onions and teargas, a eyewitness at the peace demo on israeli/pal border
passer on | 03.04.2002 20:53
About 2000-3000 demonstrators gathered today in Beit-Hanina in order to demonstrate against the brutal Israeli occupation.they were met with utmost brutality
Onions and Tear Gas
I now live in Israel (though probably not for much longer) and I'd like to share my report from the demo today at the A-Ram checkpoint, just ourside of East Jerusalem. (For the record I am also Israeli - dual citizenship).
About 2000-3000 demonstrators gathered today in Beit-Hanina in order to demonstrate against the brutal Israeli occupation. The object was to march up to the A-Ram checkpoint, accompanying a convoy of trucks carrying medical supplies and food, then march from there to the Kalandia checkpoint (which is as close as Israelis can get to Ramalla these days) and hand over the supplies to Palestinian activists on the other side.
It's important to note that there were a number of objectives to this demo: to show our anger with the Israeli government, solidarity with the Palestinians, media coverage and of course, help pass through medical and food supplies to the Palestinians in Ramalla, who are effectively under siege and are lacking most basic necessities.
The crowd was made up of Israelis, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians (the difference between the two latter groups is fuzzy - Israeli Arabs are mainly those who have Israeli citizenship and the Palestinians were mainly those who live in East Jerusalem holding Israeli residence permits). The Israelis were made up of two main groups, Ta'ayush - a joint Israeli Palestinian organization and Gush Shalom - a purely Israeli group, plus many Israeli left wingers who were not affiliated with any particular group.
To report exactly what happened would be difficult as, is usual in these situations, especially where there are so many people involved, it is impossible to know what was happening everywhere, so this is what I've pieced together from my own experience and stories I heard later from other demonstrators.
The demo took off on a very positive note, Israelis and Palestinians marching side by side, holding up signs and chanting the usual slogans. The march did not get very far, not even as far as the A-Ram checkpoint since the army had set up a barrier between Beit Hanina and our destination. It was clear they were not going to let anyone through and negotiations were taking place concerning getting the convoy of trucks through. Not long after the procession had stopped and people were wondering what was going to happen next we heard very loud explosions and saw clouds of gas and people running towards us. It quickly became clear that the soldiers had fired stun grenades (bombs which are harmless, but which make a very loud noise) and tear gas - I saw many people with tears streaming and noses running coming towards us and looking extremely confused. We were all pretty confused - what had gone wrong? Apparently there had been quite a lot of pressure on the people in the front line (who were mainly women) and bit of pushing and shoving. As soon as they were physically touching the soldiers the latter, of course, got their knickers in a twist and let off the tear gas grenades. We found it quite shocking to see many middle aged and elderly women, dressed in white, suffering from the effects of the tear gas. The people who were more familiar with these kinds of happenings came equipped with onions, which are apparently effective in reducing the effects of this gas.
Not long after that we heard that some of the organizers had managed to convince the soldiers to let one of the trucks through, but it looked like they were not going to be allowing any more than that, so someone had the idea that if people would carry the bags of food personally from the second truck they would be let through the checkpoint. There was a wonderful feeling of togetherness as people were being handed down bags of rice, water, oil and blankets from the truck and started walking with them towards the checkpoint. To our horror, this action resulted, almost immediately, in more tear gas and stun grenades being thrown at us, and from a much closer range. Terrified, most of us ran back in total bewilderment and disbelief.
The army, by this point, had succeeded in effectively breaking up the demonstration; we were all very shaken and surprised at the violent means being used to disperse us (I'm talking here about the Israeli demonstrators, who are not accustomed to these kinds of methods being used against *them*). I heard later that some Palestinians insisted on simply walking through with the food regardless of orders by the soldiers, which resulted in the soldier's violent (over)reaction. Of course things were not as simply as that - they never are, but to explain that, especially to non-Israeli readers, I will have to give a little background:
The demonstration was organized by a group of Israeli and Palestinian women. Their intention was to dress all in white and accompany the supply trucks through the first checkpoint and onto the second. They eventually decided that this would be an open demonstration and advertised that men were also welcome. Some of the Palestinian demonstrators waving the flags were chanting slogans which could have been interpreted as violent and, to the Israeli soldiers and police, have violent connotations. So a. I guess this mass march was not what the soldiers had been expecting and b. they may have been unnerved by the group of very vocal, flag waving, Palestinians, whom they saw as threatening. I was told later that the women who organized the demo did not count on these kinds of groups joining.
So, apparently some of the more militant marchers tried to push their way past the soldiers, who got excited and went crazy with the tear gas. Some of the Arab demonstrators, who had gotten too near the soldiers, were very badly beaten up and four were arrested (they were later released). My girlfriend and myself saw no violence whatsoever, unless you count the tear-gas and stun grenades. As we were getting ready to leave we were told that the three remaining trucks had been let through and were on their way to Ramalla, so all had not been in vain.
Hopefully though, this demo was successful on several counts: showing the Palestinians that they are not alone in their struggle, delivering medical aid and food to the besieged Palestinians and showing the authorities that many Israelis fiercely disagree with their policies.
Jon
I now live in Israel (though probably not for much longer) and I'd like to share my report from the demo today at the A-Ram checkpoint, just ourside of East Jerusalem. (For the record I am also Israeli - dual citizenship).
About 2000-3000 demonstrators gathered today in Beit-Hanina in order to demonstrate against the brutal Israeli occupation. The object was to march up to the A-Ram checkpoint, accompanying a convoy of trucks carrying medical supplies and food, then march from there to the Kalandia checkpoint (which is as close as Israelis can get to Ramalla these days) and hand over the supplies to Palestinian activists on the other side.
It's important to note that there were a number of objectives to this demo: to show our anger with the Israeli government, solidarity with the Palestinians, media coverage and of course, help pass through medical and food supplies to the Palestinians in Ramalla, who are effectively under siege and are lacking most basic necessities.
The crowd was made up of Israelis, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians (the difference between the two latter groups is fuzzy - Israeli Arabs are mainly those who have Israeli citizenship and the Palestinians were mainly those who live in East Jerusalem holding Israeli residence permits). The Israelis were made up of two main groups, Ta'ayush - a joint Israeli Palestinian organization and Gush Shalom - a purely Israeli group, plus many Israeli left wingers who were not affiliated with any particular group.
To report exactly what happened would be difficult as, is usual in these situations, especially where there are so many people involved, it is impossible to know what was happening everywhere, so this is what I've pieced together from my own experience and stories I heard later from other demonstrators.
The demo took off on a very positive note, Israelis and Palestinians marching side by side, holding up signs and chanting the usual slogans. The march did not get very far, not even as far as the A-Ram checkpoint since the army had set up a barrier between Beit Hanina and our destination. It was clear they were not going to let anyone through and negotiations were taking place concerning getting the convoy of trucks through. Not long after the procession had stopped and people were wondering what was going to happen next we heard very loud explosions and saw clouds of gas and people running towards us. It quickly became clear that the soldiers had fired stun grenades (bombs which are harmless, but which make a very loud noise) and tear gas - I saw many people with tears streaming and noses running coming towards us and looking extremely confused. We were all pretty confused - what had gone wrong? Apparently there had been quite a lot of pressure on the people in the front line (who were mainly women) and bit of pushing and shoving. As soon as they were physically touching the soldiers the latter, of course, got their knickers in a twist and let off the tear gas grenades. We found it quite shocking to see many middle aged and elderly women, dressed in white, suffering from the effects of the tear gas. The people who were more familiar with these kinds of happenings came equipped with onions, which are apparently effective in reducing the effects of this gas.
Not long after that we heard that some of the organizers had managed to convince the soldiers to let one of the trucks through, but it looked like they were not going to be allowing any more than that, so someone had the idea that if people would carry the bags of food personally from the second truck they would be let through the checkpoint. There was a wonderful feeling of togetherness as people were being handed down bags of rice, water, oil and blankets from the truck and started walking with them towards the checkpoint. To our horror, this action resulted, almost immediately, in more tear gas and stun grenades being thrown at us, and from a much closer range. Terrified, most of us ran back in total bewilderment and disbelief.
The army, by this point, had succeeded in effectively breaking up the demonstration; we were all very shaken and surprised at the violent means being used to disperse us (I'm talking here about the Israeli demonstrators, who are not accustomed to these kinds of methods being used against *them*). I heard later that some Palestinians insisted on simply walking through with the food regardless of orders by the soldiers, which resulted in the soldier's violent (over)reaction. Of course things were not as simply as that - they never are, but to explain that, especially to non-Israeli readers, I will have to give a little background:
The demonstration was organized by a group of Israeli and Palestinian women. Their intention was to dress all in white and accompany the supply trucks through the first checkpoint and onto the second. They eventually decided that this would be an open demonstration and advertised that men were also welcome. Some of the Palestinian demonstrators waving the flags were chanting slogans which could have been interpreted as violent and, to the Israeli soldiers and police, have violent connotations. So a. I guess this mass march was not what the soldiers had been expecting and b. they may have been unnerved by the group of very vocal, flag waving, Palestinians, whom they saw as threatening. I was told later that the women who organized the demo did not count on these kinds of groups joining.
So, apparently some of the more militant marchers tried to push their way past the soldiers, who got excited and went crazy with the tear gas. Some of the Arab demonstrators, who had gotten too near the soldiers, were very badly beaten up and four were arrested (they were later released). My girlfriend and myself saw no violence whatsoever, unless you count the tear-gas and stun grenades. As we were getting ready to leave we were told that the three remaining trucks had been let through and were on their way to Ramalla, so all had not been in vain.
Hopefully though, this demo was successful on several counts: showing the Palestinians that they are not alone in their struggle, delivering medical aid and food to the besieged Palestinians and showing the authorities that many Israelis fiercely disagree with their policies.
Jon
passer on