Israel breaks up West Bank barrier protest

[Tom Joad]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060120/wl_mideast_afp/mideastbarrierdemo_060120155930
BILIN, West Bank (AFP)
Several demonstrators were lightly injured as Israeli troops broke up a weekly protest against
Israel's West Bank separation barrier and made arrests, witnesses said.
<snip>

Palestinian, Israeli and foreign activists had walked to a site where work on a portion of the barrier is in progress on land belonging to Bilin village.

<snip>
Peace activists and Palestinians demonstrate at least once a week in Bilin against the separation barrier, which Israel insists is necessary to prevent infiltration by West Bank militants.

The Palestinians say the controversial project is an attempt to grab their land and undermine the viability of their promised state.

__________________________________________

Also: Gush Shalom reports
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en

Not copyrighted material follows:

HAMAS FLAGS NEXT TO ISRAELI FLAGS IN BIL'IN!

It was quite an unusual sight: Israeli peace activists and Hamas militants, together with members of all the other Palestinian parties, marched last Friday side by side in a demonstration against the Fence in Bil'in.

"I see this as another sign that Hamas can be included in peace negotiations with Israel and that it is possible to get its agreement to the peace agreement that will be signed," Uri Avnery of Gush Shalom said.

This time, the demonstration was accompanied by music: dozens of Israeli and Palestinian activists dispersed along the Fence and beat with stones on an iron security railing that runs along it, producing a rhythm that could be heard for many miles, including the settlement Modi'in Illit that is being built on the land belonging to Bil'in.

Thousands took part in the demonstration, which also marked the climax of the Palestinian election campaign. Senior leaders of all the Palestinian parties marched at the head of the demonstration, in which almost 400 Israeli peace activists from all over the country participated. The colorful posters of the parties on the walls in the village added to the event.

In spite of the fact that this - like all the demonstrations in Bil'in - was non-violent, it was attacked with tear gas and stun grenades by the soldiers who had been waiting for it. However, many protesters succeeded in breaking through the line of soldiers and go round the Fence, at a place where its construction has not yet been completed. While this happened, much violence was used against them, demonstrators were beaten, kicked and thrown to the ground. Yonatan Pollack of "Anarchists Against Fences" was choked by soldiers and dragged on the stony ground.
Much more http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en
___________________________________________________________
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/01/20/thousands-challenge-israeli-apartheid-in-bilin/
International Solidarity Movement report.
Today, Friday the 20th of January, candidates from all Palestinian political parties and factions, including Hamas, Fatah, Al Mubadara, Democracy Front, Independent and others came to the villagers of Bil’in. There they were joined by over 300 Israeli activists, 100 Internationals and many Palestinians from the surrounding area. It was one of the most impressive gatherings of Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals in Bil’in, in what is now close to a year-long struggle against the theft of their lands by the Apartheid Wall.

At 12:30 PM, close to 2000 people marched through the lands of Bil’in to the construction site of the Apartheid Wall. At the site were over fifty Israeli Military, Police, and Border Policemen. They became violent towards the crowd very quickly, using their batons, sound bombs, against unarmed demonstrators.

More...

[Scurrilous]

1. 15 hurt in fence protest

Anti-fence protesters, security forces clash near Palestinian village of Bilin

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3203753,00.html

<snip>

"About 15 protesters have been injured on Friday in clashes between security forces and protesters against the West Bank security fence during a weekling demonstration held by Palestinians and Israeli leftists in Bilin, a Palestinian village between Ramallah and Modi’in.

Fatah candidates for the upcoming Palestinian elections joined hundreds of protesters who claimed they had managed to dismantle five meters of the wired fence.

Protesters defied an IDF ban on entering the fence stretches near Bilin, scuffling with security forces who used tear gas to disperse the crowd who attempted to force its way to an outpost set up by leftists near Bilin.

Demonstrators complained of excessive force applied by security forces, saying certain individuals were beaten up. Despite stringent security measures a number of protesters permeated the line of riot police and reached the outpost, where they held signs condemning Israel’s confiscation of Beilain land to build the fence and expand a nearby Jewish settlement."

[Tom Joad]

2. People of courage and determination. In a word, "summod".

Or Steadfastness. This is an incredible campaign, and it happens week after week. 3,000 people came out, unarmed, to face the violence of the Israeli army. Why?

Because they stand to lose their livelihoods if this wall is completed, if this wall is not torn down. The completion of the wall means the death of their community (and many like it)-- this is a life and death struggle.

But make no mistake, this wall will come down. It will take continued solidarity from internationals to make that happen. Not even the help of the hundreds of brave Israelis, who true to their loyalty to their humanity, joined this protest, will be enough to bring down this wall. We in the US must join in this struggle, if not in person, then by changing things here in the US. We must call politicians to account for their continued support for this international crime. Continue calls for divestment, continue the education of the american people. One can tell, by the panic and dismay of defenders of the status quo, that this education as to the reality of life in Palestine is continuing, and policies of colonialism and dispossession are losing support, and will continue to do so. The left, for the most part, has already abandoned the policy of occupation, now it is losing support even among mainstream democrats. Defenders of the status quo have to work double-time just to slow down their inevitable loss in public support.

The wall will come down, it is just a matter of time, with it the system of oppression and state terror that has been imposed on the people of Palestine.

[Wordie]

3. Amazing...Israelis used violence to break up a peaceful protest. eom

[Violet_Crumble]

4. Yeah, yet another display of what non-violent resistance results in...

Of course, memories being what they are, it'll only be another few threads before one of those 'why can't they use non-violent protest???' types who have pointedly ignored this thread, will pop up with a 'why can't they use non-violent protest???' comment as though this stuff has magically never happened to answer their repetitive question :)

Violet...

[Wordie]

5. Good, if sad, point. eom

[Tom Joad]

6. Why can't they have a "non-violent" occupation. 'Course, that would be

a contradiction in concepts right there. It is like committing a non-violent mugging.

Anyway, the ideal would be no resistance at all, violent or non-violent, which would be the case if the occupation were to end. If there were no occupation, then there would be no need for resistance, no need for confrontation. Palestinians in Bilin would spend their Friday afternoons sipping tea and coffee with family and neighbors.

Also, Israeli soldiers could not spend their days oppressing others... that results in their own dehumanization. That kind of stuff destroys the soul of those young folks that take part in it. Is it any wonder that Israeli society is becoming increasingly criminal and violent?

[Englander]

8. That's it, absolutely. nt/

[Tom Joad]

7. Still, Nonviolence is winning. It has never been easy.

Like the brute force that met Gandhi's Salt Marchers, or the dogs and water cannons that met civil rights marchers at Selma (many of these participants Sunday School kids), nonviolent resistance campaigns have often not met with instant victories, without casualties.

Yet this campaign has already has some success, though still limited. The Israeli govt. has already been forced to change the path of the Wall in some places. Israeli military has acted with a bit more restraint than it has in other campaigns (I think the presence of Internationals was crucial in this regard, even if it has limited effect at the moment. Some Palestinians have died in this campaign, many wounded, arrests without charges have been made). So despite its continued violence, the israeli army has learned that it cannot act with its usual impunity.

This puts the Israeli policymakers into somewhat of a quandary. How will they continue this wall building despite a growing, very public, Palestinian-Israeli-International nonviolent movement. How will they explain the destruction of Bil'in? If they back down in Bil'in will they then have to back down elsewhere?

A crisis can be a good thing.

This movement will break the back of the occupation. It will free Palestine. It will free Israel from its self-destuctive occupation and injustice.

ain't no power like the power of the people, cuz the power of the people don't stop