I'm writing this from a friends apartment in london, catching up on the sunday papers, drinking tea, and lapping up the dreary  weather. It was raining this morning.... R A I N I N G!!!!!

I flew out yesterday afternoon. Two of my favourite people taking me and my hangover to Ben Gurion and keeping an eye on my adventures with security. I followed the advice of Israeli friends and just handed myself in... which seemed to put the security staff on a back foot of what to do with me. In the end i had little more trouble than a complete luggage search (its a narguila pipe..... and no, my dirty bras arent hiding any explosives, but feel free to test them anyway. super....) and the immigration official looked especially cross as she stamped my passport having made a quick call to her superiors (?).... aw.... my last encounter with Israeli bureaucracy....

Arrived safe back to the insanity that is Heathrow under 'terror alert'..... *sigh* at least im not going cold turkey on uniforms with guns. baby steps.

So, there's a load of folks who deserve way more than a vague thank you here.... without whom, well, god knows what strife we'd (i) have got ourselves in.... i obviously cant speak on behalf of the others but these are the people who pop into my head....

so: big ups our watchers/salt shakers who always had our backs... even when we were crap about texting and letting them know what was going on... and when their own lives were hectic.... there's not enough pints in england to express the gratitude, love, respect..... and all round warm fuzzies.

our individual support folks.
(on a personal note my own two, who are amazing.... A M A Z I N G!!!!!! I couldnt list here the zillion of things here they did that helped me/us out... )

Our Israeli mates. Who housed us, watched our backs, showed incredible solidarity when we were nicked,  hung out with us, befriended us, fed us, included us, informed us, inspired us.... the list is endless....  we wuv youse.
*insert shaped hand heart here*

friends and family who sent us emails, commented on our blog, made donations... you guys know who you are....

strangers who sent us emails, commented on our blog, made donations..... we dont know who you are....

i wouldnt like to thank paypal who are rubbish. R U  B B I S H!!!!!!!!

So, solidarity to the Palestinians
the queers
the anarchists....
and the street medics.

i wont be posting again
arohanui

astrid
x

astrid2005@hotmail.co.uk


 

and now for the long-awaited post:

11/06/07:
Celebration of the National Erection...
(disclaimer: the contents of this post may offend. Enter at your own risk)

Im trying really hard to not begin this post with the word "so".... it's proving tricky.

I joined the anarcho queer block on Jerusalems Pride Parade yesterday.
Pride Parades across the world are generally full of naked people gyrating on floats -whereas  the 'modest' (im not even going to go into the in-politics within the queer and gay community here) parade in Jerusalem is flanked by thousands of officers, 7000 coppers defending 3500 marchers, as  the Ultra Orthodox population hold counter rallies and riot in neighbouring streets. really.  They've been burning shit, blocking roads, and rucking with the police for days. Absolutely surreal. Because God hates the gays. Really. It's a little ironic that it's brought religious extremists from all sides (Muslim and Jewish) together in their condemnation....  awww.... bless.


-watch the fundos riot-



Last year the parade was cancelled ('security concerns") and in 2005 3 demonstrators were stabbed by a religious bloke who jumped into the parade and went Hitchcock with a kitchen knife. Yesterday the police caught an ultra orthodox man with a makeshift pipe bomb (!!!!!) he was planning on planting on the route of the march.... Friends from Tel Aviv had to be escorted by police to the march after a run in with crazy settler girls.... it's funny because the police 'protected' them....

Apart from a couple of reports of assaults the march stayed peaceful. We didnt see any trouble. Just kitted up police running around intercepting the counter demonstrators who we never even saw. At least 19 people were arrested.

'It seems apt to end with a touching quote from Israels trade minister Eli Yishai who said that the 'homosexual march' is a "vulgar event that offends and violates the sanctity of Jerusalem".

sweet.

arohanui
astrid
xxxx

So, after the 'lone blogger' slur from Euan it's only fair that i blog up some drivel. Although i just managed to delete an entire post i just typed. Go me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Ruth and I's deportation order expired/came into force on the 15th June, which now makes me illegal... (my flight leaves at the end of the month and im way too cheap to invest in a new ticket. What are they gonna do? deport me? ha ha ha... *cough*... ha ha ha)  it's not half as exciting as it sounds, and has really just meant a change of address. Or rather left me at the mercy of my Israeli friends (and their unsuspecting families/friends/housemates) who have proved insanely hospitable. Awww... love those guys...

Im not up for the deportation thing. The whole process of being arrested, detained, detention centres, appeal process and the inevitable getting chucked on a plane just dosnt do it for me. In fact, if im completely honest, it totally wigs me out... i've had enough hospitality at the hands of the Israeli Authorities. Aren't *I* the hardcore anarchist. So I've been avoiding potentially arrestable situations. Because of my passport situation, or rather the nice big CANCELLED stamps over my visa - getting called up at a checkpoint is enough to get me busted. So that counts out  actions in the West Bank and potentially arrestable direct actions here in the '48. It sucks. It's totally not my thing to stand aside from actions... it's frustrating, disempowering (oh my god i sound like im in some kind of community-anarcho-help-group) but for me better than the above head-fucking process.  Self care and all that..... but it still sucks.

Although in comparison to the escalating situation inside Palestine (3 state solution?) i really can't complain...(( there's enough 'opinion' floating around the web at the moment regarding whats happening here i wont add my own 2 cents...)) uh  yeah... so I'll stop whining....

I have however been going on demos here in Tel Aviv. And somehow my days are kept busy.  Helping mates out with their projects (read: hanging tarps from trees and doing odd jobs) ,  pulling together a couple of random project of my own, hanging out with folks (including breakfast yesterday with Israeli Security Personnal. hahaha. Uncomfortable much? ) Tomorrow im off to visit a permaculture project down south....


arohanui

Astrid
xxx

Demonstration against 40 years of occupation

Saturday 9th June
The main(stream) event of the week of action was a large demonstration through the streets of Tel Aviv, organised by Kibush40 coalition made up of most of the left-wing groups opposing the occupation.

We went along as part of the "black & pink bloc". Unlike demonstrations in the UK, there was a minimal police presence. It was a strange feeling to be part of an anarchist bloc at a demonstration and not be entirely surrounded by cops. In the UK, the minute the cops see a black hoodie or a well-known face they seem to forget about the rest of the demonstration and surround the anarchists as if we were about to storm parliament (if only).  As the main march sauntered along the planned route, chatting away to their friends, the black & pink bloc would stop for loads of energetic chanting, samba drumming, dancing, and some of the most furious flag-waving i've ever seen, until it was time to catch up with the rest of the march, at which point there would be a countdown and the whole bloc would charge down the road.



There were a few thousand people in total on the march, but not everybody stayed on for the rally at the end, the usual boring crap speeches from politicians (that last bit is a direct quote from an Israeli friend, not my words!). As ever, the anarchists were the most fun...


Love n hugs,
The lone blogger (Euan)



* the clowns i mean... that's right, they've reached Israel. Their main (when i say 'main' I mean 'only') tactic of the day seemed to be 'creeping'. just 'creeping'. They did apparently redeem themselves by storming the stage and interrupting the rally at the end.

OK, so playing catchup on the blog now, here's the first installment. I'm afraid they won't be coming in chronological order (or alphabetical order, or any other order) because my brain just doesn't work like that...

Saturday 9th June (morning)
Roadblock removal:

I set off early to meet up with Kez & Ruth in Beit Ommar for another roadblock removal action, working with the Palestine Solidarity Project, Israeli anarchists and the Popular Committee of Hebron. Our aim was to remove three roadblocks. We set out for the first roadblock, which prevents access down the main road connecting the towns of Al Jaba and Surif, turning a journey that used to take five minutes into one hour. We arrived at the roadblock well prepared, with sticks, ropes and a giant crowbar. The roadblock was on a slope, so with the help of gravity (and without the chants of "Allah is great" this time), we successfully cleared the three cement blocks within half an hour, while as we moved the block, local cars began to pass through. The roadblock has been removed four times in recent months, some times it was replaced immediately, sometimes it remained open for weeks.

Al Jaba:


I've found the roadblock removals to be one of the most effective acts of resistance I've seen while here. The roadblocks are a key part in the apartheid road system the Israeli government is creating in the West Bank. They're denying Palestinians freedom of movement within their own country, it's crippling their economy and it's denying them access to basic healthcare. This is the side of the occupation that goes unreported, concrete blocks don't sell papers like the site of a bombing or dead bodies. The effects of the occupation go beyond simple body counts, and I think it's important to remember the deeper effects the occupation has on the everyday lives of Palestinians.


Beit Einun... it's a big rock


So on to the next roadblock, this time blocking the village of Beit Einun from accessing Route 60, the main road into Hebron. Call me pessimistic but I had a bad feeling when I saw the size of the main block shown in the picture above. We were joined by press and villagers as we gave this block our best shot. I think at one point we felt the stone wobble a little, but unfortunately it just wasn't gonna happen. We decided to move across the road where there was another, easier-looking roadblock. Unfortunately just as we arrived, an army jeep turned up, soon followed by a few more jeeps filled with soldiers and border cops. We had a sinking feeling as they initially blocked us from the road, there were easily enough cops to make some arrests. Fortunately when we set off it seemed that the cops decided we were more hassle that we're worth, and let us pass without a problem. We didn't manage to move the roadblock but we'd escaped without arrest.


jeeps and more jeeps

It seems like I'm always apologising here for lack of bloggage...
Well, sorry for the lack of bloggage over the last week.
It was the last week we're all here, and we chose a busy week to end on. Last week was the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Six Day War, so to "commemorate" it, throughout Israel and the occupied territories there were six days of events, including demonstrations, theatre, film screenings, academic conferences, etc.

So, blog-wise there's a lot of catching up to do, over the next few days we'll try to write about:
- The Jerusalem street medic training
- Critical Mass
- Tel Aviv demonstration
- Our last outing at Bil'in
- Other actions against the occupation
- and finally, the national erection

For now there are some reports up on Israel  Indymedia: www.israel.indymedia.org
Some info at: http://www.kibush40.org/wordpress/
And some photos under  "ongoing  activities"  on the Active Stills website: www.activestills.org

More soon,
love,
Schmeuan

Hey,
so Ruth and i had a meeting with our (amazing) lawyer Gaby Lasky on Sunday to clarify our legal situation and also to collect our bill.
$575 US (including VAT) - which is a total bargain and worth every penny, only problem now is trying to sort the finances to actually *pay* it.
Oh, and it works out to approx 290 British Pounds... which is $765 NZ or in NIS 2367. (using todays online  currency exchange rates. We do have a hard copy of the bill floating around somewhere....)
Totally aware peoples attentions are focused on the G8 and related solidarity funds - but if anyone feels they have a few quid/dollars to chip in let us know - or the energy to throw together a benefit gig or the like.

Had our last three day training in Jerusaelm last week. This week is the 40th 'Birthday' of the Occupation and there's a week of actions happening. Which hopefully we'll get to blog about later.

I just washed my dreads and they smell nice. fruity.

arohanui
astrid
x

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE BOTH VERY TIRED AND RUNNING ON CAFFEINE, SO WE APOLOGISE IF ANY OF THIS DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. NO TEA POTS WERE HARMED IN THE PRODUCTION OF THIS POST. HONEST

So apologies for delay in blog from us, we’ve been struggling with the internet (again). Bah, technology!

Where to start… On Sunday 19th (yep, deportation day), we got up at 3.30am to go to a village near Bethlehem called Artas. People had been staying in the area since Wednesday, when a demolition order had been served on a grove of apricot and date trees. The settlement looks down over the area and the settlers had originally wanted the trees to be demolished so they could put a sewage pipe into the area. This is illegal even under the laws of the occupation but it is ‘legal’ to steal land in order to build the apartheid wall on it. So… the route of the wall which was due to pass nearby was changed, meaning they can build the sewage pipe. We’ve been struggling to write about what happened, because whatever we write doesn’t quite describe it accurately. Just after we turned up, the soldiers began to remove people from the area, dragging them away from the trees and throwing them over a wall. The soldiers heavily outnumbered the rest of us and blocked anyone from getting back to the trees, so we basically had to stand by and watch as the digger came in and tore up the orchard. Once the area was clear, it only took around an hour for the digger to destroy the orchard. The worst thing about it for us was seeing how devastated the villagers were. Afterwards everyone sat around in tears as the soldiers looked on, smiling, joking, having a drink and applauding themselves.

after the destruction

 

By 11am we were back in Tel Aviv, sitting around feeling kinda numb. And then immigration called…

So after all the frantic tea drinking on Sunday, and the slightly less frantic beer drinking that followed A & R’s release, Monday became the day of rest. We finally made it to the beach and watched the military planes flying overhead. The highlight of the day was an amazing “fancy” meal we were invited to at Salon Mazal, the infoshop. We were told that there is a big “dress-up” culture here, and as we blagged some posh clothes we were assured that we wouldn’t be the only ones dressing smart. We even picked our hosts some flowers. From the bus station. Classy. It turns out that people weren’t so keen, as we spent the evening sat in suits and dresses (I was told I looked like Frank Sinatra but actually I looked more like a dodgy insurance salesman), we think

The meal was delicious, proper posh like. We even got leftover chocolate cake the next day. Ok this blog is not just about the food we ate…

On Wednesday we set off back to Tel Rumedia, to give the few folks holding the fort a break from the 6.30am school run. We spent most of Thursday laughing as we watched the soldiers wheeze their way up and down Shudada Street on a training run (the road is like 30metres long!). We didn’t have too many problems, however the soldiers spotted a Palestinian engaging in the highly suspicious behaviour of talking to internationals (us). They accused him of the heinous crime of handing out “information”, based on the fact that he said hello to people as they walked past. They then demanded to search his bag for leaflets. He had been searched two minutes earlier as he passed through the checkpoint (the soldiers are as alert as ever and highly aware of the dangers of invisible in-bag printing presses). After finding nothing, the soldiers gave him and us a stern warning that if we are to give anyone information, we must let the soldiers read it first. After their top-notch detective work, the soldiers didn’t seem to find it suspicious that settlers roam the streets carrying guns. Welcome back to Tel Rumeida.

It was only a brief stay and we set off to Beit Omar to go to two friday demos. The first was at Um Salamuna where we watched Palestinian, Israeli and International men play football along the route the wall will take. Euan sat out in solidarity with the women and definitely not cos he was too tired and couldn’t be arsed. After the match everyone travelled in convey to Artas to join the villagers in demonstrating against last Sunday’s destruction of their apricot orchard. It was really miserable returning to the area, following the same route. Where on Sunday we’d walked towards green, living trees we walked towards a trampled, muddy patch of brown.

As we walked along the track near the bottom of the valley people pointed out around a dozen snipers positioned above us on the hills. The villagers wanted to return to their land but the soldiers formed a line with their riot shields blocking the path. The Palestinians linked arms with Israelis and internationals and continued to walk towards the land. When we reached the soldiers we tried to pass but were pushed back. We continued to try to get past, we made some small progress and the soldiers broke their lines. Then the soldiers became more aggressive, shoving people to the ground, kicking them and in a couple of cases hitting them with their guns. They were being particularly aggressive towards an international called George. One soldier whacked him on the head with the butt of his gun and they hit out at him whenever he got in reach. We suggested George moved back as they seemed to be picking on him, but before he could move, soldiers grabbed him. I (Kez) dived onto him yelling the ever imaginative “hey!” while Euan and everyone else was held back by the soldiers. In the confusion of boots, floor and khaki I couldn’t see that no-one else could reach us and I soon got kicked off George, who they then dragged away. It’s all a bit of a blur but I was on the floor in the middle of a group of soldiers. One of them fell over and landed on me, it was all looking a bit shit when Euan performed a heroic dive/lunge (Euan – actually it was more like a fall, but you should see the video, it makes me look well ‘ard) through the soldiers and pulled me back towards the crowd. The throng (ok, we meant crowd, but realised we’d used ‘crowd’ twice in three words, so we were looking for a synonym, and that’s the first one Word came up with. We’ve decided we’ll no longer be part of demos, only throngs) tried to demand George’s release, but the soldiers ignored them. We left soon after when the villagers decided the demonstration was over. George was held for 24 hours, accused of assaulting soldiers (we think they just got confused about who was hitting who) and banned from the area for 2 weeks.

poor george

We spent most of Saturday in Beit Ommar feeling sore and sorry for ourselves. We planned to go to Jerusalem to support George in court, but just as we were leaving we got a call to say that he had been released. So it was back to Tel Rumeida…

We got a great welcome back from the soldiers, who invaded our roof as we were sitting out smoking that long-awaited nargila. Seven soldiers marched onto our roof, aiming their guns at us as they came up the stairs. Some took positions, one aimed his sights at a small child playing in next door’s garden, and the others strutted around conducting a thorough search of our compost bin. Really. They claimed they were looking for “something.” We had some jokes lined up about what they were looking for, but decided they were too bad even for us.

We were up at 6.30 again on Sunday, for the school run. We haven’t really got the hang of the whole early to bed, early to rise thing yet, but a cup of thick, sugary Arabic coffee always helps in these situations. It was quiet morning, we spent most of the time laughing at the soldiers in their summer headgear.

At 12.45, we noticed the soldiers hassling people at the checkpoint, the following is the press release we wrote- the “HRWs” are our fine selves:

“Two Palestinians Arrested in Tel Rumeida Today

May 27, 2007

At approximately 12.45pm today, IDF soldiers detained one Palestinian man and four women at the main checkpoint on Shuhada Street in Tel Rumeida, Hebron. Two Human Rights Workers (HRWs) approached the checkpoint to ask why the Palestinians were being detained, however the soldiers, who normally speak good English, claimed they could not speak English and refused to answer.

At approximately 1.30pm, after the Palestinians had been detained for 45 minutes, police officers arrived and questioned the man involved. When the commanding officer noticed that the HRWs were filming the detention, he became irate and attempted to confiscate the video tape. The HRWs refused to hand over the tape, as it is not illegal to film police officers. The HRWs were then told that the prisoners were being held on suspicion of carrying false ID cards.

At approximately 2pm, the police officers took the Palestinian man and one woman to the police station for questioning. The police officer later claimed that they were released within half an hour. However, HRWs in Hebron contacted the family at 6pm today, who informed them that the prisoners had not yet been released.”

In this situation, we were pretty useless. All we could do was film and pass water to the detainees.

The arresting officer wasn't too happy with being filmed. The recording of our conversation with him provided us with a good half hour of amusement later on so here for your enjoyment is a reconstruction….

Cop (imagine Tom Hanks on steroids) (breaks off mid shout at the Palestinian man, puts on sunglasses (Cop School Rule 1: sunglasses make you look authoritative) and stomps over to HRWs) : Sir are you filming me? Are you filming me Sir?

HRW 1: He…

Cop (interrupts) : Sir, I’m asking if you’re filming me sir.

HRW 1: We’re filming the back of that Palestinian man.

Cop: Sir, I’m conducting a criminal investigation into this man. This is about the security of the state of Israel, I am conducting a criminal investigation into this man and you’re filming me and that’s wrong. It’s unethical. I’m going to have to take the tape, can you give me the tape?

HRW 2: Thanks for telling us what you are doing, we tried to ask the soldiers what is happening and they ignored us.

Cop: I’m conducting a criminal investigation into this man, he could be a terrorist, this is my job, I am paid to do my job, give me the tape now sir.

HRW 1: Is it illegal to film you?

Cop (ignores HRW 1): Sir, can I have the tape?

HRW 1: Is it illegal to film?

Cop (ignores HRW 1 again): Sir, give me the tape

HRW 1: It’s not illegal for us to film you, so we don’t have to give you the tape

Cop: I am conducting a criminal investigation into this man. I don’t know what is happening here, he could be a terrorist, there could be something wrong here, I am trying to conduct an investigation and you are filming me, and that is wrong, it’s unethical. It’s just wrong.

HRW 1: But not illegal

Cop: I know you people, I know xxxx and xxxx (two internationals), I help you people. (Takes sunglasses off (Cop School Rule 2: Eye contact adds the human touch. Use sparingly) You know, we have this trust. It’s just a little bit (makes pinching hand gesture), but we have this trust. If we don’t have that little bit of trust, what do we have? Nothing. We have this trust and then I come here, I’m trying to conduct a criminal investigation and I see you filming me, and that hurts. You know, it gives me a bad feeling (at this point we swear he actually clutched his heart). It makes me feel like I’ve been stabbed in the back you know, it’s wrong, it’s just wrong. We had this trust. (Pause, puts the sunglasses back on) Sir, give me the tape.

HRW 1 & 2 try not to laugh…

It went on like this for a good 15 minutes, with the officer being a one-man “good cop/bad cop” until he realized he didn’t have a legal leg to stand on and backed down over confiscating the tape. In a last-ditch attempt to restore a shred of dignity, the cop insisted on watching the tape.

After a couple more days in Tel Rumeida, we’re on the move again and looking forward to our upcoming medic training in Jerusalem. We’ll try not to write such a monster entry next time.

Kez & Euan

I've been pretty quiet on the blog for a couple of weeks, mostly because it's been a pretty quiet couple of weeks. Astrid and I have been chilling a bit, Astrid went to Jerusalem for a couple of days while I indulged in some crafts therapy at the Red House - I sewed myself a skirt, a neckerchief and a black tshirt (previously I literally had no black clothes with me which is like Mr T not having gold chains) and felt better for it.

I travelled to Ramallah via Jerusalem (where I ate my first falafel in a good couple of weeks) on Sunday to help out at the ISM media office for a few days. It's not wildly exciting, but I was keen to spend time in Palestine and not let my last view of the place be from the back of a police van. I arrived in the middle of a training so I sneaked off into the media office to read, where J, one of the trainers came to find me. He asked "Do you think you look Israeli?"  - it turns out that a film currently shooting in Ramallah needed extras. J was already signed up to play an IDF soldier, and me and another international were soon roped in to playing settlers. Ha ha ha ha.

So the next day we get picked up and taken to the film shoot - a small road with a super realistic roadblock set up on it. I wonder whether its an abandoned roadblock they've commandeered, but it turns out to be very well disguised polystyrene. So we take lots of photos of each other lifting huge lumps of 'stone' up with one hand, of course. We get given our outfits - the soldier uniforms are creepily realistic, as are the prop guns which turn out to be real AK47s. Nice. Some of the extras playing soldiers are Palestinians, their mates are all getting photos taken of them punching them in the face, ha ha. I end up picking out most of my outfit for myself because the costume person hasn't really seen any orthodox settlers... I think back to the ladies of Tel Rumeida and pull on a beige gypsy skirt, a long sleeved white shirt and flowing headscarf. G, the other international, gets prayer tassles, a white shirt and a skull cap. It's funny because he was hospitalised by settlers a couple of weeks ago! Really he should have had a gun slung on his back and a baby in a pushchair, but they didn't have those.

Getting dressed up was pretty much the most fun part of the day - the rest of the time was spent sitting around in the scorching heat, not really sure what was going on. We were put in a car for a few hours, where the Palestinian-dressed-up-as-an-Orthodox-Jew driver played a Police tape twice over. It was then that I realised just how much I hate Sting.

Two long shots of cars queuing at the checkpoint were filmed, then it was our big moment - the third shot was of our car queue jumping all the Palestinian vehicles. The director came over to me and told me that I should look into the camera (in a car in the queue) and give a 'friendly nod' as we passed. Aaaarghh! The pressure! I sat in the front and tried to practice nodding friendlyly without looking stupid. I thought about my character - what were her motivations? Where had she come from? Where was she <i>going</i>?. My hands were clammy for the first take, I was going to pieces under the pressure. We ended up doing 7 takes, but there were technical difficulties and bad driving in there as well, not just 6 bad friendly nods. The last shot, that they're presumably going to use, was totally my worst as well.

Mostly yesterday I realised that nothing is less fun than being an actor. But we did get paid 150 shekels (I think about 2 pounds an hour which is a considerable wage here) and when 'From Here To This Sea' comes out next year, you can all see my moment of glory. Unless I get cut.

Today I was left in sole charge of the media office, where I discovered that all the computers are password protected and the phone wouldn't call anyone. So I stomped around feeling frustrated and eating cereal until someone came back to help me out. Then I got all the work done pretty quickly so I have an evening of knitting pattern searches online ahead of me. Mmmm. Also, Euan and Kez arrive this evening, Yay!

Jerusalem training starts on Thursday!

keep it posi
Ruth

Ok, so i've FINALLY found a computer that has downloaded my pictures AND managed to burn them onto discs. THE JOY!
So here's a random selection.


'Gas the Arabs' . spraypainted message on wall in Tel Rumeida. 'JDL' is the Jewish Defense League.



matyr parade in Ramallah.



saltshakers birthday wishes. (photo taken at training)


it's interesting because it's hollow! (stupid border police)


Welcome home message after Ruth and I's fieldtrip to the Immigration Police



More messages on the door to the medic ghetto.... awww..... 

Astrid
x

So,
since Ruth and Astrid are abit bummed out about the whole nearly-getting-deported-cant-go-through-checkpoints thing, me, the israeli host get to write about our exciting adventures in bil'in yesterday. yey.

so. We got to bil'in at like 12, about 15 israelis and 2 nearly deported internationals, with about 30 palestinians. We started marching towards the route of the wall. There were quite a lot of soldiers standing on the hill and as we were walking towards them I said to Astrid that I have this feeling of dread, where you're about to do something that your body's natural instinct is totally against. (Like becoming live target to flying canisters of teargas.) I bet them that in less than one minute we were gonna get shot at and it took like 10 seconds. The game began. In arabic you say "akalet raaz"- I ate tear gas (like i got teargassed) and so we stuffed ourselves with tear gas for the next 2 hours. Its free! And vegan! yum.

The army and border police were playing at shooting us, and we would go back and forth avoiding the clouds of gas from every side and giving out alcohol pads. The gas ranged from burning the eyes& making you sneeze, to feeling like now you know wot it feels like to have your lungs set on fire. Some of the fields started going on small fires coz of the canisters, and later i asked one of the villagers if the gas affects their crops and he told me that it actually makes good pestecide. haha



At one point i was appointed the job of handling the one israeli arrestee, which meant that we had to leave last after the demo to wait for him to be released after 3 hours of sitting on a hill with a bunch of soldiers. I was a bit pissed off about that.
But basically wot we did was try and see if we could help anyone (one Israeli guy was hit by a flying gas canister and ruth and astrid literally ran with him and pushed him out of the gas. go medics.) Other than that one journalist was hit on the head with a club and the ambulance took him.

And thats mostly it. A few rubber bullets were shot,I got to practice my arabic on unsuspecting villagers, and hear astrid and ruth complain about not being able to get arrested.(Did i mention i bailed them out, translated to them in court and let them sleep in my house- i also need to hear them complain!?)
So we were just exhusted when we came home but somehow managed to dance till morning to hardcore techno in an underground free party making street medics dance moves (do the log roll, bandage bandage bandage, etc.
and becoz i get to say wotever i want about them now i just wanted to say they are complete street medics geeks. astrid notices every potential accident waiting to happen at parties and ruth moves pieces of glass off the pavement. is this our future as well?....
oh and they think tea is the solution to everything, even to your friends nearly getting deported. crazy

'K' (of the red house)

PS. Ruth would like to point out that she was not present at the playing of any 'hardcore techo', before word gets out onto The Scene and her reputation is ruined.

BIL'IN - Friday 19th May

Bil'in
After grabbing a much-needed sleep, Kez and I set off on Friday morning
for the weekly demo against the wall at Bil'in. We made the decision to
stay with the front of the demo, as in the past we've found that is the
most useful place for us to be. It seems like every week the soldiers practice different tactics to prevent the demonstration from happening. This week they decided that we'd get nowhere near the lines of fence that make up
the apartheid wall.



To get up to the part of the wall the demonstration normally aims for, we walk down into a kind of valley and then up the other side. It's the perfect setting for the soldiers, they can see us long before we're coming. This week they had placed a roll of barbed wire across the road at the bottom of the hill. As we approached they announced that we could not step past the barbed wire, a ridiculous order considering it was land owned by local Palestinians (as is the land on the other side of the Wall, but I won't go into that here). As expected, some demonstrators moved the barbed wire (it was more symbolic than an actual real attempt at blocking the road) and continued towards the wall. Immediately the army started firing tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets.

I'm not sure if we've mentioned earlier in the blog, but if you ever see reports of the army using "rubber bullets", what they mean is "rubber-coated steel bullets". It's typical army spin, an attempt to downplay how dangerous these weapons are. Rubber-coated bullets are supposed to be used to "disperse riots in situations where life is not in danger". They are deemed "less lethal" weapons, but are deemed lethal when shot at someone within a range of 40metres. So the guidelines are that soldiers should not shoot rubber-coated bullets at anyone within 40 metres.
Here's an article of the previous week's Bil'in protest, including photos of a Palestinian who was shot in the leg with a "rubber coated steel bullet":
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/05/11/two-operations/

Here's a couple of links on "rubber coated bullets":
http://www.btselem.org/english/Firearms/Rubber_Coated_Bullets.asp

In the past it's not been too hard to avoid the gas, they've thrown a few grenades and fired a few canisters and it's been possible to see it coming. This week however they went a little bit crazy. From the start the gas rained down on us. Our first dose was the worst. As we hid behind a tree with some demonstrators and press, a canister exploded just at the base of the tree, near Kez's face. I was further back so it wasn't as bad, but we were still caught in a cloud. We retreated right away, and opened up our pre-prepared gloves stuffed with alcohol-soaked cotton balls. It's difficult to piece together the sequence of events that followed. For the next two hours it seemed like we were in some bizarre war game, runnnig between trees trying to avoid clouds of gas. Every time we walked away from one cloud, another would appear in front of us. At one point we were both struggling to see, we'd inhaled a lot by this point so we were starting to gag and struggling to breathe. Tear gas is designed to create fear and panic, so it feels a lot worse at the time than it actually is.



Whenever we made it into some clear air, we'd take a breath and try to work out where we could be most effective. We were concerned about a few internationals who had no previous experience or training and were wandering around on their own at the front of the demonstration. We were concerned about the group of Palestinians at the front who were an open target for the army. We tried to stick as close to the front as possible, handing out alcohol balls whenever needed in between treating ourselves. About two hours into the 'demonstration', three fires had been started by the intense heat of the tear gas canisters. We joined the Palestinians ripping branches off the olive trees to try to beat the fire out. The Palestinians were worried that the fires would spread and destroy their crops. As we tried to beat the fire out and clear away any dry grass from the area, the army continued to fire at us. Eventually some of the Israeli activists convinced them to put their water cannon to good use. They did use it as an excuse to cover the Palestinians in blue dye. After some more doses of tear gas and once the fires were well and truly out, the army drove the water cannon at the demonstration towards the village, covering anyone in its path in blue dye, with the soldiers still firing rubber-coated bullets. The only consolation for being driven back to the village was the sound of the water cannon taking a battering with rocks.

The ISM report on the demo:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/05/19/showered-with-gas/

So it was back to Tel Aviv for the weekend to wait for 8pm Sunday, when we had hoped we could celebrate Astrid & Ruth's freedom from deportation. We had a chilled Saturday, an awesome game of basketball in the evening. Beforehand, I had carefully explained the rules of basketball to Kez, but we arrived to find that rules weren't really a priority, and what we were playing was more like a combination of basketball, rugby and Eurovision.

ARTAS - Sunday 21st.

Right after the game we found out about another action on Sunday morning. So back to the medic ghetto, we tried to grab some sleep, but my three hours was disrupted by a combination of the dogs, the heat, and my jaw aching from the basketball game (i have no idea how or when my jaw was bashed!).

More to follow, we're in Tel Rumeida now and we've got to get out on the streets. For now, here's a link to the action we were at last Sunday:

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/05/20/barghouti-attacked/

So the last few days passed without much drama. Just a fun game of basketball with a bunch of people last night, and plenty of showing off my bruises, one of which totally looked like Jesus. Sweet.

I've had a sense of impending doom all weekend, and have been the nervous annoying bastard everyone keeps telling to "chill out". The chance of the authorities tracking us down was minimal and the Israeli departments are hardly known for their sense of organisation. I was literally counting down the hours till the 8pm deadline had passed. neurotic much!? (Seriously, i was the most annoying person in the world....)

I left the house to go to the beach with one of the lush Israelis (because i was going insane with paranoia)...this afternoon, only to be out the door for 15minutes before Euan called and said the Ministry of the interior had phoned the house. Shit shit shit. they were on their way to come and collect us to start the process regarding our deportation.

Ruth and I hurridly packed a bag each whilst awaiting the arrival of the Immigration police. The crew here burst into action with text messages and letting everyone know what was happening. They rocks.

It was a sad goodbye leaving the house and our friends and getting in a van to be driven to the Immigration centre outside of tel aviv. When we arrived we were taken to a room and sat down before being called to have our photographs taken and general admin stuff followed by our bags being searched.

We were taken to see a bunch of blokes in an office - one of whom was the 'manager' (what?) in charge. He announced his decision to deport us, and we had a week to leave the country as per the reccomendations of the court, but first we'd have a hearing. "um, so you've made a decision before our hearing has started?". It turns out they hadnt read the paperwork and were working on the theories a) it had been reccomended by the judge that we'd be deported (totally not true) and b) didnt have return flights home. We argued our case. Played stupid ("we met these people at a party and they invited us... we totally didnt know what was happening... it was a stupid mistake... blah blah")... and asked to speak to our solicitor because we "obviously missed something". the blokes then started reading the paperwork and talking to each other in Hebrew whilst pointing out paragraphs of the court papers.

We were led back to the waiting area where we sat around for 10 or so minutes. The random men returned to tell us they'd give us until our return flights home to leave, but they'd continue with our deportation. the point being our 3 month visas are essentially cancelled and we cant return to Israel in 10 years... which seemed pretty sweet. until our lawyer talked to them and figured out they meant we both had to leave mid June... a couple of weeks before my return flight. We argued the cause and totally lost.... although they did come out with some classic lines "we are being nice because this is a special case... we want the people in New Zealand to love Israel" (oookkkkkaaaaayyyy).

*Then* we had our hearing. (i love democracy) It was classic, they put Ruth and i in neighbouring cubicles so we could totally hear what each other was saying. Funnily enough our stories matched perfectly... go figure? we both came out with some pretty pathetic lines. ruth's "i think it was an anti soldier demo?' and my "What's area A?"..... i want an Oscar dammit!

So we were released with fancy new CANCELLED stamps in our passports, (over top of our israeli visas) and swish deportation papers. Friends came to pick us up and we got home to find a poster on the door "welcome back to hell"... ha!

have to admit i'm pretty gutted. our entry into the occupied territories is now totally limited and Ruth and i have to come up with a new game plan.

But we're not sitting in a deportation centre right now.
We can stay until june.
the fridge is full of beer.
and the Jerusalem training is still a go go.

Cheers to everyone whose spent the weekend stressing on our behalf and who totally came through when we needed them. (Especially our saltshakers and our israeli mates)

Astrid
x

So Astrid and I managed to get arrested together, again, at a roadblock removal last Wednesday. Worst habit ever. The actual action went well, there were about 80 Palestinians there, us 4 internationals and 5 Israelis. We cleared the roadblock with ropes and elbow grease although every time one of the huge stones moved, all the Palestians would jump around for a minute shouting 'Allah Allah Akbar!' which slowed things down. Dudes, God isn't moving the stones, we are.

There was an army jeep waiting when we arrived and more soldiers arrived quickly but didn't do much. Then about a dozen Border Police arrived - the ones who can actually arrest internationals. We should have cleared off when they arrived but we didn't - the stones were still being moved and none of us wanted to go. The police/soldiers were filmed alot, gathering evidence and intimidating the Palestinians but otherwise not being overly confrontational. Then a big gang of Border Police came right up to us and pointed at us. Uh-oh. So me and Astrid grabbed each other and Kez flew through the air to cling onto Astrid too, it was beautiful. So there was a big scrum type deal with the 4 of us rolling around in the dust, so glamorous. I got pulled off but grabbed back on to Astrid's belt, dearly hoping that I wouldn't pull her trousers down in front of everyone. I got pulled off again but jumped back on until Astrid was pulled away, then I tried to make one last dive but got pushed down and handcuffed. Damn. At this point I presumed that Kez and Euan had been nicked as well because they were right next to us. I got carried to the police van with cameras everywhere and put next to Astrid. Eventually an American with Israeli citizenship got put in with us and we saw 2 other Israelis get dragged back.

We got kept in the van for about half an hour, then driven to the police station in a settlement - it was interesting to see a settlement from the inside. Then we got held in a random room for hours which was super boring, then 'interrogated' which is just questioning with a scarier name. The officer questioning me couldn't write English so I had to transcribe the whole thing for her which was a bit bizarre. I took great pleasure in writing her questions word for word 'What you say to that you helped with moving the stones with something on the stones?'. Ha ha.

Then food and books were sent in from outside which was awesome except that one of the books was 'Chicken Soup For The Women's Soul'. Hmm. We read it aloud to each other for inspiration and sat around in the same room again.

It was mostly just really boring... we were driven to Jerusalem in the early evening (I was handcuffed to Astrid which was memorable). One of the Israelis with us had told us that the cops were talking in Hebrew about deportation which was a worry - they haven't deported people in years so we hadn't seen it as a risk at all. It turns out that they spent the day trying to co-ordinate taking us to the Ministry of the Interior to be put in an immigration detention centre, but hadn't managed to sort it out. Its the Israeli way! So we were taken to a jail in Central Jerusalem right next to the detention centre where they torture Palestinians... mint. We were walked through a Palestinian prison block which was pretty much the most horrifying thing I've seen in a while, then into the nicer Israeli/international wing (nice is all relative). Our cell was conveniently painted pink although the paint was mostly peeling off from the damp and the person before us seemed to have left most of their belongings behind... weird.

So we spent the night there and were in court at 9.30 on Thursday morning. Loads of people came to court for us which was so so nice. I feel like I've really made friends here. Outside court we found out that the police were asking to hold us for another 24 hours so they could sort out handing us over to the Ministry of the Interior for deportation, and for the Israelis they wanted them banned from Judea (a vague and huge area) for 6 months on a 20,000 shekel bail. Our lawyer was mint though, and got the Israelis down to a ban from the 500m around the roadblock for 15 days, and us under semi house arrest for 4 days with no other penalties.

Which brings us back to the Red House in Tel Aviv, where we have to be at least once every 6 hours until tomorrow night. This is so the immigration police know where to find us if they decide to deport us, but no-one seems to know if that will happen or not. The nice thing is that yesterday and today is the Israeli weekend, so we've had a couple of days without worrying. If we are going to be deported, tomorrow is the day they'll come, but I'm feeling optimistic because they haven't even rung to check we're here so far. Also, I have plenty of faith in the total ineptness of the Israeli legal system after spending a day in its company last week.

Fingers crossed tomorrow then, but in the meantime we're suffering under the court's sentence - eating vegan Vienetta ice cream, watching DVDs and sitting in the sun. Life's tough.

Thanks for all nice texts and emails and that, we'll update on Sunday night with any news.

love

Ruth

So, we finished the second training on Saturday.
The first night was hectic, what with the three of us arriving in the city with literally minutes to catch up with ruth, change our shirts (which *still* have a mild scent of sheep...) and mission off to figure out who was training what. if in doubt stick to the last trainings timetable.

We had another lush group of people, and the training went really well. We even had people from the last training hanging out which was fun - and they got to hear all our lame jokes... again.... and the food was awesome... again. (Especially having lived off falafel and sheep by-products for the previous few weeks.)

Somehow we got talked into being the 'medics' in a scenario. They locked us out of the primary training space and called us in 10 minutes later to confront what they think is a likely scenario. For them, we have mock demonstrations, convergence centre raids and squat parties... the Israelis pulled out a suicide bombing for us. When in Tel Aviv......!
it was good though - and we're all looking forward to the upcoming day of scenarios.

Sat night we were invited to a Eurovision party which was more fun than you could shake a Ukranian at. That's all im going to say.

Euan and kez have headed back into the West Bank whilst Ruth and I are hanging here in Tel Aviv for a couple of days of R & R. We were down at the beach today, laughing at the blokes in Speedos (read budgie smugglers) and monging in the sunshine.

As i type a bbq is being cooked outside... and i should go and be sociable.

arohanui
astrid
x

Hey!
So.... whilst the four of us are out here getting ourselves in trouble there's two people back in the UK who form the 'hub' of our support network (seriously, we need all the help we can get), and are fondly known as our saltshakers. (after a hastily constructed 'support network' diagram made in a pub out of salt shakers and pint glasses.) They've re-titled themselves with the sexier term 'watchers', we humour them.



They're kept up to date with our movements (when we remember), what our sketchy plans are, and are always first to hear when things go a little wrong ("so these settlers kind of attacked us....") not to mention the million other things.... keeping a larger ring of support people up to date, dealing with our families (eep), giving us consultations over the phone ("dude, should my phlegm be this colour?"),updating our blog for us, and even DJing at our benefit gigs. is there anything these two cant handle???! General consensus; NOPE!

They shared a birthday a couple of days ago, and unfortunately we were tied up with training and a new found obsession with Eurovision (SEEEERRRRBBIIIAAAA) to publicly wish them a good one, and tell them how much we love (and cherish) them.

So, birthday wishes to two of our favourite laaayyyddeeeesss!

We love you guys!

xxxxx

^^^ this comment came from our friend as we stood at the top of a hill, wearing hi-viz vests, at midnight, during a power cut and waiting for 1000 soldiers to turn up. So now to explain...

.... on tuesday we (minus Ruth) travelled to Nablus to Asqa refugee camp with the lovely folks who put on the Tel Rumeida Circus for detained prisoners. They did a show with fire juggling and pois for around 300 very excited kids from the camp while Astrid and Euan skirted round the edges with cameras looking useful.

The next day we travelled from Nablus to Beit Leed, a village near Tulkram. We were going to Beit Leed because almost every week during the past two months 1000 soldiers have been helicoptered and trucked into the 8000 person village, at night, to simulate attacking and taking it over. Beit Leed apparently looks similar to a Lebanese village and people think this is why their village is targeted by the army for their weekly practice.

When we arrived villagers told us how soldiers sneak onto people's roofs and climb houses with grappling hooks as well as letting off sound bombs, shooting with live ammunition and shouting and screaming as they fill the village. People miss a nights sleep every week and children in the village are waking with nightmares. As well as the noise disturbance, having their houses surrounded by hostile and unpredictable soldiers is unsurprisingly incredibly stressful. One man told us about the feeling of knowing that he had no way of protecting his children if he needed to and asked what attitude towards Israel people expected the children from the area to grow up with when they experience soldiers attacking their homes every week. The army hasn't faced any resistance while carrying out these attacks and they've never arrested anyone during the exercises- suggesting to the villagers that the reason the army carries out this training in Palestine harass and terrorise them.

Using an occupied population as unwilling extras in army war games breaks international law and we'd come to Beit Leed to help record what's happening there. We arrived in the evening so after interviewing people and a meal it was soon time to head out. The soldiers generally arrive between midnight and 1am and stay until sunrise, so by midnight we had positioned ourselves on the main road into the village, with video cameras ready. It was quite a weird feeling to be waiting for 1000 soldiers to show up and wondering how they would react to a group of people standing around in yellow and orange hi-viz vests trying to record them committing a war crime. We listened to the dogs barking for clues about the direction the soldiers might be coming from and grew a little more paranoid with every rumble of an approaching vehicle. The roads were generally deserted except one rogue taxi which hurtled past with headlights on full about every ten minutes, convincing us that the army had arrived every time. In case this wasn't eerie enough the weather alternated between rain and a stormy dusty wind. And then the street lights died.

At around 1.30 there was still no sign of the soldiers. We heard that some had been spotted under some trees a bit outside the village but heading out into the dark for an unannounced game of hide and seek with soldiers didn't seem like the best plan so we moved back to a different spot on the main road and carried on waiting for them to enter the village. We sat around getting more and more bored, tired and paranoid (the two people coming down that hill are definitely soldiers-look at how they're walking...) until 4 when it was decided the soldiers weren't coming. We went to bed disappointed that we hadn't managed to get footage but glad that the people in the village had had an uninterrupted nights sleep.

Later that morning we started the monster journey back to Tel Aviv for the training, arriving late enough to make Ruth worry she'd have to do the first night by herself. It's great to see the Israelis again and the training went well, but more on this (and the eurovision!) to follow soon,
Kez x

so like euan said things have been a little hectic, and apologies for swamping so much info on here in one day.

Yesterday was a Jewish holiday (which i wont even attempt to spell, thus cementing my ignorance. But if anyone wants to comment with any background info on it that would be awesome.) which is celebrated by large community bonfires and people gathering together with music, food and all round jovialness. It sounds pretty cool - the Jewish equivalent to bonfire night - that is unless you add a few handfuls of (armed) crazy, .... and you get the events that occurred in Tel Rumeida yesterday. The resident settlers were joined by visiting settlers and thus began a day of attacks on the Palestinian community and Internationals. eep.

I was 'patrolling' (ye gods) in the olive grove with an awesome american woman (AAW) when we were attacked by a group of settler kids armed with a pipe. Then later Ruth, AAW, and i got rushed by a bunch of crazy settlers trying to film an assault on other Internationals.

It was a long day of crazy. But we're fiiiiinnnnnnnnneeeee. Not even a bruise.

there's press reports of the incidents here:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/05/05/stones-and-pipe/
um... can i defend myself by saying i didnt write them?! (and it makes us sound like we were lying face down in a pool of our own blood)

arohanui
astrid
x

We've had a busy and internet-free few days. We're currently in Bet Ommar, earlier we walked down the fence that we helped pull down a few weeks back. They've made a half-hearted attempt at fixing it, but it's still enough to stop Palestinians working their land. We spoke to a local family who face regular threats from armed settlers as they work in their vineyards. The family has farmed there for 300 years, the Karmet Sur settlement is just fifteen years old. In that time the settlers have continued to annexe Palestinian land, building their "security fence" right through the middle of local farmers. We heard about the plans for a new fence, which will colonise further Palestinian farms, devastating the local economy. It's difficult to think about what this place will look like in just a few years, how far the settlers will go. The influx of settlers is part of the Israeli state's wider policy of encouraging immigration to the settlements within the West Bank.

More updates on what we've been doing in the last few days to follow. First, a couple of actions we were involved in on Thursday.

After our four day sheep fest, we returned to Ramallah to spend the night and indulge in some falafel (my current count = 30 sandwiches). We heard about a demo near Ramallah, so Kez and I decided to go along, as there wouldn't be much of an international presence. In fact it turns out we were the only internationals there, apart from the hordes of press. Here is a report of the action from the ISM website (www.palsolidarity.org):

"The roadblock went tumbling down the gorge
by Kobi Snitz, 3 May 2007

Today, villagers from Ras Karkar, Budrus, Beit Likya, Bilin, Deir Ibzia and other villages marched towards an intersection on the main road to Ramallah which until 7 years ago used to serve about 15 villages in the area. The part of the road which is blocked connects the Palestinian villages of Ras Karkar and Deir Ibzia and does not lead to Israel or to a settlement. Because of the obstacle, the villagers were forced to drive about 45 minutes along an alternate road instead of 15 minutes along the direct route to get to Ramallah. Two weeks ago the alternate road was also closed making the trip take and hour and a quarter and cost about 15 shekels instead of 3 - 5. In response, the villagers decided to open up the main road which has been closed by concrete slabs.

At a demonstration, along with Israelis and Internationals, the Palestinian villagers faced off against a group of soldiers who seemed eager to provoke a violent confrontation. The organizers of the demonstration decided not to grant their wishes and managed to prevent a confrontation. After asserting their right and ability to stay on the road the demonstrators decided to head back. Along the way back, when the concrete slabs blocking the road were reached, they were grabbed by the crowd which tried to push them to the side. The blocks seemed immovable at first but with some ingenuity and shouts of “Allah Huw Akbar!” the blocks were finally rolled away and tumbled down into the gorge.

For the first time in 7 years, car were able to drive up from Ras Karkar directly to Deir Ibzia and were still passing through when the demonstrators left.

Israel is working on the creation of16 tunnels which would create an ‘apartheid’ road network for Palestinians in the West Bank. Many existing main roads are reserved for settlers and Israelis, linking settlements to each other and to Israel. This forces Palestinians into circuitous travelling routes.

For a map of the existing Apartheid road system in the West Bank, go to: http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/WestBank_April07.pdf

For more information contact the head of the Ras Karkar village council Rezik Nofal 0599-258358"


The action was the first of its kind that the villages were involved in. They have taken their inspiration from the weekly demos at Bil'in. The turnout was really good, especially for their first demo, and the village hopes to build the momentum and organise regular high-profile actions.

On the drive back we met two men from the village of Deir Ibzia, who invited us for coffee and nargila in Ramallah. It would have been rude to refuse of course so we took them up on the offer. They explained to us the significance of smoking Nargila, how the Sultan smokes it in his palace with all his servants waiting on him. Apparently smoking it under a tree in summer is like being the sultan without his palace. I think I'll stick with the tree.

We got back to the flat in just enough time to eat some more falafel (we did have four falafel-free days to make up for) and pack our stuff before the four of us set off for the next action.

Here's the report I wrote for the Palestine Solidarity Project website (www.palestinesolidarityproject.org):

"Defiant Palestinians Resist Apartheid Road System
May 5th, 2007

Dhahariya Thursday: Around 75 Palestinians, supported by activists from the Palestinian Solidarity Project, Israeli anarchists and other internationals arrived at the roadblock on the junction connecting the main road from Dhahariya to Route 60. Within minutes a coachload of men, women and children from the village arrived. The group began to move the roadblock using a large rope. After the chants of “waahid, ‘tneen, teletaa”, the group hauled the first block to the side of the road.

As the group dragged the second block, two IDF jeeps arrived. Despite soldiers demanding that the group stop, attempting to push people out of the way and trying to run their jeep into those pulling the rope, the group remained defiant and persisted with the removal. They eventually hauled off the second block, clearing a gap large enough for cars to pass through.



The roadblock has been installed since the beginning of the first Intifada. It prevents the 90,000 Palestinians in Dhahariya and neighbouring villages from accessing Route 60, the main road into Hebron. This forces them to take a longer alternative route, turning what would be a 20-minute journey into an hour and a half. The nearest hospital to Dharirya is in Hebron, so this roadblock added more than an hour onto the journey time for an ambulance, effectively cutting off the village from emergency medical care.

This roadblock is part of the Israeli Government’s wider strategy to create and apartheid road system throughout the West Bank. Many existing roads are reserved for settlers and Israeli citizens only, and the Israeli Government continues to cut off access for Palestinians. This policy blocks major access routes for trade and emergency services to Palestinians and is bringing the economy to its knees.

Roadblock removals have become a priority in PSP’s work. They are both symbolic and practical acts of resistance; changing the impact of the Occupation on Palestinians in concrete ways."