To appreciate the breathtaking magnanimity expressed by this short slogan, one needs to remember its context. Imagine: a foreign army occupies your village for decades, reduces you to subjects without any rights, arrests you arbitrarily, savagely tortures the arrested, and, on top of it all, sends mighty bulldozers to erect a gigantic wall on your land, locking you up as in a cage. And your reaction? Peaceful demonstrations, shouting "No to the Wall" – but "Yes to Peace," to peace with your very oppressor and dispossessor.
Budrus, where this slogan was coined, is a small village of some 1,200 Palestinians in the northern part of West Bank, just across the Green Line. Few Israelis have ever heard of it; but some may remember neighboring Kibia, just a mile to the east, where, on Oct. 14, 1953, an Israeli army unit – led by a young officer called Ariel Sharon – ravaged the village (then still under Jordanian rule), destroying 40 houses and killing more than 50 people, an atrocity that caused international outrage and was strongly condemned by the UN Security Council.
Half a century after that massacre, PM Ariel Sharon sent his bulldozers to the same rural area. Many imagine the Wall as a kind of border separating Israel from the Palestinian territories. The facts are different: the Wall twists like a snake entirely inside the Palestinian territory, and – in combination with other physical barriers, most notoriously roads for-Israelis-only – it creates numerous small enclaves, in which Palestinian villages and towns – sometimes just a few hundred people, less than in any average prison – are locked up, unable to leave their unsafe haven except by mercy of an Israeli soldier at the gate, when equipped with proper permits issued (or rather not issued) by the Israeli army. The contiguous territory in-between the enclaves is designated for the Israeli settlements.
Living in a Cage
A'ed Murar from Budrus counts three levels on which the Wall is destructive to Palestinian life. First the immediate level: the Wall takes the agricultural lands and water wells of the village, either because it is constructed on them, or because they are left outside the Wall, inaccessible to the farmers. The section of the population that depends on agriculture thus loses most of its means of survival.
The second level is imprisonment: there are no clinics or hospitals, no higher schools or universities, nor any other social and economic infrastructure inside the enclave; moreover, about 80% of Budrus' population works outside the village: they, too, lose their means of survival as their access to the outside world is dependent on Israeli army caprices.
The third level is that of nation and vision: by locking up the Palestinians and taking the land in-between the enclaves, Israel robs them of their future, of a contiguous territory for the Palestinian State promised in President's Bush roadmap. The Palestinians are thus left with no way to earn their living, with no infrastructure to run their present life, and with no hope for the future.
A Short History of the Wall
Historian and Ta'ayush activist Gadi Algazi distinguishes several periods in the construction of the Wall. From April 2002-May 2003, the Wall was built with incredible speed – 300-500 bulldozers working simultaneously – hardly attracting any public attention at all, neither in Israel nor abroad, thus enabling the Israeli government to quietly and irreversibly change the geography of the land for decades. The Israeli public had the illusion that the Wall was being built along the Green Line – a good reason for naïve peaceniks to support it – and that at worst it was perhaps conflicting with property rights of some Palestinian landowners along its route. Even the Palestinians could hardly grasp the full impact of the project, both because of its indeed incredible dimensions, and because Israel refused to publish any maps at the time, so that information was scarce in a West Bank hardly recovering from the massive Israeli aggression of "Operation Defensive Shield." Some resistance to the Wall was led by small groups of Israelis, international activists, and Palestinians, like in the Mas'ha camp.
May 2003 signaled a change: since then, the Wall has become the focus of media attention, and turned into a political issue in Israel and abroad. Demonstrations, many of them by Israelis and international activists, and their violent dispersion by the army increased public awareness and reduced the pace of construction. The clear decision of the International Court of Justice against the Wall as well as the critical position taken by the Israeli Supreme Court regarding its route mark a peak in the public struggle against the Wall; consequently, in the summer of 2004, the construction was virtually stopped, and the Israeli establishment started looking for new tactics.
It is in this period, in places like Budrus, that people like Mr. Murar – who had participated in the first Intifada and had been jailed and brutally tortured by Israel – reached the conclusions that resistance to the Wall should be led and organized first of all by Palestinians themselves; that waiting quietly for courts and verdicts was not enough; and, above all, that nonviolent demonstrations were the best weapon of the weaker side. He believes this for moral reasons, but also because nothing could harm the Palestinian interest more than violence, immediately exploited by Israel to distract public attention from the Palestinian plight and to accelerate the construction project behind the thick screen of "fighting off terrorism." A'ed Murar calls it the Third Intifada: the Intifada against the Wall.
Since the Palestinian Authority offered no real strategy or help in the villagers' struggle, they had only themselves to rely on – aided by Israeli and international supporters, like Ta'ayush, International Solidarity Movement, or Anarchists against the Wall. The Third Intifada is a popular uprising: in villages like Budrus, party affiliation and other differences are put aside, and the whole village marches together time after time to demonstrate against the Israeli bulldozers. Footage taken in several such demonstration shows the utter embarrassment of the Israeli soldiers, armed to the teeth against unarmed men, women, and children, who can stand for hours just a few meters away from them singing and shouting without any violence at all. If at last a single stone is thrown, the soldiers seem to be truly relieved: they immediately employ their heavy truncheons, shoot tear-gas and rubber-covered bullets at the crowd, and make violent arrests. But the resistance is not in vain: when a whole village stands together day after day, even the cruelest army must have second thoughts. So far, the demonstrations in Budrus managed to save the biggest plantation of the village from Israel's bulldozers.
Crucial Stage
The construction of the Wall, says Algazi, seems to have reached a crucial period. Following the verdicts from The Hague and Jerusalem, the Israeli establishment made a pause and took some time to reorganize and elaborate a new route and new strategies; these are now ready, and the construction of the Wall is about to resume in full speed. Signals and threats conveyed to inhabitants in Budrus make it clear that Israel is not going to give up easily on their land and water. The number of soldiers sent to demonstrations in villages like Budrus has been reduced, to increase the soldiers' insecurity and ease their finger on the trigger, and villagers are warned that if they do not capitulate this time, live ammunition may be used.
This nonviolent popular struggle is hardly reported in mainstream press. One needs to refer to alternative media to read about it. The idea of nonviolent Palestinian resistance sharply contradicts the stereotype of Palestinians as a "nation of suicide-bombers"; reporting peaceful Palestinian demonstrations is highly undesirable in official Israel's eyes. For all those reasons, this is a struggle very worthy of both public interest and support: The future of Israel/Palestine will be decided here, on the ground, rather than in press conferences in Washington or coalition intrigues in Jerusalem.
============================
* Ed. Note: It is not ignorance - it is just selectivity of presenting the facts...
Every one, including main Media acknowledge the contribution of the Anarchists Against The Wall to the third intifada.
Many are aware that the March-April 2003 Masha camp of Israeli (anachists mainly) international volunteers, and nocal villagers was the catalist that ignitted it.
Few are aware that the origin of the idea of the camp came from a workshop in the PGE European conference in Leiden (Holand) summer 2002. In the workshop participated a significant contingent of the Israeli anarchist scene, Israeli Palestinians, and other PGA people interested in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle against the occupation.
The confrontational mode of the Anarchists Against The Wall who were not satisfied with the less beligerant mode of the other Israeli activists draw the attention of the mainstream media. It also supplied to the Palestinian villagers a kind of shield agains the full use of murderous live ammunition by the Israeli army in the suppression of the mass demonstrations.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Thursday, December 9, 2004
Palestine-Israel, Budrus, Ahmed Awwad is Free 9/12/04
Just freed from administrative detention Ahmed Awad who is one of the prominent activists in the nonviolent struggle against the Apartheid Wall/fence (intended in the name of "security" to annex Palestinian areas to Israel). The lame effort of the Israeli security agencies to present him as serious terrorist failed - mainly because of wide scale struggle of israli activists who know him from joint actions. See: (en) Palestine-Israel, Budrus, Lessons in popular resistance or We are all Ahmed Awwad by kobi snitz* http://www.ainfos.ca/04/dec/ainfos00217.html (en) Palestine-Israel, Budrus action report 07.12.04 - by kerem: Our right to protest - the struggle against the fence continues http://www.ainfos.ca/04/dec/ainfos00122.html
To see the call to action by the ism; https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/1341/index.php or the story by amira hass. Also, the story of the demonstration for Awad and another story about the demonstration 21:00 Indymedai has just learned that Ahmed awad is out of prison and on his way home. more details tomorrow.
===============================
* The Anarchists Against The Wall initiative is a prominent factor in the joint Israeli-Palestinian struggles along the rote of the fence.
To see the call to action by the ism; https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/1341/index.php or the story by amira hass. Also, the story of the demonstration for Awad and another story about the demonstration 21:00 Indymedai has just learned that Ahmed awad is out of prison and on his way home. more details tomorrow.
===============================
* The Anarchists Against The Wall initiative is a prominent factor in the joint Israeli-Palestinian struggles along the rote of the fence.
Wednesday, December 8, 2004
Palestine-Israel, Budrus action report 07.12.04 - by kerem: Our right to protest - the struggle against the fence continues 08/12/04
The protest's main aim was to demand our right to protest. The 2 main messages that we, the israelis, wanted to put across in this protest was one: to protest against the closed military zone that is presented to us every time we protest. This consequently makes the israelis hide from the soldiers in the fear of being arrested. The second message was to go against the political persecutions. 2 israeli activists are being persecuted for entering a closed military zone in a protest in Budrus, a few weeks ago. Ahmed Awwad, a 43-year-old high-school teacher and father of six, was arrested on October 21 in Budrus. He is in administative arrest up to this date, for no reason that is known to him or his lawyers.
We arrived at the village at different times, from 9am, to about 11 am. We were about 60 israelis and 40 internationals. We, the israelis divided ourselves into affinity groups, of between 5-12 people in a group, who's job was to look out for eachother during the protest. We all put signs on ourselves saying "I am Ahmed Awwad" in a few languages.
The protest began at 1 pm. We walked down to the land with about 100 palestinians, and arrived about 30 meters from the bulldozers, where the soldiers were. The soldiers immediately began with pushing and shoving us, and threw tear gas and shock grenades. The soldiers showed us a closed military zone order. They then decided that they would go back, and so should we, but the israelis decided not to retreat as we planned.
The soldiers retreated and tried to stop us from advancing but we held hands and managed to get to the bulldozers. When we got there I saw one israeli who was wounded in the head. I said to the soldier that she needs to get he medical treatment and he replied that it's her problem that she's here and got hurt.
The were many stunt grenades at that point, and a lot of different conforntations with the soldiers near the bulldozers. There was no attempt to stop them from working. At that time I saw the village people retreating, and the soldiers began shooting rubber bullets at them.
We saw a roller tractor coming toward us and a few people sat down in front of it. It wasn't about to stop until the soldiers made him stop, the driver swore at us, and more of us joined to sit there. I got pulled backwards very strongly by a soldier and screamed very loud, and came back to sit infront of the bulldozer when he let go.
The bulldozer finally turned around. At that point I saw someone from my group being arrested by about 7 soldiers. I found the rest of the group and we walked with him, when he was taken away to where more israelis and soldier were. We sat down and were told that we're allunder arrest. More israelis were coming on their free will to where we were and joined us. We were 34 israelis in all.
We waited for about 2 hours. We wouldn't identify ourselves, and had no I.Ds.
all of us said : "we're all Ahmed Awwad".
The blue police came as well. And all that while we heard shooting inside the village. (we were later told that the soldiers went into the village, took over the school and 3 private houses and were shooting at people on the street. One boy was injured.)
The police brought a Safari vehicle to take us. Which is only enough for 10 people, they told us not to worry, that they have enough cars to take all of us. One of the police officers recognized one of the protesters and told him he wants to take him in his jeep. We then thought that they recognize a few faces and maybe they'll only take them and leave the rest of us. We put 10 "not wanted people" on the safari and they drove off. We received a call a few minutes later that the Safari dropped them off somewhere and told them they weren't arrested. The intentions of the police were made clear by themselves a few minutes after that. They only wanted specifically 3 men and one woman and pointed them out. They gave us a few minutes to organise. We said we wouldn't let them take the targeted ones without a fight.
With about 20 soldiers around us, and the targeted sitting surrounded by all of us, the last struggle began. It took about 5 minutes for them to get the 4.
The soldiers and police went, and we walked up to the village where the rest waited for us. On the way up the village's kids were still throwing stones at the soldiers on the hill.
The 4 were released later that evening, and were paid bail for on the condition that they don't enter Budrus for 7 days.
======================
See also
(en) Israel-Palestine, Trial of two members of Anarchists against the wall Thursday the 9th of December 20004 at 12:30 http://www.ainfos.ca/04/dec/ainfos00078.html
(en) Palestine-Israel, Budrus, Media, Anti-fence protest detained - another take on today's demo http://www.ainfos.ca/04/dec/ainfos00114.html
We arrived at the village at different times, from 9am, to about 11 am. We were about 60 israelis and 40 internationals. We, the israelis divided ourselves into affinity groups, of between 5-12 people in a group, who's job was to look out for eachother during the protest. We all put signs on ourselves saying "I am Ahmed Awwad" in a few languages.
The protest began at 1 pm. We walked down to the land with about 100 palestinians, and arrived about 30 meters from the bulldozers, where the soldiers were. The soldiers immediately began with pushing and shoving us, and threw tear gas and shock grenades. The soldiers showed us a closed military zone order. They then decided that they would go back, and so should we, but the israelis decided not to retreat as we planned.
The soldiers retreated and tried to stop us from advancing but we held hands and managed to get to the bulldozers. When we got there I saw one israeli who was wounded in the head. I said to the soldier that she needs to get he medical treatment and he replied that it's her problem that she's here and got hurt.
The were many stunt grenades at that point, and a lot of different conforntations with the soldiers near the bulldozers. There was no attempt to stop them from working. At that time I saw the village people retreating, and the soldiers began shooting rubber bullets at them.
We saw a roller tractor coming toward us and a few people sat down in front of it. It wasn't about to stop until the soldiers made him stop, the driver swore at us, and more of us joined to sit there. I got pulled backwards very strongly by a soldier and screamed very loud, and came back to sit infront of the bulldozer when he let go.
The bulldozer finally turned around. At that point I saw someone from my group being arrested by about 7 soldiers. I found the rest of the group and we walked with him, when he was taken away to where more israelis and soldier were. We sat down and were told that we're allunder arrest. More israelis were coming on their free will to where we were and joined us. We were 34 israelis in all.
We waited for about 2 hours. We wouldn't identify ourselves, and had no I.Ds.
all of us said : "we're all Ahmed Awwad".
The blue police came as well. And all that while we heard shooting inside the village. (we were later told that the soldiers went into the village, took over the school and 3 private houses and were shooting at people on the street. One boy was injured.)
The police brought a Safari vehicle to take us. Which is only enough for 10 people, they told us not to worry, that they have enough cars to take all of us. One of the police officers recognized one of the protesters and told him he wants to take him in his jeep. We then thought that they recognize a few faces and maybe they'll only take them and leave the rest of us. We put 10 "not wanted people" on the safari and they drove off. We received a call a few minutes later that the Safari dropped them off somewhere and told them they weren't arrested. The intentions of the police were made clear by themselves a few minutes after that. They only wanted specifically 3 men and one woman and pointed them out. They gave us a few minutes to organise. We said we wouldn't let them take the targeted ones without a fight.
With about 20 soldiers around us, and the targeted sitting surrounded by all of us, the last struggle began. It took about 5 minutes for them to get the 4.
The soldiers and police went, and we walked up to the village where the rest waited for us. On the way up the village's kids were still throwing stones at the soldiers on the hill.
The 4 were released later that evening, and were paid bail for on the condition that they don't enter Budrus for 7 days.
======================
See also
(en) Israel-Palestine, Trial of two members of Anarchists against the wall Thursday the 9th of December 20004 at 12:30 http://www.ainfos.ca/04/dec/ainfos00078.html
(en) Palestine-Israel, Budrus, Media, Anti-fence protest detained - another take on today's demo http://www.ainfos.ca/04/dec/ainfos00114.html
Tuesday, December 7, 2004
Palestine-Israel, Budrus, Media, Anti-fence protest detained - another take on today's demo 07/12/04
Border Police units on Tuesday detained 41 activists at an anti-security fence protest in Budrus, west of Ramallah on the West Bank. The protesters were held for violating the closed military zone orders for the area. Military sources confirmed that the members of two Israeli left-wing organizations - 'Anarchists Against the Wall' and 'Taayush' - had obtained a permission for the demonstration*.
The IDF had agreed for the event to take place exclusively inside of Budrus on the condition that the demonstrators did not approach the fence. When activists began to approach the barrier, the army declared the area a closed military zone.
Yonatan Pollak, a member of Anarchist against the Wall told The Jerusalem Post that the activists insisted on staying within the closed military zone in order to defend their rights to freedom of expression.
Of the 150 activists involved, 41 were detained** by Border Police Units who alerted Judea and Samaria police to the situation. When police arrived on the scene they immediately released the activists that cooperated with their request to vacate the area. Four Israelis resisted orders and were subsequently arrested on charges of attacking police officers and a security fence construction worker.
=================================
* The anarchists do not ask permission for demonstrations.
** The arrested were only of the Israelis as by their presence they force the army to refrain from too harsh repression of the palestinians.
The IDF had agreed for the event to take place exclusively inside of Budrus on the condition that the demonstrators did not approach the fence. When activists began to approach the barrier, the army declared the area a closed military zone.
Yonatan Pollak, a member of Anarchist against the Wall told The Jerusalem Post that the activists insisted on staying within the closed military zone in order to defend their rights to freedom of expression.
Of the 150 activists involved, 41 were detained** by Border Police Units who alerted Judea and Samaria police to the situation. When police arrived on the scene they immediately released the activists that cooperated with their request to vacate the area. Four Israelis resisted orders and were subsequently arrested on charges of attacking police officers and a security fence construction worker.
=================================
* The anarchists do not ask permission for demonstrations.
** The arrested were only of the Israelis as by their presence they force the army to refrain from too harsh repression of the palestinians.
Palestine-Israel, Budrus, Media, 35 activists arrested 07/12/04
Israeli army and gendarmes arrested 35 israeli activists participating in peaceful [nonviolent] demonstration against the separation fence [the Apartheid Wall] - so reported public Radio station and on line daily. The demonstration was against the wall and in protest of the harsh repression of the Budrus people involved in the nonviolent demonstration against the separation fence - see (en) Israel-Palestine, A Village Stands for their Rights: Civil Disobedience in Budrus http://www.ainfos.ca/04/dec/ainfos00026.html The stated reason for arrest the authority gave was: "entrance to area disregarding the declaration by authorities that it is closed military zone." Two of the arrested are to appear Thursday in Jerusalem courthouse for the same "offense" at previous demo.
The arrested refused to reveal their names and when asked replied: "All of us are Ahmad Awad - the name of local Budrus activist in the nonviolent struggle against the Apartheid Wall, who was administratively arrested a month ago for that reason alone.
In the demonstration that started at 13:00 participated about 100 israelis of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and of other left organizations, 30 international volunteers and about local villagers. They approached the construction site of the fence near Budrus and stand in a vigil near the working Bulldozers. One of the activists was hit in her head by a tear gas grenade. When the report was distributed by Roiters, the army was assaulting the people and the village with tear gas grenades (including shooting an ambulance).
The arrested refused to reveal their names and when asked replied: "All of us are Ahmad Awad - the name of local Budrus activist in the nonviolent struggle against the Apartheid Wall, who was administratively arrested a month ago for that reason alone.
In the demonstration that started at 13:00 participated about 100 israelis of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative and of other left organizations, 30 international volunteers and about local villagers. They approached the construction site of the fence near Budrus and stand in a vigil near the working Bulldozers. One of the activists was hit in her head by a tear gas grenade. When the report was distributed by Roiters, the army was assaulting the people and the village with tear gas grenades (including shooting an ambulance).
Sunday, December 5, 2004
Israel/Tel Aviv, Media, The yearly conference of the local business elite, the counter "conference, and the anarchists counter-counter action 05/12/04
Background: In parallel to the local "Dabos" conference of the economic elite the reformist left held its counter conference (including - as speaker the the general secretary of the general trade union - Amir Perets) whose tinny parliament party joined lately the Labor party - that carried when in power the same neo-liberal policy as the Licud party now in power. [Ed.]
Internet electronic media headlined an article on the counter conference" "Anarchists disconnected the loudspeaker when Perets gave his speech". ....During Perets speech in the "Exploited conference", activists of "Anarchists for ending the authoritarian economy" cut the lines of the loudspeakers an shouted: "No to the Licud [the ruling party], no to the Labor [working hard on joining the government] dismantle the state". So said a person of that organization to the Nana news. According to the report, the loudspeakers were cut twice during the speech, but after their reconnection Perets could finish his speech.
Internet electronic media headlined an article on the counter conference" "Anarchists disconnected the loudspeaker when Perets gave his speech". ....During Perets speech in the "Exploited conference", activists of "Anarchists for ending the authoritarian economy" cut the lines of the loudspeakers an shouted: "No to the Licud [the ruling party], no to the Labor [working hard on joining the government] dismantle the state". So said a person of that organization to the Nana news. According to the report, the loudspeakers were cut twice during the speech, but after their reconnection Perets could finish his speech.
Israel-Palestine, Trial of two members of Anarchists against the wall Thursday the 9th of December 20004 at 12:30 05/12/04
A trial against two anti-wall activists that were arrested in Budrus at Jerusalem Magistrate Court (6 Hishin st.), judge Shulamit Dotan's court room On Thursday 9.12 the trial of two members of Anarchists against the wall will begin at the magistrate court in Jerusalem. The two, Kobi Snitz and Yonatan Pollak were arrested on 21.9.04 at a demonstration against the wall at the Palestinian village of Budrus. They are accused of being in a closed military zone and causing a disturbance. Adv. Gaby Laski who represents the two, will challenge the legitimacy of closed military zones and the court's jurisdiction. The right to protest extends to the occupied territories as well and closed military zones are not protest-prevention zones.
The real offence the defendants are accused of is participation in non-violent resistance to the wall and the occupation. The aggravating circumstance are the fact that this resistance has been successful and the defendants and their comrades collaborate with a popular movement which acts democratically and non violently.
The fact that these activists are put on trial while the soldiers who shot at them with live ammunition from close range and the officers who ordered the shooting are allowed to continue to shoot at demonstrators illustrates the corrupt repressive policies of "the only democracy in the middle east".
This trial follows administrative detention of Palestinian anti wall activists, who do not even get the benefit of a trial, and the violent repression of the protests. This is a clear attempt at silencing legitimate protest. Those who repress non-violent popular resistance are guilty of fueling the violence.
It was said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. Not the policy of repression, the violence or the legal persecution will deter us from the struggle against occupation and repression and for justice, equality and liberty for all living beingWe will be grateful to anyone who could come and show support at court.
The real offence the defendants are accused of is participation in non-violent resistance to the wall and the occupation. The aggravating circumstance are the fact that this resistance has been successful and the defendants and their comrades collaborate with a popular movement which acts democratically and non violently.
The fact that these activists are put on trial while the soldiers who shot at them with live ammunition from close range and the officers who ordered the shooting are allowed to continue to shoot at demonstrators illustrates the corrupt repressive policies of "the only democracy in the middle east".
This trial follows administrative detention of Palestinian anti wall activists, who do not even get the benefit of a trial, and the violent repression of the protests. This is a clear attempt at silencing legitimate protest. Those who repress non-violent popular resistance are guilty of fueling the violence.
It was said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. Not the policy of repression, the violence or the legal persecution will deter us from the struggle against occupation and repression and for justice, equality and liberty for all living beingWe will be grateful to anyone who could come and show support at court.
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