This Friday we kept the tradition of joint struggle against the separation fence and occupation demonstration in spite of the Ramadan fasting and hot whether. About 50 people - Palestinians, internationals and a dozen Israelis from the anarchist against the wall initiative. We marched at noon from the center of the village to the gate to the route of the separation fence - chanting the usual rimes. When we arrived at the blocked gate to the route we found that the state forces kept a narrow opening to enable - or better to lure us into a controlled physical confrontation. Few people tried to pass through the opening and two of them were roughly detained - to be released later. After the usual (mostly verbal) confrontation with the state force gendarmes, just before ending the demonstration, the unruly youngsters started to throw stones at the gate keepers, which was surely in order to provoke them to harass the participants of the nonviolent demonstrators.
(This is one of the expressions of the prolonged conflict in the village between the supporters of the nonviolent joint struggle with the Israelis and the opponents find is the stone throwing on the Israeli state forces confronting the Friday nonviolent demonstrators. This usually give the state forces an excuse to attack the nonviolent demonstrators. It was a big surprise to day that they did not do so - they just restricting themselves to the confrontation with the stone throwers.
To evade the state force harassment we left the area near the gate and started to walk back to the village along the fence (instead of the road which was turned a war zone between the state force shooting rubber coated bullets and tear gas grenades and the stones throwing youngsters). However, this Friday the state forces tried again to force us to pass through the war zone by blocking our way with tear gas canisters... So we returned to the gate but this time we went back to the village the other way through the near by olive grove and evaded both the state force and the stone throwers.
See also: http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_eileen_f_061002_anarchist_or_prophet.htm
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Saturday, September 2, 2006
Palestuine-Israel, the joint struggle against the occupation and the separation fence continue. 02 Sep 2006
This week the joint struggle of the Bil'in popular comity and the Anarchists Against The Wall was not restricted to the Friday Demonstration. At the beginning of the week a meeting of the main activists of both Bil'in and the AATW discussed the special conditions of the joint struggle following the Lebanon war and the efforts of some reactionaries of the village to put end to it. It continued in the middle of the week when a joint vigil was presenting the joint struggle in Bil'in in Ramalla Mukat'ah when UN secretary Cofi Anan was visiting there. The Israeli secret services decided to teach the AATW activists a lesson and intimidate them. However, due to splitting before returning home, only two underage activists were caught and were subjected to 24 hours of interrogations before releasing without conditions.
The joint struggle reached its peak Friday - as usual, with the joint struggle against the separation fence and occupation. Like the previous Fridays the demo started at noon with a march from the center of the village on the road toward route of the separation fence. Like the previous Fridays of September, the Israeli state forces objected to the demonstration. When the march of Palestinians, internationals, and Israeli left the built are of the village - on the road to the route of the fence, they met the water cannon that started to disperse them. Whoever, after few minutes, the state forces changed to the usual routine of shooting and grenades - probably for testing the new bean gag riffles Israel bought lately from US. Few of the demonstrators were injured. One of them was observed as limping at the Saturday evening screening of the documentary about the Bil'in struggle at the Tel Aviv cinematec.
The joint struggle reached its peak Friday - as usual, with the joint struggle against the separation fence and occupation. Like the previous Fridays the demo started at noon with a march from the center of the village on the road toward route of the separation fence. Like the previous Fridays of September, the Israeli state forces objected to the demonstration. When the march of Palestinians, internationals, and Israeli left the built are of the village - on the road to the route of the fence, they met the water cannon that started to disperse them. Whoever, after few minutes, the state forces changed to the usual routine of shooting and grenades - probably for testing the new bean gag riffles Israel bought lately from US. Few of the demonstrators were injured. One of them was observed as limping at the Saturday evening screening of the documentary about the Bil'in struggle at the Tel Aviv cinematec.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Israel, new additions to the antiauthoritarian anticapitalist anti Zionist Matzpen site 30 Aug 2006
Though most of the texts on the website are still in Hebrew only, the http://www.matzpen.org/index.asp?p=other is in English and include important documents of matspen translated into English. Friends, You may wish to check the new additions to the Matzpen site (http://www.matzpen.org/index.asp), especially the adaptation of the contents of the entire book "The Other Israel" (in English) http://www.matzpen.org/index.asp?p=other Any comments, including technical problems encountered (even typos that may well be found), will be thankfully received. All the best,
E.
PS
The Anarchists Against The Wall initiative send to Europe a delegation for propaganda and fund rising - at the end of September.
If you can help see contact e-mail at http://awalls.org
I.
E.
PS
The Anarchists Against The Wall initiative send to Europe a delegation for propaganda and fund rising - at the end of September.
If you can help see contact e-mail at http://awalls.org
I.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Palestine-Israel, The state forces still forbide, but the joint struggle in Bil'in continue. 25 Aug 2006
This Friday too the Israeli state forces refused to let us do the Friday joint demonstration against the occupation and the separation fence. However, it seems the higher authorities told something to the new regiment commander responsible to the region Bil'in is part of. We started as usual from the village center at noon. About hundred people. Palestinians from Bil'in and from out of it - including high level persons of the national leadership, Internationals, and Israelis of the anarchists against the wall initiative and "guests", and about 5 teams of local and international media. We marched with 20 of us carrying the placards about the shooting that injured Limor at the demo in Bil'in two weeks ago (hundreds of which were hanged on Tel Aviv walls Wednesday night). Chanting as usual we exited the built are of the village.
When we approached the route of the separation fence, the state forces advanced towards us, declared the are closed military zone, and the demonstration as illegal. Disregarding that, we continued marching and when we met half way on the way up the hill, they started to shower us with shock grenades... and started pushing us back to the village. AS we put some passive resistance, some of the state force personnel used batons, hitting people legs mainly and injured of the demonstrators. After a while, most of the demonstrators were driven back towards the outskirts of the village where the stone throwers started the usual confrontation with the state forces who tested on them a new kind of an automatic riffle of rubber bullets.
Few of us - the more experienced and stubborn, resisted the pushing back and few engaged the state forces with angry speech about the role they play in the service of the building companies that robed the Bil'in lands and pushed the separation fence to protect them.
During that "conversation" was revealed the name of the new brigade commander David Menahem who decided to change the policy and forbid the demonstration near the fence.
During the angry conversation three Palestinians and one international activists were detained, and released only after the demonstration was ended and we returned to the village - leaving the arena for the confrontation between the stone throwers (young and not so young) and the state forces.
It seems the national leadership pressure on the stone throwers helped. They refrained from starting the stone throwing too early to disable the activity of the nonviolent demonstration, and even later they did not throw the stones on the demonstrators.
When we approached the route of the separation fence, the state forces advanced towards us, declared the are closed military zone, and the demonstration as illegal. Disregarding that, we continued marching and when we met half way on the way up the hill, they started to shower us with shock grenades... and started pushing us back to the village. AS we put some passive resistance, some of the state force personnel used batons, hitting people legs mainly and injured of the demonstrators. After a while, most of the demonstrators were driven back towards the outskirts of the village where the stone throwers started the usual confrontation with the state forces who tested on them a new kind of an automatic riffle of rubber bullets.
Few of us - the more experienced and stubborn, resisted the pushing back and few engaged the state forces with angry speech about the role they play in the service of the building companies that robed the Bil'in lands and pushed the separation fence to protect them.
During that "conversation" was revealed the name of the new brigade commander David Menahem who decided to change the policy and forbid the demonstration near the fence.
During the angry conversation three Palestinians and one international activists were detained, and released only after the demonstration was ended and we returned to the village - leaving the arena for the confrontation between the stone throwers (young and not so young) and the state forces.
It seems the national leadership pressure on the stone throwers helped. They refrained from starting the stone throwing too early to disable the activity of the nonviolent demonstration, and even later they did not throw the stones on the demonstrators.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Israel, Tel-Aviv, Poster action 23/8/06 about the injuring of Limor in last Friday demonstration in Bil'in 24 Aug 2006
Last night hundreds of posters were posted all around Tel Aviv city by activists of the anarchists against the wall initiative in an effort to raise awareness to the injury of an israeli demonstrator during a non-violent demonstration against the wall last weekend 11-08. (See report on the demo:
http://www.ainfos.ca/06/aug/ainfos00086.html This was a mean to bring back the subject to the public arena as it disappeared from the media after announcements in the media on the day of that demo and in the following Saturday. Limor, a 25 years old lawyer from Tel Aviv, was shot at his head and neck from a range of 10 meters. It occurred when he tried to find cover from the raving border police at the side of the road when the Israeli state forces started showering shock grenades and shooting rubber coated bullets on the demonstrators. They did it while the demonstrators approach them within the built area of the village, with out any provocation. Without even proper warning, and during pursuing the escaping demonstrators. (The shooting was disregarding the regulation that forbid shooting on demonstrators from too short distance, and to any part on the body other than the feet. People heard the commander shouting to the gendarmes: "shoot them - it is Lebanon".)
Since the shooting Limor is in hospital in serious condition as one of the bullet penetrated his head and when taken out, part of the brain tissue had to be taken out. The placard was a picture of Limor laying where he was injured written on it: Guilty of expression his opinions - punished with two bullets to his head.
picture at: https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/5210/index.php Pictures of the demo at Bil'in: www.activestills.org/bilin11.8.06.html
http://www.ainfos.ca/06/aug/ainfos00086.html This was a mean to bring back the subject to the public arena as it disappeared from the media after announcements in the media on the day of that demo and in the following Saturday. Limor, a 25 years old lawyer from Tel Aviv, was shot at his head and neck from a range of 10 meters. It occurred when he tried to find cover from the raving border police at the side of the road when the Israeli state forces started showering shock grenades and shooting rubber coated bullets on the demonstrators. They did it while the demonstrators approach them within the built area of the village, with out any provocation. Without even proper warning, and during pursuing the escaping demonstrators. (The shooting was disregarding the regulation that forbid shooting on demonstrators from too short distance, and to any part on the body other than the feet. People heard the commander shouting to the gendarmes: "shoot them - it is Lebanon".)
Since the shooting Limor is in hospital in serious condition as one of the bullet penetrated his head and when taken out, part of the brain tissue had to be taken out. The placard was a picture of Limor laying where he was injured written on it: Guilty of expression his opinions - punished with two bullets to his head.
picture at: https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/5210/index.php Pictures of the demo at Bil'in: www.activestills.org/bilin11.8.06.html
Friday, August 18, 2006
Palestine-Israel, Bil'in, In spite of objections of local reactionaries the joint struggle continue. 18 Aug 2006
This Friday, we were after massive political activity to counter the reactionaries to put end to the joint struggle. Coincidentally (or not) it was in parallel to the new ban on the Friday demonstrations in bil'in issued last Friday. A delegate of the palestinian national comity came to the demo and gave a speech in support of the joint struggle with the Israelis in the name of the national leadership. A speech in the name of the local leadership was carried by a member of the local comity for joint struggle. An agreement was reached with the stone throwers that they will not sabotage the nonviolent demonstration, meaning they will start throwing stones only after the demonstration was declared ended by the comity or by brutal act of the Israeli armed forces. In spite of the warning at the morning of the Israeli regional commander to the activists of the village comity to refrain from doing the Friday demo, we did do it. After the speeches about hundred of us started to march towards the route of the separation fence.
Palestinians from Bil'in and from out of the village, international activists of the ISM, Israelis of the anarchists against the separation wall initiative, and some media workers. Chanting, and singing, and even sporadic dancing we advanced along the road to the route. About hundred meters after the last house of the village, an armed water canon car was blocking the road. Before it even started to attack us, activists of the village comity had to physically restrain a youth who wanted to start to throw stones in contradiction to the agreement.
Not long later, the water cannon started to work... Strong stream of water mixed most of the time with blue color and "paper" gas was sprayed on the demonstrators who were driven to all direction - some of them suffering from the sting of the pepper gas.
The stone throwers advanced around the water cannon and engaged with their usual confrontation with the Israeli state force, who used various "non lethal" grenades and rubber coated bullets. Most of the nonviolent demonstrators stayed on the blocked road and around it for a long while till the village comity declared the demonstration finished.
Both before the demonstration and after it we had talks about the demonstration strategy and explanations for these who are not acquainted with the struggle against the separation fence in Bil'in.
Palestinians from Bil'in and from out of the village, international activists of the ISM, Israelis of the anarchists against the separation wall initiative, and some media workers. Chanting, and singing, and even sporadic dancing we advanced along the road to the route. About hundred meters after the last house of the village, an armed water canon car was blocking the road. Before it even started to attack us, activists of the village comity had to physically restrain a youth who wanted to start to throw stones in contradiction to the agreement.
Not long later, the water cannon started to work... Strong stream of water mixed most of the time with blue color and "paper" gas was sprayed on the demonstrators who were driven to all direction - some of them suffering from the sting of the pepper gas.
The stone throwers advanced around the water cannon and engaged with their usual confrontation with the Israeli state force, who used various "non lethal" grenades and rubber coated bullets. Most of the nonviolent demonstrators stayed on the blocked road and around it for a long while till the village comity declared the demonstration finished.
Both before the demonstration and after it we had talks about the demonstration strategy and explanations for these who are not acquainted with the struggle against the separation fence in Bil'in.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Israel-Palestin, Media, Activist shot in head with rubber bullet at Bil'in By Haaretz Correspondent and AP, By Meron Rapoport* 13 Aug 2006
A Border Police soldier shot a rubber-tipped bullet at an Israeli demonstrator Friday at a protest in Bil'in against the separation fence. In violation of military regulations, the gun was fired at close range, from between ten and 20 meters, wounding attorney Lymor Goldstein in the head. The Israel Defense Forces prevented Goldstein's evacuation for more than an hour. He later underwent surgery to remove the bullet from his brain.
The shooting occurred during the weekly Friday afternoon anti-fence protest at Bil'in. On Friday the IDF Spokesman's Office said that Border Police forces threw stun grenades and fired rubber bullets after protesters threw rocks at them, but video footage of the incident clearly shows the Border Police commander instructing his soldiers to shoot rubber bullets with no warning and before any rocks were thrown at his forces.
The footage shows soldiers aiming their weapons at shoulder height and firing at the protesters. At one point a soldier can be seen pointing his gun at two protesters searching for cover and then firing at the head of one of them. IDF regulations permit the firing of rubber-tipped bullets only at a distance of at least 40 meters, and only at the legs of the target. What are called "rubber bullets" are actually plastic-coated lead bullets, and they can be deadly when fired at certain areas of the body.
"After they started shooting we tried to find cover," related the demonstrator who was next to Goldstein when he was hit. "I was standing with my back to them and then I saw Lymor fall. I'm trained as a medic so I tried to stop the bleeding from his head. I shouted at the soldiers that someone had a head wound but they kept going and paid no attention. One of them cursed us."
The video shows the soldiers walking past Goldstein without stopping. When demonstrators asked the commander to evacuate Goldstein, he responded, "I don't have an ambulance." One soldier said the injury was "unimportant." It took 15 minutes for a medic to arrive.
The demonstrator, who asked not to be identified, said that even after the medic arrived Goldstein's care was delayed and it took a long time before he was evacuated by an army truck. "Another medic, who went with him, told me she had to hold Lymor's head with her hands because of the rough ride. The IDF medic hadn't stabilized his head. The driver went really fast even though she begged him to slow down."
Goldstein was eventually evacuated to Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. According to hospital officials he arrived at 3:30 P.M., almost two hours after he was shot. He was operated on Friday night. Yesterday Goldstein was awake and alert, but he may have sustained permanent damage to his vision or other faculties.
Jonathan Pollak of Anarchists Against the Wall says he is convinced that the decision to use rubber bullets Friday was aimed at taking advantage of the situation in Lebanon to silence the West Bank protests using force.
=================================
* see video clip:
http://mishtara.org/hingus/?p=70 * The TV 10 channel reported on the shooting including a simmilar video clip showing it at the main Saturday news program.
The shooting occurred during the weekly Friday afternoon anti-fence protest at Bil'in. On Friday the IDF Spokesman's Office said that Border Police forces threw stun grenades and fired rubber bullets after protesters threw rocks at them, but video footage of the incident clearly shows the Border Police commander instructing his soldiers to shoot rubber bullets with no warning and before any rocks were thrown at his forces.
The footage shows soldiers aiming their weapons at shoulder height and firing at the protesters. At one point a soldier can be seen pointing his gun at two protesters searching for cover and then firing at the head of one of them. IDF regulations permit the firing of rubber-tipped bullets only at a distance of at least 40 meters, and only at the legs of the target. What are called "rubber bullets" are actually plastic-coated lead bullets, and they can be deadly when fired at certain areas of the body.
"After they started shooting we tried to find cover," related the demonstrator who was next to Goldstein when he was hit. "I was standing with my back to them and then I saw Lymor fall. I'm trained as a medic so I tried to stop the bleeding from his head. I shouted at the soldiers that someone had a head wound but they kept going and paid no attention. One of them cursed us."
The video shows the soldiers walking past Goldstein without stopping. When demonstrators asked the commander to evacuate Goldstein, he responded, "I don't have an ambulance." One soldier said the injury was "unimportant." It took 15 minutes for a medic to arrive.
The demonstrator, who asked not to be identified, said that even after the medic arrived Goldstein's care was delayed and it took a long time before he was evacuated by an army truck. "Another medic, who went with him, told me she had to hold Lymor's head with her hands because of the rough ride. The IDF medic hadn't stabilized his head. The driver went really fast even though she begged him to slow down."
Goldstein was eventually evacuated to Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer. According to hospital officials he arrived at 3:30 P.M., almost two hours after he was shot. He was operated on Friday night. Yesterday Goldstein was awake and alert, but he may have sustained permanent damage to his vision or other faculties.
Jonathan Pollak of Anarchists Against the Wall says he is convinced that the decision to use rubber bullets Friday was aimed at taking advantage of the situation in Lebanon to silence the West Bank protests using force.
=================================
* see video clip:
http://mishtara.org/hingus/?p=70 * The TV 10 channel reported on the shooting including a simmilar video clip showing it at the main Saturday news program.
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