MOBILIZATION FOR THE 28th ANNIVERSARY OF LAND DAY IN PALESTINE
Day of demonstrations to protest the confiscation of Palestinian
lands


[Beit Sahour, BETHLEHEM] Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 30, 2004,
Palestinians will be joined by international peace activists to
commemorate the 28th anniversary of Land Day. Several demonstrations
have been scheduled throughout the Occupied West Bank to continue
the protest over the annexation and destruction of Palestinian land
by the Israeli military and government.

- In Beit Duqqu, northwest Jerusalem, villagers from the neighboring
region will meet at the mosque at 9:30am and peacefully head to
their farmlands to pray for their land.
For more information, please contact: Shora (English):
+972.67.254.910
or Mohamed Ayesh (Arabic): +972.67.395.422

- In Beituniya, southwest Ramallah, where the army has started to
work on the wall, the villagers will gather in front of the
Municipality Council at noon to march to the worksite and try to
prevent the bulldozers from destroying their land. They will be
supported by the villagers from Budrus who will join them in their
first action against the Apartheid wall.
For more information, please contact: Perla (English):
+972.66.261.670
or Nazih (Arabic): +972.59.786.525.

- In Nablus, people will gather at the Duar, in the town center of
Nablus where a large rally will be held beginning at 10:30am.
For more information, please contact: Judah (English):
+972.52.351.534

- In Tulkarem, workshops and speeches on the wall and the land will
take place at 11am in the local Chamber of Commerce located in the
center of the city and a strike is scheduled from 1pm to 3pm.
For more information, please contact: Ghali: +972.52.320.481
or Abdul Kareem: +972.59.836.783

Land Day has been commemorated yearly since the killing on March 30,
1976 of six Palestinians by Israeli troops during protests over the
expropriation of Palestinian-owned land by the Israeli government in
the north of Israel. This date has become a symbol for all
Palestinians of the struggle for the land. This year's commemoration
comes in the midst of a increasing land grab that continues due to
the construction of the Apartheid wall on Palestinian lands.


For more information, please contact:
ISM Media Office: +972.22.77.46.02

============================================================
Teenagers' war game, by Rebekah, March 15, 2004

When other activists were coming back from Palestine and kept
writing about how young the soldiers were, I was always really
annoyed. It seemed so patronizing and condescending, somehow useless
in describing occupation forces. Then I came here and had some
confrontations with soldiers and I understood that it was not about
their youth but about their immaturity, their lack of skills, of
understanding of the world; the fear in their eyes. It is terrifying
to think that someone with the insecurities and issues of an 18 year
old boy could control life in their hands. It is terrifying to see
how scared the soldiers are of a group of 12 year old boys with
nothing but stones in their hands.

I was in Jerusalem over Purim, the Jewish holiday where everyone
gets drunk. I just could not stand seeing all these people acting
like fools and getting dressed up and having fun 30 feet away from
the "Green Line". It seemed absurd. I feel like I am in the theater
of absurdity after I spent the last two days watching young soldiers
playing war games.

In Beit Liqya, the wall is being built on one hill and the village
proper is located on the next one. In between lies a wide valley
where I went down today with older Palestinian men and international
activists to confront the soldiers and attempt to get up to the work
site. This area is covered by a court injunction ordering the work
to stop for a week but the soldiers ignore it.

At first, I thought I would just be a legal observer. I would go up
and try to talk to the soldiers asking them why they were holding
the people at this one place; why Palestinian civilians weren't
allowed to move freely through their lands. But, when a group of
women came down, and one of the soldiers began to push them back a
little, I stepped in. All this time the shebab were upon the closest
hill to the village, waiting to see what would happen. They could
not be convinced to come down for some sort of direct action, They
probably wouldn't be allowed to do so anyway as soldiers do not care
what kind of force they use against Palestinian youth. "Non-
violence" is simply not an option.

I don't know what I expected. I guess the soldiers looked so much
like cops and the demonstration seemed so ordinary. Every once and a
while there would be an unexplained flare up. We heard rubber-coated
metal bullets going off on the top of the hill near the shebab, but
we never saw any rock throwing. There were some random sound
grenades, but it seemed quiet.

But I forgot that the soldiers are not cops, and no matter how much
we would like to make the connections between occupation elsewhere
and conditions at home,
this has nothing to do with the NYPD. The main difference is that
while cops can be satisfied with busting a few heads but otherwise
simply containing a crowd, the Israeli military believes their
country is at war with the 12 year old children. The soldiers cannot
leave until the battle is won…

First they set off sound grenades. They fired a couple of them into
the crowd of women, who had not before participated in the
demonstrations. They created chaos and since the men were
simultaneously retreating from bullets behind them, and there was a
ridge next to them, the women and young girls could not go anywhere.
They were also frightened, as was I, and essentially fell on the
ground trying to cover each other. They could now be considered by
the advancing army "out of commission" but this was not enough. The
army then threw sound grenades on top of the pile of women,
exploding on their heads and backs, setting their clothes
momentarily on fire. We eventually were able to get up. I was doing
my usual walk very slowly away. Some soldiers were pushing me in the
back with their clubs, telling me to move, when one of the guys I
had been talking to when we were lined up during the standoff,
decided to take a run at me. I stared him down as I would a cop,
told him to let go of me and he did.

Then a kid was shot by a rubber-coated steel bullet from 5 feet away
in the stomach. A soldier was poking him with his baton, and then
signaled to another man to come pick him up. It was my first escort
under rubber bullet fire to an ambulance. They were also shooting
live ammunition at the shebab on the hill so that it was difficult
to tell what they were shooting at. One soldier was gesturing at a
small boy about 8 years old, holding out a sound grenade to him just
as he was pulling the pin. The shebab were throwing some rocks from
the above ridge that landed some 30 yards in front of the soldiers
down in the valley with us. Apart from that, nothing came anywhere
near the soldiers around us.

And then, something really bizarre happened. It was probably the
oddest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. The army went into
formations. Only one or two soldiers remained running around between
trees taking cover, and covering one another with their guns,
trained up the hill as rubber bullet snipers aimed and fired. A jeep
came to refill their ammunition and they would cover each other like
in some war movie as they slowly retreated to the jeep, hiding
behind it with snipers moving to advantageous points along the hill
while the others refilled. It was bizarre because I kept wondering
what they could possibly be taking cover from? They were acting out
this ritualistic war game; at some points one or two diving to the
ground and shooting from a lying down position while others stood
over them and furtively glanced around at all of us, who were by
this point sitting on rocks having a cigarette and cheering on the
shebab.

I then realized why this is not the NYPD, why occupation is
fundamentally different. It is the war game. The idea that they are
under threat and therefore must retaliate, not just to obtain
control by any means necessary but to win a war is essential. The
difference may just be semantics, but it is in fact an issue of
legitimacy. Annihilation is an appropriate end. They shoot not
because of some excuse of fear but because they are there to shoot,
they exist to shoot. No amount of international press or me with my
blue passport that looks as absurd in this situation as a green hat
or a red armband makes a difference because there is no such thing
as popular opinion on this war. People cannot see that it is a war
where the opponents are children with pebbles and the battlefields
are simple construction sites.

Everyone here says, "we do not hate the Jews, we hate the
occupation" But we're not supposed to believe them. In order to
justify to ourselves as the Jewish people that this terrorizing of
the Palestinian people is acceptable we can't believe that the
absolute hatred is not directed at our identities, but at the
conditions of our own making. The court case in the Israeli supreme
court trying to stop the construction here includes 200 Israeli
petitioners from the nearby neighborhoods of Jerusalem (Beit Liqya
is just outside annexed East Jerusalem) because the Israelis said
they did not want the wall because they had never had conflict
between them and the Palestinians in the area and they knew that the
building of the wall would increase tension and reduce security.

They are right. Beit Liqya and Biddu and the other villages in the
area have been totally quiet during this Intifada, there have been
no bombers from the area and no Israeli military presence in the
villages until now. These are the first rocks these children have
thrown in their lives. After years of checkpoints, arbitrary
roadblocks, restrictions on movements, including the 10 minutes trip
to Jerusalem, impossibility to reach workplace, to get to Ramallah
and to the universities on some arbitrary days; random humiliation
and stories of their fathers and uncles who were tortured by Israeli
forces during the first Intifada… After entire lifetimes of
oppressed existence, they now have to sit and watch the sanctuary of
their own villages being destroyed. Watch over the shoulder of some
18 year old kids in uniform, getting a kick out of eating his candy
bar and throwing pieces of the wrapper on this field he has no
business in while a bulldozer decides to go after one olive tree
after another after another. And you know that they will come again
and again and again and again, and you will never get past the
rubber bullets and the tear gas and the sound grenades, because even
if you rush the army and get through, they're not the police. They
won't just take a baton to you and arrest you. If you cross a line
of soldiers, especially if you are young and male, you can die.

Today the army said they saw a young Palestinian with a homemade
weapon that could somehow shoot bullets. As the women, men and
internationals and I attempted to go back to the village over the
hill, we were stopped by soldiers from crossing the ridge because
they wanted to protect us from the live ammunition they were firing
at the retreating shebab. They then threw sound grenades and tear
gas at us as we went hurtling down the hill. Again, as they crouched
behind the boulders aiming at the fleeing teenagers, I couldn't help
thinking, "what in the world have they been told that makes them
think that they must take cover from rocks? And why does the rest of
the world believe them?"

As I told one of the soldiers in the beginning of the day, when they
were still acting like little crowd control cops: the worst that
could happen that day to him was that a rock would go bouncing off
his helmet. I then asked him about the shebab on the hill: "what's
the worst that will happen to them today?" He shrugged his
shoulders, fingering the gun in his hand. I then looked over his
shoulder at this enormous bulldozer tearing out olive trees, the
last source of a means to survive for this community, and I just
keep thinking: what more will happen here?

==================================================================
From Kharbatha Bani Harith, by Mary, March 24, 2004

While in Palestine last year, I was very busy with actions and
witnessing. This did not allow for much personal time and therefore
not much reflection. I think maybe this was a good thing for me.
Things are much different this year. I spend most of my time meeting
people and discussing the many issues surrounding the Occupation. I
am so grateful for my time here and the beautiful people I meet,
however, I am dealing with the situation much differently now. I
have a lot of time to think and process what is happening here and
throughout the rest of the world.

My heart is really heavy right now. I do not usually ask for help
but I really need each and every one of you to help me right now.
Every time our government, politicians and corporations act, they
are speaking for you and me. Even if you are not directly involved
in these actions, you and I bear a large part of the responsibility.
I truly believe silence is compliance. If you are not doing
something about the injustices committed in our name you are
indirectly supporting them. Please
forgive me if what I am saying is unclear. I have spent days
listening to stories that would break your heart: a sixteen year old
boy in jail for a year and his family has never spoken to him; a man
forced to divorce because his wife is in Jordan and they haven't
been allowed to travel to see each other in over three years; life
in a refugee camp; death, humiliation, poverty, loss of opportunity,
no HOPE…

Well, I wrote this a week or so ago. I don't know what I was
thinking other than I wanted people to know my heart is bruised
right now. I want to make myself understood, Palestinians make a
clear distinction between Americans and the American Government.
They do not hate us. There are many questions about what we think
and why we are not helping Palestinians. It is difficult to see so
much pain and suffering. I just feel a lot of pressure and need help
sharing the burden of trying to repair some of the damage done in
our names. I will not continue with this as there is much more I
want to talk about.

Tom and I went to Jerusalem for a short break and to collect
information and maps that will help us continue our work at home.
Last Friday, I went and stood with Women in Black in Jerusalem.
Women in Black is now worldwide, but started here with Palestinian
and Israeli women standing silently in solidarity against the
Occupation and the violence. I held three signs that said "Stop the
Occupation" one in Hebrew, one in Arabic, and one in English (I
don't think I need to explain why). It was a wonderful experience
and I meet people from many places including Minnesota. I really
felt like I was doing something important. Please know that many
Israelis were very angry. We were cursed at and spit on by many
passersby. I never stopped smiling. I still reach out with love and
kindness and said, "I understand." I refuse to be part of the
violent cycle, even verbally. I believe in love and kindness even if
I am still learning to incorporate it into every part of my daily
existence.

Later that night, Tom and I went to get some ice cream outside of
Damascus gate. We heard gunshots and found two Arab men shot by
Israeli soldiers. We later found out the two men had been fighting
and the soldiers shot them to break up the fight. One man was shot
in the hand and the other in the chest. What was really disturbing
about this event is what followed. A small crowd gathered around the
men and the soldiers were becoming increasing irritated. They yelled
at people to leave and charged them with batons when they did not. I
was standing a good distance away but letting the soldiers know of
my presence. They charged again and I did not move. They ran past me
and beat a man who was in the back of the crowd running away from
the soldiers. The man fell to the ground and lost consciousness.
When two men attempted to make it back to where the soldiers were so
they could call for help, they were chased off and threatened with
guns. Help finally came about a half and hour later. I lost my
appetite for ice cream after reaffirming my belief that the
Occupation and the Army are constantly increasing tensions and doing
harm not just in the Territories but also within Israel.

Tom and I also took a trip to Abu Dis. It is a town outside of
Jerusalem but within the Occupied Territories. I had seen areas
where the Wall was being worked on and the actual Wall from a
distance, but never up close. So we went. It was a long walk and a
fairly quiet one between Tom and I once the Wall came into view. I
hope you have seen the pictures and do not believe the propaganda
that is being fed to us by America and Israel. I looked at the Wall
for some time and finally had to touch it.

All I want to say is the WALL is cold, ugly and built with money
provided by you and me.

I have one last thing to tell you about. For the past five days, I
have been living in a village called Biddu outside of Ramallah. The
Wall is being built in several areas simultaneously in this area. I
do not have time to explain all of the effects of the Wall right
now. I will say it is stealing the land and livelihood of thousands
of Palestinians and cuts them off from necessities and loved ones.
It truly is a strangulation Wall.

On Sunday, we went to a demonstration against the Wall in a village
named Kharbatha. When the five internationals, including myself,
first arrived in the village there were young boys running away from
the demonstration suffering from teargas. We approached with caution
and concern. A few of us went to the front of the crowds where
Palestinians and soldiers were face to face.

This was my first time involved in a demonstration like this so I
did not engage verbally at this point. All of the sudden, the
soldiers began running away from the crowd and I was quite confused.
A Palestinian man hollered at me in Arabic and I understood the
word "head." I looked back and the Palestinians were running away
and taking cover. I got down immediately. By the time I realized I
was not protected it was too late. I was on top of a fairly flat
rock like a lizard catching sun.

First came the tear gas, next the sound bombs, and finally rounds
and rounds of "rubber bullets." They are actually steel that is
coated in thin, hard plastic. They were closer than I care to tell
and you could hear them and see them. I was more scared than I have
ever been in my life. I wanted to leave and realized that I had no
way out. If I got up or even picked up my head, I would be in
greater danger. This is how it went for hours. The soldiers would
run up and confront the crowd and then cower behind their guns. I
finally found my strength when three female teachers and their
female students marched to the demonstration and walked right up to
the front. They were chanting and sitting peacefully when soldiers
approached. Drawing on their strength, I decided to engage with the
soldiers. I was in-between the two groups. I was asking the soldiers
to look into the eyes of the people they were beating. I told them I
understood they were angry, frustrated, and didn't necessarily want
to be there. I told them to realize they have the power and the
choice to use it wisely. There was no reason to tear gas and shoot
at women who were chanting and sitting peacefully. Some soldiers
looked at me and even responded. Most just ignored me but others
began shoving, pointing their guns, and yelling at me.

During this short time, over 37 people were treated after being shot
with "rubber bullets." All but a handful was shot above the waist.
Many more were shot and did not seek medical help. I know this
because Tom was shot in the ribs and I wasn't with him nor could I
go to him for fear of flying bullets. I heard the news over a
telephone although he was maybe twenty yards behind. He is bruised
but strong. He continued filming and bearing witness with amazing
courage. I try not to cry to often but I really want to scream.
During the day I saw two individuals shot in the head (although
there were more). The first was a elderly woman who briefly put her
head up to say "God is Great" and the other an Israeli activist who
was confronting the army and demanding they put down their weapons
and cease firing upon innocent civilians. Unbelievable!

Eventually the soldiers were sick of internationals like myself and
they called in the border police who have the ability to arrest us.
The number of soldiers and police were close to 100. They took out
binoculars and we could tell they were pointing out the
internationals who were on the front lines and engaging with the
soldiers. There was one final attack. We knew it was coming because
many soldiers put on large orange "necklaces" each one consisting of
about eight sound bombs. They charged and dispersed the crowd with
at least thirty sound bombs in a matter of seconds. It was really
sad to turn back and look at the faces of the soldiers as I fled and
covered my ears. They were laughing and pointing at me as I was no
longer standing with them face to face. They felt they had won some
contest. The truth is everyone is losing. I yelled so they could
hear, "you have guns, I only arm myself with peace and love."

One female international, Sonja, was arrested. Tom was forced to
flee by himself down in a valley hiding from soldiers surrounding
the area. My friend Gurdy and I were caught in a small clash and
then cornered off by the police. Without explaining everything, we
were detained with the intention of being arrested. I refused to go
with them and slowly moved away while talking calmly and hopefully
rationally. We provided the arresting Commander with an out and were
able to usher a Palestinian detainee to safety with us.

I could go on but it is still painful for me to think about it.
After the demonstration, I talked with many young girls and boys.
The boys fed me beans they picked from a nearby field and the girls
painted my fingernails a bright orange color and put glitter on my
face. For those who ask, this is why I am here.

I continue to work and to attend demonstrations. I struggled before
I wrote this email. I know many of you will worry. This is not the
purpose as I am but one of millions to worry about. The purpose of
this email is to distribute the truth. I believe in it and I will
fight for it and the truth will win the conscious of the world!