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