Bil'in
As many of you already know we participated in a nonviolent demonstration against illegal land confiscation in a village called Bil’in, northwest of Ramallah. We didn’t know exactly what to expect. What we did know was that each time we heard Bil’in mentioned it went something like: “What? You want to go to Bil’in? …Bil’in’s crazy.” So we went.
The demonstrations at Bil’in have been taking place on a weekly basis for the last two years. The issue is the ongoing confiscation of local farmland that the Palestinians of Bil’in depend on. Many farmers have been unable to get to their farms for the last two years as a result. And remember this is well within the West Bank. Land confiscation is extremely common in the West Bank. It comes in many forms…sometimes to expand settlements, sometimes as a “security barrier” around settlements, sometimes to facilitate the building the apartheid wall well within the 1967 green line (i.e. well within the West Bank), and still sometimes generically for “security” without explanation. What makes Bil’in unique is the fact that the Israeli High Court has declared the land confiscation and ongoing blockade of the road that leads to the land illegal. Why this is not enforced remains unanswered.
As we (About 100 Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals) marched to the road where the IOF (Israeli Occupation Force) has been blocking farmers from getting to their land Palestinian children chanted “La la le-jeedar. No no not the wall”. The IOF had parked a number of military vehicles just up the road and placed barbed wire to block our advance. About a hundred meters behind the barbed wire there were maybe 30 IOF soldiers in a line across the road, guns drawn. We negotiated with them for a while and then after they refused to let us pass we began removing the barbed wire from the road. Around ten seconds into this they opened fire with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Needless to say, we scattered. I think more unsettling than my eyes and lungs burning was the whizzing sound the metal tear gas canisters and rubber bullets made as they passed by our heads. As we fled the smoke the sound of retching filled the space in between the pops of tear gas fire.
The shooting continued for a few hours as heavily armed IOF soldiers clashed with children who threw stones—as far as I’m concerned a form of nonviolent resistance when facing full armored soldiers and vehicles. A number of people were injured—one child passed out because of the tear gas, a man was hit in the stomach by a rubber bullet, another in the head. I learned that sniffing onion helps with tear gas. Something similar to this takes place every Friday. When we asked some of the Palestinians we met there why they risk their lives to demonstrate each week when the IOF has made it so clear that they have no intention of abiding by Israeli law they looked at us and responded as if it was obvious: “What else can we do? It is our land. We must resist. There is no other way.”
We stood there in the heat, watching, at times running through the olive groves to avoid the tear gas and the rubber bullets. Do we go forward and face the soldiers? Can we? It seems we can’t because the closer we get the more likely we’ll get hit with something violent. Would it be worth getting hit? Getting injured? Could this contribute to a positive change? Maybe…
The demonstrations at Bil’in have been taking place on a weekly basis for the last two years. The issue is the ongoing confiscation of local farmland that the Palestinians of Bil’in depend on. Many farmers have been unable to get to their farms for the last two years as a result. And remember this is well within the West Bank. Land confiscation is extremely common in the West Bank. It comes in many forms…sometimes to expand settlements, sometimes as a “security barrier” around settlements, sometimes to facilitate the building the apartheid wall well within the 1967 green line (i.e. well within the West Bank), and still sometimes generically for “security” without explanation. What makes Bil’in unique is the fact that the Israeli High Court has declared the land confiscation and ongoing blockade of the road that leads to the land illegal. Why this is not enforced remains unanswered.
As we (About 100 Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals) marched to the road where the IOF (Israeli Occupation Force) has been blocking farmers from getting to their land Palestinian children chanted “La la le-jeedar. No no not the wall”. The IOF had parked a number of military vehicles just up the road and placed barbed wire to block our advance. About a hundred meters behind the barbed wire there were maybe 30 IOF soldiers in a line across the road, guns drawn. We negotiated with them for a while and then after they refused to let us pass we began removing the barbed wire from the road. Around ten seconds into this they opened fire with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Needless to say, we scattered. I think more unsettling than my eyes and lungs burning was the whizzing sound the metal tear gas canisters and rubber bullets made as they passed by our heads. As we fled the smoke the sound of retching filled the space in between the pops of tear gas fire.
The shooting continued for a few hours as heavily armed IOF soldiers clashed with children who threw stones—as far as I’m concerned a form of nonviolent resistance when facing full armored soldiers and vehicles. A number of people were injured—one child passed out because of the tear gas, a man was hit in the stomach by a rubber bullet, another in the head. I learned that sniffing onion helps with tear gas. Something similar to this takes place every Friday. When we asked some of the Palestinians we met there why they risk their lives to demonstrate each week when the IOF has made it so clear that they have no intention of abiding by Israeli law they looked at us and responded as if it was obvious: “What else can we do? It is our land. We must resist. There is no other way.”
We stood there in the heat, watching, at times running through the olive groves to avoid the tear gas and the rubber bullets. Do we go forward and face the soldiers? Can we? It seems we can’t because the closer we get the more likely we’ll get hit with something violent. Would it be worth getting hit? Getting injured? Could this contribute to a positive change? Maybe…
[If you'd like to see a video clip of the demonstration we were at, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WmeOdfIyRw and if you'd like to see more video clips from past and more recent demonstrations, go to http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/category/bilin/]
(B'tselem Map)
2 comments:
I would say that it is overwhelmingly nice to see each of you on the youtube video, but watching you be shot at with tear gas and rubber bullets is quite a different story... whether or not it is worth it, these weekly nonviolent stands, is definitly the question I ask along side you. You and the country you are running through are in my heart. I pray for peace in our hearts, in our minds, and in our world.
Do you think,that "Bil'in"'s crazy?I think you are crazy:)
But,it's cool!you have big fortitude
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