In addition to the Friday demonstrations against the separation fence in Bil'in, Ni'ilin and Um Salmuna we were involved a lot in the South. Due to the settler colonialists assaults after the state destruction of one illegal space near Hebron and the evacuation of the occupied house on the fringe of Hebron, we were invited to join the threatened Palestinians. For that we were invited to the Bethlehem region on Saturday and to Funduq on the north on Sunday. Tuesday, we participated in a demo at Deir Al Sharaf, against a settlers garbage dump in the old quarry. On Saturday evening, we and our drumming circle participated in a demo of a wide coalition in front of the war ministry compound in Tel Aviv.
BIL'IN
Excerpt from report of Iyad Burnat - Head of the Popular Committee in Bil'in:
"The Friday demonstration in Bilin, against the Israeli Apartheid Wall today, was in solidarity with the people of Hebron who have endured the violent attacks of Israeli settlers in revenge for their removal from a Palestinian owned house in the old city earlier in the week.
Over 100 protesters including internationals, Israelis, and Palestinians marched from Bilin village after Friday prayers. Chanting “No to the settlers in Hebron – No to the wall” the demonstration got within twenty meters of the wall when the Israelis occupation soldiers started to fire rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd."
The Israeli authorities are still trying to put end to the Bil'in Friday demonstrations. Following Shai latest report:
"tonight around 21:30, few jeeps of the army entered the village and started to provoke clashes. they arrested 3 shabab youngsters and took them beyond the fence. many people tried to prevent it and followed them up to the fence. the soldiers used tear gas, sound grenades and maybe even live bullets. the situation near the fence became very dangerous and about 22:30 an army officer came and the 3 were released.
I can also testify that about a week ago, when I was visiting the village, the same thing happened. around 19:00, 3 or 4 army jeeps entered the village without any reason and started to shoot tear gas and rubber bullets. it took them something like half an hour. a child about 12 was also arrested and later released. I was calling the news channels both today and last week, but this things are not "news" enough.
in these days when the settlers are being accused of doing "pogroms" against the Palestinians, we must not forget that the army is just the same and maybe even worst."
OUR REFUSNICS
Mia Tamarin was sentenced on Tuesday, 2 Dec., to 14 more days in military prison. However, as was the case in her previous term, the military authorities seem to prefer not to send her actually to prison (possibly due to legal pressure in her case). She is again confined to base instead (sentence due to expire on 15 Dec.)
Tamar Katz and Raz Bar-David Varon have been sent to a another prison term yesterday (1 Dec.). Both have been sentenced to 21 days in prison and are due to be released on 19 Dec. Tamar Katz refused to wear a uniform and is now held in the Isolation Ward of the military prison, where conditions hare harsh, and various forms of mistreatment have been documented in the past.
Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send your letters of support and encouragement to the imprisoned objectors via e-mail to shministim@gmail. com, and they will be printed out and delivered to them during visits.
Saar is out of jail in a process that may result in her exempt from the compulsory army service.
Yuval was released for the week end at the end of his first jail verdict. Will probably will be tried again for another term in jail at the beginning of the new week.
BETHLEHEM
This Saturday there will be an action with farmers to get to their lands and work it in areas where they have not been able to get to for a while. The organizers are not expecting too much trouble but still the presence of Israelis is important to support the farmers. The community in the area is just getting introduced to the idea of working with Israelis and the first activities are important to encourage the cooperation even if they are modest.
FUNDUQ
"I saw in the settler paper "BeSheva" that the settlers intend to
arrive on Sunday December 7 at 1.00 pm at the entrance to Funduq Village
to hold a "memorial" for the settler who was killed there last year,
and afterwards they are going to march by foot all the way to Kdumim.
Considering what they have done in Funduq last year and what they
are doing in Hebron and elsewhere, there is a reason to worry."
A number of international and Israeli groups will be heading to Al Funduq on Sunday to have a presence in the village while this memorial takes place.
Due to the fact that last year Qedumim settlers demonstrated in Funduq during the day, but then came back and rioted in the night, stoning cars and houses, some groups have decided to stay in the village on Sunday night - at the request of villagers.
LATEST NEWS FROM THE AWARD
Today, our "permanent delegate" in Germany and a special delegate represented us in the award to the Bil'in popular comity and the Anarchists Against the Wall initiative. Following is the content of the speech of our comrade Adi:
"Hello,
I would like to be honest – I am standing here, over on this podium, though as an anarchist this situation raises very mixed feelings in me, and my comrades/partners.
We are reluctant to receive prizes for political activism. We would prefer not to be singled out for glory, and receive gratitude for doing what is our duty. However, we are aware of our position not only as anarchists, but also as Israelis - beneficiaries of our country's unjust deeds toward Palestinians.
Despite our reservations, we are very thankful for the support you have vested in the struggle against Israeli apartheid.
Here on this podium, just as in the olive groves of the West Bank, our primary moral duty is not to maintain ideological purity, but rather to stand with Palestinians in their resistance to oppression.
We recognize the importance of garnering international support for the ongoing struggle, and the major contribution of this award to this end. We feel that standing here, in the current situation, is a direct continuation of the blocking of bulldozers, standing side by side with the stone throwers, or running away from teargas along with elderly protesters.
Here, as in the olive groves, I would like to stress that we are not equal partners, but rather occupiers who join the occupied in THEIR struggle. We are aware of the fact that for many, the participation of Israelis in a Palestinian struggle serves as a stamp of approval, but in our eyes, this partnership is not about granting legitimacy to the Palestinian struggle - it is legitimate with or without us - but rather an opportunity for us to cross, in action rather than words, the barriers of national allegiance.
For the past four years, and through over 200 demonstrations, Bil'in has grown to become a symbol and focal point for the movement against Israel's wall – a movement that for the past six years **has** mobilized thousands of people in grassroots popular resistance, and forged an unprecedented on-the-ground, joint Paelestinian-Israeli struggle.
The fact that the movement is a civilian and unarmed one, only serves to accentuate the army’s excessive and unjust violence.
Thousands have been injured, hundreds jailed and imprisoned for lengthy periods and 15 have been killed, 10 of them minors.
We would like to dedicate this medal to the two most recent casualties of the struggle, ten year old Ahmad Mousa and seventeen year old Youssef Amirah, who were murdered by border policemen in the village of Ni'ilin four months ago, as part of the attempt to militarily suppress the wall-related insurrection in the village.
Thank you again for supporting the joint popular struggle,
Anarchists Against the Wall"
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