Last Friday in Bil'in
Fridays are demo day in Palestine. It's the weekend but not yet shabbat so religious Jewish Israelis can participate in solidarity. Right now there are about ten non-violent demonstrations each Friday. Activists travel from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem coordinate cars to drive to and between demonstrations
Breakfast
Sharon and I met Emily and Noam early, picked up Ginger and drove to Bil'in. We went to Emily's friend Abu Nizar's place for one of the most amazing meals of my life. We sat on the roof of their home and ate from dozens of different amazing tasty dishes - foul, salad, hummus, baba ganoush, and so many things I don't know the name of. We hung out with Abu Nizar, his wife Amina, his eldest son Nizar and many of his other children. Abu Nizar is the popular committee's legal representative so he works with Emily (who is the village's lawyer) a lot. One of Abu Nizar's friends is a writer who is writing a book about Bil'in, and he came by to ask us who we were, why we were in Bil'in and what we thought about the situation. He was a really interesting guy, having grown up in Bil'in and left Palestine in 1974 and worked with the PLO before returning exactly 22 years later to become part of the new Palestinian administration.
Demonstration
The formula for the demo in Bil'in (which is similar to what we've seen in other towns) is to gather in the middle of town and march in a celebratory fashion to the point of conflict. The issues that Bil'in is protesting are that a bunch of their land was taken to expand an illegal Israeli settlement, and that Israel's "security barrier" / "apartheid wall" cuts the town off from much of their remaining land and olive trees. In 2007 Israel's supreme court has ruled that the wall must be moved so that the villagers can freely access their land, but it's still there, so we march up to the wall.
Now Emily, Ginger, Sharon and I didn't actually march up to the fence, we stopped a couple of hundred meters back to watch the action. We weren't there to get tear gassed or arrested, we were there to learn and for solidarity. Noam went along with the bulk of the protesters up to a gate in the razor-wire fence that the wall is made of here. Sure enough pretty much a soon as the protesters reached the fence the tear gas started flying. Some kids started throwing stones across a section of fence nearer us so the soldiers responded with tear gas there too.
We were never in a cloud of tear gas, but the invisible stuff that floats on the wind is pretty unpleasant. It stung our eyes and throats. The best defence was covering our mouths with cloth. I had the Berber turban I picked up in Morocco and that did a decent job. We had onions too, which help your eyes tear up to was the gas out.
For half an hour or so of soldiers lobbed tear gas over the fence. The protesters would retreat a bit and then return, asserting their right to be there. Then suddenly the army crossed over and half a dozen heavily armed soldiers came towards the village. The three of us retreated to Rani Bornat's house. Rani is a disabled Bil'in resident who goes up to the wall every week. He was paralysed on the first day of the second intifada during a non-violent protest yet he continues to protest non-violently. He's a real inspiration. He also has newborn triplets which the girls were really excited to see.
Emily hadn't heard from Noam and he wasn't answering texts so I ventured out of the house to find him. At the entrance to the village I saw Noam with a bunch of Bil'in residents and Israeli activists surrounding three soldiers. Then they escorted the soldiers down the hill back towards the gate. Noam explained that the soldiers had come into the village to arrest some people and the activists had managed to prevent that. The soldiers left empty handed. They came back a few minutes later, I think more kids were throwing rocks, but we were back in the village.
We had a wonderful day. It was great to meet Abu Nizar and his family. It was great to see Rani, his father Waji and the rest of their family. The weather was beautiful, the food was amazing, the conversation was interesting and everyone was so friendly. The only thing I don't love about Palestine is the occupation.
Breakfast
Sharon and I met Emily and Noam early, picked up Ginger and drove to Bil'in. We went to Emily's friend Abu Nizar's place for one of the most amazing meals of my life. We sat on the roof of their home and ate from dozens of different amazing tasty dishes - foul, salad, hummus, baba ganoush, and so many things I don't know the name of. We hung out with Abu Nizar, his wife Amina, his eldest son Nizar and many of his other children. Abu Nizar is the popular committee's legal representative so he works with Emily (who is the village's lawyer) a lot. One of Abu Nizar's friends is a writer who is writing a book about Bil'in, and he came by to ask us who we were, why we were in Bil'in and what we thought about the situation. He was a really interesting guy, having grown up in Bil'in and left Palestine in 1974 and worked with the PLO before returning exactly 22 years later to become part of the new Palestinian administration.
Demonstration
The formula for the demo in Bil'in (which is similar to what we've seen in other towns) is to gather in the middle of town and march in a celebratory fashion to the point of conflict. The issues that Bil'in is protesting are that a bunch of their land was taken to expand an illegal Israeli settlement, and that Israel's "security barrier" / "apartheid wall" cuts the town off from much of their remaining land and olive trees. In 2007 Israel's supreme court has ruled that the wall must be moved so that the villagers can freely access their land, but it's still there, so we march up to the wall.
Now Emily, Ginger, Sharon and I didn't actually march up to the fence, we stopped a couple of hundred meters back to watch the action. We weren't there to get tear gassed or arrested, we were there to learn and for solidarity. Noam went along with the bulk of the protesters up to a gate in the razor-wire fence that the wall is made of here. Sure enough pretty much a soon as the protesters reached the fence the tear gas started flying. Some kids started throwing stones across a section of fence nearer us so the soldiers responded with tear gas there too.
We were never in a cloud of tear gas, but the invisible stuff that floats on the wind is pretty unpleasant. It stung our eyes and throats. The best defence was covering our mouths with cloth. I had the Berber turban I picked up in Morocco and that did a decent job. We had onions too, which help your eyes tear up to was the gas out.
For half an hour or so of soldiers lobbed tear gas over the fence. The protesters would retreat a bit and then return, asserting their right to be there. Then suddenly the army crossed over and half a dozen heavily armed soldiers came towards the village. The three of us retreated to Rani Bornat's house. Rani is a disabled Bil'in resident who goes up to the wall every week. He was paralysed on the first day of the second intifada during a non-violent protest yet he continues to protest non-violently. He's a real inspiration. He also has newborn triplets which the girls were really excited to see.
Emily hadn't heard from Noam and he wasn't answering texts so I ventured out of the house to find him. At the entrance to the village I saw Noam with a bunch of Bil'in residents and Israeli activists surrounding three soldiers. Then they escorted the soldiers down the hill back towards the gate. Noam explained that the soldiers had come into the village to arrest some people and the activists had managed to prevent that. The soldiers left empty handed. They came back a few minutes later, I think more kids were throwing rocks, but we were back in the village.
We had a wonderful day. It was great to meet Abu Nizar and his family. It was great to see Rani, his father Waji and the rest of their family. The weather was beautiful, the food was amazing, the conversation was interesting and everyone was so friendly. The only thing I don't love about Palestine is the occupation.