A resident of Nilin is trying to restore a room in his house, completely wrecked by soldiers during a 4-day punitive curfew in response to protests, July 2008. The soldiers entered the residence while the owners were locked up in another house. Photo: Activestills.org

There was one point that stood out for me in Uri Blau’s recollection of his pursuit by the Shin Bet in the Anat Kamm affair. Blau, Haaretz’s outstanding investigative reporter, recalls how as he was traveling in the Far East he got a call saying his house was broken into. “It looks like they were looking for something,” said the policeman on the phone. Reading this reminded me how they broke into my home, too.

It was about 8 years ago. I was active for the Shimnistim Letter (a statement of refusal by conscientious draft objectors), and I was one of those tasked with coordinating the signatories’ name lists.  One day, my parents’ home was broken into, and my computer was taken. Nothing else. Computers belonging to other family members, money, valuables were all spared. In the same month, break-ins took place in the homes of prominent activists in Courage to Refuse and Yesh Gvul, two other conscientious objection organisations. The houses were all turned upside down, and in all of them the only items missing were computers with CO name lists.

I remember being appalled – not really comprehending back then how Israeli “security forces” operated – and as the years went by, I learned to smile back at my naivety. But reading Blau’s account today got me wondering. Why, come to think of it, do they need to break into our homes? After all, there are legal routes to obtain search warrants and confiscate computers, in a perfectly orderly manner. If they could legally confiscate “Anarchists Against the Wall” t-shirts from the home of one of my friends, or if they found an ex-Mossad, friendly judge to discuss the gag order on the Anat Kamm affair – in other words, if the law is on their side, they could’ve knocked on our door and confiscate everything legally. So why burgle?

The answer is that breaking in signifies the deeper truth about the nature of their work.  Like the policeman who handcuffs a demonstrator, beats him up out of the camera’s sight and then claims he used reasonable force; or like the Mossad that murders people in faraway countries without ever admitting it – the innermost essence of the Shin Bet is embedded into such break-ins. A break-in like that is a statement: “We are the law, and we are above the law, and under the radar of the law, as we please”; and also, “you know it’s us, and there’s nothing you can do about it”; and at the end of the day, “we are everywhere in your life, all the time, and don’t you forget it.” It’s breaking in with intent to terrorise.

Not too long after the break-in I was already in jail [for conscientious objection - D.R.], and my room and belongings have been searched many times. And still, few experiences can be as humiliating as finding out someone roamed over your things without your presence. It’s not for nothing that the law says searches must be conducted in the presence of two witnesses; and it’s not for nothing that this law doesn’t apply in the Occupied Territories, where activists, academics, farmers, workers, teachers and children are dragged from their beds into the streets in the dead of night, and are only allowed to return once their home has been thoroughly turned upside down. I’ve seen them: Coming back and digging through what had been a wardrobe, a bed or a chest of drawers, trying to figure out what had survived, and trying to second-guess the thoughts of these demigods, omnipotent and omnipresent, who went through their belongings and left but destruction in their wake.

Uri Blau is in exile in Britain, his email and his phone are tapped, and he is threatened with interrogation and arrest if he dares to return to Israel. He is also awaited by his upturned flat, a silent testimony to the terror hovering over all of us.

Palestinian videographers, both professional and amateur, sometimes pay a heavy price trying to document daily life and protests with soldiers and settlers.

Their dramatic footage has more than once been the basis for legal as well as international intervention.

3 Minute Video Produced and Directed by Haggai Matar, Edited by Eitan Dorfman and filmed by Amir Terkel

Take the quiz for yourself and see how you do: Which of these photos is the a Military Prison in the Occupied Territories?

Which is the military prison?Top Left: Wall and guard tower around Ramallah. Top Right: Wall and guard tower around Bethlehem. Bottom Right: Wall and guard tower around Qaliqilya. Bottom Left: Ofer Military Prison

Ofer Military Prison is on highway 443 on the way to Jerusalem. Road 443 cuts through the West Bank and is infamously called "Apartheid Road" as Palestinians are forbidden from using it. Sadly this is only one of many roads in the West Bank that is restricted to Israeli only travel.

Road 443 exiting Jerusalem to the north west through the west bank. The walls are to prevent attacks on the roads. They also prevent Palestinians from easily accessing the other side of the village, and also I think just as importantly it saves Israelis from having to see our the people whose land we are driving through.

Blockade on Road 443. Palestinians access roads to 443 are blocked by mounds of rubble such as above, locked gates or cement blocks. The rational is Security. The military claims that allowing Palestinians access to the road (on their land) is deemed a safety risk for Israelis using the road.

Road 443 on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Palestinian homes visible just above the decorated wall.

If textbooks state explicitly that human beings’ origins are to be found with monkeys, I would want students to pursue and grapple with other opinions. There are many people who don’t believe the evolutionary account is correct,” Avital said yesterday. “

Avital is the ministry’s first chief scientist to be drawn from outside the community of education scholars. A 20-year Likud member, he represented the party in an unsuccessful 2006 Knesset run.

An Uplifting Day

An account of the  March in Bili’in marking 5 years of joint struggle.

I’ll admit things were not looking (or smelling) so hot when we were being sprayed by the Skunk Canon, an indescribably nauseating combination of liquid smelling like a cross between raw sewage and decomposing animals that almost instantly induces your vomit instinct;

this immediately followed by barrages of aluminum tear gas canisters fired 40 or 60 at a time.

Having these burning hot projectiles rain down on you while you are temporarily blinded and choking from the tear gas was quite terrifying for me.

one of many tear gas canisters

None of this could take away from this being one of the most inspiring days I can remember.

I was surprised and moved to find myself marching with over 1000 people from Palestine, Israel and lots of other countries through the main street of Bili’in.

Father and Daughter walking in Bil'in with the Settlement of Modi'in Ilit (on Bil'in's land) in the background.

I had been to Bili’in several times in the past year and was not expecting this kind of turn out for the following reasons:

35 or so residents of Bili’n who has been organizing the weekly protest against the fence had been arrested by the Israeli Army over the last 6 months in ongoing night invasions that have been terrorizing the whole village.

In the last  few weeks the violence used against demonstrators by the army has been escalating sharply in an effort to squash the resistance as the core leadership was imprisoned.

Internationals staying in the village had been repeatedly arrested by a special immigration unit who have no jurisdiction in the west bank.

Bili’in and the neighboring village of Nia’alin have been declared Closed Military Zones by the army until August 2010 (how’s that for a democratic move?) and Israelis were warned that anyone caught will be arrested.

Undercover Police have lately been following Israeli protesters from their meeting point and then detaining them at west bank checkpoints.

There’s an omnipresent surveillance camera taking video of the fence and footage from it is used regularly in court against Palestinians and Israeli protestors.

Repression of dissent not to mention resistance has been increasing to such overwhelming proportions in Israel recently that I’ve gotten to feeling powerless and depressed. The fact that so many people came out, were willing to put themselves at all kinds of risk simply made my spirits soar and energized me.

It was truly a moment of joy and inspiration.

Photo by Silan Dallal/ActiveStills

Its been said many times before but its worth repeating, this is a tiny village up against an incredibly sophisticated and violent military apparatus that has complete powers to arrest, jail, intimidate and restrict movement. For over 5 years my government has thrown everything it has at the people of Bili’in and yet still not only have they not given up they are still willing to join with Israelis in their struggle.

If that’s not inspiring I don’t know what is.

Addendum:

A section of fence was toppled by jubilant Palestinians, Israelis and internationals.

It was a symbolic small victory for a truly joint struggle.

No doubt the fence will be repaired by next week.

We will be there too standing side by side.

All photos by Amir Terkel, except where noted.

Video of the Protest: