The world is watching. Astonishing footage of a woman with what sounds like an American accent standing in front of Israeli soldiers who are firing at Palestinian demonstrators. "You're shooting at kids! Don't you understand that?" she says. Brave brave woman. Provenance seems to be Korean film crew, per Juan Cole, who says that it was in Gaza and soldiers are shooting rubber bullets. Still. Youtube says December 28. Looks like West Bank to me.
Update: I am told this is the great Huwaida Arraf, an American, in the West Bank last January.
Isn't that Huwaida Arraf?
It's an American Jewish Girl.
And like you can distinguish between the West Bank from Gaza from this video.
Lucky to be alive. NEVER grab for a soldier or policeman's gun.
Surprising she wasn't at least arrested. Zonah Bogedet et Am'ah.
Cindy and Craig Corrie believe this was taken at Bi'lin in the West Bank, probably at one of the weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the Wall.
And, yes this appears to be Huwaida Arraf.
I hope the Corries know how much we all think of them and their irreplaceable, valiant, brilliant, poetic Rachel.
More bravery:
link to avners.blogspot.com
found on Counterpunch.org's website of the day,
"Thoughts of an Israeli ex-soldier" on why he couldn't sign a petition about Sh'derot,
'A request followed that said “please sign the petition attached, so that people around the world would know how it feels to be a child in a town in Israel, well within the borderline of Israel proper”.
My reply was “sorry, but I can’t sign this, because children and other civilians in the Gaza strip don’t even have 1 second to hide”.'
'The notion that all, or most, Arabs or Palestinians or Muslims, for that matter, are violent and cruel by nature, has a general term to classify it, and that is “Racism”. From all my experience in life, living in Israel and in the Bay Area, I developed a strong belief that we are all human beings. On average, under similar conditions, people from one ethnic group are not better nor worse than any others. It’s the particular situation that cause some people to behave differently.
The religion which used to be associated with so highly sophisticated and delicate culture, in the 350 years between the 10th and 14th century, namely the Islam, is now regarded as the most deadly and violent. It’s true, that many people living in Muslim countries today are living in poor, intolerant and violent conditions. But that has nothing to do with their religion – only with their political situation.
Check out the research of Dr. Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University and you will learn, that any group of people can be driven, under certain circumstances, to be cruel and evil.'
More from the ex IDF soldier
'Another common claim is this: we have pulled out of the Gaza Strip, haven’t we? What do they want now?
Well, I think they want what every normal nation wants – to manage their own lives. And we don’t let them, as long as the entire Gaza area is under siege. You can’t claim “the end of the occupation” when the people inside are not free.
But he Hamas is not willing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state! – one might say.
Yes, so? Did Israel ever recognize the right of a Palestinian state to exist?
I mean with real actions, not just declarations. The fact is, that 250,000 Jewish settlers still live, in what all International bodies see as illegal settlements – in fact, the Israeli government itself declared a few dozens of them as illegal – but so far did practically nothing to evacuate them.'
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Something to be aware of. So-called "rubber bullets" are actually steel coated with rubber. They are nearly as deadly as all-metal bullets.