Palestine: “Shut your fucking mouth.” 

I thought I’d seen a lot of Zionist tourists when I wrote about the settler tour last Saturday. That was until I realised that this week was Abraham Day, a Jewish religious holiday. Because of this, thousands (I do genuinely mean THOUUUUUUUSANDS) of fundamentalists religious people turned up, with the belief that the whole of Hebron should be part of Israel (COUGH, green line, COUGH, international law). Oh, sorry, silly me, as I was told many times over the course of the day, these people do have the deeds to the land. They store them all in this book called the Torah apparently. *eye roll*

The majority were just a rowdy mob, rampaging through the Palestinian market, surrounded by 50 or so soldiers. They went through the market for HOURS, hassling shopkeepers, pushing over food and stuff for sale and even attacking some people who were trying to record their bad behaviour. They punched and kicked one Palestinian man who was filming for B'tselem and tried to steal his camera. They grabbed cameras of other international observers. I asked some of them if they knew what effect their 'tourism' had on the Palestinian population (soldiers on their roofs at night, sweeps of the market by 30 soldiers three times in the morning, fear, harassment, abuse) - their response? "Shut up"or "why does that matter?" or silence.

Settlers and soldiers overlooked by Palestinian kids on the roof.

I’ve said it time and time again, but any state that gives a bunch of 18-20year old men brainwashing training, huge guns and the run of a city populated with ‘the enemy’, is pretty messed up. Hebron is like a video game where the aim of the game is to protect the settlers. I can't tell you how unprofessional these soldiers/kids are. I can't count how many times I've been told to "shut your fucking mouth", "shut the fuck up", or received invitations to engage in sexual intercourse with them. *mega eye roll*

Or a new one today, "hope to see you in Gaza."

Since I started writing this blog, several days ago, much has changed here. Operation 'Pillar of Cloud' has begun, or as it would be better known, murder. Gazan Palestinians are essentially trapped in the largest open air prison in the world - blockaded from land, sea and air. In the last 3 days, children have been killed (including an 11month old baby), the majority of deaths are civilian, yet still Gazans who fight back against the occupation are the terrorists. Israeli authorities - wearing a uniform does not legitimise murder or siege or occupation. At 360 km² (about the same area as the UK city of Sheffield, but with a population 3 times the size*) Gaza is one of the world's most densely populated areas, making targeted attacks on 'militants' incredibly difficult. Add to this the fact that half of the population are children - Israeli leaders KNOW that they will kill children and they will kill civilians.Yet they continue. And yes, the besieged people of Gaza continue to resist. I don't advocate killing of anyone, but I do know that the Palestinians have a right to resist the numerous and continuing human rights abuses committed against them by the hugely more powerful (and US backed) Israeli forces. Nothing so far has worked.

On the same day that the attack on Gaza began, we had a demonstration, or several demonstrations really. Hundreds of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists blocked roads to illegal settlements, urging settlers to leave. The regular Friday demonstrations in the Palestinian villages of Nabi Saleh, in Kufr Qaddoum, Bilin etc are amazing and inspiring, but the people that they most inconvenience are often the villagers themselves - this new tactic of demonstrating on settler roads, or in settler supermarkets will remind these settlers and the Israeli forces that their actions are not without consequence. To block the roads, we used chains, we used ourselves - each time, the soldiers arrived and the settlers arrived, attacking with gas, batons as well as with their plain old hands and feet. Our non-violent demonstrations are always met with this type of aggression.

At the last roadblock that we staged, a friend of mine was standing in front of a stopped settler car. Then the car accelerated - directly into him. He was thrown over the bonnet, as the settler sped into the distance and we all stood gaping. An ambulance was called and he was taken to the hospital in Ramallah for x-rays and tests. He was not badly hurt thankfully. Also, none of us were arrested, which was surprising considering the amount of de-arresting that we had to do.

Activestills pic of us de-arresting Mohammed Khatib, protest organiser.

Still, I can't keep away from the news of Gaza - another death, another air strike, the possibility of a ground strike is looming. Israeli reserve forces have been called up. We are so near in the West Bank, and yet so far - life here is a million miles away from life in Gaza. I run out of words to say what I mean, but I do know we're not gonna "shut our fucking mouths", whatever you do. Palestine is not that easily shut up.

Love and solidarity to Gaza - see demonstrations that you could join around the world here.

*Sheffield/Gaza population comparison in honour of Amy Man.