The Only Democracy? » On The Ground Reports
Strengthening Those Who Belong to the Land: Mahmud from Susya, the Organic Farmer
(crossposted from The Villages Group Blog, where more pics can be found) Mahmud from Susya got up one day from his depression, and built a very basic green house. With simple tools and techniques he succeeded to surprise us with excellent organic vegetables. The vegetables are an essential addition to the family’s poor diet, based mainly on dairy products from the herd which is their main source of making a living. And while both herding and growing grains is restricted by the settlers/army, green-housing is a brilliant solution for growing food which does not require much land. One day Mahmud discovered a vegetable disease on the leaves of his tomatoes. We could not help with the disease, but by suggested to finance for him an agricultural course. When he returned from his two … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports, Victories for Democracy
The Global Movement Spreads: New Wave of Protests in Hebron
By Avital Aboody On April 24, 2010 at around 15:45 a group of approximately 50 Palestinian, Israeli, and International activists gathered in Hebron next to the checkpoint gate separating Shuhada Street from the Casbah. The protest was organized by a Palestinian group in Hebron called “Youth Against Settlements” and the organizers hope to hold these protests every week with the intention of disrupting the army-accompanied settler tour that goes through the Casbah (Old City) every Saturday. … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
What if Bil’in held a demo and the army didn’t show up?
By Emily Schaeffer Some of us have become so used to West Bank demonstrations meaning major Israeli army presence, and, typically, the use of weapons, that we have forgotten what demonstrations in a democracy look like. We’ve forgotten that a protest against oppressive working conditions in downtown New York City, or against oppressive abortion policies in Fredericton, Canada, or against wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in cities including London, Sydney, Paris, San Francisco and Toronto — … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, On The Ground Reports
Live from the Only Democracy Goes to Bil’in
Follow Jewish Voice for Peace on twitter at jvplive tonight to get live updates from our own Emily Schaeffer from the Bil’in Conference and protests against the Wall. You can download an audio report by Free Speech Radio news from the conference here. “Conference on nonviolent resistance opens in West Bank” The IMEMC recaps the first day of the conference. Hundreds of Palestinians along with international and Israeli delegates started on Wednesday the fifth annual conference … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Villages Imprisoned, Protesters Arrested, and Trees Uprooted for Wall
From the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee Soldiers and Border Police officers imposed curfew this on the village of al-Walaja this morning as olive tree uprooting for the construction of the Wall resumed there and in the adjacent town of Beit Jala, where two demonstrators were injured and two were arrested. Israeli forces stormed the village of alWalaja this morning, imposing curfew, as bulldozers resumed leveling terrain on the village’s lands for the path of the Wall. Soldiers are patrolling the streets of the village by foot, as well as on horses and all-terrain vehicles, and preventing residents from leaving their houses or being in the streets despite the fact that curfew was not officially announced. Press-card holding cameramen who tried entering the … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
A Nonviolent Che Guevara in Gaza
By Ashely Bates, reprinted from her Dispatches from Gaza blog with permission (Ed’s note. The spreading of the unarmed protests for real democracy to Gaza shows that the tactic is working. And if it works people will want to try it, in ways that defy stereotypes of “violent” Hamas-controlled Gaza. The only difference is that Israel can get away with a harsher response in Gaza so paying attention to stories like this is all the more … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Israel Demolishes and Silences its Bedouin Villages
By Yeela Raanan of Regional Council for the Unrecognized Bedouin Village (RCUV). (ed’s note: This piece shows how home demolitions are not limited to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories or those who are suspected of crimes.) April 13, 2010. The Government of Israel is putting me on trial next week (Monday, April 19th, 11:00am in Beer Sheva): for expressing my displeasure at the brutal home demolitions in the Unrecognized Bedouin Villages. The government and its acting bodies do … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
How the Shabak Use the Children of Palestine
Ed. Note: The following is a report from Bi’lin resident Yasser Awad Yasin on his interrogation by Israeli security forces. My name is Yasser Awad Yasin. I am 27 years old and I’m from the village of Bil’in. I’m married and I have two sons and one daughter. The Shabak (Israeli security ) had called me on the phone and told me to go to their office. I didn’t go, so the army raided my house. I was … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
A Bedouin Tale
By Rebecca Vilkomerson A few nights ago I had dinner at the home of a dear friend, Ra’ed, the director of the Bedouin-Jewish environmental organization BUSTAN. In the course of the meal, I heard a story that illuminates so many of the overlapping historicaland political factors that contribute to the injustice of the Bedouin story in Israel. It goes like this: A couple of weeks ago, on a Friday afternoon, a few young men from the Bedouin town of Qasr al-Sir went walking on the hills just outside their village. Without warning, shots were fired from the other side of the hills, and one of the young men was killed, another wounded. The shots were fired by Israeli soldiers, who were practicing within a military firing range. A simple, unfortunate tragedy? Not quite. Qasr … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discrimination, On The Ground Reports
“What Compels You to Do That?”: Teaching English As Activism in Hebron
By Rebecca Kirzner I teach English in Hebron. There. It’s said. The seemingly innocuous statement that generates an onslaught of questions, quizzical looks, and widened eyes. To be fair, it’s the type of statement that one does not often hear from a nice Jewish girl from New Jersey, living in Jerusalem. “What compels you to do that?” The question always catches me off-guard. What doesn’t compel me to do that? I teach students … Read entire article »
Filed under: On The Ground Reports
Interactive Video
“You have a choice! Israeli Anti-Militarists Speak”
Four Israelis—Dorothy Naor, Sergeiy Sander and Eli Fabrikant, and Ofer Golani—talking about their personal histories, political views and activism in 132 short films.