Friday, January 27, 2006

Israel, [againstwall] a call for donations (please forward) 27 Jan 2006

This is a call for donations to the legal fund of anarchists against the wall (AATW) http://www.awalls.org This group is actively supporting the Palestinian popular resistance to the so called Israeli "separation wall". This wall constitutes a theft of much of the land that Israel has not yet taken away from Palestinians and will create a situation where Palestinians are effectively enclosed in small unlivable cantons.

AATW has been active both through direct action and demonstrations against the wall. It insists on a joint struggle of Palestinians and Israeli and Its contribution to the struggle has been recognized by all those involved in the struggle.(see the above link for letters of support).

The group's work has also been recognized by the Israeli authorities which have rewarded it with violent repression, hundreds of arrests and dozens of indictments. The legal costs of defending against these charges is around $20,000 and counting. AATW is now calling for donations its legal fund in order to fight back against the legal persecution and continue its part in the fight against the wall.

For more details and for instructions on how to donate please see http://www.awalls.org
for more information please contact ksnitz@gmail.com

This is the site of an Israeli group known as "Anarchists Against the Wall" (AATW) which has been supporting the popular Palestinian resistance to the Israeli "separation wall".

This site does not contain and should not be understood as an official party line or a manifesto. The group has dedicated all its efforts to activities on the ground, and has left propaganda and the drawing of party lines to others. The actions which AATW been involved in are direct actions such as dismantling the wall/fence when possible and participation in Palestinian demonstrations. Much has been written by and about AATW, the links below are just a sample and should not necessarily be understood as an endorsement of the opinions represented there.

Anarchists Against the Wall first strated working as a group at the beginig of April of 2003, with the establishment of the Mas'ha peace camp against the wall. As construction of the wall was nearing, the village Mas'ha was facing the loss of 96% of their lands, which the wall left on the "Israel" side.

A camp of two tents was set up on the village's lands that were to remain on the other side of the wall. For four months a constant presence of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals was kept. During this period the camp was a base for information dissemination and direct-democracy decision-making. A number of wall related direct actions were planned and prepared at the camp. On July 28, 2003 Plestinians, international and Israeli activists forced open a gate in the wall at the village of Anin (See Haaretz article at:
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=323022 ) Late in August of 2003, with the wall almost complete, the camp moved to the to-be-demolished yard of a house in Mas'ha. Following two days of mass arrests the yard was demolished and the camp had ended, but the spirit of resistance it symbolized did not die with it.

A few Months later, November 9, 2003 – the international day against the wall – We removed about 20 meters of the wall at another joint action at the village of Zbuba, near Jenin.

Once again, at December 26, 2003, we returned to Mas'ha to force open a gate in the wall; a gate that was supposed to provide easy access for people to their lands, but in fact was closed for the 2 months prior. As we shook the gate, soldiers on the other side of it opened fire on us. One of us was struck twice with live ammunition, and his evacuation to an ambulance through the gate was prevented. He nearly died of blood loss, and reached the hospital in critical situation.

A few days later, daily demonstrations in the Village of Budrus began, and our presence in them was constant. Through its persistence in community mobilization, struggle and nonviolence, the village of Budrus was able to achieve significant victories. The most celebrated one is that the path of the wall was almost completely pushed away from the village's lands, only through the villages struggle. Without bowing in front of the occupation; without petitioning to the Israeli courts. Another victory, maybe even more important, was that for a good part of year, almost every village, to which the construction of the wall reached, rose up against it. Hundreds were injured and 9, all Palestinians, were killed in those nonviolent demonstrations, but the people were not deterred and continue trying to stop the bulldozers together with Israeli and international activists.

Those who wish to support the efforts of AATW and are in Palestine can get notices of upcoming demonstrations by subscribing to the email list Actleft on yahoo groups.

Thanks to the legal repression by the Israeli authorities donations for the legal defense fund are also urgently needed. AATW is faced with mounting legal expenses and is raising money to defend people who face indictments as a result of their political activities. You can donate online by following the link below http://www.awalls.org/donate.htm using PayPal, which is a secure and confidential tool.

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