26th October 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Al Masara, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday, Friday 25th October, over a hundred non-violent protesters, half of them internationals from more than a dozen countries all over the world marked the seventh anniversary of the popular struggle of the people of Al Masara against illegal Israeli settlements, most notably the expansion of the Efrata settlement.
After activists were prevented from marching to the Al Masara land by a row of Israeli soldiers in riot gear, several speeches were given. Most notably by Hasan, the leader of the Al Masara non-violent resistance, and Rabbi Brant Rosen from a Jewish-Palestinian delegation from Chicago, highlighting the importance that fighting oppression and injustice takes in the Torah, addressing both the protesters and the soldiers.
Wrapping up this successful non-violent stand against the blatant violation of the international law taking place in the West Bank, some of the internationals and the Palestinians gathered in Hasan’s house to listen to an impassioned speech by his mother Fatima, who recounted the role of the international community in the Palestinian struggle and stressed the desire for freedom and a state that the Palestinians could call their own, rather than alms in aid money.