Yesterday at Columbia, Mustafa Barghouti said that 10 Palestinian protesters in the West Bank were killed during the Gaza onslaught when Israelis fired on them during the protests that arose in virtually every village in the occupied territories.
AC adds to that:
It appears that there is a belief propagating that non-violent
resistance is nonexistent among the Palestinians. That's a false
belief. Palestinians and Israelis weekly and sometimes daily peacefully
resist the injustice. They organize protests, chant slogans, embark on
marches — the works. The Israeli response is habitually violent.
Admittedly, a Palestinian flag raised by a protester is threatening to
an Israeli, but it won't make him bleed. Live ammunition, rubber-coated
steel bullets, rubber bullets, etc., do make Palestinian and Israeli
resisters bleed, however, and sometimes die. In addition to the
violence which meets the peaceful protests, no widespread support —
moral, material, or otherwise — is mustered for the nonviolent
resistance, as was for other such movements in the U.S.A, India, and
South Africa. The absence of such support — even when evidence of the
historical injustice is readily available in overwhelming quantity,
and, with the advent of the Internet and the resulting interconnected
model of communication and dissemination, accessible with unprecedented
ease — in Israel and America (where it matters most), Europe, and
elsewhere is crippling. When the media manage some attention for a dead
Palestinian, and pressure for an investigation by the IDF, the latter
puts together a measly inquiry that many times finds no wrongdoing and
justifies the death by military necessity, standard operating procedure
for occupying powers, as is shown by the abundant use of the euphemism
"collateral damage" and this recent example in Afghanistan, where US
forces justified the death by airstrike of 90 Afghan civilians ("harrowing" video included).
Next time the UN calls for an investigation by the IDF, know that
Israeli investigations are a sham, as HRW found in a 2005 report called
"Promoting Impunity":
resistance is nonexistent among the Palestinians. That's a false
belief. Palestinians and Israelis weekly and sometimes daily peacefully
resist the injustice. They organize protests, chant slogans, embark on
marches — the works. The Israeli response is habitually violent.
Admittedly, a Palestinian flag raised by a protester is threatening to
an Israeli, but it won't make him bleed. Live ammunition, rubber-coated
steel bullets, rubber bullets, etc., do make Palestinian and Israeli
resisters bleed, however, and sometimes die. In addition to the
violence which meets the peaceful protests, no widespread support —
moral, material, or otherwise — is mustered for the nonviolent
resistance, as was for other such movements in the U.S.A, India, and
South Africa. The absence of such support — even when evidence of the
historical injustice is readily available in overwhelming quantity,
and, with the advent of the Internet and the resulting interconnected
model of communication and dissemination, accessible with unprecedented
ease — in Israel and America (where it matters most), Europe, and
elsewhere is crippling. When the media manage some attention for a dead
Palestinian, and pressure for an investigation by the IDF, the latter
puts together a measly inquiry that many times finds no wrongdoing and
justifies the death by military necessity, standard operating procedure
for occupying powers, as is shown by the abundant use of the euphemism
"collateral damage" and this recent example in Afghanistan, where US
forces justified the death by airstrike of 90 Afghan civilians ("harrowing" video included).
Next time the UN calls for an investigation by the IDF, know that
Israeli investigations are a sham, as HRW found in a 2005 report called
"Promoting Impunity":
The recent investigations and prosecutions cited earlier
notwithstanding, Human Rights Watch has found that Israeli military's
investigative practices and procedures are not impartial, thorough, or timely.
The military rarely has brought wrongdoers to justice, and existing practices
have exerted little deterrent effect.
notwithstanding, Human Rights Watch has found that Israeli military's
investigative practices and procedures are not impartial, thorough, or timely.
The military rarely has brought wrongdoers to justice, and existing practices
have exerted little deterrent effect.
This
is the reality of Palestinian non-violent resistance to Israel. So,
when they smugly ask, where is the Palestinian Gandhi?, tell them his
body lay cold in an olive orchard somewhere.
is the reality of Palestinian non-violent resistance to Israel. So,
when they smugly ask, where is the Palestinian Gandhi?, tell them his
body lay cold in an olive orchard somewhere.
Following are only a few resources for information, pictures, and video (Bilin, West Bank, 6/2/09, protesters teargassed by IDF) regarding Palestinian and Israeli non-violent resistance:
http://www.bilin-village.org/
http://www.awalls.org/node
http://activestills.org/mainenglish.php
http://palsolidarity.org/
http://www.taayush.org/topics/st-mt-hebron-ongoing-activities-update.shtml#english
