Monday,
September 11,
Italian, Israeli and Two Palestinian
Peaceful Protestors sent to Hospital by Israeli Troops
The Annotico
Report
The village of Bilin, located near Ramallah,
has become a symbol of the struggle against the separation fence, that
"confiscated" half of the towns agricultural lands, and has been the
focal point for more than a year and a half of joint Palestinian-Israeli
demonstrations, held weekly on Fridays. While the protests are peaceful they have resulted in violent reactions by
Israeli Military.
On August 25 About 100 protestors Palestinian, Israeli and international
activists were walking to the site
of the wall when, without provocation, soldiers in riot gear waded in and began
clubbing demonstrators and firing rubber bullets at close range.
An Italian, an
Israeli and two Palestinian activists were beaten so badly they had to be taken
to hospital. One American suffered a concussion and another sustained hand
injuries, in addition to taking a rubber bullet in her back and another one in
her hip. Besides being clubbed, a Palestinian coordinator was shot with three
rubber bullets in the back and one in the leg.
Limor Goldstein, a lawyer who
was born in
Despite the fact
that Palestinians, Israelis, and international supporters have conducted
hundreds of nonviolent protests over the last three years throughout the West
Bank against Israels construction of the Wall on Palestinian land, and
despite the fact that the Israeli army killed nine Palestinian protesters,
wounded several thousand protesters, harassed and collectively punished
villages that protested, and arrested hundreds of protesters, including
nonviolent protest leaders, there has been almost a total "black out"
in Western media.
But David Hammelstein posits that there is a mighty thread that
connects
The organic
outrage emanating from
A Missing Link in
Support for Palestinian Human Rights &nbs! p;
By Dave Himmelstein &nb! sp;
September
10th, 2006
From the Archive
for the 'Bil'in Village' :
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/category/bilin/
One of the latest
in the long series of unpublicized Israeli attacks on civilians took place on
August 25 in the West Bank
An Italian, an
Israeli and two Palestinian activists were beaten so badly they had to be taken
to hospital. One American suffered a concussion and another sustained hand
injuries, in addition to taking a rubber bullet in her back and another one in
her hip. Besides being clubbed, a Palestinian coordinator was shot with three
rubber bullets in the back and one in the leg.
Unfortunately,
but unsurprisingly, this mayhem remains an unknown reality for mainstream-media
consumers in
The media
blackout was dissected by Patrick OConnor in October 2005, his report
pointing out that the New York Times had published only three feature reports
on Palestinian nonviolent resistance in the previous three years this despite the fact that
Palestinians have conducted hundreds of nonviolent protests over the last three
years throughout the West Bank against Israels construction of the Wall on
Palestinian land, and despite the fact that the Israeli army killed nine
Palestinian protesters, wounded several thousand protesters, harassed and
collectively punished villages that protested, and arrested hundreds of
protesters, including nonviolent protest leaders.
Palestinians have
grown used to a prevalent refrain in expressions of support received from
international well-wishers: If only you guys acted like Martin Luther King or
Mahatma Gandhi, the whole world would jump on your bandwagon. That message, of
course, is superfluousindeed, counter-factual. Organized non-violent
Palestinian resistance has been going on for decades and continues to be
actively exercised in the struggle against the occupation and the separation
wall. Israeli products and services have been boycotted; military orders have
been refused; confiscated properties have not been vacated.
Newsworthy incidents gain sporadic attention, as when
Yet the
exhortations continue. In fact, Palestinians have gotten the Go-Gandhi message
from only two generations away from the horses mouth. It was delivered in
2004 by Arun Gandhi, 70-year-old grandson of the
Mahatma, a naturalized American citizen who directs the Institute for
Non-violence in
Back in
A parallel
between Palestinians and African Americans seems to have occurred to at least
one American president. In Perceptions of Palestine, Kathleen Christison reports that Jimmy Carter made the explicit
comparison in arguing against the view that the Israel-Palestine situation was
hopeless. (She offers a contrapuntal reality-check by pointing out that Carter didnt actually meet a real live Palestinian till a few
years after leaving office.)
Among African
Americans, since the days when Dr. King took pains to position himself as
supportive of
Things have never
been the same. Any rekindling of Black-Jewish solidarity will probably take
place outside established channels and, psychologically, will entail
cornerstone realignment towards
The raw material
for a North American shock of recognition exists. If the Bilin
confrontation were played out on TV screens in the
The King legacy is certainly a homegrown influence on the many brave Americans
and Canadians who have asserted their own spiritual birthright by
going to Palestine and joining in nonviolent direct action against the Israeli
occupation. Rachel Corries unacknowledged but
ongoing presence hovers over the U.S. State Department, which is doing its best
to discourage Americans from joining such actions. According
to a recent advisory: Those taking part in demonstrations, nonviolent
resistance, and direct action are advised to cease such activity for
their own safety.
While Bilin has become emblematic of non-violent resistance,
it is far from alone, as pointed out by Mohammed Khatib,
secretary of the Bilin village council and
resistance committee member. During an interview in
A mighty thread
connects
Dave Himmelstein is a writer and editor in
The
ANNOTICO Reports
Can
be Viewed, and are Archived at:
Italia
Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com
Annotico
Email: annotico@earthlink.net