barricaded themselves inside a caravan "outpost" built near the Bil'in on land cut off from the village by the separation fence.
The fence cuts village residents off from approximately half of their lands.
According to activists at the scene, the IDF force numbered some 150 troops, who broke into the caravan using sledgehammers and chains. The caravan was later lifted in the air by a crane to prevent people from returning.
Several activists were also detained for questioning. The activists inside the caravan included 30 Palestinians and 20 left-wing Israeli activists.
The caravan was situated on land adjacent to the Matityahu East neighborhood of Upper Modi'in, where hundreds of illegal Jewish housing units have recently been constructed.
Security sources said that it was clear to them that immediately after the evacuation, they would need to explain to the court why they are hurrying to act against Palestinian illegal construction and tarrying on curbing illegal construction in the settlements.
According to one of the sources, the Palestinian outpost "turned into a security problem the moment there was no fence separating the caravan dwellers from Israeli territory."
Bil'in has become the symbol of the struggle against the separation fence, serving as the site of dozens of joint Palestinian-Israeli demonstrations in the past year. Some of the demonstrations have ended in violent altercations with security forces.
Dealing with the caravan is liable to be an embarrassment for the IDF and the Civil Administration.
Akiva Eldar of Haaretz recently exposed the Civil Administration's admission that 750 housing units had been built illegally with no permits whatsoever. The caravan, which arrived Wednesday from inside Israel, was standing approximately 100 meters away from the Matityahu East construction site.
According to the law, the Civil Administration can take down the container within a month of its placement without legal proceedings. But the IDF is well aware that if this is done, the Palestinians will formally accuse the Civil Administration of discrimination in hurrying to dismantle a lone Palestinian caravan while ignoring hundreds of illegal units in an adjacent Jewish neighborhood.
Civil Administration sources said that the construction in Upper Modi'in is indeed illegal and "the head of the Administration is examining its options to address the situation."
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Media, Haaretz, Bil'in residents set up 'outpost' west of separation fence 21 Dec
Settlers aren't the only ones building outposts in the West Bank: Palestinians from the village of Bil'in, near Ramallah, on Wednesday set up a caravan on land isolated from the village by the separation fence. Israel Defense Forces troops are gearing up to evacuate the caravan, military sources say. Dozens of Bil'in residents, accompanied by Israeli* and international activists, set out Wednesday morning to place the caravan on land adjacent to the settlement of Upper Modi'in.
Mohammed Khateb, a member of Bil'in's Popular Committee Against the Wall, said that the container was placed on land belonging to a village resident and comes with a building permit from Bil'in village council.
The fence cuts village residents from approximately half of their lands.
Khateb also said that the committee intends to establish a "center for the joint struggle for peace," where the caravan stands.
Bil'in has become the symbol of the struggle against the separation fence, serving as the site of dozens of joint Palestinian-Israeli demonstrations in the past year. Some of the demonstrations have ended in violent altercations with security forces.
Dealing with the caravan is liable to be an embarrassment for the IDF and the Civil Administration. The container is adjacent to the Matityahu East neighborhood of Upper Modi'in, where hundreds of illegal housing units have recently been constructed.
Akiva Eldar of Haaretz recently exposed the Civil Administration's admission that 750 housing units had been built illegally with no permits whatsoever. The caravan, which arrived Wednesday from inside Israel, is standing approximately 100 meters away from the Matityahu East construction site.
According to the law, the Civil Administration can take down the container within a month of its placement with no need for legal proceedings. But the IDF is well aware that if this is done, the Palestinians will formally accuse the Civil Administration of discrimination in hurrying to dismantle a lone Palestinian caravan while ignoring hundreds of illegal units in an adjacent Jewish neighborhood.
"Private Palestinian land is in question here, not state land. The village council approved setting up a caravan and thus this is a legal structure," said attorney Michael Sfard, who represents the village residents.
"This will be blatant proof of the fact that there is selective law enforcement if they deal with the poor caravan before the hundreds of housing units built illegally in Upper Modi'in," he added.
Sfard submitted a letter in the name of Peace Now to the Civil Administration demanding a halt to the construction within a week. At the end of this time, Sepharad writes in the letter, he will turn to the Supreme Court.
Civil Administration sources said that the construction in Upper Modi'in is indeed illegal and "the head of the Administration is examining its options to address the situation."
As for the caravan, military sources say the army has no intention of violently struggling with the residents, but say that the container will be taken down.
The same sources say that they are aware that as soon as the caravan is dismantled, they will need to explain to the court why they are rushing to act against illegal Palestinian construction while taking their time in dealing with unlawful building by settlers.
============================
* The caravan placement is part of the intensified activity of the joint struggle of the Bil'in's Popular Committee Against the Wall and the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall against the separation fence in the region, against the building of settler colonialist out posts and against occupation. The activity is intensified as preparation for the Israeli highest court verdict on Bil'in chalenge of the route of the separation fence due at the 1st of February.
Mohammed Khateb, a member of Bil'in's Popular Committee Against the Wall, said that the container was placed on land belonging to a village resident and comes with a building permit from Bil'in village council.
The fence cuts village residents from approximately half of their lands.
Khateb also said that the committee intends to establish a "center for the joint struggle for peace," where the caravan stands.
Bil'in has become the symbol of the struggle against the separation fence, serving as the site of dozens of joint Palestinian-Israeli demonstrations in the past year. Some of the demonstrations have ended in violent altercations with security forces.
Dealing with the caravan is liable to be an embarrassment for the IDF and the Civil Administration. The container is adjacent to the Matityahu East neighborhood of Upper Modi'in, where hundreds of illegal housing units have recently been constructed.
Akiva Eldar of Haaretz recently exposed the Civil Administration's admission that 750 housing units had been built illegally with no permits whatsoever. The caravan, which arrived Wednesday from inside Israel, is standing approximately 100 meters away from the Matityahu East construction site.
According to the law, the Civil Administration can take down the container within a month of its placement with no need for legal proceedings. But the IDF is well aware that if this is done, the Palestinians will formally accuse the Civil Administration of discrimination in hurrying to dismantle a lone Palestinian caravan while ignoring hundreds of illegal units in an adjacent Jewish neighborhood.
"Private Palestinian land is in question here, not state land. The village council approved setting up a caravan and thus this is a legal structure," said attorney Michael Sfard, who represents the village residents.
"This will be blatant proof of the fact that there is selective law enforcement if they deal with the poor caravan before the hundreds of housing units built illegally in Upper Modi'in," he added.
Sfard submitted a letter in the name of Peace Now to the Civil Administration demanding a halt to the construction within a week. At the end of this time, Sepharad writes in the letter, he will turn to the Supreme Court.
Civil Administration sources said that the construction in Upper Modi'in is indeed illegal and "the head of the Administration is examining its options to address the situation."
As for the caravan, military sources say the army has no intention of violently struggling with the residents, but say that the container will be taken down.
The same sources say that they are aware that as soon as the caravan is dismantled, they will need to explain to the court why they are rushing to act against illegal Palestinian construction while taking their time in dealing with unlawful building by settlers.
============================
* The caravan placement is part of the intensified activity of the joint struggle of the Bil'in's Popular Committee Against the Wall and the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall against the separation fence in the region, against the building of settler colonialist out posts and against occupation. The activity is intensified as preparation for the Israeli highest court verdict on Bil'in chalenge of the route of the separation fence due at the 1st of February.
Palestine-Israel, The joint struggle in Bi'in continue. 21-12-05
The joint struggle of the Bil'in village commity against the separation fence and the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative continue... and escalate towards the Israeli highest court of "justice" that supposed to give a verdict at February 1st, 2006. Today at 8 am in the morning the center of bil'in to joint struggle for peace was established in a caravan that is now on the lands of bil'in, in the middle of the illegal contraction of the settlement modiin elit. At the center, at the moment are people from the village, israeli activists and international activists who plan to stay in the place for a long term. The police and the army are now checking the legal status of the issue. If staying will be relevant we will be happy for people that will volunteer to stay in the center. If you can come please contact mijal, or elad.
Anyway, during the first hours we want to be sure that the caravan won't be removed, for that we ask you to come only with previous coordination
See u soon,
Last information: the forces left the area.
Electronic media (walla.co.il, nrg.co.il, and ynet.co.il) reported on the struggle.
It reported that the caravan was placed adjacent to the illegal construction area of the settler city Modi'in Elit (on the lands of Bil'in - the separation fence help to rob).
It add that the activists showed the state force a permit for the caravan issued by the Bil'in municipality the area is still formally under its jurisdiction....
The Israeli state forces demanded the evacuation of the caravan... but went away after they were sown the permit and heard the demand to stop of the illegal building on Bil'in lands as was promised by the "Israeli occupation civilian authority" a week ago.
It quoted Abdallah Abu-Rahma of the village popular committee: This is Palestinian land, and in this caravan we will place in the future a Palestinian family".
As link to this on-line report, it put the following information:
"A soldier of the border police had falsely accused a Palestinian to justify shooting"
It is related to a post from months ago in which a soldier shoot Palestinian participant in the joint Friday demos, with a rubber bullet claiming as a justification the said person threw stones....
As many of the Israeli activists video the demonstration, they supplied clips that contradict the soldier.
The Palestinian comrade was acquitted, and the "policemen investigation section" claimed the soldier will be taken to court....
Anyway, during the first hours we want to be sure that the caravan won't be removed, for that we ask you to come only with previous coordination
See u soon,
Last information: the forces left the area.
Electronic media (walla.co.il, nrg.co.il, and ynet.co.il) reported on the struggle.
It reported that the caravan was placed adjacent to the illegal construction area of the settler city Modi'in Elit (on the lands of Bil'in - the separation fence help to rob).
It add that the activists showed the state force a permit for the caravan issued by the Bil'in municipality the area is still formally under its jurisdiction....
The Israeli state forces demanded the evacuation of the caravan... but went away after they were sown the permit and heard the demand to stop of the illegal building on Bil'in lands as was promised by the "Israeli occupation civilian authority" a week ago.
It quoted Abdallah Abu-Rahma of the village popular committee: This is Palestinian land, and in this caravan we will place in the future a Palestinian family".
As link to this on-line report, it put the following information:
"A soldier of the border police had falsely accused a Palestinian to justify shooting"
It is related to a post from months ago in which a soldier shoot Palestinian participant in the joint Friday demos, with a rubber bullet claiming as a justification the said person threw stones....
As many of the Israeli activists video the demonstration, they supplied clips that contradict the soldier.
The Palestinian comrade was acquitted, and the "policemen investigation section" claimed the soldier will be taken to court....
Friday, December 16, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, 16-12-05, Joint struggle against the robbery of lands using the separation fence
The armed forces of the state of Israel tried on Thursday evening to prevent the meeting of the Anarchists Against The Wall activists with the village activists of the comity for nonviolent struggle against the separation fence... but in vain. All that they achieved was to cause some of us to use round about roads, and to detain two young teenagers for 3 hours and causing them to arrive only the next day. In the meeting - like others we do from time to time, we discussed the joint struggle against the separation fence in Bil'in which serves as means to rob lands for the building of the settler town of Modi'in Elit, as part of the general struggle against the separation fence and occupation. The back ground to this meeting was the entrance of the struggle in Bil'in to the main media channels - including the mentioning the fact that the route of the fence was chosen, in order to enable large expansion of the settler town and enrich the construction companies. In addition, there is a hearing of the case of Bil'in in the Israeli supreme court in six weeks time....
Next day, the theme of the Friday demo was the robbery of the lands of Bil'in people for the enlargement of the settlement town Modi'in Elit. We prepared few scores of signs - each in the three "official" languages of the Friday demos - Arabic, Hebrew and English. On each sign was written: "This land belongs to: .
At noon, we started the usual march from the center of the village on the road leading to the separation fence and the olive orchards located behind it. We were about 150 people - mainly Bil'in citizens, but also Palestinians from neighboring villages and from the Bir-Zeit university, about 20 international activists, and of course activists of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and other Israelis.
Many of the participant carried signs in with their names were printed or names of one of their family members. And as usual, along the road we chanted and sang.. with sporadic dancing too. When we neared the route of the fence in construction, we turned from the road to a near by section of the route, through the olive orchards. The unprepared state forces tried in vain to block our way to the route and prevent us from crossing it to the near by robbed olive orchard. However, they succeeded to block our way to the other olive orchards, and we could not put there the rest of the signs.
The frustrated state forces could not shower on us tear gas canisters as they did the previous week in their failed efforts to block us from approaching the fence route due to very bad media exposure of that during the week. They refrained from mass arrest of Israelis as they not long ago, for entering a closed military zone, as that was criticized in both media and courts they brought us too. They were not in the position of arresting Bil'in villagers too, as similar cases in the last times brought criticism even in the military courts they brought them to...
They could not even justify any shooting of gas and shock grenades or rubber bullets as the village youth refrained this week from stone throwing... So they just try to frighten us by threats of arrests or by weaving their batons... they just had to use rough pushing with their hands or with the batons.
Due to their rough pushing, few of us were injured and treated by the medics of the ambulance and two were taken to the hospital to the near by Ramallah hospital for treatment.
During the demonstration the armed forces tried to arrest various demonstrators. Few of them we succeeded to unarrest. Two Palestinians they succeeded to arrest, but had to release during the demonstration as they had nothing to blame them that would stick. Three of the Israelis were taken to a near by police station to be released at late evening on sighing a bail and commitment of two weeks out of Bil'in demos.
After the demo, we held a meeting with the village comity for summing the action to the first time participants.
Next day, the theme of the Friday demo was the robbery of the lands of Bil'in people for the enlargement of the settlement town Modi'in Elit. We prepared few scores of signs - each in the three "official" languages of the Friday demos - Arabic, Hebrew and English. On each sign was written: "This land belongs to: .
At noon, we started the usual march from the center of the village on the road leading to the separation fence and the olive orchards located behind it. We were about 150 people - mainly Bil'in citizens, but also Palestinians from neighboring villages and from the Bir-Zeit university, about 20 international activists, and of course activists of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and other Israelis.
Many of the participant carried signs in with their names were printed or names of one of their family members. And as usual, along the road we chanted and sang.. with sporadic dancing too. When we neared the route of the fence in construction, we turned from the road to a near by section of the route, through the olive orchards. The unprepared state forces tried in vain to block our way to the route and prevent us from crossing it to the near by robbed olive orchard. However, they succeeded to block our way to the other olive orchards, and we could not put there the rest of the signs.
The frustrated state forces could not shower on us tear gas canisters as they did the previous week in their failed efforts to block us from approaching the fence route due to very bad media exposure of that during the week. They refrained from mass arrest of Israelis as they not long ago, for entering a closed military zone, as that was criticized in both media and courts they brought us too. They were not in the position of arresting Bil'in villagers too, as similar cases in the last times brought criticism even in the military courts they brought them to...
They could not even justify any shooting of gas and shock grenades or rubber bullets as the village youth refrained this week from stone throwing... So they just try to frighten us by threats of arrests or by weaving their batons... they just had to use rough pushing with their hands or with the batons.
Due to their rough pushing, few of us were injured and treated by the medics of the ambulance and two were taken to the hospital to the near by Ramallah hospital for treatment.
During the demonstration the armed forces tried to arrest various demonstrators. Few of them we succeeded to unarrest. Two Palestinians they succeeded to arrest, but had to release during the demonstration as they had nothing to blame them that would stick. Three of the Israelis were taken to a near by police station to be released at late evening on sighing a bail and commitment of two weeks out of Bil'in demos.
After the demo, we held a meeting with the village comity for summing the action to the first time participants.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Media: State turns blind eye to illegal construction at ultra-Orthodox West Bank settlement on Bil'in lands 14 Dec
Because of international and internal conciderations, Israel state colonial settler projects are often done "unofficially" and often in an "illagal means" - by state officials of all levels. Most of these steps are usually out of the focus of the media or out of the media at all. The case of Bil'in is different. It is so because the joint struggle of the local comity for nonviolent struggle against the fence with the Israeli activists of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative. The insistance on at least a joint Friday demonstration against the fence in Bil'in every week, with lot of creativity and publicity work did a difference. Just do a google search on Bil'in - and you will get "about 252,000 English pages for Bil'in" and a google search on "Bil'in or Bilin" + "Anarchists Against The Wall" will show about 46,300 English pages for "Anarchists Against The Wall" -Bil'in -Bilin.
I.S.
State turns blind eye to illegal construction at ultra-Orthodox West Bank settlement By Akiva Eldar
In the past year, the Palestinian village of Bil'in has gained worldwide publicity due to the resolute protest mounted by village residents and Israeli and international peace activists against the separation fence, which is tearing the village away from its lands.
Every Friday, Border Policemen face off against the demonstrators. The policemen violently disperse the gathering. But the demonstrators and policemen do not know that a few meters away, on the western side of the fence route in a new section of the settlement of Upper Modi'in, building violations on a colossal scale are being committed in broad daylight. This description is not an excerpt from a Peace Now press release. Rather, it is a verbatim quote from a letter by attorney Gilad Rogel, the legal counselor of the Upper Modi'in Local Council, in reference to the new neighborhood called Matityahu East.
This quote comes from an exchange of letters that tells the story of the largest settlement outpost established in recent years in the territories. The letters expose an affair of "hast thou stolen and also inherited" that is being played out in the shadow of the fence, behind the smokescreen of the security of Israeli citizens and under the nose of enforcement authorities. Even the severe report on settlement outposts drafted by attorney Talia Sasson contains nothing that could compare with a case in which the state constructs a fence along a route that is intended to annex an entire settlement built without permits. If that were not enough, the settlement/neighborhood is located in disregard of an explicit commitment by Israel to the United States to avoid construction outside the jurisdiction of existing settlements.
This time, representatives of the legal authorities themselves revealed their nakedness, on official stationary. However, they did not take into account that the damning evidence would find its way to the neighbors in Bil'in. The State Prosecutor's Office was certainly surprised to find the Upper Modi'in legal counselor's document appended to a letter that it received last week from attorney Michael Sfard, the Bil'in residents' attorney. Sfard began the letter he sent to attorney Aner Helman, who is representing the state in the Bil'in case (High Court of Justice 8614/05) with a quote from the state's response to the Bil'in residents' petition: "Based on developers' reports, which the Civil Administration are incapable of verifying (the words `which the Civil Administration are incapable of verifying' are boldfaced), in the western tract of Plan 210/8, which has already been developed, there are about 750 housing units, of which some 520 have been sold." Further down, it is stated that since the construction is being carried out in accordance with an invalid plan, "this is partly unlawful construction." Straight and straightforward.
One has to read it a few times to believe it. A representative of the attorney general, the supreme law enforcement authority in Israel, is informing the Supreme Court that the Civil Administration, the body that is by law responsible for the construction of every porch in the territories, "cannot verify" the construction of 750 housing units, of which about 520 have already been sold. "Do I understand from what you say that the State of Israel officially admits that it has lost not only its ability to enforce the law on the settlers," asks Sfard, but also "the ability to reach the construction sites and gather data?" If the prosecution were to ask this of the policemen who are sent each Friday to the site, they would have no problem verifying that the construction is continuing apace. They could even disclose that the developers have uprooted hundreds of olive trees in an area that was not even supposed to be part of the neighborhood/settlement outpost.
In the same letter about the violation on a colossal scale, which began in March of this year, relating to a building site of the Green Park construction firm, Upper Modi'in legal counselor Rogel wrote to the local council's engineer, Aryeh Pe'er, that he was astonished to learn that additional developers were also building "entire buildings without a permit, and all of this with your full knowledge and with planning and legal lawlessness with which I do not have the words to describe." Rogel announced that since he cannot contend alone with "lawlessness in such dimensions," he had decided to transfer the handling of this "sore evil" to the highest levels.
Pe'er does not deny the facts. He confirms that the construction is not lawful, and puts the blame on "the bureaucracy." He contends that Rogel took part in meetings of the planning committee that issued a warning to the construction firm, and that now he is pretending that he didn't know a thing about it.
The local council's comptroller, Shmuel Heisler, was expecting this response from the engineer. In a letter that he sent to members of the local council, Heisler wrote that it could be assumed that Pe'er would suggest to the legal counselor and to the council head Yaakov Guterman that they "wipe the cobwebs from their eyes" - for after all, everyone was a partner throughout the entire period of construction in the settlement. "On December 31, 2004, I wrote a detailed report in which I reiterated my comments about how the council's planning committee was being run, about the unlawful construction and the granting of construction permits by the head of the council and the council's engineer in violation of the law," writes Heisler.
In a report on the operation of the council, drafted earlier this year at the request of the management of the Interior Ministry's municipal division, Heisler wrote, "Most serious of all the projects approved by the authorization authority [the head of the council and the engineer of the council] was the Matityahu East project, in contravention of the approved Taba urban construction plan. The deviations are significant." Heisler quotes from a letter by the head of the Planning Authority in the Judea and Samaria Civil Administration, who supported his comments. He relates that in the wake of the report, the head of the council halted the activity of the council's oversight committee.
In response, the Justice Ministry stated: "In the case of the handling of the petition on fence construction in the area, the State Prosecutor's Office learned that unlawful construction had evidently been carried out in the settlement of Upper Modi'in. The Civil Administration, through the office of the Judea and Samaria district attorney general, was asked by the prosecutor handling the case to render his opinion of the matter. This opinion has not yet been received by the prosecution, and the Justice Ministry will continue to track developments. Since the information has not yet been submitted to the Justice Ministry, it is obvious that the information has not been brought to the attention of the attorney general, either. In any event, the attorney general has not yet taken up the matter."
I.S.
State turns blind eye to illegal construction at ultra-Orthodox West Bank settlement By Akiva Eldar
In the past year, the Palestinian village of Bil'in has gained worldwide publicity due to the resolute protest mounted by village residents and Israeli and international peace activists against the separation fence, which is tearing the village away from its lands.
Every Friday, Border Policemen face off against the demonstrators. The policemen violently disperse the gathering. But the demonstrators and policemen do not know that a few meters away, on the western side of the fence route in a new section of the settlement of Upper Modi'in, building violations on a colossal scale are being committed in broad daylight. This description is not an excerpt from a Peace Now press release. Rather, it is a verbatim quote from a letter by attorney Gilad Rogel, the legal counselor of the Upper Modi'in Local Council, in reference to the new neighborhood called Matityahu East.
This quote comes from an exchange of letters that tells the story of the largest settlement outpost established in recent years in the territories. The letters expose an affair of "hast thou stolen and also inherited" that is being played out in the shadow of the fence, behind the smokescreen of the security of Israeli citizens and under the nose of enforcement authorities. Even the severe report on settlement outposts drafted by attorney Talia Sasson contains nothing that could compare with a case in which the state constructs a fence along a route that is intended to annex an entire settlement built without permits. If that were not enough, the settlement/neighborhood is located in disregard of an explicit commitment by Israel to the United States to avoid construction outside the jurisdiction of existing settlements.
This time, representatives of the legal authorities themselves revealed their nakedness, on official stationary. However, they did not take into account that the damning evidence would find its way to the neighbors in Bil'in. The State Prosecutor's Office was certainly surprised to find the Upper Modi'in legal counselor's document appended to a letter that it received last week from attorney Michael Sfard, the Bil'in residents' attorney. Sfard began the letter he sent to attorney Aner Helman, who is representing the state in the Bil'in case (High Court of Justice 8614/05) with a quote from the state's response to the Bil'in residents' petition: "Based on developers' reports, which the Civil Administration are incapable of verifying (the words `which the Civil Administration are incapable of verifying' are boldfaced), in the western tract of Plan 210/8, which has already been developed, there are about 750 housing units, of which some 520 have been sold." Further down, it is stated that since the construction is being carried out in accordance with an invalid plan, "this is partly unlawful construction." Straight and straightforward.
One has to read it a few times to believe it. A representative of the attorney general, the supreme law enforcement authority in Israel, is informing the Supreme Court that the Civil Administration, the body that is by law responsible for the construction of every porch in the territories, "cannot verify" the construction of 750 housing units, of which about 520 have already been sold. "Do I understand from what you say that the State of Israel officially admits that it has lost not only its ability to enforce the law on the settlers," asks Sfard, but also "the ability to reach the construction sites and gather data?" If the prosecution were to ask this of the policemen who are sent each Friday to the site, they would have no problem verifying that the construction is continuing apace. They could even disclose that the developers have uprooted hundreds of olive trees in an area that was not even supposed to be part of the neighborhood/settlement outpost.
In the same letter about the violation on a colossal scale, which began in March of this year, relating to a building site of the Green Park construction firm, Upper Modi'in legal counselor Rogel wrote to the local council's engineer, Aryeh Pe'er, that he was astonished to learn that additional developers were also building "entire buildings without a permit, and all of this with your full knowledge and with planning and legal lawlessness with which I do not have the words to describe." Rogel announced that since he cannot contend alone with "lawlessness in such dimensions," he had decided to transfer the handling of this "sore evil" to the highest levels.
Pe'er does not deny the facts. He confirms that the construction is not lawful, and puts the blame on "the bureaucracy." He contends that Rogel took part in meetings of the planning committee that issued a warning to the construction firm, and that now he is pretending that he didn't know a thing about it.
The local council's comptroller, Shmuel Heisler, was expecting this response from the engineer. In a letter that he sent to members of the local council, Heisler wrote that it could be assumed that Pe'er would suggest to the legal counselor and to the council head Yaakov Guterman that they "wipe the cobwebs from their eyes" - for after all, everyone was a partner throughout the entire period of construction in the settlement. "On December 31, 2004, I wrote a detailed report in which I reiterated my comments about how the council's planning committee was being run, about the unlawful construction and the granting of construction permits by the head of the council and the council's engineer in violation of the law," writes Heisler.
In a report on the operation of the council, drafted earlier this year at the request of the management of the Interior Ministry's municipal division, Heisler wrote, "Most serious of all the projects approved by the authorization authority [the head of the council and the engineer of the council] was the Matityahu East project, in contravention of the approved Taba urban construction plan. The deviations are significant." Heisler quotes from a letter by the head of the Planning Authority in the Judea and Samaria Civil Administration, who supported his comments. He relates that in the wake of the report, the head of the council halted the activity of the council's oversight committee.
In response, the Justice Ministry stated: "In the case of the handling of the petition on fence construction in the area, the State Prosecutor's Office learned that unlawful construction had evidently been carried out in the settlement of Upper Modi'in. The Civil Administration, through the office of the Judea and Samaria district attorney general, was asked by the prosecutor handling the case to render his opinion of the matter. This opinion has not yet been received by the prosecution, and the Justice Ministry will continue to track developments. Since the information has not yet been submitted to the Justice Ministry, it is obvious that the information has not been brought to the attention of the attorney general, either. In any event, the attorney general has not yet taken up the matter."
Friday, December 9, 2005
Palestine-Israel, The joint struggle against the separation fence in Bil'in and Al-Jib 9-12-05
The two themes of this Friday demonstration were the planting of olive trees saplings to replace the olive trees robed by the companies building the big Modi'in Elit settlement on the lands of Bil'in, and the call for the release of the two peace activists kidnapped in Iraq who were previously active in our region against the separation fence.
As usual, the demonstration started at noon with a march from the center of the village towards the route of the separation fence in building. Participated in it about 100 people. About 50 activists of the Bil'in village, about ten people from other villages and students of the Bir-Zeit university, about twenty international activists, and 30 Israelis from the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and others (other activists of our initiative and some internationals participated in a parallel demonstration against the separation fence together with 150 villagers of the Al-Jib village).
In the march from the center of Bil'in, in addition to the placards and the usual chants, we carried with us saplings of olive trees and working tools for their planting. When we neared the route of the fence, we got off the road and through the olive orchards we marched towards the destroyed orchards where the olive trees of Bil'in villagers were robed by the settlement construction companies.
The armed forces of the Israeli state did not like our ideas. When they discovered our change of course the showered us with tear gas canisters - some of them were shot directly at demonstrators and two of them hit comrades. In spite the shower of tear gas significant part of us succeeded to reach the fence route, and when the cloud of gas cleared, the rest of us joined them.
As the armed forces prevented us from passing to the other side of the fence - where the olive trees were robed, we had to plant the sapling at the side of the route where they blocked us. They did not like the idea at all. They detained one of us at the start of the planting - reported by the afternoon news programs of the main radio stations that he was accused for planting an olive tree in a closed military zone - as reported by the army spoke man.
The planting of the last sapling aroused fierce objection of some of the state force who tried to grab the sapling and the working tool and prevent the digging in the ground. However, after a stubborn struggle the last sapling was planted too. After a while part of us tried again to pass to the other side of the route. This brought on them the harsh attack of soldiers who even arrested a Palestinian youngster. The comrades around objected to this and de-arrested him. As revenge, the soldiers drove them away by physical force and some gas towards the village.
After a while the village struggle comity announced the end of the demonstration and we returned to the village.
In parallel to the nonviolent demonstration, youngsters of the village who were driven away by the first shower of tear gas started a bit later the usual attrition war of stones throwing versus tear gas of the soldiers.
In the news program the reported on two injured among the youth.
They have not reported about the number of our people injured by the rough treatment of the soldiers or the tear gas canisters.
As usual, the demonstration started at noon with a march from the center of the village towards the route of the separation fence in building. Participated in it about 100 people. About 50 activists of the Bil'in village, about ten people from other villages and students of the Bir-Zeit university, about twenty international activists, and 30 Israelis from the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and others (other activists of our initiative and some internationals participated in a parallel demonstration against the separation fence together with 150 villagers of the Al-Jib village).
In the march from the center of Bil'in, in addition to the placards and the usual chants, we carried with us saplings of olive trees and working tools for their planting. When we neared the route of the fence, we got off the road and through the olive orchards we marched towards the destroyed orchards where the olive trees of Bil'in villagers were robed by the settlement construction companies.
The armed forces of the Israeli state did not like our ideas. When they discovered our change of course the showered us with tear gas canisters - some of them were shot directly at demonstrators and two of them hit comrades. In spite the shower of tear gas significant part of us succeeded to reach the fence route, and when the cloud of gas cleared, the rest of us joined them.
As the armed forces prevented us from passing to the other side of the fence - where the olive trees were robed, we had to plant the sapling at the side of the route where they blocked us. They did not like the idea at all. They detained one of us at the start of the planting - reported by the afternoon news programs of the main radio stations that he was accused for planting an olive tree in a closed military zone - as reported by the army spoke man.
The planting of the last sapling aroused fierce objection of some of the state force who tried to grab the sapling and the working tool and prevent the digging in the ground. However, after a stubborn struggle the last sapling was planted too. After a while part of us tried again to pass to the other side of the route. This brought on them the harsh attack of soldiers who even arrested a Palestinian youngster. The comrades around objected to this and de-arrested him. As revenge, the soldiers drove them away by physical force and some gas towards the village.
After a while the village struggle comity announced the end of the demonstration and we returned to the village.
In parallel to the nonviolent demonstration, youngsters of the village who were driven away by the first shower of tear gas started a bit later the usual attrition war of stones throwing versus tear gas of the soldiers.
In the news program the reported on two injured among the youth.
They have not reported about the number of our people injured by the rough treatment of the soldiers or the tear gas canisters.
Israel, Tel-Aviv, a vigil in support of the Turkish anarchist refusnic Mehmet Tarhan 09 Dec
As part of the internationanl day of solidarity with Mehmet Tarhan jailed for total refusing of military servic, participated 25 people. In the vigil that was called by the "Profile Hadash" initiative that support Israeli refusnics participated also local anarchists.
Friday, December 2, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Bil'in and Abud - the Friday demonstrations against the separation fence and the ocupation of 2-12-05
As usual in Bil'in for the last 10 months and Abud the last weeks, we did the parallel Friday demonstrations against the separation fence used to rob the lands of the villages and against the occupation. As usual, the efforts of the Israeli army to prevent the arrival of Israeli activists - whose participation prevent the army from using harsher measures to harass the participants and suppress the demonstrations, failed... they only succeeded to delay the arrival of ten activists from Jerusalem so they missed the first few minutes of the demonstration in Bil'in. The theme of this Friday demonstration in Bil'in was the colonialist settlements built on the lands of Bil'in and neighboring villages' At the head of the demonstration we carried models with the names of these settlement and aseptically a big on with the name of the settler city Modi'in Elite.
In addition to the models, few placard who were previously carried by activists from Bil'in at the of the week joint demonstration of solidarity with peace activists in the occupied Iraq done by the local popular comities of the region in the region city Ramalla.
In the demonstration that started at noon from the center of the Bil'in village participated only about 120 people.
35 Israelis of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and others (other 20 0f our activists were in the demo at Abud), 15 internationals, 10 students of the Palestinian university Bir-Zeit, and about 60 people of the village (only 10% of the adult males of the appropriate age).
During the demo that started at noon from the center of the village we chanted the usual replicas, in addition, there were new chants regarding the parallel demo at the not so far away village Abud.
Some time after we arrived at the point on the road near the route of the separation fence where the Israeli armed forces block our way, we started to try to get down from the road to the sides in order to reach the fence route itself. The state forces responded in rough pushes and due to our small numbers succeeded to block our way to the fence. However, after some confrontations, they got very angry, and under the pretext that youngsters not participating in the nonviolent demonstration are throwing stones declared they will force us to return to the village.
This Friday, the attrition confrontation between the Israeli state forces teargas and rubber bullets and the stone throwing youngsters in the near by olive orchards was less intense, and the youngsters did it far away from the nonviolent demo... and did not injure any of us like they do often when they try to hit near by state forces.
And they pushed and pushed, and they succeeded to push many of the participants (with many of us staying behind) the few hundreds meters to the village... and even took 2 Israelis and one Palestinian as prisoners.
This brought on them the rage of a contingent of ten female relatives of the Palestinian villager who were joined by the just pushed demonstrators who returned together with us who stayed behind to the previous point near the fence route while the tired border police could not block the new human wave.
There, there was a noisy confrontation between the women contingent and the state commanders we did not fail to join... and as result there was a bargain and a declaration of the state commander that if we retreat about hundred meters the Palestinian comrade will be released and the Israelis will be released as usual 10 minutes after the end of the demonstration.
So we retreated first 100 meters and when the Palestinian comrade was released we returned to the village. After a short talk we often do at end of demos, the released two Israelis arrived and we departed from the village activists and Israeli comrades with "see you in Bil'in next Friday".
And as usual, all afternoon the radio channels included in the news references to our twine demonstrations against the separation fence, and at least one TV news program included a short clip of a demo.
In addition to the models, few placard who were previously carried by activists from Bil'in at the of the week joint demonstration of solidarity with peace activists in the occupied Iraq done by the local popular comities of the region in the region city Ramalla.
In the demonstration that started at noon from the center of the Bil'in village participated only about 120 people.
35 Israelis of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and others (other 20 0f our activists were in the demo at Abud), 15 internationals, 10 students of the Palestinian university Bir-Zeit, and about 60 people of the village (only 10% of the adult males of the appropriate age).
During the demo that started at noon from the center of the village we chanted the usual replicas, in addition, there were new chants regarding the parallel demo at the not so far away village Abud.
Some time after we arrived at the point on the road near the route of the separation fence where the Israeli armed forces block our way, we started to try to get down from the road to the sides in order to reach the fence route itself. The state forces responded in rough pushes and due to our small numbers succeeded to block our way to the fence. However, after some confrontations, they got very angry, and under the pretext that youngsters not participating in the nonviolent demonstration are throwing stones declared they will force us to return to the village.
This Friday, the attrition confrontation between the Israeli state forces teargas and rubber bullets and the stone throwing youngsters in the near by olive orchards was less intense, and the youngsters did it far away from the nonviolent demo... and did not injure any of us like they do often when they try to hit near by state forces.
And they pushed and pushed, and they succeeded to push many of the participants (with many of us staying behind) the few hundreds meters to the village... and even took 2 Israelis and one Palestinian as prisoners.
This brought on them the rage of a contingent of ten female relatives of the Palestinian villager who were joined by the just pushed demonstrators who returned together with us who stayed behind to the previous point near the fence route while the tired border police could not block the new human wave.
There, there was a noisy confrontation between the women contingent and the state commanders we did not fail to join... and as result there was a bargain and a declaration of the state commander that if we retreat about hundred meters the Palestinian comrade will be released and the Israelis will be released as usual 10 minutes after the end of the demonstration.
So we retreated first 100 meters and when the Palestinian comrade was released we returned to the village. After a short talk we often do at end of demos, the released two Israelis arrived and we departed from the village activists and Israeli comrades with "see you in Bil'in next Friday".
And as usual, all afternoon the radio channels included in the news references to our twine demonstrations against the separation fence, and at least one TV news program included a short clip of a demo.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Palestine-Israel, the joint Friday demonstration against the fence in the village Bil'in 25-11-05
This Friday demonstration in Bil'in was marking the 29-11-1947 the United Nation decision to partition the British mandate of Palestine into two states - one for the Palestinians and one for the Jews... This decision supplied Israel state that was built at 15-5-1948 the "justification" and the formal "legality". This decision enabled the the Zionist establishment to build the Israeli state, annex half of the area allocated to the Palestinian state (by secret agreement with the Jordanian rulers who were still under the British hegemony, who got the other half of the area allocated to the Palestinian state) and to expel/transfer hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their land.
The creative art of this week was a long banner on which were drawn four maps of the region west of the Jordan river. The first one was the map of the British mandate of Palestine - after it was separated from the East of the Jordan part at 1922. The second was the 1947 map of the United Nation division of Palestine between the Palestinians and the Zionist-Jews state to be, that devoured half of Palestine. (In that area were living about 600 thousands Jews and nearly the same number of Palestinians - the overwhelming majority of them were transferred during the 1948 war.)
The third map was of the 1948-1967 borders which included in the Israeli state both the half allocated to it by the UN and additional half from what was allocated to the Palestinians, but was deviled between Israel and Jordan. Thus, living for the Palestinians only 25% of the land.
(Palestinians who were residents of the additional areas to be annexed to Israel by the pre war secret agreement, but were not conquered by it during the fake war with Jordan, were transferred to it after the war, on condition Israel will not expel the Palestinians living in them like it did to most Palestinians in the areas allocated to it by the UN and the areas conquered by it during the "independent war" of 1948 - the Palestinian Nakba.) The fourth map was of the the border of the Palestinian authority - the "A" areas which consists of half of the areas west of the Jordan held by the Jordanians before the 1967 war - 12.5% of the area west of the Jordan.
After this map there was drawn a big question mark.... In addition to the big banner we prepared placards in Arabic, Hebrew, and English to accompany the big banner.
At noon - after the prayer at the mosque ended, we started the demonstration, as usual, with a march on the road leading to the route of the separation fence building. The big banner and the placards were as usual at the front of the march. Participated in it 100 Palestinians, 20 internationals and about 30 Israelis of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and others of the anti separation fence coalition. (The relatively small number of Israeli participants was because a similar number of our activists participated the same time in a similar demonstration against the separation fence at the village Abud - the Israeli state forces harassment of Israeli activists coming to Bil'in succeeded only to cause 5 comrades to come 20 minutes after the demo started...)
The march to the fence was as usual - chanting and singing along the road leading to the fence, but just before reaching it we turned to the side and in a swift move through the olive orchards to a location where heavy tractors were working on the fence route. This surprise move enabled us to arrive just near the route and with gradual pressure to even spill into it. This Friday we did not try to stop the work of the tractors, but when they wanted to travel the route towards their parking lot, we did not clear the way and they had to wait till we finished the demonstration there. This Friday - not like that of two weeks before, the state force did not try to disperse us by force and tear gas to clear the way for the tractors. The regional commander who was present just instructed them to wait till the demo end. It seems that the first TV channel brief report of two weeks ago and the detailed report to be on it this Friday, which was not sympathetic to the state forces caused the change of mind.
After a while, when the sweet taste of the small victory lost its luster we decided to move to the near by location where the fence was already built. The swift move surprised the state forces again, and few of us reached the fence route the army insist so much to prevent us. The noise of stone knocking on the metal structure protecting the fence was heard far and wide - another small moral buster for us. We could see how the rushing soldiers were making efforts to take away from the fence one of our comrades who insisted to touch it. Later, the repeating of knocking on the metal structure resulted in a detention for an hour of a comrade - released after the demo ended. In spite of threats of arrests, the bad PR the state forces get for their behavior in the Bil'in Friday demonstrations make them much more cautious in their treatment of the nonviolent demonstrations.
After a two and a half hours demo - instead of the one hour long originally planed, we returned to the village a bit weary but satisfied.
And as usual, in parallel to our non violent demonstration there was the the attrition war between the stone throwing youngsters and the tear gas shooting soldiers in the olive orchards not far from the demo. It seems that even in this endeavor the state forces were much less belligerent.
On our way to the village we met stone throwers from another village who came to join the struggle, who were too on their way home.
The creative art of this week was a long banner on which were drawn four maps of the region west of the Jordan river. The first one was the map of the British mandate of Palestine - after it was separated from the East of the Jordan part at 1922. The second was the 1947 map of the United Nation division of Palestine between the Palestinians and the Zionist-Jews state to be, that devoured half of Palestine. (In that area were living about 600 thousands Jews and nearly the same number of Palestinians - the overwhelming majority of them were transferred during the 1948 war.)
The third map was of the 1948-1967 borders which included in the Israeli state both the half allocated to it by the UN and additional half from what was allocated to the Palestinians, but was deviled between Israel and Jordan. Thus, living for the Palestinians only 25% of the land.
(Palestinians who were residents of the additional areas to be annexed to Israel by the pre war secret agreement, but were not conquered by it during the fake war with Jordan, were transferred to it after the war, on condition Israel will not expel the Palestinians living in them like it did to most Palestinians in the areas allocated to it by the UN and the areas conquered by it during the "independent war" of 1948 - the Palestinian Nakba.) The fourth map was of the the border of the Palestinian authority - the "A" areas which consists of half of the areas west of the Jordan held by the Jordanians before the 1967 war - 12.5% of the area west of the Jordan.
After this map there was drawn a big question mark.... In addition to the big banner we prepared placards in Arabic, Hebrew, and English to accompany the big banner.
At noon - after the prayer at the mosque ended, we started the demonstration, as usual, with a march on the road leading to the route of the separation fence building. The big banner and the placards were as usual at the front of the march. Participated in it 100 Palestinians, 20 internationals and about 30 Israelis of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and others of the anti separation fence coalition. (The relatively small number of Israeli participants was because a similar number of our activists participated the same time in a similar demonstration against the separation fence at the village Abud - the Israeli state forces harassment of Israeli activists coming to Bil'in succeeded only to cause 5 comrades to come 20 minutes after the demo started...)
The march to the fence was as usual - chanting and singing along the road leading to the fence, but just before reaching it we turned to the side and in a swift move through the olive orchards to a location where heavy tractors were working on the fence route. This surprise move enabled us to arrive just near the route and with gradual pressure to even spill into it. This Friday we did not try to stop the work of the tractors, but when they wanted to travel the route towards their parking lot, we did not clear the way and they had to wait till we finished the demonstration there. This Friday - not like that of two weeks before, the state force did not try to disperse us by force and tear gas to clear the way for the tractors. The regional commander who was present just instructed them to wait till the demo end. It seems that the first TV channel brief report of two weeks ago and the detailed report to be on it this Friday, which was not sympathetic to the state forces caused the change of mind.
After a while, when the sweet taste of the small victory lost its luster we decided to move to the near by location where the fence was already built. The swift move surprised the state forces again, and few of us reached the fence route the army insist so much to prevent us. The noise of stone knocking on the metal structure protecting the fence was heard far and wide - another small moral buster for us. We could see how the rushing soldiers were making efforts to take away from the fence one of our comrades who insisted to touch it. Later, the repeating of knocking on the metal structure resulted in a detention for an hour of a comrade - released after the demo ended. In spite of threats of arrests, the bad PR the state forces get for their behavior in the Bil'in Friday demonstrations make them much more cautious in their treatment of the nonviolent demonstrations.
After a two and a half hours demo - instead of the one hour long originally planed, we returned to the village a bit weary but satisfied.
And as usual, in parallel to our non violent demonstration there was the the attrition war between the stone throwing youngsters and the tear gas shooting soldiers in the olive orchards not far from the demo. It seems that even in this endeavor the state forces were much less belligerent.
On our way to the village we met stone throwers from another village who came to join the struggle, who were too on their way home.
Friday, November 18, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, the nine months Friday joint demos tradition continue - 18-11-05
In spite of 4 military jeeps road block on the way from Safa to Bil'in we succeeded to infiltrate to the village and participate in the preparation of art display of the Friday demo. Two "fences" on which was written in the three languages - Arabic, Hebrew, and English: "Your fence is killing our independence", and groups of 4 balloons with the color of the Palestinian flag - connected this Friday demo to the Palestinian declaration of independence to be from 17 years ago.
Next day, the israeli armed forces succeeded to delay the arrival to the demo of the other Israelis, but even the late comers came in time to participate in it. Friday noon, as usual, we started the weekly march from the center of the village to the fence route - about 150 Palestinians, 30 of the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and others - less than the usual because of parallel demo in Abud village, and 30 international activists.
At the head of the marching mass and at its end were carried the fences we prepared and within them we marched chanting, singing, and on occasion even some did the ritual danced. For their fun, children who joined the demo caused from time to time to a balloon explosion with its intense noise.
And as usual, the march brought us to 50 meter from fence route where the Israeli armed forces blocked our way and prevented the hanging of the balloons on the fence. As a provocation, the nine months policy of not working on the fence route in Bil'in region on Fridays to lower the tension, it was the second Friday in a row they put a machine to work during the demonstration.
After doing the demo on the road there for a while, we started to move to the "forbidden" sides of it which aroused the fear of the state forces that we might succeed to reach the near by fence route. With efforts they pushed us back again and again while tiring and angering them. They detained one of us to be released on the spot at the end of the demo. The frustrate commander who was limited by orders from doing arrests and harsher measures against the non violent demonstrators, ordered to push are back on the road - few meters at a time. Claiming it is because we do not stop the youngsters who left the demonstration earlier, from throwing stones on soldiers in near by olive orchard. On one of the occasions he even ordered the destruction of our two art display fences.
The youngsters, frustrated from the nonviolent response of the participants of the Friday demonstrations to the army harassment, usually start their few hours attrition war of stones versus tear gas and rubber bullets of the state forces in the near by olive orchards.
(This attrition war seems to serve the state propaganda, and if the youngsters do not start it spontaneously the state forces provoke them and even some times send under cover unit to start the stone throwing....)
Near the end of the demo, the stone throwing youngsters came near the road and stoned the soldier who were pushing us injuring only one of the demonstrators who was treated on the spot by the ambulance medics who are with us every Friday demo. This stone throwing made us to finish hastily the demo to evade being in the middle between the stones and the shooting.
Next day, the israeli armed forces succeeded to delay the arrival to the demo of the other Israelis, but even the late comers came in time to participate in it. Friday noon, as usual, we started the weekly march from the center of the village to the fence route - about 150 Palestinians, 30 of the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and others - less than the usual because of parallel demo in Abud village, and 30 international activists.
At the head of the marching mass and at its end were carried the fences we prepared and within them we marched chanting, singing, and on occasion even some did the ritual danced. For their fun, children who joined the demo caused from time to time to a balloon explosion with its intense noise.
And as usual, the march brought us to 50 meter from fence route where the Israeli armed forces blocked our way and prevented the hanging of the balloons on the fence. As a provocation, the nine months policy of not working on the fence route in Bil'in region on Fridays to lower the tension, it was the second Friday in a row they put a machine to work during the demonstration.
After doing the demo on the road there for a while, we started to move to the "forbidden" sides of it which aroused the fear of the state forces that we might succeed to reach the near by fence route. With efforts they pushed us back again and again while tiring and angering them. They detained one of us to be released on the spot at the end of the demo. The frustrate commander who was limited by orders from doing arrests and harsher measures against the non violent demonstrators, ordered to push are back on the road - few meters at a time. Claiming it is because we do not stop the youngsters who left the demonstration earlier, from throwing stones on soldiers in near by olive orchard. On one of the occasions he even ordered the destruction of our two art display fences.
The youngsters, frustrated from the nonviolent response of the participants of the Friday demonstrations to the army harassment, usually start their few hours attrition war of stones versus tear gas and rubber bullets of the state forces in the near by olive orchards.
(This attrition war seems to serve the state propaganda, and if the youngsters do not start it spontaneously the state forces provoke them and even some times send under cover unit to start the stone throwing....)
Near the end of the demo, the stone throwing youngsters came near the road and stoned the soldier who were pushing us injuring only one of the demonstrators who was treated on the spot by the ambulance medics who are with us every Friday demo. This stone throwing made us to finish hastily the demo to evade being in the middle between the stones and the shooting.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
US, Ayad Morrar and Jonathan Pollack from Palestine-Israel, on Democracy Now! Wednesday 16 Nov
Ayed Morrar (Abu Ahmed) from Budrus and Jonathan Pollack from Tel Aviv will be guests on Democracy Now! tomorrow; Wednesday, November 11. Ayed is an organizer with the Popular Committee to Resist the Wall, and Jonathan is a member of the Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall. They have just completed a month-long national speaking tour, discussing the current situation on the ground in Palestine and the grassroots resistance to the "Separation Wall." For more information, see http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/speaking-tour.
In New York: Radio: WBAI, 9 -10am TV: CUNY-TV at 6:30pm, ch. 75 (rebroadcast at 1am) Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) 8 - 9am, ch. 34, 107 National and International show times listed at the Democracy Now! web site: http://www.democracynow.org/stations.shtml
The show will also be archived on the Democracy Now! web site.
The speaking tour has been organized by ISM-USA.
In New York: Radio: WBAI, 9 -10am TV: CUNY-TV at 6:30pm, ch. 75 (rebroadcast at 1am) Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) 8 - 9am, ch. 34, 107 National and International show times listed at the Democracy Now! web site: http://www.democracynow.org/stations.shtml
The show will also be archived on the Democracy Now! web site.
The speaking tour has been organized by ISM-USA.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, Friday 11-11-05, The joint struggle intensify
This Friday, like in the previous ones of the last nine months we had our joint demonstration against the separation fence that robe more than half of the village lands (olive orchards) and against the Israeli occupation. The demonstrations are organized jointly by the village comity against the fence and the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall initiative. Participated in it about 100 villagers (about 25% of the males in the appropriate age range), about 45 Israelis of the coalition against the fence, and about 30 international activists from various organizations.
Like usual the Israelis had to evade the Israeli forces road blocks intended to put end to the joint struggle. Like usual we came early in order to prepare the materials.
The theme of this demonstration was activists figures inspiriting the struggle in Bil'in: Gandhi, Rosa Farks, and Martin Luther king - for the mass nonviolence aspect of struggle, Arafat for the Bil'in people (in a year to his death), Rosa Luxemburg (as one of the most prominent female revolutionaries), Nelson Mandela symbolizing the struggle against apartheid.... Masks with their photographs and placards with their photographs or names were prepared and were carried all along the demonstration.
Like the previous Friday we started at noon in a march on the road from the center of the village to the route the separation fence is built on. Like usual people chanted/sang and some times danced along the road till we were near the route where the Israeli state forces were ready to block our way 30 meters from the route.
Like in some of the previous demos, just before arriving there we veered to the side of the road and in a swift move succeeded to out maneuver the sate forces and arrived to the fence route, and some of us had even crossed to an olive grove in the lands to be confiscated and annexed to Israel.
Not like the other Fridays when work is not done on the fence rote near Bil'in to minimize the confrontation with the demo, there were working there two big tractors. When we tried to stop them from working the state forced who arrived after us acted swiftly with high intensity - including brutal pushes and shock grenades, and force us to move a bit so the work could continue. Three Israelis who were not fast enough to comply were detained on the spot, but were released to join the demo half an hour later.
Not like the the last few Fridays since we won the right to do the nonviolent Friday demonstration, the state forces had a new policy, expressed in full later.
The demo continued for nearly two hours with chanting, singing, and dancing, with verbal challenge to individual soldiers and border policemen, when we heard a command passed along the line of the state forces: "in five minutes time". And five minutes later the force stormed us very brutally and with no warning. They used pushing, batons, trough shock and tear gas grenades - both on people beyond the route and those who were on the route. I stayed on the route together with others who were protecting and helping the village head who fainted because of a tear gas damage. It took only minutes to see the reason/pretext for the abrupt brutal assault - the two heavy tractors finished their work and needed the clearing of the route so they can travel to another place.
During the assault on us, Abdallah - the head of the village comity against the separation fence was brutally assaulted and held by the soldiers, but during a treatment of his injuries he got freed from them and returned to the village.
Such a brutal behavior by the state forces who even run after the demonstrators who dispersed to the near by olive orchard could not pass unpunished. Tens of village youth who are ambivalent regarding the nonviolent nature of the main demo, who did not throw stones till that moment, start to do their thing. The state forces responded with increase of violence. More shock and tear gas grenades, and later, authorized from higher echelons switched to shouting rubber coated bullets, including snipers who succeeded to injure in the head a 14 year old kid as retaliation for two soldiers injured by stones.
In parallel to the attrition war between the stone throwers and the state forces, the nonviolent demonstrators reorganized and marched on the road to the fence rout we veered from two hours before.
And so continued the second part of the demo with a less brutal behavior of the state force - only pushes from time to time, and the arbitrary arrest of a Palestinian accusing him for assault on a soldier because he blew smoke from a cigarette towards him....
Following this was verbal confrontation between the state commanders and people of the demo and female relatives including his mother. At the end, they agreed to release him if we end the demonstration, and as the time was late afternoon we got him back - injured from state brutality but free, and returned to the village.
As a team of the main public TV station was with us - producing an item for the next week Friday TV journal, the inputted to this Friday TV main night program a clip showing the unprovoked state force brutality who justified themselves by our "obstructing the fence building".
In parallel to our demo, there was a small demo near the dismantled Berlin wall, to be repeated on the following Fridays.
Like usual the Israelis had to evade the Israeli forces road blocks intended to put end to the joint struggle. Like usual we came early in order to prepare the materials.
The theme of this demonstration was activists figures inspiriting the struggle in Bil'in: Gandhi, Rosa Farks, and Martin Luther king - for the mass nonviolence aspect of struggle, Arafat for the Bil'in people (in a year to his death), Rosa Luxemburg (as one of the most prominent female revolutionaries), Nelson Mandela symbolizing the struggle against apartheid.... Masks with their photographs and placards with their photographs or names were prepared and were carried all along the demonstration.
Like the previous Friday we started at noon in a march on the road from the center of the village to the route the separation fence is built on. Like usual people chanted/sang and some times danced along the road till we were near the route where the Israeli state forces were ready to block our way 30 meters from the route.
Like in some of the previous demos, just before arriving there we veered to the side of the road and in a swift move succeeded to out maneuver the sate forces and arrived to the fence route, and some of us had even crossed to an olive grove in the lands to be confiscated and annexed to Israel.
Not like the other Fridays when work is not done on the fence rote near Bil'in to minimize the confrontation with the demo, there were working there two big tractors. When we tried to stop them from working the state forced who arrived after us acted swiftly with high intensity - including brutal pushes and shock grenades, and force us to move a bit so the work could continue. Three Israelis who were not fast enough to comply were detained on the spot, but were released to join the demo half an hour later.
Not like the the last few Fridays since we won the right to do the nonviolent Friday demonstration, the state forces had a new policy, expressed in full later.
The demo continued for nearly two hours with chanting, singing, and dancing, with verbal challenge to individual soldiers and border policemen, when we heard a command passed along the line of the state forces: "in five minutes time". And five minutes later the force stormed us very brutally and with no warning. They used pushing, batons, trough shock and tear gas grenades - both on people beyond the route and those who were on the route. I stayed on the route together with others who were protecting and helping the village head who fainted because of a tear gas damage. It took only minutes to see the reason/pretext for the abrupt brutal assault - the two heavy tractors finished their work and needed the clearing of the route so they can travel to another place.
During the assault on us, Abdallah - the head of the village comity against the separation fence was brutally assaulted and held by the soldiers, but during a treatment of his injuries he got freed from them and returned to the village.
Such a brutal behavior by the state forces who even run after the demonstrators who dispersed to the near by olive orchard could not pass unpunished. Tens of village youth who are ambivalent regarding the nonviolent nature of the main demo, who did not throw stones till that moment, start to do their thing. The state forces responded with increase of violence. More shock and tear gas grenades, and later, authorized from higher echelons switched to shouting rubber coated bullets, including snipers who succeeded to injure in the head a 14 year old kid as retaliation for two soldiers injured by stones.
In parallel to the attrition war between the stone throwers and the state forces, the nonviolent demonstrators reorganized and marched on the road to the fence rout we veered from two hours before.
And so continued the second part of the demo with a less brutal behavior of the state force - only pushes from time to time, and the arbitrary arrest of a Palestinian accusing him for assault on a soldier because he blew smoke from a cigarette towards him....
Following this was verbal confrontation between the state commanders and people of the demo and female relatives including his mother. At the end, they agreed to release him if we end the demonstration, and as the time was late afternoon we got him back - injured from state brutality but free, and returned to the village.
As a team of the main public TV station was with us - producing an item for the next week Friday TV journal, the inputted to this Friday TV main night program a clip showing the unprovoked state force brutality who justified themselves by our "obstructing the fence building".
In parallel to our demo, there was a small demo near the dismantled Berlin wall, to be repeated on the following Fridays.
Friday, November 4, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, The joint Friday action theme was direct action and Id Al Fiter holyday 04 Nov
The Friday joint demonstration turned tradition for the last nine months, was characterized this Friday by a direct action against the fence followed by mixed families and activist celebration of the Id Al Fiter holiday in front of the soldiers "protecting" the separation fence in building. The activity started early in the morning, and when the preparations were finished we traveled to the route in which the separation fence is built that pass thorough uprooted groves of olive trees robed from the village people. At the beginning, participated in it about 25 Israelis (from the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and the coalition against the fence), 10 international activists of the ISM, and 15 activists from the village.
When we arrived within few meters of the route of the fence, there were already present a dozen or two of soldiers, but they were not too focused... Before they could organize, about 20 activist (from the three components of the demo) chained themselves to the metal structure of the fence using metal sleeves to prevent forced unlocking them. How pity, because of a technical problem, the soldiers succeeded to pull the chained people out after few minutes, though not before the media people photographed that. Three of the unchained Israelis were arrested.
Few minutes later, the soldiers pushed all the activists present to a virtual line 50 meters from the route of the fence - were they block the last few weeks the Friday demos since they were forced to legalize them.
The second part of the Friday action started when lot of children (including toddlers) and young teens accompanied with 20 mothers or late sleeper fathers arrived. According to the mood of the holiday, the children and kids received lot of toys with which they started to play in front of the line of the soldiers. To make the children happier, a portable slide was brought for their fun - put just few meters from the line of the soldiers. The adults had to be satisfied with the holiday cookies distributed to all....
(Such playing in front of the soldiers may counter the fear aroused in them during the last few nights invasions of the army into the village and their homes to arrest so called Fridays stone throwers youngsters - nearly 20 of them were taken to the Ofer concentration camp).
During the morning, we were joined by late sleeper villagers and Israeli activists who did not know the start of the demo was changed from noon to early morning. When the people present reached its pick we were about 150 of whom about 40 Israelis, 15 international activists of the ISM and 100 Bil'in villagers.
Because of the specialty of the day activity - direct action and holiday celebration which was leaked to the media, many of its reporters were present - including a mobile TV transmitter for live morning program of the Aljazeera ... The Israeli public radio channel reported on the demo along the day and in the afternoon. They also said the activists chained themselves and that a reporter of Aljazeera TV was hit by soldiers and detained for a while.
Like in the previous legalized Friday demos, after a long while, part of the participants got restless, and started getting out of the road to the olive orchards on its sides through them people can (and often did) go around the soldiers block towards the fence route again. The detention of few people - who were released after a while did not deter us and we did arrived to the fence route, and three comrades who improved the chaining equipment succeeded to chain themselves again. This time in spite of painful pulling of arms of the chained ones, two of them stayed chained after the soldiers stopped their failed efforts.
The soldiers succeeded to force all but the two chained ones back to the road with the main body of the demo... and the two chained remained with six reporters taking pictures of them from every possible angel. The frustrated commander was herd appointing two of his force to keep guarding the two chained and to arrest them the minute they unchained themselves.
In spite the efforts of the small unit to isolate the two chained, few of us succeeded to visit them from time to time to give them moral support, while the demo-celebration continued.
And so it continued till noon when it started raining. we persisted another half an hour and than the demonstration start to disperse. In order to save the chained comrades from the whether and the army, a small group of people went "visiting" them, and while confronting with their guards, enabled them to unchain themselves and escape being arrested. While leaving the place the comrades heard the commander threatening the failed guards with a punishment.
In contradiction to the long chain of Fridays, today, the Israeli state forces failed to make problems to the Israelis arriving to the Friday demo in Bil'in.
When we arrived within few meters of the route of the fence, there were already present a dozen or two of soldiers, but they were not too focused... Before they could organize, about 20 activist (from the three components of the demo) chained themselves to the metal structure of the fence using metal sleeves to prevent forced unlocking them. How pity, because of a technical problem, the soldiers succeeded to pull the chained people out after few minutes, though not before the media people photographed that. Three of the unchained Israelis were arrested.
Few minutes later, the soldiers pushed all the activists present to a virtual line 50 meters from the route of the fence - were they block the last few weeks the Friday demos since they were forced to legalize them.
The second part of the Friday action started when lot of children (including toddlers) and young teens accompanied with 20 mothers or late sleeper fathers arrived. According to the mood of the holiday, the children and kids received lot of toys with which they started to play in front of the line of the soldiers. To make the children happier, a portable slide was brought for their fun - put just few meters from the line of the soldiers. The adults had to be satisfied with the holiday cookies distributed to all....
(Such playing in front of the soldiers may counter the fear aroused in them during the last few nights invasions of the army into the village and their homes to arrest so called Fridays stone throwers youngsters - nearly 20 of them were taken to the Ofer concentration camp).
During the morning, we were joined by late sleeper villagers and Israeli activists who did not know the start of the demo was changed from noon to early morning. When the people present reached its pick we were about 150 of whom about 40 Israelis, 15 international activists of the ISM and 100 Bil'in villagers.
Because of the specialty of the day activity - direct action and holiday celebration which was leaked to the media, many of its reporters were present - including a mobile TV transmitter for live morning program of the Aljazeera ... The Israeli public radio channel reported on the demo along the day and in the afternoon. They also said the activists chained themselves and that a reporter of Aljazeera TV was hit by soldiers and detained for a while.
Like in the previous legalized Friday demos, after a long while, part of the participants got restless, and started getting out of the road to the olive orchards on its sides through them people can (and often did) go around the soldiers block towards the fence route again. The detention of few people - who were released after a while did not deter us and we did arrived to the fence route, and three comrades who improved the chaining equipment succeeded to chain themselves again. This time in spite of painful pulling of arms of the chained ones, two of them stayed chained after the soldiers stopped their failed efforts.
The soldiers succeeded to force all but the two chained ones back to the road with the main body of the demo... and the two chained remained with six reporters taking pictures of them from every possible angel. The frustrated commander was herd appointing two of his force to keep guarding the two chained and to arrest them the minute they unchained themselves.
In spite the efforts of the small unit to isolate the two chained, few of us succeeded to visit them from time to time to give them moral support, while the demo-celebration continued.
And so it continued till noon when it started raining. we persisted another half an hour and than the demonstration start to disperse. In order to save the chained comrades from the whether and the army, a small group of people went "visiting" them, and while confronting with their guards, enabled them to unchain themselves and escape being arrested. While leaving the place the comrades heard the commander threatening the failed guards with a punishment.
In contradiction to the long chain of Fridays, today, the Israeli state forces failed to make problems to the Israelis arriving to the Friday demo in Bil'in.
Thursday, November 3, 2005
US, New York, "3 Cities" against the wall Public Events 03 Nov
"THREE CITIES" ANNOUNCES PUBLIC EVENTS
Art exhibition to showcase work of Palestinian, Israeli, and American artists opposed to Israel's "Separation Wall" NEW YORK - Organizers of Three Cities Against the Wall will present a series of public events through the month-long run of the exhibition, the first of its kind in which Palestinian, Israeli, and American artists will be appearing together. The show, featuring 64 artists, many of them internationally known, will open on Nov. 9 in Ramallah, Palestine; Tel Aviv, Israel; and New York City. It will run for four weeks in all three cities.
Scheduled events are as follows:
Press Preview: Wednesday November 9 at 3:00pm ABC No Rio 156 Rivington Street (between Clinton & Suffolk)
Exhibition Opening: Wednesday November 9 at 7:00pm ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington Street and the Sixth Street Community Center 638 East Sixth Street (between Avenues B & C)
Artists Respond to the Wall: Thursday November 10 at 7:30pm ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington Street and Tuesday November 15 at 7:30pm VoxPop 1022 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn
Reportback: Tuesday November 22 at 7:30pm ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington Street "Three Cities" artists Sara Danielle Frank and Tom Lewis will discuss the exhibition following their return from Ramallah and Tel Aviv.
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ABC No Rio* 156 Rivington Street New York, NY 10002 (212) 254-3697
ABC No Rio: http://www.abcnorio.org
InterActivist Network: http://www.interactivist.net
InterActivist INFO EXCHANGE: http://slash.interactivist.net
SUPPORT ABC No Rio: http://www.abcnorio.org/support/support.html
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THREE CITIES AGAINST THE WALL http://www.abcnorio.org/againstthewall/
Contact: Steven Englander, (212) 254-3697 x.13, steven@abcnorio.org
==========================================
* antiauthoritarian anticapitalist place
Art exhibition to showcase work of Palestinian, Israeli, and American artists opposed to Israel's "Separation Wall" NEW YORK - Organizers of Three Cities Against the Wall will present a series of public events through the month-long run of the exhibition, the first of its kind in which Palestinian, Israeli, and American artists will be appearing together. The show, featuring 64 artists, many of them internationally known, will open on Nov. 9 in Ramallah, Palestine; Tel Aviv, Israel; and New York City. It will run for four weeks in all three cities.
Scheduled events are as follows:
Press Preview: Wednesday November 9 at 3:00pm ABC No Rio 156 Rivington Street (between Clinton & Suffolk)
Exhibition Opening: Wednesday November 9 at 7:00pm ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington Street and the Sixth Street Community Center 638 East Sixth Street (between Avenues B & C)
Artists Respond to the Wall: Thursday November 10 at 7:30pm ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington Street and Tuesday November 15 at 7:30pm VoxPop 1022 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn
Reportback: Tuesday November 22 at 7:30pm ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington Street "Three Cities" artists Sara Danielle Frank and Tom Lewis will discuss the exhibition following their return from Ramallah and Tel Aviv.
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ABC No Rio* 156 Rivington Street New York, NY 10002 (212) 254-3697
ABC No Rio: http://www.abcnorio.org
InterActivist Network: http://www.interactivist.net
InterActivist INFO EXCHANGE: http://slash.interactivist.net
SUPPORT ABC No Rio: http://www.abcnorio.org/support/support.html
----------
THREE CITIES AGAINST THE WALL http://www.abcnorio.org/againstthewall/
Contact: Steven Englander, (212) 254-3697 x.13, steven@abcnorio.org
==========================================
* antiauthoritarian anticapitalist place
Friday, October 28, 2005
Ramallah, Tel Aviv, New York - Three Cities Against the Wall, Press Release, 28 October 2005
Art has the possibility to unite different cultures into harmony and to create new options for individuals, in order to live and work together for justice, equality and peace.
Three Cities Against the Wall is an exhibition protesting the Separation Wall under construction by Israel in the Occupied Territories of Palestine. This project involves groups of artists in Ramallah, Palestine; Tel Aviv, Israel; and New York City. The show will be held simultaneously in all three cities in November 2005. Through this collaborative exhibition, the organizers and participating artists will draw attention to the reality of the Wall and its disastrous impact on the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by the separation of Palestinian communities from each other and from their fertile lands, water resources, schools, hospitals and work places; thereby "contributing to the departure of Palestinian populations," as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has warned.
Carmella Volk, Tel Aviv
The wall also robs and destroys the human spirit. Spiritual and cultural life cannot survive under these conditions, and we, as artists, find it necessary to fight this crime with the means which we posses.
This illegal Wall prevents the possibility of a just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as based on the universal principles of equality and self-determination. It prolongs this conflict and the suffering that results from it. Therefore we Israeli, Palestinian and American artists resist this wall and its devastating impact, and aim to call attention to the urgency of dismantling the Wall which threatens any peaceful future in both Israel and Palestine for all.
The Separation Wall was found to be illegal by an advisory opinion given by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague on July 9, 2004. In its ruling, the ICJ stated: "The construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime, [is] contrary to international law."
Naama Yuriah, Tel Aviv
Who we are
Curatorial and organizing committees for Three Cities Against the Wall, comprised of local artists and activists, have been established in each of the three participating cities. These committees have each invited the participation of numerous artists, each of whom has been asked to provide three works to be exhibited in all three locations.
In Palestine, Tayseer Barakat, founder of the League of Palestinian Artists and curator of Gallery Barakat, and Sliman Mansour are organizing the exhibition. The organizations involved are the League of Palestinian Artists and the Palestinian Association of Contemporary Art (PACA).
Hushi Radwan, Ramallah
Asad Azi, Ramallah
In Israel the project is organized by a group of artists and activists that came together to resist the wall through art and culture. Members of the group are also associated with the Israeli Coalition Against the Wall; Taayush; and Anarchists Against the Wall. These groups are very active in protests and projects, both in Israel and Palestine, against the construction of the Wall and the occupation, including protests where there have been many victims, Palestinian, Israeli, and international.
In New York, Three Cities Against the Wall is organized through the arts center ABC No Rio by a committee of artists and activists, a number of them associated with the radical comic magazine World War 3 Illustrated. World War 3 Illustrated was founded in 1979 to oppose the right-wing policies of Ronald Reagan. It has been publishing art and articles in support of the rights of the Palestinian people since 1988, when it published an interview with Naji-Ali. ABC No Rio is a community center for the arts that grew out of the housing struggles on New York's Lower East Side. Many of the organizers in New York participate in the International Solidarity Movement, Women In Black, SUSTAIN (Stop U.S. Tax-funded Aid to Israel Now), International Women's Peace Service, Jewish Alliance Against the Occupation, and other groups opposed to Israel's unjust occupation.
Seth Tobocman, New York
Our Vision: A world without borders
In the process of creating Three Cities Against the Wall, the organizers and participating artists are building networks and creating relationships between their respective communities to oppose both Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people and the Wall as a symbol of that oppression.
Yet while American, Palestinian, and Israeli artists are showing their work together in this exhibition, we understand that the relationship amongst them is not one of equality. The relationship between Palestinians and Israelis has been compared to that between prisoners and guards, with U.S. cittizens as the patrons of this prison. Americans finance Israel through their tax dollars; some also finance Israel through contributions to Zionist organizations. The Wall is horrifying because it casts these relationships in concrete, making Palestinian imprisonment more thorough and more permanent.
Suzanne Klotz, New York
Ironically, there is also an opportunity created by the Wall: this physical barrier makes the oppression of Palestinians more visible. Artists can use the Wall as a metaphor to educate the public. We are working together because we understand that, by uniting our voices, we are more likely to be heard and will therefore be better able to inform the public of the true nature of this catastrophic situation. We also want to demonstrate that within the Israeli and the American public there is opposition to the Wall.
We are laying the foundation for building a community of artists across borders, and will demonstrate, through combined effort, our opposition to injustice and oppression on moral and ethical grounds, and because injustice and oppression engender a separation between peoples, preventing normal human communication between them.
We believe that the world of the future is a world without borders. We support the right of a Turk to work in Germany, of a Haitian to seek refuge in the United States, of a Croat to live peacefully in Serbia. Thus we also support the right of a Palestinian, a Jew, or anyone else to live in the city of their choice, to enjoy all the privileges of citizenship there, and to travel freely to and from their chosen place of residence. This is not a radical demand but a natural human expectation. The attempts of 20th century governments to control demographics through genocide, forced transfer and other coercive means have been a disaster and such policies must be discarded. It is tragic that at a time when governments in Europe are discussing the possibility of open borders, Israel is building a border of cement and steel. We oppose the Wall because it is a wall against the future.
A full-color catalog of Three Cities Against the Wall, including essays by writers, critics, and activists from all three communities, is to be be published by Vox Pop Press in November.
Three Cities Against the Wall is an exhibition protesting the Separation Wall under construction by Israel in the Occupied Territories of Palestine. This project involves groups of artists in Ramallah, Palestine; Tel Aviv, Israel; and New York City. The show will be held simultaneously in all three cities in November 2005. Through this collaborative exhibition, the organizers and participating artists will draw attention to the reality of the Wall and its disastrous impact on the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians by the separation of Palestinian communities from each other and from their fertile lands, water resources, schools, hospitals and work places; thereby "contributing to the departure of Palestinian populations," as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has warned.
Carmella Volk, Tel Aviv
The wall also robs and destroys the human spirit. Spiritual and cultural life cannot survive under these conditions, and we, as artists, find it necessary to fight this crime with the means which we posses.
This illegal Wall prevents the possibility of a just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as based on the universal principles of equality and self-determination. It prolongs this conflict and the suffering that results from it. Therefore we Israeli, Palestinian and American artists resist this wall and its devastating impact, and aim to call attention to the urgency of dismantling the Wall which threatens any peaceful future in both Israel and Palestine for all.
The Separation Wall was found to be illegal by an advisory opinion given by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague on July 9, 2004. In its ruling, the ICJ stated: "The construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated regime, [is] contrary to international law."
Naama Yuriah, Tel Aviv
Who we are
Curatorial and organizing committees for Three Cities Against the Wall, comprised of local artists and activists, have been established in each of the three participating cities. These committees have each invited the participation of numerous artists, each of whom has been asked to provide three works to be exhibited in all three locations.
In Palestine, Tayseer Barakat, founder of the League of Palestinian Artists and curator of Gallery Barakat, and Sliman Mansour are organizing the exhibition. The organizations involved are the League of Palestinian Artists and the Palestinian Association of Contemporary Art (PACA).
Hushi Radwan, Ramallah
Asad Azi, Ramallah
In Israel the project is organized by a group of artists and activists that came together to resist the wall through art and culture. Members of the group are also associated with the Israeli Coalition Against the Wall; Taayush; and Anarchists Against the Wall. These groups are very active in protests and projects, both in Israel and Palestine, against the construction of the Wall and the occupation, including protests where there have been many victims, Palestinian, Israeli, and international.
In New York, Three Cities Against the Wall is organized through the arts center ABC No Rio by a committee of artists and activists, a number of them associated with the radical comic magazine World War 3 Illustrated. World War 3 Illustrated was founded in 1979 to oppose the right-wing policies of Ronald Reagan. It has been publishing art and articles in support of the rights of the Palestinian people since 1988, when it published an interview with Naji-Ali. ABC No Rio is a community center for the arts that grew out of the housing struggles on New York's Lower East Side. Many of the organizers in New York participate in the International Solidarity Movement, Women In Black, SUSTAIN (Stop U.S. Tax-funded Aid to Israel Now), International Women's Peace Service, Jewish Alliance Against the Occupation, and other groups opposed to Israel's unjust occupation.
Seth Tobocman, New York
Our Vision: A world without borders
In the process of creating Three Cities Against the Wall, the organizers and participating artists are building networks and creating relationships between their respective communities to oppose both Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people and the Wall as a symbol of that oppression.
Yet while American, Palestinian, and Israeli artists are showing their work together in this exhibition, we understand that the relationship amongst them is not one of equality. The relationship between Palestinians and Israelis has been compared to that between prisoners and guards, with U.S. cittizens as the patrons of this prison. Americans finance Israel through their tax dollars; some also finance Israel through contributions to Zionist organizations. The Wall is horrifying because it casts these relationships in concrete, making Palestinian imprisonment more thorough and more permanent.
Suzanne Klotz, New York
Ironically, there is also an opportunity created by the Wall: this physical barrier makes the oppression of Palestinians more visible. Artists can use the Wall as a metaphor to educate the public. We are working together because we understand that, by uniting our voices, we are more likely to be heard and will therefore be better able to inform the public of the true nature of this catastrophic situation. We also want to demonstrate that within the Israeli and the American public there is opposition to the Wall.
We are laying the foundation for building a community of artists across borders, and will demonstrate, through combined effort, our opposition to injustice and oppression on moral and ethical grounds, and because injustice and oppression engender a separation between peoples, preventing normal human communication between them.
We believe that the world of the future is a world without borders. We support the right of a Turk to work in Germany, of a Haitian to seek refuge in the United States, of a Croat to live peacefully in Serbia. Thus we also support the right of a Palestinian, a Jew, or anyone else to live in the city of their choice, to enjoy all the privileges of citizenship there, and to travel freely to and from their chosen place of residence. This is not a radical demand but a natural human expectation. The attempts of 20th century governments to control demographics through genocide, forced transfer and other coercive means have been a disaster and such policies must be discarded. It is tragic that at a time when governments in Europe are discussing the possibility of open borders, Israel is building a border of cement and steel. We oppose the Wall because it is a wall against the future.
A full-color catalog of Three Cities Against the Wall, including essays by writers, critics, and activists from all three communities, is to be be published by Vox Pop Press in November.
Palestine-Israel Bil'in, The struggle still continues - Friday demonstration 28 Oct
This Friday demo has as background the three army night invasion for arresting people who participate in the weekly Fridays demonstrations. At the first night invasion they arrested nine villagers for the bogus claim that they damaged the fence. On the second night invasion they arrested additional three. On the third invasion, people went out of their hoses to confront the army unit, and the three persons they came to arrest were not found. As response to that harassment, the theme of the demo was that all of us are potential candidates to be arrested. many participants handcuffed ourselves with plastic imitation of the real thing. Placard was wit the content that all the rest of the 1600 inhabitants - including children, are to be arrested next if the struggle is to be stooped.
We marched along the road leading to the separation fence chanting - about 150 people, including 20 internationals, 50 Israelis who defied the closure intended to block us from arriving to the joint struggle, and about 100 people from Bil'in (as the last Fridays demos were not repressed harshly some even brought their young kids).
The Israeli state forces blocked our way about 100 meters from the fence route - there we stood for a while chanting. after a while, a 20 persons contingent of Bir Zeit university joined us and short time later we tried to get of the blocked road and come through the olive orchard nearer to the fence route. The state forces objected to this act pushed us forcefully back to the road again and again, injured by that two Israelis whose injuries were dressed by the medics of the Palestinian ambulance which is present in each demo, and two israelis even where detained for a while.
In spite of the state force pushing and pulling many of demonstrators succeeded to arrive to about few meters from the fence. There, Mohamad Hatib gave a speech, with explanations to people who participated in the demo for the first time. Then, the nonviolent demonstration was declared finished and we returned to the village - and the internationals and Israelis said good by to the village activists and added see you next Friday in Bil'in.
In parallel to the passage of the nonviolent demonstrators effort to come nearer to the fence route, youth of the village started the usual attrition war of stones versus tear gas and rubber bullets shots of the army which continued for a while even after the main demo was ended.
In a place were no demonstrators or stone throwing youth were near, a group of soldiers were seen as throwing stones on an army car which was on the fence route - probably for video taking by the army for false accusation of the demonstrators.
We marched along the road leading to the separation fence chanting - about 150 people, including 20 internationals, 50 Israelis who defied the closure intended to block us from arriving to the joint struggle, and about 100 people from Bil'in (as the last Fridays demos were not repressed harshly some even brought their young kids).
The Israeli state forces blocked our way about 100 meters from the fence route - there we stood for a while chanting. after a while, a 20 persons contingent of Bir Zeit university joined us and short time later we tried to get of the blocked road and come through the olive orchard nearer to the fence route. The state forces objected to this act pushed us forcefully back to the road again and again, injured by that two Israelis whose injuries were dressed by the medics of the Palestinian ambulance which is present in each demo, and two israelis even where detained for a while.
In spite of the state force pushing and pulling many of demonstrators succeeded to arrive to about few meters from the fence. There, Mohamad Hatib gave a speech, with explanations to people who participated in the demo for the first time. Then, the nonviolent demonstration was declared finished and we returned to the village - and the internationals and Israelis said good by to the village activists and added see you next Friday in Bil'in.
In parallel to the passage of the nonviolent demonstrators effort to come nearer to the fence route, youth of the village started the usual attrition war of stones versus tear gas and rubber bullets shots of the army which continued for a while even after the main demo was ended.
In a place were no demonstrators or stone throwing youth were near, a group of soldiers were seen as throwing stones on an army car which was on the fence route - probably for video taking by the army for false accusation of the demonstrators.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Bbil'in, Friday 21-10-05, The joint struggle against occupation and separation wall continues 21 Oct
In spite the intense harassment against the arrival of Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall and the people of the coalition against the fence, about 50 of us succeeded to participate together with 15 international volunteers and hundred Palestinians - mostly inhabitants of Bil'in in the Friday demonstration. An eight months of Fridays demonstrations in Bil'in in additions to less frequent demonstrations and direct actions against the separation fence that robe more than half the lands of the village - annexing them to the Jewish orthodox city settlement. At noon, we started the usual Friday march towards the route of building of the separation fence. At the head was the creative art structure of the week. Along the road we marched and chanted slogans in both Arabic, English and Hebrew.
It took 7 months of persistent joint struggle to carry the nonviolent demonstrations again the separation fence in Bil'in, till we made the suppression so politically costly the state forces, so they decided to allow the nonviolent demonstrations in Bil'in. It took lot of physical confrontations, arrests, injuries, tear gas, non lethal bullets of various kinds. At the pick of the struggle the regional commander announced that no demonstration will be allowed in Bil'in.
At the last effort to suppress it the village was on curfew from early morning Friday. The lot of Israelis and Palestinians who did not yield and battled for long hours till we succeeded to lead a march to the route and the bad PR and media cover for the state force, forced them to change policy.
They replaced the commanders involved. The stated the change of policy. They agreed not to punish the participants of the nonviolent demonstration for the stone throwing youngsters who confront the soldiers in near by olive orchards...
And we arrived at about 100 meters of the route of the fence before they blocked our way to the fence route. After a while there people started to get down from the road to the orchard of olive trees in order to reach the route of the fence itself. True to the new policy the soldiers used only pushing force to prevent this acts and too violent soldiers were restrained by their commanders. After nearly an hour of failed efforts to do it on the south side of the road, and as the orchards there became a battle grounds of the stones of the stone thrower youth and the tear gas and non lethal bullets of the soldiers, we tried the northern side of the road.
Taken by surprise, the available soldiers and border police failed to block our way using bare hands only and we succeeded to get to the route of the building of the fence - a situation that could not happen till a month ago.
After celebrating for a while our small victory we returned to the village leaving the soldiers to continue their attrition war with the stone throwers.
It is hard to get used to it but non of the demonstrators was detained. Except excessive tear gas inhalation and one harmed by "non lethal" means the only unpleasant experiences were being pushed by the soldiers. ---------------------------
The media seems to regard the regular joint Friday demonstrations in Bil'in more seriously than some of the participants who lost the excitement derived from the Friday demonstrations. The following article of the Israeli daily haaretz is just one example of that.
---------------------------
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/636630.html
soldiers scuffle with demonstrators during a joint protest by Israeli, Palestinian and international peace activists against the separation fence in the West Bank village of Bil'in,
October 21, 2005. REUTERS Last update - 17:13 21/10/2005
Bil'in protesters say bean bags are latest riot-control weapon
A previously unknown weapon is being used to combat protesters against the separation fence, according to a report last week by Palestinian, Israeli and foreign demonstrators at Bil'in, where demonstrations take place regularly.
According to the report, a protester, Haysam Hatib, was taken to the hospital in Ramallah last Friday with a large bruise on his leg. Activists from the human rights organization B'Tselem said they were unable to identify the weapon, but a Haaretz investigation revealed it to be a small bean bag that can be shot from a hunting rifle or from a rifle used to fire 37-milimeter shells or tear gas canisters.
The village of Bil'in, which has become the arena for ongoing protests against the separation fence in recent months, is said to be a site where new methods of crowd control are tested. In addition to the Israel Defense Forces, primarily responsible for dispersing the demonstrations, Border Police and Prisons Service personnel are also on the scene.
The elite Prisons Service unit known as Masada, consisting of veterans of special military and police forces, is deployed in emergencies such as prison riots. According to its commanders, the unit has become one of the world's leaders in riot control.
The IDF and the police have not been forthcoming on their relationship with the Prisons Service unit.
About two months ago a Haaretz investigative report revealed two new types of ammunition used for the first time at Bil'in: a pepper ball that splits into several smaller projectiles on contact and causes burning and dizziness, and blue sponges.
Bil'in protest leader Abdallah Abu Rahma said that after Haysam Hatib was shot, other demonstrators searching the area found a bullet that could be fired from a hunting rifle with the word "super sock" on it. According to the demonstrators, Hatib was hit by a small sack filled with tiny balls.
Combined Tactile Systems, an American company, confirmed to Haaretz on Thursday that they manufacture several types of bean-bag ammunition. A number of other companies also manufacture this type of ammunition. It is believed to be efficient in crowd dispersal because it delivers a blow without causing serious injury, since it does not penetrate. It can be fired from distances of one meter to 50 meters and is considered relatively accurate.
However, users are warned that the impact of the bean bag can be fatal if it hits a sensitive area of the body like the head or neck.
Research by the Canadian police in 1999 showed that if a person is hit by a bean bag, of the type used in Bil'in, fired from under three meters the blow can cause death.
After questioning the IDF, the police and the Prisons Service, Haaretz was unable to determine which of the bodies was responsible for firing the bean bag last Friday. The police responded that they were not familiar with the weapon and that the Border Police had not used it. The Prisons Service refused to comment on the types of weaponry used by its Masada unit, but said the weapons used at Bil'in are supplied by the army.
"I know the people who fired the bean bags were from the Masada unit," Hatib said. "I saw them shooting with a hunting rifle."
It took 7 months of persistent joint struggle to carry the nonviolent demonstrations again the separation fence in Bil'in, till we made the suppression so politically costly the state forces, so they decided to allow the nonviolent demonstrations in Bil'in. It took lot of physical confrontations, arrests, injuries, tear gas, non lethal bullets of various kinds. At the pick of the struggle the regional commander announced that no demonstration will be allowed in Bil'in.
At the last effort to suppress it the village was on curfew from early morning Friday. The lot of Israelis and Palestinians who did not yield and battled for long hours till we succeeded to lead a march to the route and the bad PR and media cover for the state force, forced them to change policy.
They replaced the commanders involved. The stated the change of policy. They agreed not to punish the participants of the nonviolent demonstration for the stone throwing youngsters who confront the soldiers in near by olive orchards...
And we arrived at about 100 meters of the route of the fence before they blocked our way to the fence route. After a while there people started to get down from the road to the orchard of olive trees in order to reach the route of the fence itself. True to the new policy the soldiers used only pushing force to prevent this acts and too violent soldiers were restrained by their commanders. After nearly an hour of failed efforts to do it on the south side of the road, and as the orchards there became a battle grounds of the stones of the stone thrower youth and the tear gas and non lethal bullets of the soldiers, we tried the northern side of the road.
Taken by surprise, the available soldiers and border police failed to block our way using bare hands only and we succeeded to get to the route of the building of the fence - a situation that could not happen till a month ago.
After celebrating for a while our small victory we returned to the village leaving the soldiers to continue their attrition war with the stone throwers.
It is hard to get used to it but non of the demonstrators was detained. Except excessive tear gas inhalation and one harmed by "non lethal" means the only unpleasant experiences were being pushed by the soldiers. ---------------------------
The media seems to regard the regular joint Friday demonstrations in Bil'in more seriously than some of the participants who lost the excitement derived from the Friday demonstrations. The following article of the Israeli daily haaretz is just one example of that.
---------------------------
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/636630.html
soldiers scuffle with demonstrators during a joint protest by Israeli, Palestinian and international peace activists against the separation fence in the West Bank village of Bil'in,
October 21, 2005. REUTERS Last update - 17:13 21/10/2005
Bil'in protesters say bean bags are latest riot-control weapon
A previously unknown weapon is being used to combat protesters against the separation fence, according to a report last week by Palestinian, Israeli and foreign demonstrators at Bil'in, where demonstrations take place regularly.
According to the report, a protester, Haysam Hatib, was taken to the hospital in Ramallah last Friday with a large bruise on his leg. Activists from the human rights organization B'Tselem said they were unable to identify the weapon, but a Haaretz investigation revealed it to be a small bean bag that can be shot from a hunting rifle or from a rifle used to fire 37-milimeter shells or tear gas canisters.
The village of Bil'in, which has become the arena for ongoing protests against the separation fence in recent months, is said to be a site where new methods of crowd control are tested. In addition to the Israel Defense Forces, primarily responsible for dispersing the demonstrations, Border Police and Prisons Service personnel are also on the scene.
The elite Prisons Service unit known as Masada, consisting of veterans of special military and police forces, is deployed in emergencies such as prison riots. According to its commanders, the unit has become one of the world's leaders in riot control.
The IDF and the police have not been forthcoming on their relationship with the Prisons Service unit.
About two months ago a Haaretz investigative report revealed two new types of ammunition used for the first time at Bil'in: a pepper ball that splits into several smaller projectiles on contact and causes burning and dizziness, and blue sponges.
Bil'in protest leader Abdallah Abu Rahma said that after Haysam Hatib was shot, other demonstrators searching the area found a bullet that could be fired from a hunting rifle with the word "super sock" on it. According to the demonstrators, Hatib was hit by a small sack filled with tiny balls.
Combined Tactile Systems, an American company, confirmed to Haaretz on Thursday that they manufacture several types of bean-bag ammunition. A number of other companies also manufacture this type of ammunition. It is believed to be efficient in crowd dispersal because it delivers a blow without causing serious injury, since it does not penetrate. It can be fired from distances of one meter to 50 meters and is considered relatively accurate.
However, users are warned that the impact of the bean bag can be fatal if it hits a sensitive area of the body like the head or neck.
Research by the Canadian police in 1999 showed that if a person is hit by a bean bag, of the type used in Bil'in, fired from under three meters the blow can cause death.
After questioning the IDF, the police and the Prisons Service, Haaretz was unable to determine which of the bodies was responsible for firing the bean bag last Friday. The police responded that they were not familiar with the weapon and that the Border Police had not used it. The Prisons Service refused to comment on the types of weaponry used by its Masada unit, but said the weapons used at Bil'in are supplied by the army.
"I know the people who fired the bean bags were from the Masada unit," Hatib said. "I saw them shooting with a hunting rifle."
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
France: Anarchists Against the Wall in Marseille 25/10/05 Oct 19
There will be a meeting with Matan Cohen, an Israeli militant of the Anarchists Against the Wall on: Tuesday 25th October 2005 at 7.00pm at Mille Bâbords, 61 rue consolat, 13001 Marseille Tél. & Fax 04 91 50 76 04 http://www.millebabords.org
Women in Black
In advance of the week of solidarity against the Wall
The Anarchists Against the Wall are part of the coalition against the Wall which includes popular committees against the wall, Gush Shalom, Ta'ayush, Women for peace coalition, and ICAHD. They are a group of young activists who work closely with the Palestinians. They go wherever the building of the wall divides villages and towns and divides them from their land, cutting children off from their schools, adults from their workplaces, separating families and threatening the integrity of Palestinian territory.
Matan has been touring Europe for some months now.
On 25th October, he will be talking to us about the mobilizations against the occupation and on the specific role of the Anarchists Against the Wall in the non-violent (though violently-repressed) struggle against the construction of the Wall.
Info from the website: http://www.millebabords.org
Translation by A-Infos
Women in Black
In advance of the week of solidarity against the Wall
The Anarchists Against the Wall are part of the coalition against the Wall which includes popular committees against the wall, Gush Shalom, Ta'ayush, Women for peace coalition, and ICAHD. They are a group of young activists who work closely with the Palestinians. They go wherever the building of the wall divides villages and towns and divides them from their land, cutting children off from their schools, adults from their workplaces, separating families and threatening the integrity of Palestinian territory.
Matan has been touring Europe for some months now.
On 25th October, he will be talking to us about the mobilizations against the occupation and on the specific role of the Anarchists Against the Wall in the non-violent (though violently-repressed) struggle against the construction of the Wall.
Info from the website: http://www.millebabords.org
Translation by A-Infos
Monday, October 17, 2005
US, Oct 14 - Nov 15: ISM USA Speaking Tour on the Palestinian/Israeli struggle against the separation fence* 17 Oct
From October 14 - November 15, 2005, Palestinian Ayed Morrar from Budrus and Israeli Jonathan Pollak of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative will be touring the United States speaking about Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine. The tour will visit New York, North Carolina, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle and Olympia Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, Florida and Philadelphia. Click here for a complete tour schedule. Ayed and Jonathan are friends and among the major figures in the Palestinian led nonviolent struggle against Israel's military occupation. Ayed, a community leader from the West Bank village of Budrus, and Jonathan, an activist from Tel Aviv, stand for a new vision of Palestinian/Israeli partnership based in human rights for all, regardless of race or religion.
While world leaders praise Israel's withdrawal from Gaza as a step toward peace, and demand that the Palestinian Authority harshly suppress armed resistance to Israel's military occupation, activists on the ground like Ayed and Jonathan report that Israel has stepped up its brutal repression of Palestinian and Israeli activists who are struggling nonviolently against the escalating occupation in the West Bank.
Largely unreported by the media, thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Israelis are waging a major grassroots nonviolent campaign of resistance to the construction of Israel's Wall. Palestinian farmers, workers, mothers, and students, together with Israeli and international volunteers, are braving teargas, beatings, bullets, arrest, and even death to block the construction of the Wall with their bodies. In 2004 the International Court of Justice ruled that the Wall is a violation of international law because it cuts through the West Bank appropriating Palestinan land and destroying Palestinian villages to make way for further Israeli settlement.
Ayed led his village of Budrus in a victory for nonviolence over the Israeli military in 2003-2004. Through a campaign of 50 protests, the village of Budrus pushed the Wall's path off village land and to the Green Line. Day after day, Budrus' men, women and children blocked the destruction of their land and construction of the Wall by marching to the land, despite soldiers' attempts to stop them, and placing their bodies in front of the bulldozers.
Hundreds of residents were injured during the campaign by clubs, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Ayed was jailed for eight days by Israeli authorities, but was eventually released due to international outcry and because his only offense was organizing nonviolent protests. Two of Ayed's brothers were also arrested for organizing protests, but eventually released.
Budrus' resistance was supported by activists from ISM and from Israeli groups like the Anarchists Against the Wall. Budrus' strategy and achievements have served as a model for other Palestinian communities attempting to nonviolently resist Israel's military occupation and the confiscation of Palestinian land. Ayed continues to work with other communities and organizations to support the development of a broader strategy for Palestinian nonviolent resistance.
Jonathan was one of the first Israelis to begin protesting regularly in the West Bank with Palestinians and internationals against the construction of the Wall in 2002. He is one of the founders of the Israeli group Anarchists Against the Wall which has played a vital role in supporting Palestinians in nonviolent protest over the last two years.
Since 2002 Jonathan has participated in over 200 West Bank protests, and mobilized hundreds of Israelis to join Palestinians in resisting the Wall and the Occupation. As a result, Jonathan has been jailed repeatedly by Israeli authorities. In April 2005 during a quiet protest in the village of Bil'in he was shot in the head from 40 meters by an Israeli soldier with a tear gas canister fired from an M16 rifle. He had internal hemorrhaging and wounds requiring 23 stitches. Jonathan appears frequently in the Israeli media commenting on West Bank protests and nonviolent resistance.
Despite Israeli government efforts to stop them, Ayed, Jonathan and their Palestinian, Israeli and international colleagues remain determined to continue their joint, nonviolent campaign against Israeli occupation and the denial of rights of the Palestinian people.
The national Nonviolent Resistance Speaking Tour is organized by ISM-USA, the US network of support groups of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Palestine. ISM is a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent direct action.
TOUR SCHEDULE
NEW YORK CITY AREA, OCT 14TH-16TH
Friday October 14th Unitarian Church of All Souls 1157 Lexington Ave at 80th Street, Manhattan 7:00 PM
Saturday October 15th Community Unitarian Church 468 Rosedale Ave, White Plains, NY 2:30 PM
Activist Ramadan Break-the-Fast Event Alwan for the Arts 16 Beaver Street, 4th Floor, Manhattan 6:00 PM
Sunday October 16th Salam Arabic Lutheran Church 345 Ovington Ave (between 3rd and 4th Ave), Bay Ridge, Brooklyn 2:00 PM
Catholic Center 58 Washington Square Park South, Manhattan 7:15 PM
Contact Email: ism_nyc@hotmail.com
--------------------------
NORTH CAROLINA, OCT. 17TH & 18TH
Monday October 17th Duke University Campus Social Sciences Building, Room 136 8:00 PM
Tuesday October 18th UNC Chapel Hill The speakers will be meeting with classes at the Unversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Contact Email: palestinesolidarity@gmail.com
----------------------------
WASHINGTON D.C., OCT 20TH & 21ST
Thursday October 20th Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies 12:00 Noon
George Washington University 8:00 PM
Ramadan Break-the-Fast event at American University Location & time TBA
Contact
Huwaida Arraf Email: huwaida@palsolidarity.org Phone: (202) 494-0112
----------------------------
CHICAGO, OCT 22ND & 23RD
Saturday October 22nd Presentation to Chicago Anarchist Network and DePaul students Site to be determined. 1:00 PM
North Park Covenant Church 5250 N. Christiana, Chicago, IL 7:00 PM
Sunday October 23rd Water Tower Park (Michigan & Pearson) Join Ayed and Jonathan at the at the weekly vigil against the occupation sponsored by Not In My Name 12:00 Noon
Potluck Dinner Fundraiser Cornerstone United Methodist Church 171 N. Cuyler Avenue, Oak Park 5:30 PM
Contact Email: ISMinChicago@aol.com
-------------------------------
LOS ANGELES, OCT 24TH - 26TH
Monday October 24th Cal State University-LA King Hall D-138 5154 State University Drive, Los Angeles 90032 7:30 PM
Tuesday October 25th Peace Center at United University Church - USC 817 34th Street, Los Angeles 90007 (Corner of Hoover and Jefferson) 7:30 PM
Wednesday October 26th Cal State University - Fullerton Langsdorf Hall 321 2555 E. Nutwood Ave, Fullerton, CA 92831 7:30 PM
Contact Email: info@iwitnesspalestine.org
-----------------------------
THE BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA, OCT 27TH - NOV 1ST
Thursday, October 27th Unitarian Church Palo Alto (time TBA)
Friday, October 28th Skyline High School (tentative) 12250 Skyline Blvd, Oakland 2:00 PM
AK Press 674-A 23rd St, Oakland 7:00 PM
Saturday, October 29th Calvery Presbyterian 2515 Fillmore Street, San Fransisco 7:00 PM
Sunday, October 30th U.S. Labor Against War SEIU Local 790, 100 Oak Street, Oakland 7:00 PM
Monday, October 31st St Ignatius School 2001 37th Ave, San Fransisco 12:35 PM
San Fransisco State University Location TBA 4:00 PM
Tuesday, November 1st Law Students for Justice in Palestine UC Berkeley, Boalt Hall 12:45 PM
St John's Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave., Berkeley 7:00 PM
Contact Email: info@norcalism.org Phone: (510)236-4250
--------------------------
SEATTLE, NOV 3RD & 4TH
Thursday, November 3rd University of Washington Gowen Hall, Room 301 7:00 PM
Friday November 4th Event TBA
Contact Email: pl52ip@hotmail.com Phone: (206) 285 2154
------------------------------
MICHIGAN, NOV 5TH - 7TH
Saturday, November 5th Event TBA
Sunday, November 6th Event TBA
Monday, November 7th Event TBA
Contact Email: duggan@umich.edu Phone: (313) 945-9661
---------------------------
MINNEAPOLIS AREA, NOV 8TH - NOV 11TH
Tuesday, November 8th St Cloud State University St Cloud, Minnesota 2:00 PM
Thursday November 10th De LaSalle Highschool St Paul, Minnesota 7:15 AM
Human Geography Lecture University of Minnesota 11:15 AM
St Joan of Arc Church 4537 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis 7:00 PM
Friday November 11th Political Science Lecture University of Minnesota 1:00 PM
Macalester College 1600 Grand Ave, St Paul (time TBA)
Dinner Party 8:00 PM
----------------------------
FLORIDA, NOV 12TH & 13TH
Saturday, November 12th Miami event TBA
Sunday, November 13th Gainsville event TBA
--------------------------
PHILADELPHIA, NOV 14TH
Monday, November 14th Event TBA
-------------------------
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY, NOV 15TH
Tuesday, November 15th Vassar College Rocky, Room 300 7:30 PM
Contact Email: mashmookler@vassar.edu Phone: (h) (845) 452-5126 Phone: (c) (610) 217-4766 ======================================= * You can find lot of references to the present struggles by doing google.com search on "Bil'in + anarchists" (17,300) and search on "Bil'in" alone (about 300,000).
While world leaders praise Israel's withdrawal from Gaza as a step toward peace, and demand that the Palestinian Authority harshly suppress armed resistance to Israel's military occupation, activists on the ground like Ayed and Jonathan report that Israel has stepped up its brutal repression of Palestinian and Israeli activists who are struggling nonviolently against the escalating occupation in the West Bank.
Largely unreported by the media, thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Israelis are waging a major grassroots nonviolent campaign of resistance to the construction of Israel's Wall. Palestinian farmers, workers, mothers, and students, together with Israeli and international volunteers, are braving teargas, beatings, bullets, arrest, and even death to block the construction of the Wall with their bodies. In 2004 the International Court of Justice ruled that the Wall is a violation of international law because it cuts through the West Bank appropriating Palestinan land and destroying Palestinian villages to make way for further Israeli settlement.
Ayed led his village of Budrus in a victory for nonviolence over the Israeli military in 2003-2004. Through a campaign of 50 protests, the village of Budrus pushed the Wall's path off village land and to the Green Line. Day after day, Budrus' men, women and children blocked the destruction of their land and construction of the Wall by marching to the land, despite soldiers' attempts to stop them, and placing their bodies in front of the bulldozers.
Hundreds of residents were injured during the campaign by clubs, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Ayed was jailed for eight days by Israeli authorities, but was eventually released due to international outcry and because his only offense was organizing nonviolent protests. Two of Ayed's brothers were also arrested for organizing protests, but eventually released.
Budrus' resistance was supported by activists from ISM and from Israeli groups like the Anarchists Against the Wall. Budrus' strategy and achievements have served as a model for other Palestinian communities attempting to nonviolently resist Israel's military occupation and the confiscation of Palestinian land. Ayed continues to work with other communities and organizations to support the development of a broader strategy for Palestinian nonviolent resistance.
Jonathan was one of the first Israelis to begin protesting regularly in the West Bank with Palestinians and internationals against the construction of the Wall in 2002. He is one of the founders of the Israeli group Anarchists Against the Wall which has played a vital role in supporting Palestinians in nonviolent protest over the last two years.
Since 2002 Jonathan has participated in over 200 West Bank protests, and mobilized hundreds of Israelis to join Palestinians in resisting the Wall and the Occupation. As a result, Jonathan has been jailed repeatedly by Israeli authorities. In April 2005 during a quiet protest in the village of Bil'in he was shot in the head from 40 meters by an Israeli soldier with a tear gas canister fired from an M16 rifle. He had internal hemorrhaging and wounds requiring 23 stitches. Jonathan appears frequently in the Israeli media commenting on West Bank protests and nonviolent resistance.
Despite Israeli government efforts to stop them, Ayed, Jonathan and their Palestinian, Israeli and international colleagues remain determined to continue their joint, nonviolent campaign against Israeli occupation and the denial of rights of the Palestinian people.
The national Nonviolent Resistance Speaking Tour is organized by ISM-USA, the US network of support groups of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Palestine. ISM is a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent direct action.
TOUR SCHEDULE
NEW YORK CITY AREA, OCT 14TH-16TH
Friday October 14th Unitarian Church of All Souls 1157 Lexington Ave at 80th Street, Manhattan 7:00 PM
Saturday October 15th Community Unitarian Church 468 Rosedale Ave, White Plains, NY 2:30 PM
Activist Ramadan Break-the-Fast Event Alwan for the Arts 16 Beaver Street, 4th Floor, Manhattan 6:00 PM
Sunday October 16th Salam Arabic Lutheran Church 345 Ovington Ave (between 3rd and 4th Ave), Bay Ridge, Brooklyn 2:00 PM
Catholic Center 58 Washington Square Park South, Manhattan 7:15 PM
Contact Email: ism_nyc@hotmail.com
--------------------------
NORTH CAROLINA, OCT. 17TH & 18TH
Monday October 17th Duke University Campus Social Sciences Building, Room 136 8:00 PM
Tuesday October 18th UNC Chapel Hill The speakers will be meeting with classes at the Unversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Contact Email: palestinesolidarity@gmail.com
----------------------------
WASHINGTON D.C., OCT 20TH & 21ST
Thursday October 20th Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies 12:00 Noon
George Washington University 8:00 PM
Ramadan Break-the-Fast event at American University Location & time TBA
Contact
Huwaida Arraf Email: huwaida@palsolidarity.org Phone: (202) 494-0112
----------------------------
CHICAGO, OCT 22ND & 23RD
Saturday October 22nd Presentation to Chicago Anarchist Network and DePaul students Site to be determined. 1:00 PM
North Park Covenant Church 5250 N. Christiana, Chicago, IL 7:00 PM
Sunday October 23rd Water Tower Park (Michigan & Pearson) Join Ayed and Jonathan at the at the weekly vigil against the occupation sponsored by Not In My Name 12:00 Noon
Potluck Dinner Fundraiser Cornerstone United Methodist Church 171 N. Cuyler Avenue, Oak Park 5:30 PM
Contact Email: ISMinChicago@aol.com
-------------------------------
LOS ANGELES, OCT 24TH - 26TH
Monday October 24th Cal State University-LA King Hall D-138 5154 State University Drive, Los Angeles 90032 7:30 PM
Tuesday October 25th Peace Center at United University Church - USC 817 34th Street, Los Angeles 90007 (Corner of Hoover and Jefferson) 7:30 PM
Wednesday October 26th Cal State University - Fullerton Langsdorf Hall 321 2555 E. Nutwood Ave, Fullerton, CA 92831 7:30 PM
Contact Email: info@iwitnesspalestine.org
-----------------------------
THE BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA, OCT 27TH - NOV 1ST
Thursday, October 27th Unitarian Church Palo Alto (time TBA)
Friday, October 28th Skyline High School (tentative) 12250 Skyline Blvd, Oakland 2:00 PM
AK Press 674-A 23rd St, Oakland 7:00 PM
Saturday, October 29th Calvery Presbyterian 2515 Fillmore Street, San Fransisco 7:00 PM
Sunday, October 30th U.S. Labor Against War SEIU Local 790, 100 Oak Street, Oakland 7:00 PM
Monday, October 31st St Ignatius School 2001 37th Ave, San Fransisco 12:35 PM
San Fransisco State University Location TBA 4:00 PM
Tuesday, November 1st Law Students for Justice in Palestine UC Berkeley, Boalt Hall 12:45 PM
St John's Presbyterian Church 2727 College Ave., Berkeley 7:00 PM
Contact Email: info@norcalism.org Phone: (510)236-4250
--------------------------
SEATTLE, NOV 3RD & 4TH
Thursday, November 3rd University of Washington Gowen Hall, Room 301 7:00 PM
Friday November 4th Event TBA
Contact Email: pl52ip@hotmail.com Phone: (206) 285 2154
------------------------------
MICHIGAN, NOV 5TH - 7TH
Saturday, November 5th Event TBA
Sunday, November 6th Event TBA
Monday, November 7th Event TBA
Contact Email: duggan@umich.edu Phone: (313) 945-9661
---------------------------
MINNEAPOLIS AREA, NOV 8TH - NOV 11TH
Tuesday, November 8th St Cloud State University St Cloud, Minnesota 2:00 PM
Thursday November 10th De LaSalle Highschool St Paul, Minnesota 7:15 AM
Human Geography Lecture University of Minnesota 11:15 AM
St Joan of Arc Church 4537 3rd Ave S, Minneapolis 7:00 PM
Friday November 11th Political Science Lecture University of Minnesota 1:00 PM
Macalester College 1600 Grand Ave, St Paul (time TBA)
Dinner Party 8:00 PM
----------------------------
FLORIDA, NOV 12TH & 13TH
Saturday, November 12th Miami event TBA
Sunday, November 13th Gainsville event TBA
--------------------------
PHILADELPHIA, NOV 14TH
Monday, November 14th Event TBA
-------------------------
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY, NOV 15TH
Tuesday, November 15th Vassar College Rocky, Room 300 7:30 PM
Contact Email: mashmookler@vassar.edu Phone: (h) (845) 452-5126 Phone: (c) (610) 217-4766 ======================================= * You can find lot of references to the present struggles by doing google.com search on "Bil'in + anarchists" (17,300) and search on "Bil'in" alone (about 300,000).
Israel, Jerusalem, 2nd Street performance against the annexation wall* 17 Oct
The 2nd street performance on Saturday night, the 8th of October was a success, a group of activists gathered in Emek Refaim St. in Jerusalem, protesting the construction of the separation wall which is being currently being built on seized land in occupied Palestinian territory. Our preparations included an aged West bank resident walking along the track of the wall, ‘stop signs' which read “wall in front of you” and a poem pointing out many of the serious problems with the new security wall including the elderly man who was barred from his home. “ The elderly man approaches the wall, his back bent over, the hour is six, the solider at Azon gate finishes his shift and closes the gate, what does he care where the elderly man sleeps?” Our mission was to inform the general public to the realities of the “security” wall, and the negative consequences it will have on both the Israeli and Palestinian people. We also worked to recruit people to the joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle against the wall. Anyone with some artistic skills who can coordinate the preparation of materials (the reconstruction of the wall model, preparation of banners etc.) is invited to be in contact with Mor at 050-5784081. We also need volunteers for the following: - actors and actresses (Palestinians) in the performance - a Greek chorus, which will accompany the performance and will give more information on the wall - this doesn't necessarily involve singing! - People to explain the issues to people in the area - people to move the wall model -photography, so that we can publicize the performance on the internet later. The next performance is set to take place on Thursday the 27th of October. Any one interested in joining or learning more is welcome to be in contact with us. Mor Dolev Ariella
picture: Activists reciting the text to the public.
----------------------------
Pictures at: https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/3809/index.php
Related http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ActQuds/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/againstwall/
==========================
* By people of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative
picture: Activists reciting the text to the public.
----------------------------
Pictures at: https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/3809/index.php
Related http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ActQuds/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/againstwall/
==========================
* By people of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative
Friday, October 14, 2005
Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, The joint Friday demonstration of 14-10-05 - a military experimental site again 14 Oct
The Friday demons of today started earlier than usual as the noon prayer the joint demonstration start after ended at noon because of the Ramadan day time fasting. Because of that and because of the stricter blockade of the army which hinder the travel of Israelis to Bil'in, only 10 of the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall initiative were at the beginning of the Demo. About 100 of us - including about 20 internationals, started the march towards the separation fence building route with the creative presentation of the week at the front. Like their new habit the army did not prevent us from reaching a point few meters from the fence route. There, like all along the march, people continued the sounds, the calls and the slogans that were the "music" along the march. We added to them the derogatory calls towards the soldiers and the border policemen about their presence in the occupied territories on the robed lands of Bil'in villagers.
We stayed there about an hour, but near the beginning when the youngsters found there is not going to be there any confrontation, they left the main body of the demo and spread in the olive orchards on the two sides of the road - ready for confrontation with the soldiers if the will invade the ground of the village that were not already confiscated.
However, the army commanders had different plans. The higher level commanders had not come to observe a low intensity demonstration as it was the last few weeks. This Friday demo was intended to show their new tactics and to test the new bullets for dispersing crowds.
Fearing that the village youngsters will not "cooperate" if the army will not attack first the non violent demo or invade the village lands, a group of 7 plain clothes soldiers masquerading as Israeli demonstrators infiltrated among the dispersing village youth. At the proper moment they tried to incite the village youth to start throwing stones on the far away soldiers... and when they failed - they started to throw stones themselves giving the soldiers "justification" to attack and to "arrest" two of the plain clothes soldiers.
And thus, the expected two hour battle of attrition between the stone throwing youth started. This enabled the army to test the new bullets and the new tactic of showering big areas with shots of tear gas canisters. As part of the experiment, and in contradiction with their now defunct strategy of the past, the did not use the start of the stone throwing as a pretext to attack the nonviolent demonstrators.
Thus, the road itself remained a "safe zone" and surprisingly, the soldiers fighting the youngsters did nothing to us (who were watching the on going fight) even when passing one meter near us.
The long nonviolent demonstration and the two hours fight between the soldiers and the village youth enabled the 40 Israelis delayed by the road blocks to arrive in time to have at least part of the activity.
After about two hours of the fight of stones against tear gas and the new bullets, the direction of the wind changed. The huge amount of tear gas showered that was before with no real effect started to move towards us the observers and towards the stone throwers. In addition, after a massive attack of the soldiers on the stone throwers pursuing them up to the building area of the village, they just stopped and went away... so the fun of action was over and we regrouped to the village.
After additional hour during which the it was cleared that the 4 arrested on the way to Bil'in were freed, and that the condition of the two Palestinians and an Israeli injured was found not serious, it really ended.
Part of the Israelis returned to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, while the other part continue to the next mission - protecting the next day(s) Palestinians doing olive picking from harassment by soldiers and settlers.
We stayed there about an hour, but near the beginning when the youngsters found there is not going to be there any confrontation, they left the main body of the demo and spread in the olive orchards on the two sides of the road - ready for confrontation with the soldiers if the will invade the ground of the village that were not already confiscated.
However, the army commanders had different plans. The higher level commanders had not come to observe a low intensity demonstration as it was the last few weeks. This Friday demo was intended to show their new tactics and to test the new bullets for dispersing crowds.
Fearing that the village youngsters will not "cooperate" if the army will not attack first the non violent demo or invade the village lands, a group of 7 plain clothes soldiers masquerading as Israeli demonstrators infiltrated among the dispersing village youth. At the proper moment they tried to incite the village youth to start throwing stones on the far away soldiers... and when they failed - they started to throw stones themselves giving the soldiers "justification" to attack and to "arrest" two of the plain clothes soldiers.
And thus, the expected two hour battle of attrition between the stone throwing youth started. This enabled the army to test the new bullets and the new tactic of showering big areas with shots of tear gas canisters. As part of the experiment, and in contradiction with their now defunct strategy of the past, the did not use the start of the stone throwing as a pretext to attack the nonviolent demonstrators.
Thus, the road itself remained a "safe zone" and surprisingly, the soldiers fighting the youngsters did nothing to us (who were watching the on going fight) even when passing one meter near us.
The long nonviolent demonstration and the two hours fight between the soldiers and the village youth enabled the 40 Israelis delayed by the road blocks to arrive in time to have at least part of the activity.
After about two hours of the fight of stones against tear gas and the new bullets, the direction of the wind changed. The huge amount of tear gas showered that was before with no real effect started to move towards us the observers and towards the stone throwers. In addition, after a massive attack of the soldiers on the stone throwers pursuing them up to the building area of the village, they just stopped and went away... so the fun of action was over and we regrouped to the village.
After additional hour during which the it was cleared that the 4 arrested on the way to Bil'in were freed, and that the condition of the two Palestinians and an Israeli injured was found not serious, it really ended.
Part of the Israelis returned to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, while the other part continue to the next mission - protecting the next day(s) Palestinians doing olive picking from harassment by soldiers and settlers.
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