This week in Palestine, Week 16 - Nonviolent Resistance in West Bank
20/04/2007
Source : IMEMC
by Ghassan Bannoura
More than four hundred Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists participated in the Bilin International Conference on Popular Resistance, from Wednesday to Friday, held in the heart of the village of Bil’in. IMEMC’s George Rishmawi has more.
The three-day conference began with a rendition of the Palestinian national anthem, followed by an address by Nasser Al-Kidweh, a senior Palestinian official representing the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. He affirmed the President’s support for a popular nonviolent resistance against the Israeli military occupation in Palestine.
Several prominent international diplomats also attended. Vice president of the European Parliament Luisa Morgantini came from Italy to join the conference. She affirmed her support and solidarity with the Palestinian people "for their just struggle for freedom".
A number of Palestinian speakers gave a summary of the Palestinian conference which was held on March 22, and presented their recommendations. French Parliament member Jean-Claude Lefort spoke about the double standards in the present situation in Palestine. Eyad Burnat, member of the Bilin Popular Committee Against the Wall gave an overview about the village and the history of nonviolent resistance to the Wall.
The media role in the Palestine-Israel conflict was one of the important topics addressed in the conference. Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Palestinian Minister of Information cited examples of the domination of the Israeli narrative of the conflict in the western media which he says creates an inaccurate and deceptive view of the conflict. He cited coverage of Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as an example.
He said that Israel gives the world their line and people, including Palestinians believe it.
Israel, Barghouti continued, claims to have ended the occupation in Gaza. But the reality on the ground says otherwise.
The morning session of the second day started with a panel discussion about economic independence in the occupied Palestinian areas. Dr. Mohammad Shtayah, professor of economics at Birzeit University pointed out the dependency of the Palestinian economy on the Israeli economy.
Sam Bahour, a Palestinian businessman and activist at the Right to Enter campaign spoke about the need to develop an independent Palestinian economy. George S. Rishmawi, the conference coordinator and an expert in alternative tourism spoke about alternative tourism as a way to support Palestinian economy on a national level.
Meanwhile, Israeli historian Ilan Pappe advocated the one-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He said there are so many groups who have great energy to act, but they are afraid of being called Anti-Semitic. He called on the world, especially Germany to break their silence and demand that Israel ends its occupation.
Jeff Halper, an Israeli peace activist, director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition, which helps rebuilds Palestinian houses demolished by Israel, spoke about the Apartheid system in Palestine created by the Wall and the network of Israeli-only roads Israel is building in the West Bank. He said that Israel is not a democracy but rather an ethnocracy.
The conference also addressed the issue of joint struggle between Palestinians and Israelis, and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign.
A number of workshops were held at the conference to elaborate on the topics addressed by panelists, namely, the Bilin development model, Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions, the role of the Media and need to escalate the joint struggle of Palestinians and Israelis.
The Bilin conference was sponsored by NOVA, a Spanish organization calling for social change through the Spanish Cooperation Agency in Palestine. The village of Bilin has been resisting the construction of the wall on their land for the past two years with ongoing weekly nonviolent actions.
This Friday, many members of the conference joined in the weekly demonstration at the site of the Wall in Bilin. As usual, they were met by dozens of Israeli soldiers firing tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets at the half international, half Palestinian non-violent demonstrators. Many participants were hit directly by rubber-coated metal bullets and had to be taken away in an ambulance for treatment. Mairead Maguire, a Nobel Peace Prize winner from Northern Ireland was shot in the leg and tear gassed heavily.
Another international peace activist, Alberto de Jesus, also known as Tito Kayak, performed an incredible non-violent stunt at the demonstration. Despite Israel’s tight security, he managed to scale a 100 meter Israeli communications tower and unfurl the Palestinian flag at the Bilin wall. At the time of this report, he is still sitting up there, with Israeli soldiers waiting for him down below.
Tito is a well-known activist for Puerto Rican independence. In the year 2000, in a widely publicized stunt, he climbed the statue of liberty in New York unfurled a Puerto Rican flag.
Related link: This week in Palestine #16 (full report)
