Palestine: Offering the olive branch...met with teargas...

Shamelessly taking credit for planting olive trees.

Farming is not necessarily what could be called my strong point (as claimed by Al Jazeera at 2.10 - bastards). Lucky then that when we were planting trees in Asira this week, there were only a couple of spades, leaving me to do important work such as observing, coordinating and supervising tree planting (aka sitting). Oh and soldier/settler watch, natch.

We were planting trees for Rachel Corrie, an ISMer who was killed in Gaza by the Israeli army ten years ago on Saturday, and to replace trees destroyed in previous years by the Israeli army or settlers - this happens every year and is devastating to Palestinian economy and culture, both of which are strongly based around the olive tree.

Commander ordering us to yallah.

Our presence on Palestinian owned land was, as usual, considered pesky by the army - they want that hillside all to themselves, having recently built a military tower on it (annexing more Palestinian land, of course). The commander, who arrived looking flash/ridiculous in wraparound sunglasses took it upon himself to tell us off and to get off his goddamn lawn.

He pointed out that of course, if the landowners applied through the appropriate channels, they would of course be granted permission, and of course, would be allowed to access their land without hindrance from the army.

Tell that to the shepherd who was beaten by soldiers and ordered off the exact same land the week before. He had permission to be there. The people of Asira know that that the outcome is the same whether they apply for permission or not. However, threatened with arrest or violence from the army, we decided to move down the hill and plant in an area slightly further down the hill. This – arbitrarily it seems – was deemed acceptable to the soldiers.

However, the settlers from nearby Yizhar did not seem satisfied with the compromise. So they decided to come and tell us off slightly more strictly - running down the hill, masked, they pelted stones at us by hand and with slingshots. Some of the Palestinians in our group ran to fend them off, trying to throw stones UP the hill at the attackers. I suspect none of those reached their targets.

Settlers from Yizhar arrive on the scene

It was then that the settler’s mates, the soldiers, then made a re-entry onto the scene, firing teargas and rubber bullets.

Of course, they targeted the real threat – olive tree planting farmers (and tree planting supervisors, such as myself). Luckily, this time no one was hurt, nor arrested and eventually the settlers and soldiers left, giving us a chance to admire the beauty of the Palestinian spring! Man, we sure look like a threat, I'd attack us too. Defs.

Palestine: Mohammed Asfour

Today I met David. David is a friendly chap who called out to a group of lost-looking ajnabiya (foreigners) in his village of Aboud and asked them “do you need help?” We were looking for a bathroom - with his Palestinian instinct for generosity, he instantly said “my house is your house, of course, please come in.”

We entered the house, asked constantly, do we want juice, water, tea, coffee, do we need anything else? David is smiling and laughing throughout. Then he asks us why we are in the village. For the funeral, we say.

“Oh. Yes.” David says, “Mohammed was my friend, we used to watch the football together.”

I didn’t know Mohammed, yet I still crumple inside at this reminder that until a very short time ago, Mohammed Asfour had been living and breathing. He was 23 years old.

The funeral procession snaking through Aboud

Until he was shot in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet in the head by an Israeli soldier two weeks ago, during a demonstration in solidarity with hunger striking Palestinian prisoners.

Until yesterday, he had been fighting for his life in an Israeli hospital. But he died.

Despite all of this, his friend David is being a most obliging host. He says that there will be clashes after the funeral. They won’t let the soldiers into the village, he says, but the shabab will most certainly go to meet them.

And we all know that the soldiers are there, looming over the funeral. How? Because we passed by them as we entered the village. The procession of Palestinian-flag adorned cars following Mohammed’s body from Ramallah had to avoid the jeeps on the road, as well as the heavily armed, ready-and-waiting soldiers, police and border police, staring at us as we went past. Adding insult to what was already a murderous injury.

Mohammed’s body was borne through the crowd, carried on the shoulders of his friends, who cried as they shouted and chanted…my heart, my blood, Mohammed, you are loved by God.

Before he is even in the ground, we hear tear gas being fired. The young men of the village move towards the entrance, towards the soldiers, towards the gas, towards the rubber-coated steel bullets that come streaming down the road at them continuously for the rest of the day. The gas is strong, people are choking and falling to the ground.

Bulldozers and skunk water truck loom over the village.

A bulldozer is driven into the village, destroying the roadblocks designed to stop the soldiers invading. It chomps through the burning tyres, the upturned skip, the many rocks. Then they send in the skunk truck, intending to spray us all with stinking water… the smell will linger for days outside people’s homes.

Eventually we leave, driving through the group of soldiers at the top of the hill – to go another way would take a lot longer, so we risk it. They continue shooting and we all duck down inside the car as we hear bangs around us. 

Driving past, escaping the funeral, I can see the faces of the soldiers. I can see soldiers eating snacks. These soldiers will go home and watch the football with their friends. Mohammed will not. I see the snipers lying on the ground, aiming their guns at young, angry men who are throwing stones at them, demanding that their occupiers get out of their village. 

Mohammed is the sixth Palestinian to be killed by Israeli army shooting this year alone. 

Palestine: Once more unto the blog, dear friends

So, I am reviving this blog, as I have today returned to occupied Palestine in order to continue working with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).

Entering was surprisingly easy, and I was only asked what the purpose of my travel was, and where I was planning to travel to. My three month visa was immediately granted. Suckers.

Look out occupation.

Palestine: Yallah bye.

I'm starting this blog a month since I left the West Bank with no real idea of how to summarise, conclude or make sense of my time in Palestine. Once more, I have been humbled by the steadfastness and solidity of the Palestinian people. Once more, I have felt helpless and angry in the face of the atrocities that the Israeli army, government and settlers commit on a daily basis.

And yet, and yet...somehow I feel more resilient and more prepared to face these injustices. In difficult situations I still compare and contrast with Israeli jail and count my blessings that I'm no longer there (despite being told that this feeling of relief would fade!)

More than anything, despite the hardships, I wish I was still in Palestine, standing with my friends and colleagues from Palestine, from Israel, from everywhere - habibis, I miss you all.

People still there tell me the situation is intensifying - attacks and kidnapping by settlers (naturally, backed up by the army), a boy killed on his 17th birthday - while I was still there, there were whispers (and some shouts) of 'intifada'.

An uprising by the Palestinian people is a difficult thing. They have little power. Every time they react against the Israeli occupation, it is they who are branded as the terrorists, rather than their occupiers with their guns, their political power, their propaganda machine. But, inshallah, Palestine's freedom will come, and soon. (I realise that my excessive use of 'inshallah' (god willing) is ridiculous considering that I am a godless heathen :p )

Now it is christmas eve. I am in Thailand, feeling guilty and useless (though the fact that it's raining a LOT assuages my guilt a little...)

I feel for Majd Obeid, who was arrested with me back in September and is still in prison. I feel for his family, and all the other families who have someone in prison.I feel for the hungerstrikers. I feel for all the Christian Palestinians in Gaza who didn't receive permission to travel to Bethlehem for Christmas (no one between the ages of 16 and 35 is even allowed to apply). I feel for all the families who will have to start 2013 learning to live without a loved one, because this was the year that they became a shaheed (martyr) of the occupation. I feel for those who are cold because their house was demolished or their electricity is controlled and limited by the Israelis. I feel for those whose neighbours are settlers who attack their young children. I feel for Palestine.

Palestine needs people of conscience, who will stand up for justice alongside the Palestinian people in their struggle. Find out more here.

Yallah bye Falasteen, and merry christmas.





P.S. I will most certainly be back.

Palestine: "It's not my problem"

On Saturday, Rushdi Tamimi was shot in the village of Nabi Saleh. He was on a hillside in the village, taking part in a demonstration against the massacre in Gaza (which was escalating massively at that point).

He was shot with live ammunition by an Israeli soldier. He was 31 years old.

After he was shot, he lay on the hillside, surrounded by soldiers. They did not try to help him. Having shot him again and shoved him with their guns, they shot at anyone who tried to come near to help him.

This video below was filmed by someone trying to approach - you can hear being shot at as she shouts "Ana B'tselem" - "I am B´tselem" - B'tselem is a human rights organisation who film abuses by the Israeli authorities.

You can also hear the soldiers, as Rushdi's sister pleads with them to let her take him to a hospital, saying "I don't care". And "it's not my problem". The lack of humanity is chilling.

Rushdi's family eventually managed to take him to get medical help. He died 3 days later in hospital - they couldn't stop him from bleeding. Could earlier medical attention have saved him? Who knows.

Rushdi is the second person from Nabi Saleh who has died fighting the occupation. I was at the demonstration when the first, Mustafa Tamimi, was killed when a soldier shot a tear gas canister directly at his face, making Tuesday my second Nabi Saleh funeral.

There were tears, followed by anger, followed by tear gas.

Because in true bastard form, the soldiers attacked the funeral demonstration with live ammunition, tear gas, rubber bullets and skunk water. You can see pictures from the funeral taken by my comrade Alberto, on his blog here. They demonstrate a complete lack of respect for Palestinian life and a complete lack of remorse for having caused Rushdi's death.

In other news:

• There is now a ceasfire in Gaza. Inshallah it will last, and no more will be added to the 162 people who were murdered by Israel since operation 'Pillar of Cloud' began.   

• 22 year old Hamdi al Falah was killed in Hebron, demonstrating against the attack on Gaza. He was shot four times, once in the head, twice in the body and once in the leg. Friends of mine were at the funeral and said that thousand of people came to protest his death, the occupation and murder in Gaza. They were (surprise surprise) violently repressed by the Israeli army.

•  A 20 month old baby died in Qalandia after soldier fired a tear gas canister into his bedroom. It ignited and he died of the burns.

• Activists helped to remove a section of the Apartheid Wall (the Wall is in both concrete and metal fence form - the 15 metres we removed was from the wire part). The army didn't even arrive in time to stop us. Hah! 

• Activists blocked a settler road and for a second time, a settler drove a car into one of my comrades on purpose - this time it was Palestinian popular struggle organiser Abdullah Abu Rahmeh. He is fine now.

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.

Palestine: Tourism - settler style

When I visit a new city, personally I prefer to explore it on my own - I find it the best way to engage with a new place, wandering the streets at my leisure, finding the city's secrets myself. Despite this, I do understand that some people prefer guided-tour style tourism, where you can really learn some history and interesting titbits of information about a new area.

But, I do rather reject the idea of visiting in a group of more soldiers than tourists. Especially when the city you are visiting is part of the occupied West Bank and you are an Israeli settler. This is what happens every week in the city of Hebron. For the last two weeks, I have had the pleasure of tagging along on the tour, because in the past, there have been attacks and harassment of Palestinians by the 'tourists' and by the soldiers 'protecting them'.

Before the settlers have even arrived, the soldiers 'secure the area'. This area that desperately needs to be secured is where Palestinians are getting on with their lives. It's their market, it's their homes, it's their shops. The 'securing of the area' often consists of breaking into houses, pointing guns into doorways and around corners and climbing onto Palestinian roofs. GB and I followed three soldiers who had climbed onto someone's roof - just as the soldiers were walking past, a little girl opened the door of her apartment. Not who I would like to find walking down my stairwell - unsurprisingly, she speedily shut the door again.

Just hypothesising, but I suspect that if that had been a young man who had shut the door, the soldiers would immediately have suspected wrongdoing and taken some action against it. The past few days, I have seen innumerable Palestinian 20-something men stopped and detained by soldiers. I ask why these men are being stopped - the soldiers admit they aren't looking for anything, they are just following orders. This is so often the case of these soldiers, pawns in the Israeli occupation. They don't know what they are doing, nor why. (Not that this excuses them of their actions. We've heard the line 'I was just following orders' before.)

So after the soldiers have finished invading people's houses and harassing people before the tour, it's time for the settlers to arrive. They come out of the illegal settlement right in the middle of Hebron city centre. Then they go directly to a Palestinian playground. Imagine 40 soldiers and a tour group arriving into a playground where you played as a kid. Imagine all the soldiers are heavily armed. Imagine that they do not care what happens to you, they care only for the tourists that they are 'protecting'.

In Hebron, some of the kids are so used to it that they try to carry on with their game of marbles. The soldiers clear them out of the way. Other kids stop and stare, or run away. The group of smartly dressed settlers wander through the park, hearing Zionist version of the history of Hebron - at one point, the Christian Peace Team and B'tselem (other observers watching the tour) get a mention by the tour-guide as busybodies who want to stop them enjoying their day out. (Benefit of ISM not having uniforms - we don't get name dropped by settlers as much!) Many of those on the tour are women younger than me. Their glares at me are piercing.

Continuing the tour, the soldiers shove their guns around corners as the tour group enter the winding paths of the souq. They stop Palestinians from walking past the settlers, only occasionally letting them edge by, squashed between the soldiers' guns and the walls. They are required to wait until the tourists have passed them - anyone who tries to pass on their own streets is liable to be pushed back by the soldiers.

Eventually, they retreat back into the settlement and lock the gates behind them.

Recently Israeli television channel referred to Palestine solidarity activists as 'hate tourists'. That label would be more correctly applied to these settlers. 

yallah bye settlers

P.S. finally, a tribute to my fallen comrade GB who will no longer feature, due to his yallah-bye-ing outta Palestine. Sad day.