Conversations at the Palestinian “Outpost”

By Ashraf

It’s been almost a year of the nonviolent struggle for the Bil’in residence against the illegal Israel wall. Beyond the wall, on land owned by the Bil’in community, the people of Bil’in have built a room referred to as the ‘outpost,’ adjacent to the illegal Israeli settlement outpost Matityahu Mizrah. The land on this side of the wall will be rendered inaccessible to the villagers by the annexation barrier.

Palestinians, Internationals and Israeli activists maintain a permanent presence in the outpost which has since been described as a place for shared popular resistance against the wall over Bil’in’s land.

When I was staying in the outpost, we (a friend, a boy from the village and I) walked through a gap in the fence created during one the protests against the wall. As we reached the other side of the wall an Israeli Hummer Jeep followed us through the field and stopped a few meters ahead. Three soldiers got out of the jeep and asked the boy, who was around 17 years old for his ID.
Boy: “I don’t have my ID”
Soldier: “where is your ID, why you don’t have it?”
Boy: “there is no need for my ID, why should I have it on me when I’m in my village?”
Soldier: “this is not your village, don’t play dumb and give me your ID”
Boy: “I left it at home and we are going to visit friends in that small house (the outpost)”
Soldier: “your land is back there, and that room is not for you”
Boy (pointing with his finger): “do you see that land over there? It belongs to my dad and it’s our land!”
Soldier (making a rude look): “stop the crap, next time you bring your ID with you” The soldier then looked at me and my friend and asked the boy for our IDs, I was very nervous because –legally- according to the Israeli policy I am not allowed to travel outside Tulkarem, where I come from. The soldier looked at my ID for more two minutes and then he let us go peacefully.

That night while we were sitting around a camp fire night at the outpost, another Hummer Jeep stopped by and three soldiers walked towards our tent. One of the local activists I admire and respect very much, a farmer called Waji , was there to have this conversation in Hebrew with the soldiers for more than twenty minutes.
The first soldier (apparently the commander): “Hello, how are you?”
Wagi: “We are good, but it would be better if you drop your weapon and join us to drink tea”
The commander: “Why you still sitting here?, we gave you your land back”
Wagi: “You did not give me anything, this is all the land of Bili’n”
The commander: “Your land is the village, this land is not for you it’s for the government”
Wagi: “ How come this land is for the government, did you buy it? Did you earn it some way”
The commander: “I don’t care, this land is for the government and how you want me to drop my weapon when all Arabs hate me?”
Wagi: “ You are stealing our land, our water, our trees, and demolishing our homes and lives, how you want us to feel towards you?” “
The commander: “Well, I have to protect my country and it’s my duty to join the army”
Wagi again: “OK! there is something mentioned in the Jews history, the golden age, do you know about it?”
The commander said: “No, then the next soldier smiled and answered, “Yes, I heard about the golden age”
Wagi: “Do you know what is it?”
The soldier replied, “yes, but you tell me about it.”
Wagi: “It’s the age when the Jews where living under the Muslim empire and you never felt the justice and took all your rights like that time, right”
The soldier answered: “Yes, it’s true.”
Wagi: “Is this how you treat us back now, why we can’t live like we were in the past?”
The soldier: “You have started it, you want to fight us”
Wagi: “It doesn’t make sense, If you gave me all my rights would I fight you? Why you are here with your gun then?”
The commander: “What about the suicide bombers, do you want me to let them blow them selves up in Tel Aviv?”
Wagi: “Do you think a 100 years old man would prefer to die? Naturally people love life. Why you think these people blow them selves up, why do they want to finish there lives”?
The commander: “They do this because they hate us.”
Wagi: “They do this because you have killed their friends, maybe their family or someone close, do you think throwing a bomb in Gaza the most over populated place in the world and killing women and children is different than the suicide bombing?”
The commander again: “Yes, this is a military operation done by soldiers but suicide bombing is different”
Wagi: “Let me tell you this personal story, I have a disabled son moving in a wheelchair, few months ago your army invaded my house and one of your soldiers aimed at my son while he was sitting and shot him in the shoulder”
The other soldier: “Only the border police do that, they are crazy!!! We are not like them, we are regular soldiers”
Wagi: “Regular soldiers!! Don’t you have this saying in the army “Shoot then Cry”? What makes you different?.”
The soldier smiled and didn’t say anything, Wagi added “Do you know how my son became disabled?, at the beginning of this Intifada he joined a peaceful demonstration against an illegal checkpoint in Ramallah and he was shot with a “dumdum” bullet by an Israeli sniper”
The same soldier again: “What is a ‘dumdum’ ?”
Waji with a smile: “You don’t know what is a “dumdum”? It’s an explosive bullet, it makes an explosion once it hits something. This illegal bullet shattered my son’s spine”
The soldier: “We don’t have these kind of bullets in Israeli, we don’t use them maybe it was a rubber bullet?”
Waji: “Do you think that bullet came from the sky and hit my son?, Do you know my son was dying and I wanted to take to Jordan to get better medical care but your authority did not give me a permit to save my son’s life! Let me tell you something else, what weapons do you use against peaceful demonstrations in Bil’in? Rubber bullets, coated steal bullets with salt, bean bullets (an illegal bullet splits into plastic pieces to poison the body, used once in the US and killed one woman”,) sponge bullets, the scream weapon, electric weapons. my other 12 years old son was shot with a “dumdum” bullet too in one of the demonstrations? Are you going to tell me that you don’t have these weapons too? My other son is in prison now for three months because he participated in peaceful protests against stealing his land. If you were in my place as a father, what would you do?!!”
The commander (nodding his head): “It’s been good talking to you, we have to go now. I hope we can see again and talk”
Waji: “If you come next time, come with your car without your uniform and you are welcome to visit me in my house”.

END

Travelers share tales from Rafah

by Venice Buhain
Originally publsihed in The Olympian

OLYMPIA — For a few hours Sunday, the Olympia Eagles Ballroom was filled with friendly chatter, the enticing smells of Mediterranean food and the delicate handiwork of Palestinian embroidery.

But the main event at the fundraiser for the Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project was a presentation by two volunteers from the organization that aims to continue the connection between Olympia and the city where activist Rachel Corrie died.

Corrie, who lived in Olympia, died in 2003 after being run over by a bulldozer operated by the Israeli military as she protested the demolition of a home.

The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project was formed shortly after Corrie’s death, said her friend and volunteer Rochelle Gause. Gause is one of three “delegates” who recently returned from Rafah as part of the sister city project.

Corrie’s parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, also have traveled on behalf of the project.

Gause said Corrie had sent e-mails about possibly starting a sister city program with Rafah.

“It was one of her visions,” Gause said. “We’ve tried to carry that vision and develop it.”

The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project, which became a recognized nonprofit organization last year, established a women’s center and a cultural center in Rafah, collects medical equipment, and has hosted educational presentations stateside about the volunteers’ experiences in Palestinian areas.

Gause and Serena Becker gave their first presentation after returning several weeks ago from an eventful trip around Gaza and the West Bank. The presentation covers the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the current conditions of life in the Palestinian areas.

Gause and Becker nearly were kidnapped in January, just before the
Palestinian elections, but their Palestinian friends interceded on their behalf, Becker said. Gause and Becker plan to take their slide show lecture on a tour.

The group sends several delegates for months at a time to live in Rafah, and its members hope to bring residents to visit Olympia.

The project already has started one of Corrie’s goals — to bring handcrafted scarves, vests, bracelets, pillows, purses and other goods from Rafah and to pay the artisans a fair wage, said event organizer Rana Shmait.

“It’s a fair livable wage, to the mutual benefit of the people in Rafah and Olympia,” she said.

Locally, the crafts are sold at Traditions Cafe, a store dedicated to fair trade. Having delegates in Rafah is one of the few ways for the goods to reach Olympia, Gause said.

Before her death, Corrie, who was well-known in the local peace activist community, had spoken to Traditions Cafe about selling Palestinian handicrafts there, said cafe manager Jody Tiller. The nonprofit group doesn’t make a lot of money off of the goods, she said.

“They want as much as possible to go toward the women as they can get,” Tiller said.

Though many of the people at Sunday’s fundraiser knew Corrie or were familiar with the group, some were happy to have the chance to learn about the group and its mission.

“I wanted to support the project, and I wanted to learn more about it,”
said Karen Nelson, owner of the Fertile Ground Guest House, which has donated rooms for guest speakers sponsored by the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.

“I’m glad that there’s such a turnout, and that people in Olympia are becoming aware of what is happening in other areas.”

Harassment of Palestinian Non-Violent activists – part one

Mansur’s Testimony

I decided to join some of my international friends and sleep in the new Palestinian houses built on the land that will be cut off from Bil’in by the wall. We were hanging out and chatting when an Israeli military jeep showed up around 8pm. After they left we went to sleep. At 3am, the Israeli jeep showed up again and I woke up to see who it was. They asked for my ID and then they left for around 20 minutes. On returning they told me to go to Ofer prison after 6 hours.

The morning came, and I start walking to the village, having to pass the construction site of the wall. Two Israeli security men stopped me and threatened that they will shoot people if we kept annoying them by coming to and from the Palestinian houses on the “wrong” side of the wall. I couldn’t argue with them because I didn’t want to be late for the interrogation in Ofer prison as it would result in a black point in my file.

I reached Ofer and waited about 1 hour outside until the soldiers called me and started searching me. They put me in a room with a camera on the wall where I stayed about an hour and a half, until they called me in. An Israeli soldier came who seemed to be nice .He informed me that his name was Captain Amjad and asked if I wanted something to drink. I replied “no thanks, I had some”,”What is your name?” he asked “Mansour Mansour” “What is your work?” “Different things” He started by pretending that he was a nice person talking in a friendly way. He said that he wouldn’t interrogate me but wanted to talk as “friends”. Of course, we Palestinians know this scenario and have much experience with these tactics. He asked me how I survive. , how I get money? what had I achieved ?.Who I was working with? Who are my friends and what was my relationship with the internationals? He asked about my group and about our relationship with Hamas. He asked what I was doing in Bil’in, in Bit Sira and in Aboud and wanted to know how we contacted internationals to join us. He asked many other questions which were intended to make me feel that they knew everything about me.

In fact I felt bored whilst he was questioning me, as both of us knew why I was there and why they wanted to interrogate me.

And some point I told him that he should be smarter than to believe his lying soldiers. He then spat in my mouth and told me to think again before they changed their “nice way”. He left the room and then two huge soldiers came in. They looked at me as if I were something disgusting and told me :” IT SEEMS YOU PREFER THE OTHER WAY OF TALKING, WE DON’T HAVE THAT NICE WAY OF THE FIRST GUY WHO WAS TALKING WITH YOU.” They held my arm and then pushed me against the wall. They hit me against the wall twice. Hard. I said “why are you doing that ?, I didn’t do anything wrong. They told me to shut up. Before long Captain Amjad came back and started questioning me about Hamas. He asked many questions, including what I would do with the new government, how I would work with them, what contact I have with them.

He told me that he would check what I said with my cousin who would be interrogated the following morning in the same place. They then gave me my stuff and led me out of the prison.

I walked calmly and didn’t look back. I expect I will be back. I headed for my house it had been a hard day and I needed to relax. I’m not trying to ignore their humiliating treatment or forget how they violated my human rights but I want to keep on doing effective work for our oppressed people. What they did to me actually inspires me to continue.

Youth, 17, says shot in the eye by Border Police officers

By Jonathan Lis
Originally published in Haaretz

Matan Cohen, an Israeli demonstrator against the separation fence, told Haaretz on Saturday that doctors are not sure if he will be able to see out of his eye again after he was reportedly shot the day before by a Border Police officer during a protest.

Cohen said he was shot Friday in his eye with a rubber bullet during clashes between anti-fence demonstrators and Israeli security forces in the West Bank village of Beit Sira, southwest of Ramallah. He was taken to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.

“We went to a nonviolent demonstration against the separation fence on portions of the village land. We reached an agreement with the military representative that the demonstration would remain nonviolent. We told them we wanted no confrontations. The request was honored until a Border Police force arrived,” Cohen said.

“At that point, the clashes began and the Border Police officers fired live fire into the air and rubber bullets from point blank range. Ten officers then began running toward the demonstrators that had already begun dispersing. Me and three other international activists were standing far from the demonstrators. A Border Police officer stood 20 meters from me, and I heard him cock his weapon. I yelled to him, ‘Don’t shoot, nobody is endangering you,’ but he shot. I felt a sharp pain in my eye, lost my vision and fainted.”

“He simply shot me in the head. The bullet hit half a centimeter above my eye. It’s utter contempt for human life, when in the name of the defense of something or other the army has a right to hurt demonstrators,” Cohen continued.

Border Police sources refused to respond to the statements, saying that only Israel Defense Forces spokespeople had the authority to respond to the affair. IDF sources said a preliminary examination revealed Cohen was injured by a stone thrown by an unruly demonstrator. They said that since he was standing closer to the forces than to the demonstrators, it is likely that he was hit by demonstrators aiming for forces.

IDF sources also said that the demonstration in Beit Sira, along with one nearby in Abud, constituted a violation of order because the area had been declared a closed military zone. The demonstrators said the sources threw stones at the security forces, which prompted the dispersal by security forces.

During the clashes, three soldiers were lightly injured in Abud and one in Beit Sira.

Injured anti-fence ‘anarchist’ speaks out

by Meital Yasur Beit-Or
Originally published at Ynet.com

Matan Cohen after being shot in the eye by a 'rubber bullet'

Matah Cohen has sustained eye injuries while protesting the security fence near Ramallah; Says: ‘I feel like the blood of Left-wing activists is cheap’

Matan Cohen, 17, from Tel Aviv, and a member of the “Anarchists Against the Fence” organization, was injured while demonstrating against the security fence near Ramallah.

“My feeling is that the blood of Left-wing activists and the Palestinians is cheap,” he said.

Cohen was shot by Border Police and injured in his eye, and has been hospitalized in the Tel Hashomer Medical Center since Friday.

If bleeding does not stop within 24 hours, Cohen will undergo surgery. In either case, doctors believe his eye has sustained damage. In the best case, his visual range will be affected, and in the worst case, he would lose complete vision in the eye. “Up until now I can’t see out of the eye, and they’ll be able to see if there’s damage only in a few days. I’m worried about damage in my eye and I really hope the bleeding stops,” said Cohen.

Members of the organization have begun documenting their demonstrations due to past experiences with violence. “We have recordings of an army commander who said that he doesn’t want the situation to turn violent, and who tried to calm things down, saying not to shoot. But a Border Police is also heard saying ‘shoot everyone one of them with a rubber bullet.’ When I was shot I was standing with three people, within around a 20 meter range from a Border Police force. We said: ‘Don’t shoot, we are not threatening you and we are not endangering you,’ but they opened fire, and also directed it to the head, violating all of their rules of engagement. I felt the impact in the eye, and with the remainder of my strength, I managed to run from them. My entire hand and head were filled with blood,” said Cohen.

‘No connection to Amona’

Cohen says there is no connection between violence of soldiers against Right-wing demonstrators in Amona and Left-wing demonstrators: “In our demonstrations, they shoot live bullets in order to kill. In Right-wing demonstrations, no gas or shock grenades have ever been thrown. This is violence which is many times larger. The feeling is our blood is cheap. But violence which takes place when the life of a police officer is not under threat should be condemned, it doesn’t matter from which side it occurs.”

Three soldiers and Border Police officers were injured by rocks thrown at them. One police officer was taken to hospital.

According to police, two disturbances of the peace took place on Friday in the Ramallah area, as part of protests against the construction of the security fence. Hundreds of Palestinians, Left-wing activists, and foreigners took part in the disturbances, whom entered a closed military zone. Demonstrators threw rocks at security forces, who responded with crowd dispersal means.

Soldier lost eye

A few months ago, a soldier lost his left eye in similar protests after a rock was thrown at him by demonstrators.

Cohen, who completed his high school studies, has been taking part in protests against the route of the fence for three years, and says he witnessed harsh violence on the part of soldiers and Police officers. “The approach is that it’s legitimate to fire at demonstrators, even when they are nonviolent. The IDF and Border Police use live ammunition, tear gas, and rubber bullets, and hundreds of people have been injured in this period. In yesterday’s demonstration another 11 Palestinians were injured, one of them was even operated on at a hospital in Ramallah,” he said.

Efrat Weiss contributed to this report
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Read the ISM report on Matan’s shooting here.