Hebron, Israeli anarchists earn an internationalist reputation

mashriq / arabia / iraq | anarchist movement | news report

Monday May 23, 2005 01:03

by ? - via ainfos

Last week, Hebron activists, in the name of the people most effected by the religio-racist settlers hooliganism, asked for the nvolvement of the Israeli (Jewish) activists to try to deter the hooligans, or at least to draw the attention of the media. They asked especially for the anarchists from Tel-Aviv.

In addition to the general media reporting about the Anarchists Against The Walls part in the struggle against the apartheid wall, they probably also had got first hand information from the villagers of the South Hebron Mountain region, where the AATW are involved with locals in the struggle against the separation fence. The action was carried out on Saturday afternoon. Below are comrades reports and then media reports about the action:

A report of an activist:

"The attempt for solidarity visit of Israelis at the Palestinian families at the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron ended with mass arrest.

Tens of Israelis are detained these minutes [at time of the report - they all were released later - ainfos Ed.] as they tried to visit Tel Rumeida. Last few weeks, the Hebron [Jewish] settlers opened a new road for their needs that was not authorized by the Israeli army. The road was built on private lands of Palestinian inhabitants of Tel Rumeida, who are suffering daily harassment [for years] from the settlers.

A group of of Israeli activists traveled to day for a solidarity visit with Palestinian families of Tel Rumeida. The aim of the visit was to meet the inhabitants and to learn the conditions there.

In spite of the fact that the planned visit was nonviolent, the police forces were organized from the morning to prevent with any means needed that visit....

Media reports:
From the web site of the main Israeli yellow daily most Israelis read: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3088411,00.html

Hebron: 32 leftists arrested

Left-wing activists come to neighborhood of Tel Rumeida to express solidarity with Palestinians, say settlers threw objects at them
By Ali Waked and Efrat Weiss

HEBRON - Thirty-two activists were arrested Saturday afternoon by police and soldiers and are now being interrogated by Hebron district police.

The left-wingers demonstrators from several organizations* came to show support for Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida, whom they said were suffering from harassment by settlers.

According to the Palestinians, neighboring settlers damage their cars and try to take over their homes.

When the marchers got to Tel Rumeida, soldiers told them that they could not enter the area. When the activists ignored the army and walked in anyway, settlers pelted them with rocks, bottles and eggs.

Warned by the army

One activist, Anat, told Ynetnews that the soldiers warned her not to enter the settlers? compound.

"They said it would be taken as a provocation, and we insisted anyway, they called us Nazis, and said that we deserved what the settlers would dole out," said Anat.

Lawyer Yael Barda said, "Some of those arrested were handed over to the Hebron police while others went to the Gush Etzion district. Still others, were arrested by the army, which if of course, very illegal."

Barda said that the demonstrators came to visit Palestinian families after they had complained that the settlers cleared a passage for themselves, while blocking Palestinian access.

The police said, "The demonstrators were arrested on suspicion of violating a military order by going into Area A and by disturbing the peace.?

* To day Hebrew printed edition of the more "respectable" daily Haaretz reports:
"More than 30 leftist activists were arrested yesterday in protest actions at the Kasba of Hebron, and in places in town near the settlers' sections. About 70 activists - members of the "Anarchists Against The Fence" group and of other organizations, who entered during the weekend into the area under the control of the Palestinian authority in town, infiltrated through it to the Kasba, the market, the region of the "Policeman" square, and the Tel Rumeida [mini settlement in town] - [parts of Hebron that are under Israeli control]......

Near the Tel Rumeida settlement.... there were clashes with the settlers that threw on the demonstrators stones and eggs. ___________________________________________

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Comments (1 of 1)

Bil'in struggle continues - another Friday demonstration

by I - via ainfos

Mon May 23, 2005 01:13

It started like many other actions before, by coordination between the village committee activists, and Anarchists Against The Wall (AATW). Then, among other efforts, an announcement was distributed to the wider activists scene some time called "the coalition against the wall/fence"... Just this Friday, like most others, they did not join us. So, like most other demonstrations in Bil'in, it was the Palestinian villagers, the AATW and the International ISM people. First the announcement: [againstwall] Bil'in demonstration this friday "Dear People, There will be a demonstration this friday in Bil'in against the wall which is being built on the village lands.

For background on the struggle in Bil'in see the coverage in the indymedia:

https://israel.indymedia.org/feature/display/3077/index.php

https://israel.indymedia.org/mod/search/dosearch/index.php?dosearch=1&searchtext=billin

We have been pretty successful in bringing relatively large numbers of Israelis to Bil'in in the last few weeks and getting the struggle in Bil'in noticed. Lets keep it up !

We hope to be able to get a bus from tel aviv but for that we need people to commit to coming. if you can come please call yonatan or kobi (phone numbered snipped)"

Saturday morning, about 50 of us started the travel to Bil'in. Most of us by a buss, taking a risking/gamble we will have to face an Israeli army harassment on the way, which will need some sneaking. In order to arrive in time for the demo, we started 90 minutes before the demo - a ride of 30 minutes...

We did not even tried to arrive through the straight road to Bil'in... The first harassment occurred, when stopped at a point along the road, to cross some hill by foot to Nilin village - resume the travel from there by local cabs... The army patrol on the main road detected our tactic a bit too late. We were about hundred meters forward in the hill path before they tried to stop us.

After a short and fast crossing of the hill, few cabs came to take us to Bil'in - the first one with me in it succeeded to travel the road with no problem. Two other cabs were intercepted by the army patrol, who confiscated the keys of the cars....

As many of the comrades are well acquainted with the region after few months of cat-and-mouse encountered on the way to Bil'in, The comrades walked a bit by foot and then hitchhiked the few kilometers left to the village and arrived in time to take a rest before the demo - in the "guest house".

In the Guest hose, we prepared some placards and a few of us also a kind of "group theater", in which both Israelis and Palestinians put on our breasts small flags of the counties involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We crossed with black adhesive type our mouths - symbolizing the minor care of these countries.

We started the march to the route of the site of fence-in-building in which the works have already stopped for the weekend not expecting serious clash this time. The theater group was advanced to the front and we did the kilometer march to the route with hands locked while the rest of the marchers behind us.

After about 15 minutes march, we reached a point 100 meters from the route in which a chain of military and police blocked our way physically. At first, they just ordered us not to advance. Next they brought a document declaring the whole region to be a closed military zone - forbidden to the Israelis, they say they gave us 10 minutes to contemplate before starting harsher measures.

When the 10 minutes ended, we just set down on the road road - Israelis and palestinians, locking our arms, in preparation for passive resistance to arrest. The police commander who needed consultation with higher ups said that though the time limit arrived, as we were sitting nicely on the ground, he will let us stay there....

After a while, they decided on their tactics, and they called us "last chance to disperse peacefully", and as we just jeered them, they announced that all of us are under arrest and started to pull by force people from our group theater chain. When they came for picking me up, partly because Palestinian comrades held me tight, part because the soldiers were shamed by them for harassing an old man with white hairs, they left me sitting on the road and went around me to arrest younger comrades.

Some of the people arrested were just carried by their hands and feet. Some were also beaten by the carriers when there was not a camera too near to them. As it was really hot, and the carrying of the people grabbed was rough and slow, we decided to change tactic, and instead of resisting or dispersing, most of the Israelis decided to do solidarity arrest and we said to the policemen: "OK, you declared we are under arrest, so we go with you peacefully.... And they accompanied our small group of Israelis up the hill - the 100 meters or so seperating between the point they stoped us and and a pile of rock on the route of the fence building site the previously grabbed and arrested Israelis were staying under very loose guard.

There, at the big pile of rocks the police told us to stay and wait, we all seat together or wandered around. From there, we could see the rest of the demonstration - the Palestinians, the internationals, and the other Israelis, still continuing few hundreds meters further from the route. We could also observe the undeciciveness of the state forces about the "treatment" to give us - the 27 Israelis arrested, as it was Friday afternoon - the beginning of the Israeli week end.

With a lot of confusion, the police personnel started to process us at the rout, after a conflict between the army and police forced them to send us from the route to the shade of a near by olive trees orchard (confiscated from the palestinians on the other side of the fence for the enlargement of the near by settlement.)

After a long while they started to put us on police vehicles, releasing the majority of us far away on the road system of the settlers - to find public transportation home. 9 of us, with no obvious criteria, were taken to the police station at the Pisgat Zeev big urban settlement near Jerusalem.

As they failed to bring us before judge in time (which is about 4 hours only at Saturday afternoon), they just did a superficial investigation and the arresting formalities, and after a negotiating of a bargain, they let us all go after sighing each a bail equivalent to 900.- US dollars and agreeing not to approach the area of the route where we were arrested for the following 10 days.

Ilan