Do you remember Dir Istya, where Neta and Yasmin chained themselves to trees and faced down the bulldozer? Do you remember that the army told the court that they wanted to build a road there, but that Palestinians were throwing stones from behind the trees so they had to destroy the orchard?
Well, here’s what happened: No road and no truth. Instead, settlers have now placed 4 caravans on that tract of land, as the beginning of a new settlement. And the army has placed a military post on the land to ‘secure’ the caravans.
Therefore, Neta and others issued an urgent call to action for internationals and Israelis to join the Palestinians of Dir Istya in a march of solidarity. Hundreds turned out and were met with a terrible barrage of tear gas, stun grenades, and brute force. Here’s an excerpt from a report that Neta wrote about it on behalf of the International Solidarity Movement, which she had co-founded not long before:
“The villagers gathered in the town square and began a 3-kilometer march towards the site of the caravans. The town mayor, Dr. Nafez Mansour carried a message that the demonstrators sought to deliver to the Israeli Army and the settlers: ‘No Peace with Settlements’ and ‘Equality and Justice for All’.
“Approximately 2 km into the march the demonstrators were confronted with a barrage of tear gas from the Israeli military and were prevented from proceeding to the site of the caravans. Despite pleas from the demonstrators that they were unarmed and were coming in peace, the Israeli military chose to bombard them with tear gas. Their requests in English and Hebrew for dialogue were met with repeated rounds of tear gas that caused a number of fires in the surrounding area. Sound grenades and rubber bullets were also used by the Israeli military. One journalist was lightly injured when he was shot in the foot. This method of dealing with the demonstrators is in sharp contrast to the means by which the Israeli Army deals with settler demonstrations. Israeli settlers frequently raid Palestinian villages and terrorize the Palestinian residents, with the knowledge and under the protection of the Israeli military. Needless to say, they have never been tear-gassed. On the part of the villagers, the demonstration remained completely non-violent. When it was obvious that the soldiers refused any kind of dialogue, the villagers conducted their Friday prayers on the site where the procession was stopped before quietly retreating to their village.”
Women In Black Solidarity Vigils
To mark the 34th anniversary of the 1967 war, women and men of conscience throughout the world will be holding Women in Black vigils on or about June 8th. Please think about holding a vigil in your own city – all it takes is a couple people and a strong desire for peace in the Middle East. We already have confirmed participation from 10 US cities (Abilene TX, Albuquerque NM, Ann Arbor MI, Boston MA, Chicago IL, Los Angeles CA, New York NY, San Francisco CA, Seattle WA, and Washington DC), as well as Melbourne, Mexico City, Montreal, Rennes, The Hague, Toronto, and a ‘peace ship’ in the Pacific – for a total of 17 locations.. Positive responses come in daily.
A video camera for Neta
Finally, a thank you to everybody for your words of support and your contributions of money and used video cameras for Neta and others to document the oppression and the resistance. Sufficient money has now come in, and a new digital video will be purchased this week, while the used cameras will be used by other peace activists in the territories and as backup for Neta.