Palestine Monitor
A week of violent clashes reached a crescendo yesterday with one of the largest popular uprisings since the second Intifada. Around Jerusalem, Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Nablus a wave of protests snowballed into a unified condemnation of the latest threats to Palestinian liberty and dignity.
Since Israeli authorities blocked checkpoints connecting Jerusalem with the West Bank, coinciding with the announcement of 1,600 new illegal settlement constructions and plans to renovate Hurva synagogue, chaos has disfigured the holy city. In the Old City, Eisawiya, Shu’fat Camp, Wadi Al Joz and Qalandiya young Palestinians have been and still are loudly defying the latest attempts to eradicate them from their capital. Despite a record number of soldiers, policemen and secret operatives working around the clock to crush protests, the streets remain crowded with young men and women whose determination to resist humiliation and racism outweighs their fear of brutal punishment. Meanwhile the popular resistance has lent its support to their efforts. People of Bi’lin ignored the occupation forces’ declaration that their homes are to be considered closed military zones. Again the crowds marched peacefully through the streets to the apartheid barrier, shouting the undying message: This is our land. The Israeli statement was proved hollow. Soldiers scarcely opposed demonstrators and no arrests were made. It will take more than sheets of paper to break the resolve of people who have been shot, robbed and terrorised for generations.
In Ni’lin IDF forces blocked the village entrance, affecting the international presence, but the popular committee still roused over 100 protestors to the olive fields. Although their actions constitute a crime under new Israeli laws, not a single arrest was made. The light of these twin beacons has filtered into oppressed villages up and down the West Bank. Al Masara and Nabi Saleh are now established as vital components of the movement, each week adding hundreds of outraged voices to the clamour for justice. Yesterday saw Ramallah municipality villages of Budrus and Deir Nizam take steps toward their illegally confiscated land. Palestinian residents of Hebron and Beit Ummar spontaneously took to the streets in opposition to the threats against the Ibrahimi Mosque. But while Bi’lin has earned a grudging respect from military authorities, enough that the apartheid wall has been re-routed, the army are fighting tooth and nail to prevent the resistance movement gaining new footholds. Nabi Saleh played host to the most extreme violence yet seen there, as soldiers shot 25 unarmed protestors. Eyewitnesses described the shooting as indiscriminate, although it may be said that an 82 year old woman brain damaged by a tear gas canister and a 14 year old boy in a coma are equally valid targets for the occupation’s arsenal. American and Israeli activists were shot and arrested. Ten homes were set upon, the smashed windows and charred exteriors a testimony to the policy of collective punishment that has for years now formed the cornerstone of Israeli policy. To the army there is no such thing as a non-combatant Palestinian.
Bassem Tamimi, resident and organiser described the violence as "the worst he has seen, designed to scare us into stopping our campaign. But we are not afraid. The popular resistance is becoming more powerful. Israel need us to be violent for their propaganda but we will not play into their hands. Our tactics are working." In Shufat refugee camp, East Jerusalem, crowds responded to the closure of access points into Jerusalem and the West Bank. Clashes resulted in 15 arrests and 11 injuries. Huddar, resident and head of the Stop the Wall campaign in Shufat reported "Undercover police in the crowd, arresting youths." He also claimed many of the injured were denied treatment so that they could be arrested and interrogated. Witnesses reported maltreatment and beatings of prisoners. Over 250 Palestinians have now been arrested in East Jerusalem over the past week, along with a number of international journalists and activists. Almost 100 have been injured.
The role of the Palestinian Authority will come under increasing scrutiny over the coming days. In the recent past they have helped the IDF to disperse protests in Hebron and Qalandiya. Although official statements from the PA have supported the right of threatened citizens to protest their dispossession, their actions suggest different. "They blocked the roads in Nabi Saleh," explains Bassem, "they work against us, but soon the popular resistance will be more powerful than the PA." Read more about the Popular Struggle here www.popularstruggle.org |
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