Great piece by Jonathan Pollak at Huffpo on the Israeli crackdown on Palestinian civil rights, specifically, the right of people to protest inhumane political activities. He demonstrates that the crackdown is aimed at stopping the nonviolent movement that has begun to call attention to conditions in the West Bank that are far worse than apartheid. So Ehud Olmert’s warning of 2 years ago that an apartheid struggle will commence with the death of the two-state solution is happening. Pollak:
Every Friday, for the past five years, Abdallah Abu Rahmah has led men, women and children from Bil’in, carrying signs and Palestinian flags, along with their Israeli and international supporters, in civil disobedience and protest marches against the seizure of sixty percent of the village’s land for Israel’s construction of its wall and settlements. Bil’in has become a symbol of civilian resistance to Israel’s occupation for Palestinians and international grassroots.
Abu Rahmah was taken from his bed, his hands bound with tight zip tie cuffs whose marks were still visible a week later, and his eyes blindfolded. A few hours later, as President Obama spoke of "the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice" upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Abu Rahmah’s blindfold was removed as he found himself in a military detention center. He was being interrogated about the crime of organizing demonstrations. In occupied Palestinian territories, Abu Rahmah’s case is not unusual – about 8,000 Palestinians currently inhabit Israeli jails on political grounds.
After more than fifteen years of fruitless negotiations, which have done nothing more than allow Israel to further cement its control over the West Bank, even the moderate and mainstream West Bank Palestinian Authority now refuses negotiations with Israel. Despairing over the futility of perpetual negotiations, figures like Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and West Bank Prime Minister Salam Fayyad are openly supporting a resumption of the strategies of the first Palestinian Intifada. This being a grassroots uprising, saying "Those who have to resist are the people [...] like in Bil’in and Ni’ilin, where people are injured every day."
…Fearing a paradigm shift to grassroots resistance, Israel reacted in the only way it knows – with violence and repression. And what places could better serve as an example than the symbols of contemporary Palestinian popular struggle – Bil’in and the neighboring village of Ni’ilin, villages where weekly demonstrations are held against the Wall, with the support of Israeli and international activists?
Israel’s desire to quash the popular resistance movement is no hidden agenda, nor should it come as a surprise. Recent acts by the Israeli army point directly to this goal.
Over the past six months, 31 Bil’in residents have been arrested, including almost all the members of the Popular Committee that organizes the demonstrations. A similar tactic is being used against protesters in the neighboring village of Ni’ilin, which is losing over half of its land to Israel’s wall and settlements. Over the past eighteen months, 89 Ni’ilin residents have been arrested.
Israeli lawyer Gaby Lasky, who represents many of Bil’in and Ni’ilin’s detainees, was informed by Israel’s military prosecutors that the army had decided to end demonstrations against the Wall, and that it intends to use legal procedures to do so.
Thanks to Rebecca Vilkomerson.
Towards a permanent peace at approximately 67 borders, wonderful.
Towards a single-state or any continued terror or permanent confrontation, its another form of war.
“Approximately,” huh.
Kind of like how the 67 borders are “approximately” the 1948 borders? What about the Golan Heights?
And a follow up question, although it looks like you’ve fled the proverbial scene — supposing the Palestinians demand the 67 borders exactly. No settlements in the occupied territories whatsoever? East Jerusalem relinquished by Israel entirely? Suppose the precondition is that Israel must return to the pre-67 borders (which are pretty generous over the UN 181 borders, which in tern were extraordinarily generous to an insurgent population making up only a third of the region’s people who were almost exclusively immigrants, possessing 6% of the land).
Then what?
I think you really are the only person I’ve ever met, Witty, that sincerely believes that democracy is only possible via racial segregation. Oh, I’ve heard other people endorse racial segregation before, but none of them are quite as disingenuous as to make an Orwellian construction presenting it as “seperate but equal” anymore. You’re somethign of a living fossil, you are.
If you have time, I recommend keeping an eye on the comments on the article. As soon as the Israeli Foreign Ministry notices this article, it’ll be absolutely flooded and 30% of the posts will be by the commenters StCuthbert, LonelyGod and Oleg1.
Seriously. You can literally see the wave of hasbara hit comment sections on the internet.
Chaos – how come we don’t have more of them here? there was Nomi who disappeared in short order, a couple of level 1 operatives (like OJ) and the blog’s own fixtures RW and WJ, who do their jobs tirelessly (kudos guys!).
But where is the swarm? maybe they get stopped at the gates? are they afraid of Mooser? or you?
Simple — readership. The readership of this blog is, for better or for worse, relatively small compared to something like YouTube and Huffington Post. And — like it or not — but it is regarded as a Jewish blog. Not by me — it seems pretty clear to me that Mr. Weiss, while speaking from his own perspective as a Jew, invites many other perspectives here — but outwardly, it’s considered a Jewish blog, by Jews and for Jews.
You have to remember the core of Zionist philosophy — Jews are exceptional. Hasbara is reserved for the non-Jewish audience — those who, they perceive, need to be “tricked” into tolerating or supporting Zionism. It’s assumed that Jews are “smart” enough to turn to “their own best interests” sooner or later. You can get a subtext of that in the way Witty address Mr. Weiss, actually.
The army has decided to end the demonstrations against the wall – so it acts.
The army has decided not to obey the court that ordered the wall removed from Bil’in and rerouted – so it refuses to act.
It is the army who is in violation of the law, except that in the territories, the army is the law.
Eventually, Bil’in will be depopulated, the entire population in prison, and someone may notice.
I’m not as sure it will come to that, potsherd, but you’re right — without further intervention by the international community, the Nakba will continue in Bil’in. We have to keep pushing for that intervention.