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> A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
>  http://www.ainfos.ca/
> ________________________________________________
>
> Don't expect any kind of objectivity from me. You see, for the last few
> weeks I have not had the benefit of the mainstream media to give me a
> beautifully balanced picture of the situation in Palestine. Instead I
> have been living in the middle of the events in Bethlehem, witnessing
> for myself army brutality and civilian misery. While staying at the
> Al-Azzeh refugee camp I obviously missed all the terrorists, the
> anti-semites and the fanatics that the Israeli army and the BBC see as
> infesting the towns and camps of the West Bank.
>
> It doesn't take a genius to be suspicious of the capitalist media --
> anyone who's been on a political action will have become used to being
> casually misrepresented and smeared. But the depth of the campaign of
> lies waged against the people of Palestine beggars belief. Resting on
> old colonial prejudices and modern islamophobia and racism it has the
> objective of consistently blaming the victims in this conflict; presenting
> Israel as a democratic state under attack from unreasonable semi-humans.
> I am not even going to talk about Jenin, I am too angry.
>
> Rejecting this picture leads us on to a more complex analysis of the
> conflict, and of the Israeli and Palestinian societies. It leads us
towards
> seeing the divisions and contradictions within each camp, rather than
> accepting Sharon and Arafat as the only protagonists, perfectly
representing
> 'their' people. It leads one to see the crux of the problem as lying, not
in
> the outbreaks of violence that are presented as spectacles to be passively
> consumed by us in the UK, but in the everyday lives of the milions of
> Palestinians who are living under conditions of great hardship. To quote a
recent
> Israeli peace slogan 'the occupation is killing us all!'
>
> It was with a recognition of these underlying factors that the
> Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement has organised groups
> of international volunteers. Following on from the December 2001 campaign,
> this Easter was to see similar work replanting olive trees and dismantling
> roadblocks -- aiming, in fact, to use non-violent methods of direct action
> to give the Palestinians a chance to be non-violent themselves.
>
> Unfortunately the Israeli army decided otherwise. Having only pulled out
of
> the Bethlehem area two weeks previously, the APCs (Armoured Personnel
Carriers)
> and tanks rolled in again. In our affinity groups we decided that our
places
> were to act as observeers in the nearby refugee camps, home of the radical
and
> dispossessed, thus a favourite target for Israeli army repression, arrests
and
> random shelling.
>
> Sitting in the neatly kept, poverty stricken, living room of our host
familty,
> with the Apache helicopters and robot drones flying overhead I experienced
> for a few days the terror that these people live through for years.
Sitting
> drinking endless cup of tea with young men who know they could be dragged
> out and shot; staying up all night because sleep is impossible. Times like
> these were almost enough to turn me from an anarchist into a liberal
> national-reformist.
>
> The kind of liberation that the Palestinian people need is so basic,
> resting on simple nineteenth century concepts of human rights. The kinds
> of repression they face are also very basic. A friend of mine from
> Australia was shot in the stomach on a demonstration, snipers fired at
> night into the camp from the tall hotels. During these days any sign
> that the 'international community' could pressure Israel into a withdrawal
> would have been very welcome. When Belgium cut off diplomatic ties I had a
> flash of intense Europhilia...But the invasion remained, despite such
gestures.
>
> Just as the neighbouring Arab states have no interest in real Palestinian
> liberation, so the United States (whether of Europe or America) have
little
> interest in halting the long process of anti-Palestinian ethnic cleansing.
> The Israeli state is supported by the current framework of economic
> globalisation, just as it was once supported by the framework of
imperialism.
> Israel represents a near-fascist state, but it also represents one of the
> cornerstone of the upcoming European free trade zone, and an enclave of
> western consumer society on the shores of the East Mediterranean. In the
> end it is only the grassroots movements that can have any real solidarity
> with the communities in Israel and Palestine that want peace and justice.
>
> This analysis is not ideology -- it is borne out by the fact that the only
> real political solidarity that has been offered during this crisis has
> been by social movements. The ISM volunteers include many people involved
> with Earth First!, Reclaim the Streets and Peoples' Global Action in the
> USA and UK.
>
>
>
> The UK and Israeli states are both characterised by the convergance of
> their labour and conservative parties into a single political elite; they
> are both strongly neo-liberal and prepared to use repression against
> dissidents. In the last couple of days, protestors who occupied CAT's
> offices in London in solidarity with activists in Palestine have had their
> homes raided and been questioned about 'terror' links. One of the things
> that terrifies the Israeli and UK governments is any linking of our
struggles.
>
> During my time here I have become aware of just how little I can achieve,
> and of how short my involvement has been -- even if I return, I still
> have a freedom of global movement denied to my friends in Al-Azzeh camp.
> Yet I am proud to be part of a movement that is sincere enough to offer
> direct solidarity against genocide, as well as fighting for social
> justice and ecological harmony at home. There will be another ISM campaign
> in June; I expect it to be massive. There will be ecological and
anti-capitalist
> protests accross the globe this year, I hope they will be massive too.
> This year will see both the European Peoples' Global Action conference
>
> I cannot detach these struggles, or indeed my own struggle for day to
> day survival, from the fight of the Palestinian people to live in
> peace and security.