Palestin-Israel, Bil'in, the joint struggle against the occupation and against the separation fence continue - Friday 30-6-06

At noon, we marched from the center of the village on the road leading to the route of the separation fence. We were about 150 demonstrators. About 100 of Bil'in villagers, 20 Israelis organized by the Anarchists against the wall initiative, 25 internationals, and a number of media workers from all over the world and of our region. The march was accompanied as usual with chanting. The theme of this Friday was the protest of the Israeli special forces who kidnapped las nights lot of Palestinians - including three of Bil'in villagers. It was expressed by orange head and face cover that many of the demonstrators wore. When we arrived at the fence route we encountered the state forces who blocked the entrance with three armored cars and spools of barbed wire.

The chants and verbal confrontation intensified and two Palestinian climbed on the robust gate. less than 10 centimeters distance from the roofs of the armed cars they held Palestinian flags and one of them gave a speech. The angered state forces threatened them but resigned as they had no excuse for violence.

Few restless village youth at the fringe of the crowd collected stones for throwing on the state forces at the gate but were convinced to delay their confrontation till the nonviolent demonstration ended.

After a while, the non violent demonstrators left the place near the gate and started to march along the route of the fence - leaving the area for the stone throwers. However, as one of the marchers tilted the spool of barbed wire placed along the fence bordering the route of the electronic separation fence. The enraged soldiers responded with shower of shock grenades that injured seriously two of the demonstrators and caused the dispersing of the rest - few of them returned to the area near the gate previously blocked, but now wide open as the armored cars had driven in a kind of violent patrol towards the village. In addition, a violent patrol of foot soldiers entered the are where the demonstrators have dispersed and where the stone thrower youth were positioned. (Of it resulted with lot of shock grenades and few tear gas ones with the edition of some rubber coated bullets.)

The non violent demonstrators who returned to the area near the gate were not treated as wanted guests. First two Israelis were snatched. Then the soldiers tried to close the gate and expel the demonstrators who approached the fence "too much". The physical efforts of the state forces failed to evict the comrades and there was a relative quite period, after which the demonstration was declared by the village comity as finished.

However, the road to village was not free... On the way we encountered the returned violent patrol of armed cars. some points we had to wait or go around confrontation between the stone throwers and the foot soldiers violent patrol resulting in flying stones, grenades and even bullets.

At the end, all the nonviolent demonstrators returned to the village and after a while the two Israelis that were snatched and detained at the fence rout were released.

US, Oakland, CA, Benefit for Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall 30 Jun 2006

Come help support the struggle against Israel's Apartheid wall.
Featuring
Dalit Baum -- An Israeli activist in the Feminist anti-occupation movement, involved with radical queer resistance in Israeli and Solidarity work with Palestinian non-violent resistance.
Presenting: Anarcho - Queer Protest and Resistance in Israel, in slides and video clips.
And The Devin Hoff Platform -- August 3, 2006 -- 8 pm @ 21 Grand (416 25th St. Oakland, CA) -- $5-10 -- All ages/wheelchair accessible. http://www.awalls.org/

Palestine Israel, Bil'in, the joint struggle continue in spite of hot whether and Ramadan fasting 29 Sep 2006

This Friday demonstration was on both Muslim Ramadan (day hours fasting) and Jewish new year... and an exceptional early Autumn Hamsin (hot and dry whether) day. In spite of these the traditional Friday demonstration was not abolished. At noon, about 60 people - Palestinians, internationals and Israelis of the anarchists against the wall initiative started the march on the road towards the separation fence. In spite of the small number, the Ramadan fasting and very hot whether the marching was fast and was accompanied by chanting. When we reached the fence of the last house of the village we had a surprise: the Israeli state forces who confronted us there for the last month trying to put end to the Friday demonstrations with all means they had, were absent. We could see them far away at the entrance to the route of the fence. So, we continued marching not knowing what to expect.

When we arrived at the gate to the route of the separation fence, we still did not know what to expect. The "welcome" words of the commander of state forces was the declaration of the area as a closed military zone. However he immediately added that we can do there our demonstration as long as we do not try to force our way.

When few of us tried to push forward the commander ordered to arrest any one who will really cross the line, but as a matter of fact the half hearted push got a "gentle" counter push - no use of batons or arrests.

For a short while we stayed there telling the state forces what we think on them and afterwards started to return to the village.

On our way we could hear from the olive trees orchards on the two sides of the road the confrontation between teams of state forces sent to provoke the stone throwing youth, and the youth. We hear the shooting of the rubber coated bullets and seeing some of stone throwers in action.

Another week of joint struggle of Israelis and the people of Bil'in against the separation fence and occupation. It started Monday at a tract of land on the West of of the separation fence within the settler colonialist town. We erected there a sign board declaring the intended building of hotel Falastin. We did it on the exact piece of land the settler colonialists had to cover with earth and give back to the Bil'in villager owner - after building there a two lanes road and a square. See: http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/09/25/bilin-hotel/

Palestine Israel, Bil'in, the joint struggle continue in spite of hot whether and Ramadan fasting 29 Sep 2006

This Friday demonstration was on both Muslim Ramadan (day hours fasting) and Jewish new year... and an exceptional early Autumn Hamsin (hot and dry whether) day. In spite of these the traditional Friday demonstration was not abolished. At noon, about 60 people - Palestinians, internationals and Israelis of the anarchists against the wall initiative started the march on the road towards the separation fence. In spite of the small number, the Ramadan fasting and very hot whether the marching was fast and was accompanied by chanting. When we reached the fence of the last house of the village we had a surprise: the Israeli state forces who confronted us there for the last month trying to put end to the Friday demonstrations with all means they had, were absent. We could see them far away at the entrance to the route of the fence. So, we continued marching not knowing what to expect.

When we arrived at the gate to the route of the separation fence, we still did not know what to expect. The "welcome" words of the commander of state forces was the declaration of the area as a closed military zone. However he immediately added that we can do there our demonstration as long as we do not try to force our way.

When few of us tried to push forward the commander ordered to arrest any one who will really cross the line, but as a matter of fact the half hearted push got a "gentle" counter push - no use of batons or arrests.

For a short while we stayed there telling the state forces what we think on them and afterwards started to return to the village.

On our way we could hear from the olive trees orchards on the two sides of the road the confrontation between teams of state forces sent to provoke the stone throwing youth, and the youth. We hear the shooting of the rubber coated bullets and seeing some of stone throwers in action.

Another week of joint struggle of Israelis and the people of Bil'in against the separation fence and occupation. It started Monday at a tract of land on the West of of the separation fence within the settler colonialist town. We erected there a sign board declaring the intended building of hotel Falastin. We did it on the exact piece of land the settler colonialists had to cover with earth and give back to the Bil'in villager owner - after building there a two lanes road and a square. See: http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/09/25/bilin-hotel/

Palestine Israel, Bil'in, the joint struggle continue in spite of hot whether and Ramadan fasting 29 Sep 2006

This Friday demonstration was on both Muslim Ramadan (day hours fasting) and Jewish new year... and an exceptional early Autumn Hamsin (hot and dry whether) day. In spite of these the traditional Friday demonstration was not abolished. At noon, about 60 people - Palestinians, internationals and Israelis of the anarchists against the wall initiative started the march on the road towards the separation fence. In spite of the small number, the Ramadan fasting and very hot whether the marching was fast and was accompanied by chanting. When we reached the fence of the last house of the village we had a surprise: the Israeli state forces who confronted us there for the last month trying to put end to the Friday demonstrations with all means they had, were absent. We could see them far away at the entrance to the route of the fence. So, we continued marching not knowing what to expect.

When we arrived at the gate to the route of the separation fence, we still did not know what to expect. The "welcome" words of the commander of state forces was the declaration of the area as a closed military zone. However he immediately added that we can do there our demonstration as long as we do not try to force our way.

When few of us tried to push forward the commander ordered to arrest any one who will really cross the line, but as a matter of fact the half hearted push got a "gentle" counter push - no use of batons or arrests.

For a short while we stayed there telling the state forces what we think on them and afterwards started to return to the village.

On our way we could hear from the olive trees orchards on the two sides of the road the confrontation between teams of state forces sent to provoke the stone throwing youth, and the youth. We hear the shooting of the rubber coated bullets and seeing some of stone throwers in action.

Another week of joint struggle of Israelis and the people of Bil'in against the separation fence and occupation. It started Monday at a tract of land on the West of of the separation fence within the settler colonialist town. We erected there a sign board declaring the intended building of hotel Falastin. We did it on the exact piece of land the settler colonialists had to cover with earth and give back to the Bil'in villager owner - after building there a two lanes road and a square. See: http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/09/25/bilin-hotel/

Ireland, Anarchist journal Workers Solidarty #92 - Palestin-Israel, Anarchists Against the Wall 28 Jun 2006

The struggle continues in Israel and Palestine A young Israeli anarchist was shot by Israeli forces during a protest against the construction of the the so called `Separation Fence' in Palestine. Matan Cohen, 17, was critically wounded when he was shot in the face with a rubber bullet, after Israeli Border Police opened fire on a group of peaceful demonstrators at Bil'in, in the occupied West Bank. Matan, a member of Anarchists Against The Wall, and who recently met with WSM during a European speaking tour, is a peace activist who refuses to serve in the Israeli army. There have been daily ongoing protests in the village of Bil'in as there have been in villages and towns right across Palestine, where the construc- tion of the wall threatens livelihoods, cuts off farmers from their land. It is a further attempt by the Israeli government to legitimise its ongoing terrorism against the Palestinian population. Anarchists Against the Wall are a collective of Israeli activists who work closely with Palestin- ians and others groups such as the International Solidarity Movement, in coordinating non-violent marches and direct actions against the wall's con- struction. Having recently returned to the village of Bil'in he was greeted by those who he was act- ing in solidarity with."It is very moving to see how the village people reacted" says Cohen. "As far as I am concerned, this human warmth, our together- ness, is the biggest achievement of struggle. More than a struggle against the physical wall and the thousands of acres it is stealing from the Palestin- ians. The real struggle is against the mental wall." Cohen, like many, is only too well aware of the disparities between Israeli and Palestinian life. At the weekly Friday protests across Palestine against the wall, many hundreds of Palestinians have been injured, beaten or shot. Their injuries are rarely re- ported, showing the dehumanising and ultimately racist attitudes inherent within not only the Israeli government and its security forces, but most of the western media as well.

Readers may be interested to know that the Irish Cement Roadstone Holdings Group, are heav- ily involved in the wall's contruction. Amnesty International recently stated that "C.R.H., through its subsidiaries Mashav and Nesher is likely to be providing the raw material of the fence/wall...if so, it would contravene the U.N. norms on the responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with regard to Human Rights". Regardless, the company made a profit of !1279 million. So when CEO Liam O Mahony says "..CRH continued to move forward on many fronts in 2005 once again producing new record sales and profits to- gether with substantial development activity", Pal- estinians and all those who genuinely value human life can only but wonder what hope there can be under the bastardising logic of capitalism, and its wars. Mark Malone

Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, the joint struggle against the occupation and the separation fence continue - Friday 23-06-06

The creative theme of this Friday demonstration was the Mondial. A huge imitation for foot ball, flags of participating countries, and shirts of famous players were seen among the marchers. The traditional (for the last 17 months) Friday march started at noon from center of village on the road towards the route of the separation fence. Participated in it about hundred marchers: among them about 25 of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative, fifteen internationals, and few Palestinians and media people from out of the village. Along the march people shout the usual slogans. So did they do when we we arrived at the gate to the route of the separation fence and the way to the other side of it that was blocked with armored cars of the border police. Besides the verbal confrontation with the border police people played with the huge ball.

At a certain point, a certificate of honor was given to this report writer from the village comity for the struggle against the fence, for persistent participation nearly every Friday in spite old age and health problem lately.

Along the confrontation with the state forces a palestinian comrade holding a branch of olive tree succeeded to pass the road block and entered the route of the fence. Seven border police soldiers jumped on him and hand cuffed him in one of their cars.

A stone thrown towards the state forces after an hour of the demonstration was a sign for the non violent demonstrators to leave the area near the blocked gate. Soon these not supporting the nonviolent mode started to throw stones on the state forces, who responded, after a short time, with a volley of shock grenades.

Many of the nonviolent demonstrators (mainly Israelis and internationals) stayed around to tone down the violence of the state force who threw from time to time shock grenades and even tear gas.

After an additional hour the rest of the demonstrators dispersed, and the state forces released the holder of the olive tree branch previously arrested.

Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, the joint struggle against the occupation and the separation fence continue - Friday 23-06-06

The creative theme of this Friday demonstration was the Mondial. A huge imitation for foot ball, flags of participating countries, and shirts of famous players were seen among the marchers. The traditional (for the last 17 months) Friday march started at noon from center of village on the road towards the route of the separation fence. Participated in it about hundred marchers: among them about 25 of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative, fifteen internationals, and few Palestinians and media people from out of the village. Along the march people shout the usual slogans. So did they do when we we arrived at the gate to the route of the separation fence and the way to the other side of it that was blocked with armored cars of the border police. Besides the verbal confrontation with the border police people played with the huge ball.

At a certain point, a certificate of honor was given to this report writer from the village comity for the struggle against the fence, for persistent participation nearly every Friday in spite old age and health problem lately.

Along the confrontation with the state forces a palestinian comrade holding a branch of olive tree succeeded to pass the road block and entered the route of the fence. Seven border police soldiers jumped on him and hand cuffed him in one of their cars.

A stone thrown towards the state forces after an hour of the demonstration was a sign for the non violent demonstrators to leave the area near the blocked gate. Soon these not supporting the nonviolent mode started to throw stones on the state forces, who responded, after a short time, with a volley of shock grenades.

Many of the nonviolent demonstrators (mainly Israelis and internationals) stayed around to tone down the violence of the state force who threw from time to time shock grenades and even tear gas.

After an additional hour the rest of the demonstrators dispersed, and the state forces released the holder of the olive tree branch previously arrested.

Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, the joint struggle against occupation and the separation fence continue 16-06-06

The theme of this Friday demonstration was the massacre at the Gaza sea shore where the 7 members of the Ralia family murdered by the Israeli artillery fire. The demonstrators carried 7 open coffins to symbolize them. The demonstration that started at noon with a march from the center of the village on the road to the separation fence participated about 150 - about 100 of Bil'in, 10 Palestinians from other places, 15 internationals, and 40 Israelis who joined the delegation of the Anarchists Against The Wall.

Chanting the usual calls and songs the demonstration arrived at the gate to the route of the separation fence and the other side of the fence, which was blocked as usual last months with armored cars mounted by Israeli forces, and spools of barbed wire.

The demonstration continued there with verbal confrontation mainly for about twenty minutes till the village comity declared finished (before restless youngsters will start there the stones throwing and army respond in harsh disproportional retaliation. However, just as the demonstration was declared ended a stone or two were thrown serving as an excuse to the Israeli forces to start a barrage of shock grenades and even shooting of rubber coated bullets.

This was the sign for the usual full confrontation between the youngsters and the Israeli state forces.

The other nonviolent participants who could not return safely to the village remain in the vicinity. Some marched for a while along the route of the fence. Later the people assembled under a near by tree and speeches were given by few participants.

Israel-Palestine, Bil'in, [MEDIA] article - THE OLD MAN AND THE BLOOD 13 Jun 2006

This article is in the context of a Friday Bil'in demonstration - one of around 60 we have had over the past 16 months. One of the many Israeli media reporters drawn to the Bil'in demos approached me about a month ago and, after sensing "good" material, asked for an intensive "interview" the following Friday during the demo if her editor accepted her proposal for an extended report. He did, and a week later we had a few hours together both before the demonstration itself and during the demonstration. One of the photographers from the daily joined us too and the resulting report was published in Israel's second-biggest daily two weeks later: a large photo from the demonstration on the front page of the magazine, followed by two pages of text and pictures from the demo.

What follows is an English translation of the text of the front page of the supplement Matrix of the daily Maariv, and the article itself:

GRANDPA STONE - What causes Ilan Shalif, Doctor of Psychology, to leave his grandchildren, climb the hills and spend his Fridays in the endless fight of the anarchists in Bil'in? Liat Shlezinger (28.5.06)

THE OLD MAN AND THE BLOOD
by Liat Shlezinger

Ilan Shalif is already 70 [really only 69 - I.S.] but it does not prevent him arriving every Friday at the demonstration against the separation fence in Bil'in and confronting the soldiers of the Israeli IDF.

"Armed" with only a yellow water bottle and matching yellow pouch, Ilan Shalif is on his way to another battle against the separation fence. Every Friday for the last year and a half, like a watch whose battery never runs out, he travels the road from Tel-Aviv to the Palestinian village of Bil'in. He has not missed even one demonstration... Well, he did miss one when he had an open-heart bypass operation [it was really two demos I missed then, and two more when I was banned from travelling to Bil'in after being released from police custody - I.S.]. But, he stresses that a week later he was back running with the kids [the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall - I.S.] and dodging the rubber-coated bullets as they whistled by.

In the village of Bil'in, where the most violent demonstrations of the left have been taking place recently, people are "crazy" about him. They call him "grandpa". While others of his age prefer to spend time with their grandchildren, Shalif at 70 prefers to spend his Fridays in the company of shock and teargas grenades.

My idea to join him in the demo was regarded at first as an intriguing experience, but surely not as massive physical effort. However, after a short march with the demonstrators, at quite a fast tempo, I looked around me and saw that Shalif was nowhere to be seen. Actually, he had long ago overtaken me and I just could not match his speed!

Each demonstration in Bil'in begins with a long march accompanied by the singing of the villagers and the demonstrators, who wave flags all the way up to the point of confrontation with the soldiers at the fence separating the village lands and the areas of Modi'in Illit [the settler town built on the lands of Bil'in and other neighbouring Palestinian villages - I.S.]. Shalif is marching fast under the hot sun and his position is at the head of the demonstration. When the confrontation between the demonstrators and the soldiers starts, he sits down on one of the big stones and looks around. From time to time he wipes the drops of sweat from his forehead and cleans his round glasses.

Right behind Ilan sits his son Gal, 42, guarding his father. He puts a firm hand on his shouder every time he wants to go nearer and join the demonstrators [in confronting the soldiers - I.S.]. "Father, sit down", he says in an authoritative voice. "Father, enough. Not this time. It's not for you any more. Father, it's not possible this way." He worries about his father. Every Friday, Gal serves as Ilan's chauffeur to Bil'in and back to Tel-Aviv. But more importantly, Gal defines himself as "his personal guard".

"I know my father... If I don't go with him, he will do something stupid and get injured. He is a person who is getting on in years, but often he behave like a child," he says, smiling. [The reporter does not know the details of my medical vulnerability after the heart bypass operation a few weeks before, as a result of which Gal agreed to accompany me to the demonstration in return for a say on cautious behaviour for both of us - I.S.] It is now the end of the second week of May, and in a few days' time Shalif, a father of two and Doctor of Psychology (Ph.D.) is due to undergo a complicated and quite dangerous operation on his abdomen in Germany. [From which I returned after three weeks and am still recuperating - I.S.] "Sure he is supposed to be resting now", says Gal in reply to my amazement, "but he is actually much more relaxed here! If he were at home, he would be so much more stressed, and anyway, no-one can tell him what to do". _________________________

"I think the soldiers treat me more gently because of my age, maybe they even pity me. Once, a few months ago, we were sitting on the road in protest. The soldiers came and carried all of us away, one by one, except for me. At one point I looked around and saw I was left alone on the road". [She fails to mention that at first a soldier had tried to grab me, but a Palestinian comrade held my hand to prevent my arrest and asked the soldier if he was not ashamed to grab an old man... Only then they left me alone there - I.S.] __________________________

The demonstration is getting more violent, even in comparision to those of the past few weeks. Three demonstrators are taken to hospital. Gal seems worried. "Soon they are going to open my father up for an operation", he says. "I don't intend to let someone open him up here, with batons".

Despite the difficulty of being a bodyguard to a rebellious 70-year-old, he looks at him with great pride. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to guard him. I don't have the courage to get hit for things I believe in, but he has. That's why I admire him".

WOW, RESPECT!

The village of Bil'in is located east of the settlement of Modi'in Illit. The demonstrations that have been taking place there every Friday for the last year and a half are part of the struggle of the village's Palestinian population against the separation fence which threatens to take about 60% of their agricultural lands. On these lands the villagers grow olive trees for their livelihood, and theres are exactly the lands where new residential neighbourhoods of the the settler town Modi'in Illit are due to be built. Ten days earlier, the citizens of Bil'in even petitioned the (Israeli) supreme court of justice in a bid to prevent the confiscation of the lands. The demonstrations at Bil'in also see the participation of left-wing Israeli activists, many from the extreme left like the "Anarchists Against The Wall", who arrive with organized transportation from the centre of Israel and demonstrate side by side with the Palestinians. In addition, there are also international activists from organisations like the

The demonstration advances along its route according to a ritual known in advance to both the demonstrators and the soldiers. First, the village people march up to the route of the separation fence where the soldiers and border police are waiting for them, equipped with the means to disperse demonstrations, such as tear gas, shock grenades, and live ammunition. On the Palestinian side, several of the youngsters are arming themselves with stones. More than a few Israeli demonstrators have been injured here.

"If the left-wing demonstrators were not here, the struggle would be seen in an entirely different light", say representatives of the village's popular committee. "Their presence, and that of the press, protect us from the violence of the soldiers who know that they are being monitored and therefore cannot do what they want. We will succeed in the end as we are stubborn, and every Friday, without exception, we will continue to come here with the Israelis and the international activists and demonstrate till our lands are returned".

Acram Hatib, a Palestinian activist and member of the village's popular committee, says that one of the most encouraging things in his eyes is to see Shalif every Friday. "Closure, curfew or shooting, I will always see Ilan and his gray hair here", he says while trying to restrain the stone-throwing kids.

"Wow, respect!", a young woman with short black and red hair exclaims loudly when she observes the presence of Ilan there. "This is a very dangerous place, and I hesitate every time I have to come. And to see him, in spite of his age and everything, I really have great respect".

Roni Barkan from the "Anarchists Against The Wall" movement sees in Shalif a personal role model. "I nearly never express myself in similar words, but in my eyes he really deserves admiration. What is so beautiful about Ilan is that he may be 70, but he has the soul of a child. He does what he feels is right and lives his life this way, despite the price he has to pay for it". [He still does not recognize that others too are motivated like him by the joy of rebeliousness... - I.S.]

Shalif himself, on the other hand, does not feel any different when he looks at the young crowd participating in these demonstrations.

L. S.: "You know that there are not many people at your age that bother to come to Bil'in in order to demonstrate?"

I. S: "Right, there are not many people of 70, but this is what I love doing and this is what I believe in. I cannot see myself doing anything else. When I was a child I was very hyperactive and I think that a little of that remained. I don't feel the need to sit around at home and rest. I may be a bit older, but inside I know I am still young. There are people my age who relax from other things and who busy themselves looking for something different or strange. I don't think I'm strange or exeptional. In addition, I think that because of my age the soldiers treat me relatively leniently. Maybe even pity me. They always hit the youngsters, and time after time I remain unharmed. [Not really perfect immunity, as the soldiers often indiscriminantly attack both old and young, Palestinians, Israelis or foreigners, demonstrators or press workers, males or females... I. S.] Once, a few months ago, we were sitting on the road in protest. The soldiers came and carried all of us away, one by one, except for me. At one

L. S.: "And what does your wife have to say about this?"

I. S: "We do not argue any more about it. She worries about me, but she knows that in the end I will do what I want. I simply do not believe that I can just sit at home, having spent my whole life as an activist. I don't really know what could change to make me want to stop".

ANARCHIST SINCE HE WAS 9

As for the identity crises that most of us go through every few months on average, Shalif's identity was already firmly established in his childhood. At the age of 9, he already knew he was an anarchist.

"We were in the classroom and all the boys decided to boycott the girls", he recounts the moment of truth. "I refused. I just did not agree at all as I was friends with the girls [I used to play with some in the small neighborhood I grew up in - I.S.] and did not believe in that stupid boycott. Later, [and more so after the boycott was over - I. S.] no-one befriended me for a while or invited me to parties. That was when it started, when I knew that I would always be different".

[Well, it was not my first act of social rebellion. When I was still at kindergarten, every Friday they used to collect small sums of money as a contribution to the Jewish Zionist fund for buying land. I still remember refusing to ask my parents for "pocket money" for that contribution. I also recollect some bits of memories from an earlier age, when I was about 2, in which I doubted the wisdom of my mother when she did or said things I did not regard as correct - I. S.]

Indeed, he was different. While the rest of his friends in Jerusalem looked forward to their period of military service, he evaded it, thanks to a broken bone in his hand, something he is proud of to this day. "I became disillusioned with the Zionism of Ben Gurion [Israel's first Prime Minister in 1948 - I. S.] faster than expected. It just wasn't for me", he says. In 1967 [the 6th June war of occupation - I. S.] he found himself in the extreme left-wing movement "Matspen", who among other things supported politically-motivated total conscientious objection. "I moved from place to place [living on kibbutzim - I.S.], and was even expelled with my wife Aliza from "Negba" kibbutz where we lived, because of my radical opinions. [Mostly because of the anti-Zionist political activities I refused to stop doing. They agreed to let my wife stay on as member with our two kids only if she divorced me... which she refused to do - I.S.] I always knew I was extremely radical and at long last I have found people that I can

Later he moved to Tel-Aviv and completed a Ph.D. in psychology. During his work he even developed the technique of "sensate focusing", that promotes the solving of problems using subconscious processes, mainly and not solely using verbal techniques.

Throughout the years his left-iwing activism has been well known both by people of other organizations and by the police, who detained him for interrogation a few times after violent demonstrations he took part in. He spends his time these days surfing the internet and translating for an international anarchist website he jointly manages. [I've been a member of the ainfos.ca collective and project since 1996 - I.S.] When Shalif speaks, he uses "you". He does not feel part of us, the Israelis, and he does not even want to feel as one, "thank you very much". He can't remember when he last voted in an election [to parliament - I.S.]. "I don't feel like just another street crazy who shouts about nothing", he says. "My feelings on Israel are like a time traveller who is stuck here without being able to carry on with his journey. I believe in a world that is non-hierarchical, in which there is freedom, equality and fraternity. A world without exploiters and exploited, where people make their own decisions. I do n

L. S.: Don't you feel a bit lonely sometimes? All of us search for a kind of belonging from time to time.

I. S: Certainly not. I do not need the false feeling of intimacy of a nation. It is all about fictional substitutes that are intended to give us a good feeling. I have my friends here in Bil'in, I have real friends, from "Matspen", with whom I meet twice a month. I do not need the State". In spite of the fact that most young Israelis have a better idea where Maya Buskila [an Israeli pop star - I.S.] lives than where the village of Bil'in is, Shalif feels that his struggle over the past decades has not been in vain. "In 1968 we were 18 lunatics who cried and cursed [the occupation - I.S.] but now the majority believes that there is a need to retreat from the occupied territories. Once I wrote a poem on how each shoulder helps to turn the wheels of history, and that it will take a very long time to make them turn. It may happen after many, many years, but at the end the revolution will come, I am sure of it".

Israel-Palestine, Bil'in, [MEDIA] article - THE OLD MAN AND THE BLOOD 13 Jun 2006

This article is in the context of a Friday Bil'in demonstration - one of around 60 we have had over the past 16 months. One of the many Israeli media reporters drawn to the Bil'in demos approached me about a month ago and, after sensing "good" material, asked for an intensive "interview" the following Friday during the demo if her editor accepted her proposal for an extended report. He did, and a week later we had a few hours together both before the demonstration itself and during the demonstration. One of the photographers from the daily joined us too and the resulting report was published in Israel's second-biggest daily two weeks later: a large photo from the demonstration on the front page of the magazine, followed by two pages of text and pictures from the demo.

What follows is an English translation of the text of the front page of the supplement Matrix of the daily Maariv, and the article itself:

GRANDPA STONE - What causes Ilan Shalif, Doctor of Psychology, to leave his grandchildren, climb the hills and spend his Fridays in the endless fight of the anarchists in Bil'in? Liat Shlezinger (28.5.06)

THE OLD MAN AND THE BLOOD
by Liat Shlezinger

Ilan Shalif is already 70 [really only 69 - I.S.] but it does not prevent him arriving every Friday at the demonstration against the separation fence in Bil'in and confronting the soldiers of the Israeli IDF.

"Armed" with only a yellow water bottle and matching yellow pouch, Ilan Shalif is on his way to another battle against the separation fence. Every Friday for the last year and a half, like a watch whose battery never runs out, he travels the road from Tel-Aviv to the Palestinian village of Bil'in. He has not missed even one demonstration... Well, he did miss one when he had an open-heart bypass operation [it was really two demos I missed then, and two more when I was banned from travelling to Bil'in after being released from police custody - I.S.]. But, he stresses that a week later he was back running with the kids [the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall - I.S.] and dodging the rubber-coated bullets as they whistled by.

In the village of Bil'in, where the most violent demonstrations of the left have been taking place recently, people are "crazy" about him. They call him "grandpa". While others of his age prefer to spend time with their grandchildren, Shalif at 70 prefers to spend his Fridays in the company of shock and teargas grenades.

My idea to join him in the demo was regarded at first as an intriguing experience, but surely not as massive physical effort. However, after a short march with the demonstrators, at quite a fast tempo, I looked around me and saw that Shalif was nowhere to be seen. Actually, he had long ago overtaken me and I just could not match his speed!

Each demonstration in Bil'in begins with a long march accompanied by the singing of the villagers and the demonstrators, who wave flags all the way up to the point of confrontation with the soldiers at the fence separating the village lands and the areas of Modi'in Illit [the settler town built on the lands of Bil'in and other neighbouring Palestinian villages - I.S.]. Shalif is marching fast under the hot sun and his position is at the head of the demonstration. When the confrontation between the demonstrators and the soldiers starts, he sits down on one of the big stones and looks around. From time to time he wipes the drops of sweat from his forehead and cleans his round glasses.

Right behind Ilan sits his son Gal, 42, guarding his father. He puts a firm hand on his shouder every time he wants to go nearer and join the demonstrators [in confronting the soldiers - I.S.]. "Father, sit down", he says in an authoritative voice. "Father, enough. Not this time. It's not for you any more. Father, it's not possible this way." He worries about his father. Every Friday, Gal serves as Ilan's chauffeur to Bil'in and back to Tel-Aviv. But more importantly, Gal defines himself as "his personal guard".

"I know my father... If I don't go with him, he will do something stupid and get injured. He is a person who is getting on in years, but often he behave like a child," he says, smiling. [The reporter does not know the details of my medical vulnerability after the heart bypass operation a few weeks before, as a result of which Gal agreed to accompany me to the demonstration in return for a say on cautious behaviour for both of us - I.S.] It is now the end of the second week of May, and in a few days' time Shalif, a father of two and Doctor of Psychology (Ph.D.) is due to undergo a complicated and quite dangerous operation on his abdomen in Germany. [From which I returned after three weeks and am still recuperating - I.S.] "Sure he is supposed to be resting now", says Gal in reply to my amazement, "but he is actually much more relaxed here! If he were at home, he would be so much more stressed, and anyway, no-one can tell him what to do". _________________________

"I think the soldiers treat me more gently because of my age, maybe they even pity me. Once, a few months ago, we were sitting on the road in protest. The soldiers came and carried all of us away, one by one, except for me. At one point I looked around and saw I was left alone on the road". [She fails to mention that at first a soldier had tried to grab me, but a Palestinian comrade held my hand to prevent my arrest and asked the soldier if he was not ashamed to grab an old man... Only then they left me alone there - I.S.] __________________________

The demonstration is getting more violent, even in comparision to those of the past few weeks. Three demonstrators are taken to hospital. Gal seems worried. "Soon they are going to open my father up for an operation", he says. "I don't intend to let someone open him up here, with batons".

Despite the difficulty of being a bodyguard to a rebellious 70-year-old, he looks at him with great pride. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to guard him. I don't have the courage to get hit for things I believe in, but he has. That's why I admire him".

WOW, RESPECT!

The village of Bil'in is located east of the settlement of Modi'in Illit. The demonstrations that have been taking place there every Friday for the last year and a half are part of the struggle of the village's Palestinian population against the separation fence which threatens to take about 60% of their agricultural lands. On these lands the villagers grow olive trees for their livelihood, and theres are exactly the lands where new residential neighbourhoods of the the settler town Modi'in Illit are due to be built. Ten days earlier, the citizens of Bil'in even petitioned the (Israeli) supreme court of justice in a bid to prevent the confiscation of the lands. The demonstrations at Bil'in also see the participation of left-wing Israeli activists, many from the extreme left like the "Anarchists Against The Wall", who arrive with organized transportation from the centre of Israel and demonstrate side by side with the Palestinians. In addition, there are also international activists from organisations like the

The demonstration advances along its route according to a ritual known in advance to both the demonstrators and the soldiers. First, the village people march up to the route of the separation fence where the soldiers and border police are waiting for them, equipped with the means to disperse demonstrations, such as tear gas, shock grenades, and live ammunition. On the Palestinian side, several of the youngsters are arming themselves with stones. More than a few Israeli demonstrators have been injured here.

"If the left-wing demonstrators were not here, the struggle would be seen in an entirely different light", say representatives of the village's popular committee. "Their presence, and that of the press, protect us from the violence of the soldiers who know that they are being monitored and therefore cannot do what they want. We will succeed in the end as we are stubborn, and every Friday, without exception, we will continue to come here with the Israelis and the international activists and demonstrate till our lands are returned".

Acram Hatib, a Palestinian activist and member of the village's popular committee, says that one of the most encouraging things in his eyes is to see Shalif every Friday. "Closure, curfew or shooting, I will always see Ilan and his gray hair here", he says while trying to restrain the stone-throwing kids.

"Wow, respect!", a young woman with short black and red hair exclaims loudly when she observes the presence of Ilan there. "This is a very dangerous place, and I hesitate every time I have to come. And to see him, in spite of his age and everything, I really have great respect".

Roni Barkan from the "Anarchists Against The Wall" movement sees in Shalif a personal role model. "I nearly never express myself in similar words, but in my eyes he really deserves admiration. What is so beautiful about Ilan is that he may be 70, but he has the soul of a child. He does what he feels is right and lives his life this way, despite the price he has to pay for it". [He still does not recognize that others too are motivated like him by the joy of rebeliousness... - I.S.]

Shalif himself, on the other hand, does not feel any different when he looks at the young crowd participating in these demonstrations.

L. S.: "You know that there are not many people at your age that bother to come to Bil'in in order to demonstrate?"

I. S: "Right, there are not many people of 70, but this is what I love doing and this is what I believe in. I cannot see myself doing anything else. When I was a child I was very hyperactive and I think that a little of that remained. I don't feel the need to sit around at home and rest. I may be a bit older, but inside I know I am still young. There are people my age who relax from other things and who busy themselves looking for something different or strange. I don't think I'm strange or exeptional. In addition, I think that because of my age the soldiers treat me relatively leniently. Maybe even pity me. They always hit the youngsters, and time after time I remain unharmed. [Not really perfect immunity, as the soldiers often indiscriminantly attack both old and young, Palestinians, Israelis or foreigners, demonstrators or press workers, males or females... I. S.] Once, a few months ago, we were sitting on the road in protest. The soldiers came and carried all of us away, one by one, except for me. At one

L. S.: "And what does your wife have to say about this?"

I. S: "We do not argue any more about it. She worries about me, but she knows that in the end I will do what I want. I simply do not believe that I can just sit at home, having spent my whole life as an activist. I don't really know what could change to make me want to stop".

ANARCHIST SINCE HE WAS 9

As for the identity crises that most of us go through every few months on average, Shalif's identity was already firmly established in his childhood. At the age of 9, he already knew he was an anarchist.

"We were in the classroom and all the boys decided to boycott the girls", he recounts the moment of truth. "I refused. I just did not agree at all as I was friends with the girls [I used to play with some in the small neighborhood I grew up in - I.S.] and did not believe in that stupid boycott. Later, [and more so after the boycott was over - I. S.] no-one befriended me for a while or invited me to parties. That was when it started, when I knew that I would always be different".

[Well, it was not my first act of social rebellion. When I was still at kindergarten, every Friday they used to collect small sums of money as a contribution to the Jewish Zionist fund for buying land. I still remember refusing to ask my parents for "pocket money" for that contribution. I also recollect some bits of memories from an earlier age, when I was about 2, in which I doubted the wisdom of my mother when she did or said things I did not regard as correct - I. S.]

Indeed, he was different. While the rest of his friends in Jerusalem looked forward to their period of military service, he evaded it, thanks to a broken bone in his hand, something he is proud of to this day. "I became disillusioned with the Zionism of Ben Gurion [Israel's first Prime Minister in 1948 - I. S.] faster than expected. It just wasn't for me", he says. In 1967 [the 6th June war of occupation - I. S.] he found himself in the extreme left-wing movement "Matspen", who among other things supported politically-motivated total conscientious objection. "I moved from place to place [living on kibbutzim - I.S.], and was even expelled with my wife Aliza from "Negba" kibbutz where we lived, because of my radical opinions. [Mostly because of the anti-Zionist political activities I refused to stop doing. They agreed to let my wife stay on as member with our two kids only if she divorced me... which she refused to do - I.S.] I always knew I was extremely radical and at long last I have found people that I can

Later he moved to Tel-Aviv and completed a Ph.D. in psychology. During his work he even developed the technique of "sensate focusing", that promotes the solving of problems using subconscious processes, mainly and not solely using verbal techniques.

Throughout the years his left-iwing activism has been well known both by people of other organizations and by the police, who detained him for interrogation a few times after violent demonstrations he took part in. He spends his time these days surfing the internet and translating for an international anarchist website he jointly manages. [I've been a member of the ainfos.ca collective and project since 1996 - I.S.] When Shalif speaks, he uses "you". He does not feel part of us, the Israelis, and he does not even want to feel as one, "thank you very much". He can't remember when he last voted in an election [to parliament - I.S.]. "I don't feel like just another street crazy who shouts about nothing", he says. "My feelings on Israel are like a time traveller who is stuck here without being able to carry on with his journey. I believe in a world that is non-hierarchical, in which there is freedom, equality and fraternity. A world without exploiters and exploited, where people make their own decisions. I do n

L. S.: Don't you feel a bit lonely sometimes? All of us search for a kind of belonging from time to time.

I. S: Certainly not. I do not need the false feeling of intimacy of a nation. It is all about fictional substitutes that are intended to give us a good feeling. I have my friends here in Bil'in, I have real friends, from "Matspen", with whom I meet twice a month. I do not need the State". In spite of the fact that most young Israelis have a better idea where Maya Buskila [an Israeli pop star - I.S.] lives than where the village of Bil'in is, Shalif feels that his struggle over the past decades has not been in vain. "In 1968 we were 18 lunatics who cried and cursed [the occupation - I.S.] but now the majority believes that there is a need to retreat from the occupied territories. Once I wrote a poem on how each shoulder helps to turn the wheels of history, and that it will take a very long time to make them turn. It may happen after many, many years, but at the end the revolution will come, I am sure of it".

Israel-Palestine, Bil'in, [MEDIA] article - THE OLD MAN AND THE BLOOD 13 Jun 2006

This article is in the context of a Friday Bil'in demonstration - one of around 60 we have had over the past 16 months. One of the many Israeli media reporters drawn to the Bil'in demos approached me about a month ago and, after sensing "good" material, asked for an intensive "interview" the following Friday during the demo if her editor accepted her proposal for an extended report. He did, and a week later we had a few hours together both before the demonstration itself and during the demonstration. One of the photographers from the daily joined us too and the resulting report was published in Israel's second-biggest daily two weeks later: a large photo from the demonstration on the front page of the magazine, followed by two pages of text and pictures from the demo.

What follows is an English translation of the text of the front page of the supplement Matrix of the daily Maariv, and the article itself:

GRANDPA STONE - What causes Ilan Shalif, Doctor of Psychology, to leave his grandchildren, climb the hills and spend his Fridays in the endless fight of the anarchists in Bil'in? Liat Shlezinger (28.5.06)

THE OLD MAN AND THE BLOOD
by Liat Shlezinger

Ilan Shalif is already 70 [really only 69 - I.S.] but it does not prevent him arriving every Friday at the demonstration against the separation fence in Bil'in and confronting the soldiers of the Israeli IDF.

"Armed" with only a yellow water bottle and matching yellow pouch, Ilan Shalif is on his way to another battle against the separation fence. Every Friday for the last year and a half, like a watch whose battery never runs out, he travels the road from Tel-Aviv to the Palestinian village of Bil'in. He has not missed even one demonstration... Well, he did miss one when he had an open-heart bypass operation [it was really two demos I missed then, and two more when I was banned from travelling to Bil'in after being released from police custody - I.S.]. But, he stresses that a week later he was back running with the kids [the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall - I.S.] and dodging the rubber-coated bullets as they whistled by.

In the village of Bil'in, where the most violent demonstrations of the left have been taking place recently, people are "crazy" about him. They call him "grandpa". While others of his age prefer to spend time with their grandchildren, Shalif at 70 prefers to spend his Fridays in the company of shock and teargas grenades.

My idea to join him in the demo was regarded at first as an intriguing experience, but surely not as massive physical effort. However, after a short march with the demonstrators, at quite a fast tempo, I looked around me and saw that Shalif was nowhere to be seen. Actually, he had long ago overtaken me and I just could not match his speed!

Each demonstration in Bil'in begins with a long march accompanied by the singing of the villagers and the demonstrators, who wave flags all the way up to the point of confrontation with the soldiers at the fence separating the village lands and the areas of Modi'in Illit [the settler town built on the lands of Bil'in and other neighbouring Palestinian villages - I.S.]. Shalif is marching fast under the hot sun and his position is at the head of the demonstration. When the confrontation between the demonstrators and the soldiers starts, he sits down on one of the big stones and looks around. From time to time he wipes the drops of sweat from his forehead and cleans his round glasses.

Right behind Ilan sits his son Gal, 42, guarding his father. He puts a firm hand on his shouder every time he wants to go nearer and join the demonstrators [in confronting the soldiers - I.S.]. "Father, sit down", he says in an authoritative voice. "Father, enough. Not this time. It's not for you any more. Father, it's not possible this way." He worries about his father. Every Friday, Gal serves as Ilan's chauffeur to Bil'in and back to Tel-Aviv. But more importantly, Gal defines himself as "his personal guard".

"I know my father... If I don't go with him, he will do something stupid and get injured. He is a person who is getting on in years, but often he behave like a child," he says, smiling. [The reporter does not know the details of my medical vulnerability after the heart bypass operation a few weeks before, as a result of which Gal agreed to accompany me to the demonstration in return for a say on cautious behaviour for both of us - I.S.] It is now the end of the second week of May, and in a few days' time Shalif, a father of two and Doctor of Psychology (Ph.D.) is due to undergo a complicated and quite dangerous operation on his abdomen in Germany. [From which I returned after three weeks and am still recuperating - I.S.] "Sure he is supposed to be resting now", says Gal in reply to my amazement, "but he is actually much more relaxed here! If he were at home, he would be so much more stressed, and anyway, no-one can tell him what to do". _________________________

"I think the soldiers treat me more gently because of my age, maybe they even pity me. Once, a few months ago, we were sitting on the road in protest. The soldiers came and carried all of us away, one by one, except for me. At one point I looked around and saw I was left alone on the road". [She fails to mention that at first a soldier had tried to grab me, but a Palestinian comrade held my hand to prevent my arrest and asked the soldier if he was not ashamed to grab an old man... Only then they left me alone there - I.S.] __________________________

The demonstration is getting more violent, even in comparision to those of the past few weeks. Three demonstrators are taken to hospital. Gal seems worried. "Soon they are going to open my father up for an operation", he says. "I don't intend to let someone open him up here, with batons".

Despite the difficulty of being a bodyguard to a rebellious 70-year-old, he looks at him with great pride. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to guard him. I don't have the courage to get hit for things I believe in, but he has. That's why I admire him".

WOW, RESPECT!

The village of Bil'in is located east of the settlement of Modi'in Illit. The demonstrations that have been taking place there every Friday for the last year and a half are part of the struggle of the village's Palestinian population against the separation fence which threatens to take about 60% of their agricultural lands. On these lands the villagers grow olive trees for their livelihood, and theres are exactly the lands where new residential neighbourhoods of the the settler town Modi'in Illit are due to be built. Ten days earlier, the citizens of Bil'in even petitioned the (Israeli) supreme court of justice in a bid to prevent the confiscation of the lands. The demonstrations at Bil'in also see the participation of left-wing Israeli activists, many from the extreme left like the "Anarchists Against The Wall", who arrive with organized transportation from the centre of Israel and demonstrate side by side with the Palestinians. In addition, there are also international activists from organisations like the

The demonstration advances along its route according to a ritual known in advance to both the demonstrators and the soldiers. First, the village people march up to the route of the separation fence where the soldiers and border police are waiting for them, equipped with the means to disperse demonstrations, such as tear gas, shock grenades, and live ammunition. On the Palestinian side, several of the youngsters are arming themselves with stones. More than a few Israeli demonstrators have been injured here.

"If the left-wing demonstrators were not here, the struggle would be seen in an entirely different light", say representatives of the village's popular committee. "Their presence, and that of the press, protect us from the violence of the soldiers who know that they are being monitored and therefore cannot do what they want. We will succeed in the end as we are stubborn, and every Friday, without exception, we will continue to come here with the Israelis and the international activists and demonstrate till our lands are returned".

Acram Hatib, a Palestinian activist and member of the village's popular committee, says that one of the most encouraging things in his eyes is to see Shalif every Friday. "Closure, curfew or shooting, I will always see Ilan and his gray hair here", he says while trying to restrain the stone-throwing kids.

"Wow, respect!", a young woman with short black and red hair exclaims loudly when she observes the presence of Ilan there. "This is a very dangerous place, and I hesitate every time I have to come. And to see him, in spite of his age and everything, I really have great respect".

Roni Barkan from the "Anarchists Against The Wall" movement sees in Shalif a personal role model. "I nearly never express myself in similar words, but in my eyes he really deserves admiration. What is so beautiful about Ilan is that he may be 70, but he has the soul of a child. He does what he feels is right and lives his life this way, despite the price he has to pay for it". [He still does not recognize that others too are motivated like him by the joy of rebeliousness... - I.S.]

Shalif himself, on the other hand, does not feel any different when he looks at the young crowd participating in these demonstrations.

L. S.: "You know that there are not many people at your age that bother to come to Bil'in in order to demonstrate?"

I. S: "Right, there are not many people of 70, but this is what I love doing and this is what I believe in. I cannot see myself doing anything else. When I was a child I was very hyperactive and I think that a little of that remained. I don't feel the need to sit around at home and rest. I may be a bit older, but inside I know I am still young. There are people my age who relax from other things and who busy themselves looking for something different or strange. I don't think I'm strange or exeptional. In addition, I think that because of my age the soldiers treat me relatively leniently. Maybe even pity me. They always hit the youngsters, and time after time I remain unharmed. [Not really perfect immunity, as the soldiers often indiscriminantly attack both old and young, Palestinians, Israelis or foreigners, demonstrators or press workers, males or females... I. S.] Once, a few months ago, we were sitting on the road in protest. The soldiers came and carried all of us away, one by one, except for me. At one

L. S.: "And what does your wife have to say about this?"

I. S: "We do not argue any more about it. She worries about me, but she knows that in the end I will do what I want. I simply do not believe that I can just sit at home, having spent my whole life as an activist. I don't really know what could change to make me want to stop".

ANARCHIST SINCE HE WAS 9

As for the identity crises that most of us go through every few months on average, Shalif's identity was already firmly established in his childhood. At the age of 9, he already knew he was an anarchist.

"We were in the classroom and all the boys decided to boycott the girls", he recounts the moment of truth. "I refused. I just did not agree at all as I was friends with the girls [I used to play with some in the small neighborhood I grew up in - I.S.] and did not believe in that stupid boycott. Later, [and more so after the boycott was over - I. S.] no-one befriended me for a while or invited me to parties. That was when it started, when I knew that I would always be different".

[Well, it was not my first act of social rebellion. When I was still at kindergarten, every Friday they used to collect small sums of money as a contribution to the Jewish Zionist fund for buying land. I still remember refusing to ask my parents for "pocket money" for that contribution. I also recollect some bits of memories from an earlier age, when I was about 2, in which I doubted the wisdom of my mother when she did or said things I did not regard as correct - I. S.]

Indeed, he was different. While the rest of his friends in Jerusalem looked forward to their period of military service, he evaded it, thanks to a broken bone in his hand, something he is proud of to this day. "I became disillusioned with the Zionism of Ben Gurion [Israel's first Prime Minister in 1948 - I. S.] faster than expected. It just wasn't for me", he says. In 1967 [the 6th June war of occupation - I. S.] he found himself in the extreme left-wing movement "Matspen", who among other things supported politically-motivated total conscientious objection. "I moved from place to place [living on kibbutzim - I.S.], and was even expelled with my wife Aliza from "Negba" kibbutz where we lived, because of my radical opinions. [Mostly because of the anti-Zionist political activities I refused to stop doing. They agreed to let my wife stay on as member with our two kids only if she divorced me... which she refused to do - I.S.] I always knew I was extremely radical and at long last I have found people that I can

Later he moved to Tel-Aviv and completed a Ph.D. in psychology. During his work he even developed the technique of "sensate focusing", that promotes the solving of problems using subconscious processes, mainly and not solely using verbal techniques.

Throughout the years his left-iwing activism has been well known both by people of other organizations and by the police, who detained him for interrogation a few times after violent demonstrations he took part in. He spends his time these days surfing the internet and translating for an international anarchist website he jointly manages. [I've been a member of the ainfos.ca collective and project since 1996 - I.S.] When Shalif speaks, he uses "you". He does not feel part of us, the Israelis, and he does not even want to feel as one, "thank you very much". He can't remember when he last voted in an election [to parliament - I.S.]. "I don't feel like just another street crazy who shouts about nothing", he says. "My feelings on Israel are like a time traveller who is stuck here without being able to carry on with his journey. I believe in a world that is non-hierarchical, in which there is freedom, equality and fraternity. A world without exploiters and exploited, where people make their own decisions. I do n

L. S.: Don't you feel a bit lonely sometimes? All of us search for a kind of belonging from time to time.

I. S: Certainly not. I do not need the false feeling of intimacy of a nation. It is all about fictional substitutes that are intended to give us a good feeling. I have my friends here in Bil'in, I have real friends, from "Matspen", with whom I meet twice a month. I do not need the State". In spite of the fact that most young Israelis have a better idea where Maya Buskila [an Israeli pop star - I.S.] lives than where the village of Bil'in is, Shalif feels that his struggle over the past decades has not been in vain. "In 1968 we were 18 lunatics who cried and cursed [the occupation - I.S.] but now the majority believes that there is a need to retreat from the occupied territories. Once I wrote a poem on how each shoulder helps to turn the wheels of history, and that it will take a very long time to make them turn. It may happen after many, many years, but at the end the revolution will come, I am sure of it".

Israel-Palestine, Bil'in, [MEDIA] article - THE OLD MAN AND THE BLOOD 13 Jun 2006

This article is in the context of a Friday Bil'in demonstration - one of around 60 we have had over the past 16 months. One of the many Israeli media reporters drawn to the Bil'in demos approached me about a month ago and, after sensing "good" material, asked for an intensive "interview" the following Friday during the demo if her editor accepted her proposal for an extended report. He did, and a week later we had a few hours together both before the demonstration itself and during the demonstration. One of the photographers from the daily joined us too and the resulting report was published in Israel's second-biggest daily two weeks later: a large photo from the demonstration on the front page of the magazine, followed by two pages of text and pictures from the demo.

What follows is an English translation of the text of the front page of the supplement Matrix of the daily Maariv, and the article itself:

GRANDPA STONE - What causes Ilan Shalif, Doctor of Psychology, to leave his grandchildren, climb the hills and spend his Fridays in the endless fight of the anarchists in Bil'in? Liat Shlezinger (28.5.06)

THE OLD MAN AND THE BLOOD
by Liat Shlezinger

Ilan Shalif is already 70 [really only 69 - I.S.] but it does not prevent him arriving every Friday at the demonstration against the separation fence in Bil'in and confronting the soldiers of the Israeli IDF.

"Armed" with only a yellow water bottle and matching yellow pouch, Ilan Shalif is on his way to another battle against the separation fence. Every Friday for the last year and a half, like a watch whose battery never runs out, he travels the road from Tel-Aviv to the Palestinian village of Bil'in. He has not missed even one demonstration... Well, he did miss one when he had an open-heart bypass operation [it was really two demos I missed then, and two more when I was banned from travelling to Bil'in after being released from police custody - I.S.]. But, he stresses that a week later he was back running with the kids [the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall - I.S.] and dodging the rubber-coated bullets as they whistled by.

In the village of Bil'in, where the most violent demonstrations of the left have been taking place recently, people are "crazy" about him. They call him "grandpa". While others of his age prefer to spend time with their grandchildren, Shalif at 70 prefers to spend his Fridays in the company of shock and teargas grenades.

My idea to join him in the demo was regarded at first as an intriguing experience, but surely not as massive physical effort. However, after a short march with the demonstrators, at quite a fast tempo, I looked around me and saw that Shalif was nowhere to be seen. Actually, he had long ago overtaken me and I just could not match his speed!

Each demonstration in Bil'in begins with a long march accompanied by the singing of the villagers and the demonstrators, who wave flags all the way up to the point of confrontation with the soldiers at the fence separating the village lands and the areas of Modi'in Illit [the settler town built on the lands of Bil'in and other neighbouring Palestinian villages - I.S.]. Shalif is marching fast under the hot sun and his position is at the head of the demonstration. When the confrontation between the demonstrators and the soldiers starts, he sits down on one of the big stones and looks around. From time to time he wipes the drops of sweat from his forehead and cleans his round glasses.

Right behind Ilan sits his son Gal, 42, guarding his father. He puts a firm hand on his shouder every time he wants to go nearer and join the demonstrators [in confronting the soldiers - I.S.]. "Father, sit down", he says in an authoritative voice. "Father, enough. Not this time. It's not for you any more. Father, it's not possible this way." He worries about his father. Every Friday, Gal serves as Ilan's chauffeur to Bil'in and back to Tel-Aviv. But more importantly, Gal defines himself as "his personal guard".

"I know my father... If I don't go with him, he will do something stupid and get injured. He is a person who is getting on in years, but often he behave like a child," he says, smiling. [The reporter does not know the details of my medical vulnerability after the heart bypass operation a few weeks before, as a result of which Gal agreed to accompany me to the demonstration in return for a say on cautious behaviour for both of us - I.S.] It is now the end of the second week of May, and in a few days' time Shalif, a father of two and Doctor of Psychology (Ph.D.) is due to undergo a complicated and quite dangerous operation on his abdomen in Germany. [From which I returned after three weeks and am still recuperating - I.S.] "Sure he is supposed to be resting now", says Gal in reply to my amazement, "but he is actually much more relaxed here! If he were at home, he would be so much more stressed, and anyway, no-one can tell him what to do". _________________________

"I think the soldiers treat me more gently because of my age, maybe they even pity me. Once, a few months ago, we were sitting on the road in protest. The soldiers came and carried all of us away, one by one, except for me. At one point I looked around and saw I was left alone on the road". [She fails to mention that at first a soldier had tried to grab me, but a Palestinian comrade held my hand to prevent my arrest and asked the soldier if he was not ashamed to grab an old man... Only then they left me alone there - I.S.] __________________________

The demonstration is getting more violent, even in comparision to those of the past few weeks. Three demonstrators are taken to hospital. Gal seems worried. "Soon they are going to open my father up for an operation", he says. "I don't intend to let someone open him up here, with batons".

Despite the difficulty of being a bodyguard to a rebellious 70-year-old, he looks at him with great pride. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to guard him. I don't have the courage to get hit for things I believe in, but he has. That's why I admire him".

WOW, RESPECT!

The village of Bil'in is located east of the settlement of Modi'in Illit. The demonstrations that have been taking place there every Friday for the last year and a half are part of the struggle of the village's Palestinian population against the separation fence which threatens to take about 60% of their agricultural lands. On these lands the villagers grow olive trees for their livelihood, and theres are exactly the lands where new residential neighbourhoods of the the settler town Modi'in Illit are due to be built. Ten days earlier, the citizens of Bil'in even petitioned the (Israeli) supreme court of justice in a bid to prevent the confiscation of the lands. The demonstrations at Bil'in also see the participation of left-wing Israeli activists, many from the extreme left like the "Anarchists Against The Wall", who arrive with organized transportation from the centre of Israel and demonstrate side by side with the Palestinians. In addition, there are also international activists from organisations like the

The demonstration advances along its route according to a ritual known in advance to both the demonstrators and the soldiers. First, the village people march up to the route of the separation fence where the soldiers and border police are waiting for them, equipped with the means to disperse demonstrations, such as tear gas, shock grenades, and live ammunition. On the Palestinian side, several of the youngsters are arming themselves with stones. More than a few Israeli demonstrators have been injured here.

"If the left-wing demonstrators were not here, the struggle would be seen in an entirely different light", say representatives of the village's popular committee. "Their presence, and that of the press, protect us from the violence of the soldiers who know that they are being monitored and therefore cannot do what they want. We will succeed in the end as we are stubborn, and every Friday, without exception, we will continue to come here with the Israelis and the international activists and demonstrate till our lands are returned".

Acram Hatib, a Palestinian activist and member of the village's popular committee, says that one of the most encouraging things in his eyes is to see Shalif every Friday. "Closure, curfew or shooting, I will always see Ilan and his gray hair here", he says while trying to restrain the stone-throwing kids.

"Wow, respect!", a young woman with short black and red hair exclaims loudly when she observes the presence of Ilan there. "This is a very dangerous place, and I hesitate every time I have to come. And to see him, in spite of his age and everything, I really have great respect".

Roni Barkan from the "Anarchists Against The Wall" movement sees in Shalif a personal role model. "I nearly never express myself in similar words, but in my eyes he really deserves admiration. What is so beautiful about Ilan is that he may be 70, but he has the soul of a child. He does what he feels is right and lives his life this way, despite the price he has to pay for it". [He still does not recognize that others too are motivated like him by the joy of rebeliousness... - I.S.]

Shalif himself, on the other hand, does not feel any different when he looks at the young crowd participating in these demonstrations.

L. S.: "You know that there are not many people at your age that bother to come to Bil'in in order to demonstrate?"

I. S: "Right, there are not many people of 70, but this is what I love doing and this is what I believe in. I cannot see myself doing anything else. When I was a child I was very hyperactive and I think that a little of that remained. I don't feel the need to sit around at home and rest. I may be a bit older, but inside I know I am still young. There are people my age who relax from other things and who busy themselves looking for something different or strange. I don't think I'm strange or exeptional. In addition, I think that because of my age the soldiers treat me relatively leniently. Maybe even pity me. They always hit the youngsters, and time after time I remain unharmed. [Not really perfect immunity, as the soldiers often indiscriminantly attack both old and young, Palestinians, Israelis or foreigners, demonstrators or press workers, males or females... I. S.] Once, a few months ago, we were sitting on the road in protest. The soldiers came and carried all of us away, one by one, except for me. At one

L. S.: "And what does your wife have to say about this?"

I. S: "We do not argue any more about it. She worries about me, but she knows that in the end I will do what I want. I simply do not believe that I can just sit at home, having spent my whole life as an activist. I don't really know what could change to make me want to stop".

ANARCHIST SINCE HE WAS 9

As for the identity crises that most of us go through every few months on average, Shalif's identity was already firmly established in his childhood. At the age of 9, he already knew he was an anarchist.

"We were in the classroom and all the boys decided to boycott the girls", he recounts the moment of truth. "I refused. I just did not agree at all as I was friends with the girls [I used to play with some in the small neighborhood I grew up in - I.S.] and did not believe in that stupid boycott. Later, [and more so after the boycott was over - I. S.] no-one befriended me for a while or invited me to parties. That was when it started, when I knew that I would always be different".

[Well, it was not my first act of social rebellion. When I was still at kindergarten, every Friday they used to collect small sums of money as a contribution to the Jewish Zionist fund for buying land. I still remember refusing to ask my parents for "pocket money" for that contribution. I also recollect some bits of memories from an earlier age, when I was about 2, in which I doubted the wisdom of my mother when she did or said things I did not regard as correct - I. S.]

Indeed, he was different. While the rest of his friends in Jerusalem looked forward to their period of military service, he evaded it, thanks to a broken bone in his hand, something he is proud of to this day. "I became disillusioned with the Zionism of Ben Gurion [Israel's first Prime Minister in 1948 - I. S.] faster than expected. It just wasn't for me", he says. In 1967 [the 6th June war of occupation - I. S.] he found himself in the extreme left-wing movement "Matspen", who among other things supported politically-motivated total conscientious objection. "I moved from place to place [living on kibbutzim - I.S.], and was even expelled with my wife Aliza from "Negba" kibbutz where we lived, because of my radical opinions. [Mostly because of the anti-Zionist political activities I refused to stop doing. They agreed to let my wife stay on as member with our two kids only if she divorced me... which she refused to do - I.S.] I always knew I was extremely radical and at long last I have found people that I can

Later he moved to Tel-Aviv and completed a Ph.D. in psychology. During his work he even developed the technique of "sensate focusing", that promotes the solving of problems using subconscious processes, mainly and not solely using verbal techniques.

Throughout the years his left-iwing activism has been well known both by people of other organizations and by the police, who detained him for interrogation a few times after violent demonstrations he took part in. He spends his time these days surfing the internet and translating for an international anarchist website he jointly manages. [I've been a member of the ainfos.ca collective and project since 1996 - I.S.] When Shalif speaks, he uses "you". He does not feel part of us, the Israelis, and he does not even want to feel as one, "thank you very much". He can't remember when he last voted in an election [to parliament - I.S.]. "I don't feel like just another street crazy who shouts about nothing", he says. "My feelings on Israel are like a time traveller who is stuck here without being able to carry on with his journey. I believe in a world that is non-hierarchical, in which there is freedom, equality and fraternity. A world without exploiters and exploited, where people make their own decisions. I do n

L. S.: Don't you feel a bit lonely sometimes? All of us search for a kind of belonging from time to time.

I. S: Certainly not. I do not need the false feeling of intimacy of a nation. It is all about fictional substitutes that are intended to give us a good feeling. I have my friends here in Bil'in, I have real friends, from "Matspen", with whom I meet twice a month. I do not need the State". In spite of the fact that most young Israelis have a better idea where Maya Buskila [an Israeli pop star - I.S.] lives than where the village of Bil'in is, Shalif feels that his struggle over the past decades has not been in vain. "In 1968 we were 18 lunatics who cried and cursed [the occupation - I.S.] but now the majority believes that there is a need to retreat from the occupied territories. Once I wrote a poem on how each shoulder helps to turn the wheels of history, and that it will take a very long time to make them turn. It may happen after many, many years, but at the end the revolution will come, I am sure of it".

Israel-Palestine, Bil'in, [MEDIA] article - THE OLD MAN AND THE BLOOD 13 Jun 2006

This article is in the context of a Friday Bil'in demonstration - one of around 60 we have had over the past 16 months. One of the many Israeli media reporters drawn to the Bil'in demos approached me about a month ago and, after sensing "good" material, asked for an intensive "interview" the following Friday during the demo if her editor accepted her proposal for an extended report. He did, and a week later we had a few hours together both before the demonstration itself and during the demonstration. One of the photographers from the daily joined us too and the resulting report was published in Israel's second-biggest daily two weeks later: a large photo from the demonstration on the front page of the magazine, followed by two pages of text and pictures from the demo.

What follows is an English translation of the text of the front page of the supplement Matrix of the daily Maariv, and the article itself:

GRANDPA STONE - What causes Ilan Shalif, Doctor of Psychology, to leave his grandchildren, climb the hills and spend his Fridays in the endless fight of the anarchists in Bil'in? Liat Shlezinger (28.5.06)

THE OLD MAN AND THE BLOOD
by Liat Shlezinger

Ilan Shalif is already 70 [really only 69 - I.S.] but it does not prevent him arriving every Friday at the demonstration against the separation fence in Bil'in and confronting the soldiers of the Israeli IDF.

"Armed" with only a yellow water bottle and matching yellow pouch, Ilan Shalif is on his way to another battle against the separation fence. Every Friday for the last year and a half, like a watch whose battery never runs out, he travels the road from Tel-Aviv to the Palestinian village of Bil'in. He has not missed even one demonstration... Well, he did miss one when he had an open-heart bypass operation [it was really two demos I missed then, and two more when I was banned from travelling to Bil'in after being released from police custody - I.S.]. But, he stresses that a week later he was back running with the kids [the Israeli Anarchists Against The Wall - I.S.] and dodging the rubber-coated bullets as they whistled by.

In the village of Bil'in, where the most violent demonstrations of the left have been taking place recently, people are "crazy" about him. They call him "grandpa". While others of his age prefer to spend time with their grandchildren, Shalif at 70 prefers to spend his Fridays in the company of shock and teargas grenades.

My idea to join him in the demo was regarded at first as an intriguing experience, but surely not as massive physical effort. However, after a short march with the demonstrators, at quite a fast tempo, I looked around me and saw that Shalif was nowhere to be seen. Actually, he had long ago overtaken me and I just could not match his speed!

Each demonstration in Bil'in begins with a long march accompanied by the singing of the villagers and the demonstrators, who wave flags all the way up to the point of confrontation with the soldiers at the fence separating the village lands and the areas of Modi'in Illit [the settler town built on the lands of Bil'in and other neighbouring Palestinian villages - I.S.]. Shalif is marching fast under the hot sun and his position is at the head of the demonstration. When the confrontation between the demonstrators and the soldiers starts, he sits down on one of the big stones and looks around. From time to time he wipes the drops of sweat from his forehead and cleans his round glasses.

Right behind Ilan sits his son Gal, 42, guarding his father. He puts a firm hand on his shouder every time he wants to go nearer and join the demonstrators [in confronting the soldiers - I.S.]. "Father, sit down", he says in an authoritative voice. "Father, enough. Not this time. It's not for you any more. Father, it's not possible this way." He worries about his father. Every Friday, Gal serves as Ilan's chauffeur to Bil'in and back to Tel-Aviv. But more importantly, Gal defines himself as "his personal guard".

"I know my father... If I don't go with him, he will do something stupid and get injured. He is a person who is getting on in years, but often he behave like a child," he says, smiling. [The reporter does not know the details of my medical vulnerability after the heart bypass operation a few weeks before, as a result of which Gal agreed to accompany me to the demonstration in return for a say on cautious behaviour for both of us - I.S.] It is now the end of the second week of May, and in a few days' time Shalif, a father of two and Doctor of Psychology (Ph.D.) is due to undergo a complicated and quite dangerous operation on his abdomen in Germany. [From which I returned after three weeks and am still recuperating - I.S.] "Sure he is supposed to be resting now", says Gal in reply to my amazement, "but he is actually much more relaxed here! If he were at home, he would be so much more stressed, and anyway, no-one can tell him what to do". _________________________

"I think the soldiers treat me more gently because of my age, maybe they even pity me. Once, a few months ago, we were sitting on the road in protest. The soldiers came and carried all of us away, one by one, except for me. At one point I looked around and saw I was left alone on the road". [She fails to mention that at first a soldier had tried to grab me, but a Palestinian comrade held my hand to prevent my arrest and asked the soldier if he was not ashamed to grab an old man... Only then they left me alone there - I.S.] __________________________

The demonstration is getting more violent, even in comparision to those of the past few weeks. Three demonstrators are taken to hospital. Gal seems worried. "Soon they are going to open my father up for an operation", he says. "I don't intend to let someone open him up here, with batons".

Despite the difficulty of being a bodyguard to a rebellious 70-year-old, he looks at him with great pride. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to guard him. I don't have the courage to get hit for things I believe in, but he has. That's why I admire him".

WOW, RESPECT!

The village of Bil'in is located east of the settlement of Modi'in Illit. The demonstrations that have been taking place there every Friday for the last year and a half are part of the struggle of the village's Palestinian population against the separation fence which threatens to take about 60% of their agricultural lands. On these lands the villagers grow olive trees for their livelihood, and theres are exactly the lands where new residential neighbourhoods of the the settler town Modi'in Illit are due to be built. Ten days earlier, the citizens of Bil'in even petitioned the (Israeli) supreme court of justice in a bid to prevent the confiscation of the lands. The demonstrations at Bil'in also see the participation of left-wing Israeli activists, many from the extreme left like the "Anarchists Against The Wall", who arrive with organized transportation from the centre of Israel and demonstrate side by side with the Palestinians. In addition, there are also international activists from organisations like the

The demonstration advances along its route according to a ritual known in advance to both the demonstrators and the soldiers. First, the village people march up to the route of the separation fence where the soldiers and border police are waiting for them, equipped with the means to disperse demonstrations, such as tear gas, shock grenades, and live ammunition. On the Palestinian side, several of the youngsters are arming themselves with stones. More than a few Israeli demonstrators have been injured here.

"If the left-wing demonstrators were not here, the struggle would be seen in an entirely different light", say representatives of the village's popular committee. "Their presence, and that of the press, protect us from the violence of the soldiers who know that they are being monitored and therefore cannot do what they want. We will succeed in the end as we are stubborn, and every Friday, without exception, we will continue to come here with the Israelis and the international activists and demonstrate till our lands are returned".

Acram Hatib, a Palestinian activist and member of the village's popular committee, says that one of the most encouraging things in his eyes is to see Shalif every Friday. "Closure, curfew or shooting, I will always see Ilan and his gray hair here", he says while trying to restrain the stone-throwing kids.

"Wow, respect!", a young woman with short black and red hair exclaims loudly when she observes the presence of Ilan there. "This is a very dangerous place, and I hesitate every time I have to come. And to see him, in spite of his age and everything, I really have great respect".

Roni Barkan from the "Anarchists Against The Wall" movement sees in Shalif a personal role model. "I nearly never express myself in similar words, but in my eyes he really deserves admiration. What is so beautiful about Ilan is that he may be 70, but he has the soul of a child. He does what he feels is right and lives his life this way, despite the price he has to pay for it". [He still does not recognize that others too are motivated like him by the joy of rebeliousness... - I.S.]

Shalif himself, on the other hand, does not feel any different when he looks at the young crowd participating in these demonstrations.

L. S.: "You know that there are not many people at your age that bother to come to Bil'in in order to demonstrate?"

I. S: "Right, there are not many people of 70, but this is what I love doing and this is what I believe in. I cannot see myself doing anything else. When I was a child I was very hyperactive and I think that a little of that remained. I don't feel the need to sit around at home and rest. I may be a bit older, but inside I know I am still young. There are people my age who relax from other things and who busy themselves looking for something different or strange. I don't think I'm strange or exeptional. In addition, I think that because of my age the soldiers treat me relatively leniently. Maybe even pity me. They always hit the youngsters, and time after time I remain unharmed. [Not really perfect immunity, as the soldiers often indiscriminantly attack both old and young, Palestinians, Israelis or foreigners, demonstrators or press workers, males or females... I. S.] Once, a few months ago, we were sitting on the road in protest. The soldiers came and carried all of us away, one by one, except for me. At one

L. S.: "And what does your wife have to say about this?"

I. S: "We do not argue any more about it. She worries about me, but she knows that in the end I will do what I want. I simply do not believe that I can just sit at home, having spent my whole life as an activist. I don't really know what could change to make me want to stop".

ANARCHIST SINCE HE WAS 9

As for the identity crises that most of us go through every few months on average, Shalif's identity was already firmly established in his childhood. At the age of 9, he already knew he was an anarchist.

"We were in the classroom and all the boys decided to boycott the girls", he recounts the moment of truth. "I refused. I just did not agree at all as I was friends with the girls [I used to play with some in the small neighborhood I grew up in - I.S.] and did not believe in that stupid boycott. Later, [and more so after the boycott was over - I. S.] no-one befriended me for a while or invited me to parties. That was when it started, when I knew that I would always be different".

[Well, it was not my first act of social rebellion. When I was still at kindergarten, every Friday they used to collect small sums of money as a contribution to the Jewish Zionist fund for buying land. I still remember refusing to ask my parents for "pocket money" for that contribution. I also recollect some bits of memories from an earlier age, when I was about 2, in which I doubted the wisdom of my mother when she did or said things I did not regard as correct - I. S.]

Indeed, he was different. While the rest of his friends in Jerusalem looked forward to their period of military service, he evaded it, thanks to a broken bone in his hand, something he is proud of to this day. "I became disillusioned with the Zionism of Ben Gurion [Israel's first Prime Minister in 1948 - I. S.] faster than expected. It just wasn't for me", he says. In 1967 [the 6th June war of occupation - I. S.] he found himself in the extreme left-wing movement "Matspen", who among other things supported politically-motivated total conscientious objection. "I moved from place to place [living on kibbutzim - I.S.], and was even expelled with my wife Aliza from "Negba" kibbutz where we lived, because of my radical opinions. [Mostly because of the anti-Zionist political activities I refused to stop doing. They agreed to let my wife stay on as member with our two kids only if she divorced me... which she refused to do - I.S.] I always knew I was extremely radical and at long last I have found people that I can

Later he moved to Tel-Aviv and completed a Ph.D. in psychology. During his work he even developed the technique of "sensate focusing", that promotes the solving of problems using subconscious processes, mainly and not solely using verbal techniques.

Throughout the years his left-iwing activism has been well known both by people of other organizations and by the police, who detained him for interrogation a few times after violent demonstrations he took part in. He spends his time these days surfing the internet and translating for an international anarchist website he jointly manages. [I've been a member of the ainfos.ca collective and project since 1996 - I.S.] When Shalif speaks, he uses "you". He does not feel part of us, the Israelis, and he does not even want to feel as one, "thank you very much". He can't remember when he last voted in an election [to parliament - I.S.]. "I don't feel like just another street crazy who shouts about nothing", he says. "My feelings on Israel are like a time traveller who is stuck here without being able to carry on with his journey. I believe in a world that is non-hierarchical, in which there is freedom, equality and fraternity. A world without exploiters and exploited, where people make their own decisions. I do n

L. S.: Don't you feel a bit lonely sometimes? All of us search for a kind of belonging from time to time.

I. S: Certainly not. I do not need the false feeling of intimacy of a nation. It is all about fictional substitutes that are intended to give us a good feeling. I have my friends here in Bil'in, I have real friends, from "Matspen", with whom I meet twice a month. I do not need the State". In spite of the fact that most young Israelis have a better idea where Maya Buskila [an Israeli pop star - I.S.] lives than where the village of Bil'in is, Shalif feels that his struggle over the past decades has not been in vain. "In 1968 we were 18 lunatics who cried and cursed [the occupation - I.S.] but now the majority believes that there is a need to retreat from the occupied territories. Once I wrote a poem on how each shoulder helps to turn the wheels of history, and that it will take a very long time to make them turn. It may happen after many, many years, but at the end the revolution will come, I am sure of it".

Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, The joint struggle continue - Friday, 9-6-06 demo

It was not a few weeks period without the traditional Friday demonstration of the village comity against the separation fence and occupation, together with the Israeli Anarchists against the wall.... It was just weeks with no proper reports - sorry --- Ilan S.
This Friday, as in last few weeks, the demo was not a big one. At noon, about 70 people started the march from the center of the village to the route of the fence - about 30 Israelis, few internationals, media workers and about 30 of the village activists. It was mostly quiet for a while. the village had a ceremony commemorating journalists who were killed and then handed out certificates of recognition to journalists who were injured in Bil'in.

"At some point (i believe it was after a stone or two were thrown) the army attacked us and we were dispersed. the usual scenario followed for about half an hour..... Later 3 jeeps drove into the village and 20 soldiers on foot came with them. Live fire was used." K.

Palestine-Israel, Bil'in and the joint struggle against the separation fence and occupation 07 Jun 2006

This Friday as every week for over a year the people of Bil'in will demonstrate against the construction of the wall and the theft of their lands. Although the physical wall at Bilin is still standing, the psychological wall which separates Israelis from Palestinians is steadily being torn down and replaced with joint struggle. The more we do this the stronger the movement to tear down the actual wall.
To join the demonstration from Tel Aviv call kobi by Thursday evening. If you are coming from Jerusalem, please call Yuval also by Thursday evening. Although the demonstrations are the main part of the struggle which the village is waging, it does not stop there. Much more help needed to support the village's fight. People are needed for everything from agricultural work to lobbying, driving, and sleeping over at the village. Everyone can do something. For more information about what is needed or to offer help please call kobi
===========================
* The a-infos-en editor and reporter on the joint struggle in Palestine-Israel is back....
Expect more posts in the near future. Ilan S.