After all the fuss, all the speculations and media coverage, local and international interest, internet buzz and adrenaline – nothing out of the ordinary happened in Bil’in or Ni’lin today. The Israeli military raised our expectation and craving for confrontation by widely publicizing the new military order declaring the two villages closed military zones on Fridays for the next six months. But when it came right down to it and demonstrators got into cars and left Tel Aviv for the West Bank, they got through checkpoints with no problems, marched out of the villages towards the Separation Barrier with their Palestinian co-protesters, breathed some teargas and called it a day. The protests were done by 2:30 this afternoon.

We could spend hours hypothesizing about why the army chose not to make a dramatic statement and arrest tens of activists today despite the grand gesture it made earlier in the week but the truth is it just doesn’t matter. This struggle is not about one week, one month or one year. The fact that nothing crazy happened this week, the first week after the new military order, does not mean that there is no crackdown against protests in the West Bank. The measure of this crackdown is not a week – it is over years.

When Israelis began protesting alongside Palestinians in places like Budrus and Bilin, they would simply not have believed that five, six or seven years later there would be a need for a military order especially to bar their entry to demonstrations. But today that is what the army sees as necessary in order to control a struggle that it will never control. One quiet week from Israel’s army should not signify anything beyond the fact that this week was quiet. There is indeed a crackdown and it will rear its ugly head again and again but there is also a long-enduring joint Israeli and Palestinian struggle against the wall, settlement and occupation and it will not be deterred by military orders, arrests or rubber bullets. Not this week and not next. We’ll be back.

By Libby Amit.

It was clear to most activists and supporters of the joint Israeli-Palestinian demonstrations in the West Bank that this week’s declaration by the Israeli army that the entire villages of Bil’in and Na’alin would be closed military zones on Fridays for the coming six months was more of a statement than anything else. Israel has been attempting to quiet the popular struggle against the wall, settlements and occupation for months if not years – with increasingly varied and intense methods recently. This week’s military order was clearly another stab at that same repression campaign. The questions that many asked throughout the week were: what’s actually going to happen on Friday? Will the military order succeed in keeping protesters out? How is it all going to go down?

Today, the first Friday since the order was announced, we saw just how little these statements actually impact activists – Israelis, Palestinians and internationals. Not only were there more cars heading from Tel Aviv to Bil’in than there have been in a long time, a demonstration was held (and is still underway at the moment) in Budrus. It would be unfair to say that Budrus is a “new” place for demonstrations since the village was heavily involved in nonviolent protests against the wall, and actually succeeded in changing the route of the wall purely using this method, without even having to go to the Israeli high court of justice.

The village decided to hold its first protest in around four years today for several reasons including solidarity with other villages and Jerusalem. So while the obvious goal of the Israeli military order was to quiet, to shrink and to repress, the actual outcome was a very different story.

Here is the trailer for the new film Budrus, from JustVision.

Here is Ynet covering  the protests:

Hundreds of Palestinians and left-wing activists, both foreign and Israeli, demonstrated Friday near Bilin and Naalin against the construction of the West Bank security barrier, this despite the fact that earlier this week the IDF declared that the area surrounding the separation fence in the villages’ vicinity will be declared a closed military zone every Friday through August 17.

Nil'in villagers do noon prayer before joining with Israeli activists for demonstration

When the Israeli army declared the villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin closed military zones on Fridays all day for the next six months, many seasoned Israeli activists shrugged and said “big deal.” This military order does not reflect a major change in policy on the ground, the villages are generally declared closed zones for this time period, just not preemptively for six months. This does not mean that the order is no big deal. It is a powerful statement of intent, on the part of the Israeli army, to repress the joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle against the wall, settlements, and general occupation.

Given the fact that the on-the-ground policy has not changed this week, two of the main fears among supporters of the joint struggle were:

1. Activists and supporters would fall for the military’s fear tactics and stay away from this week’s demonstrations for fear of being arrested or worse,

2. In order to enforce the order, soldiers would simply not allow activists’ cars through checkpoints on the way to the villages.

But neither of these things happened.

Israelis and Palestinians marching out of Nil'in for demonstration

As of this late morning, more activists than usual turned up for demonstrations in the West Bank – including 9 full cars to Bil’in, 2 cars to Nil’ln, one to Al-Ma’sara and one to the renewed demo site in Budrus. The Israeli activists were not dissuaded by the military order, they showed up in big numbers with the message: no military order is going to quiet this joint struggle. Not this week!

The cars set out earlier than usual, expecting to be stopped at checkpoints on the way to especially Bil’in and Ni’lin, some even chose to detour and use alternative routes to reach the villages. As of noon, all cars have reached their destinations and demonstrations are about to begin.

Israeli soldiers begin to fire teargas at protesters

On the one hand, passing these two hurdles is a relief, on the other hand we must wonder how the Israeli military plans on enforcing this new military order if not at the checkpoints. They are not likely to allow demonstrations to continue as usual since this will mean admitting that nothing has changed.

12:15 pm