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Bil’in demonstrators mark the fourth anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death
November 7, 2008
by Bil’in Popular Committee
A protest was launched today after the Friday prayer in Bil’in, with residents joined by international and Israeli activists. Palestinian flags, photos of Yasser Arafat, and banners marking his death were carried during the demonstration. Mr. Mashour Abu Daqa, the Minister of Traffic and Transport, and Mr. Basem Al Masri joined the demonstration today.
Photo: Nir Landau / ActiveStills.org
The demonstrators marched in the village chanting against the discriminatory policies of the occupation and paying respect for Arafat’s life. When the protest reached the gate, they were stopped by sound grenades and teargas. Dozens suffered from gas inhalation.
Also, the head of the Middle East Committee in the European Parliament, Mr. Aristotelis Pavlides, along with Mr. Moheb Awad, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and Mr. Walid Assaf, a member of the Fatah party visited the village yesterday. The delegation was welcomed by the head of Bili’n’s council, Mr. Ahmad Issa Yasin, Mr. Abdellah Abu Rahamah and Mohammad Abu Rahama gave a presentation about the wall and the village’s experience in resisting the occupation. The two Palestinian Legislative Council members gave a presentation about the political situation and the violations that Palestinians face on daily bases. The delegation promised to work on both sides, the Palestinian and the Israeli to reduce the suffering on the Palestinians and bring peace to the region.
Today’s Bil’in Protest
Report by Dennis Fox
Bil’in’s weekly march to the Separation Fence blocking free access to their land got off to a spirited start despite small numbers. Last week, Rateb told me, there were more than 200 internationals on site, with a number of dignitaries. And two years ago, in October 2006 when I was here, there were some 600. But today there were fewer than a hundred altogether, including villagers now almost four years into every-Friday marches, several carloads of Israelis (some of them with Anarchists Against the Wall), and a sprinkling of foreign activists and others. Much of the attention of both activists and media has shifted to other locations. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of places to protest Occupation in Palestine.
Chanting and holding signs, the marchers headed toward the gate to Bil’in’s land on the other side of the fence. The broad “Fence” - really a series of fences, roads, and wire - was clearly visible, as were the Jewish settlements on the other side.
Also visible were the awaiting IDF - Israeli soldiers. Over four years of protest marches, it’s never clear in advance just what they’ll decide to do, though the general contours of the reaction and counter-reaction are pretty well known.
Two years ago I wrote a longer description of the typical protest’s three-part structure. First the marchers reach the gate, where they chant, hold signs, and demand to be let through. People mill around and take pictures. This can go on for a long time, or can be cut short or prevented altogether (at times the soldiers start teargassing even before the demonstrators reach the gate). Shortly after arriving, a small group, often Israelis, moves somewhat to the side and tries to scale the fence. They’re met with tear gas, concussion grenades, sometimes more, but the gassing mostly stays clear of the larger crowd.
Finally — some 20 minutes or more after reaching the gate the day I was there in October 2006 - the general tear gassing starts, either in response to someone in the crowd throwing a stone in the general direction of the soldiers - usually a village boy tired of waiting, but at times in the past undercover Israeli agents (as verified by videotape and subsequent events). At that point everyone is gassed, and soon gas falls between the now-retreating protesters and the village, making it impossible to retreat. This is also when the soldiers shoot rubber bullets, and sometimes live ammunition.
Today, with such small numbers, things moved much more quickly. Upon reaching the gate, several villagers immediately walked along it, then explored how to get through the wire.
But impatience led to some stonethrowing, and the tear gas began immediately.
And soon it rained down on everyone, even those far from at the fence and from the stonethrowers.
Not so pleasant. I tried to avoid the direct line of fire by scooting behind a tree with a few others.
Didn’t really matter where you were, though. The IDF soon aimed all around, making no distinction between stonethrowers, journalists, bystanders, or anyone else.
By this point, things were pretty much over, and people scattered, some back to the village, some mulling over going back to the gate, some just waiting to see what happened. From my vantage point I could see soldiers shooting rubber bullets at young boys, who seemed to vary in age from teenagers downward.
Some threw stones awkwardly, some used slingshots, some threw from so far away they couldn’t possibly hit anything. Mostly the kids seemed puny compared to what they were up against.
But their determination to stand up to the forces occupying their land was hard to miss.
There was a lot more stonethrowing this time than during the two demonstrations I came to in 2006. I suspect people are getting tired of nothing changing, where even winning in court as Bi’lin did doesn’t actually move the fence, as the court ordered. As Palestinians in general become more and more frustrated with the complete failure of decades of negotiations, I think stonethrowing will progress to more serious armament in years to come. This would be consistent with the experience of social movement activists and revolutionaries world over - when reasoning doesn’t work, when nonviolence doesn’t work, when ineffective violence doesn’t work, the temptation is escalation.
Watching the scene, I got into a good conversation with one of the older Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall. Maybe we’ll have time for more talk when I get to Tel Aviv after I leave Ramallah. Eventually we walked back to the village together, unfortunately right into the shifting winds that brought me a bigger tear gas dose than I’d gotten during the thick of the protest. Pretty unpleasant. But ear gas, fortunately, was the worst anyone suffered today, unlike during many past protests that led to serious injuries.
Soon I was back at Rateb’s for a shower and a great lunch. The quick transition reminded me for a moment of protesting the Seabrook nuclear plant almost 30 years ago with the Coalition for Direct Action at Seabrook, when a hard few hours of trying to avoid tear gas, Mace, and billy clubs could sometimes be interspersed with a quick run into the local Dunkin’ Donuts. But lunch today was much better.
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