[GushShalom] `You are guarding a ghetto!'

[Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)]

GUSH SHALOM  pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 www.gush-shalom.org

[Report of the joint Palestinian-Israeli Qalqilya action, including 
comment on the new racist law, and news about the court case of two newly-
arrived internationals] 

“Kodem Kol - Hachoma Tippol" (first of all – the wall must fall!) chanted 
peace activists at a demonstration against the Apartheid Wall that was 
called jointly by the public organizations of Palestinian Qalqilya,  the 
Israeli Gush Shalom and the international ISM.

The town of Qalqilya was offered this week by Sharon to be transfered to 
Palestinian control. But there is no suggestion of removing the walls and 
fences which surround the city on nearly all sides, leaving only a single 
narrow exit. "Once a thriving commercial center for its entire region, 
our city has been reduced to destitution." said Qalqilia Mayor Ma'aruf 
Zaharan in his speech. 

This morning, Zaharan and hundreds of his townspeople marched from the 
town center up to the Wall, holding flags and banners, accompanied by a 
sizeable contingent of internationals. On the way some youngsters managed 
to decorate the wall with various kinds of graffiti. Finally, they 
arrived at a point on the southern side of the city - the predetermined 
rendezvous, where a barred gate makes it possible to see the other side. 
There, an Israeli contingent arrived - veteran activists who had been 
involved since 1967 (even before) rubbing shoulders with energetic young 
anarchists. 
We also had internationals with us, from such disparate countries as the 
US, Denmark and Poland - including a Vietnam War veteran turned peace 
activist, who last night piloted a jet plane on its flight from the New 
York to Tel-Aviv. "Tonight I am due at Ben Gurion Airport to take her 
back, but the hours in between are mine to do with as I choose" he said . 

Within moments of alighting form the bus, we spread out in a long line 
facing the wall  with banners: “The wall – a ghetto for Israelis, a 
prison for Palestinians”/The Green Line – 
Border of Peace"/"Where there are walls there is no peace". The Palestinians with their 
waving flags were clearly visible, some twenty metres on the other side. They heard the 
greetings in Arabic made to them on the megaphone by historian Teddy Katz, and 
answered in kind. 

Sandwiched in between was a large force of soldiers, brought in to ensure that these two 
bodies of demonstrators would find no way of coming together. The young Itay Rotstein 
of Tel-Aviv took the megaphone to address them directly:  "Soldiers, did you give any 
thought to what you are doing here? Do you realize that you are guarding a ghetto - yes, 
a ghetto? Do you realize that you are holding tens of thousands of people prisoner, 
preventing farmers from cultivating their land, preventing merchants from having 
customers, driving a whole population down to poverty and misery? Can you look 
yourselves in the mirror?". The soldiers looked on impassively, making no overt reaction. 
For their part, Rotstein's fellows burst out chanting:   
"Not a fence but a ghetto, not soldiers but prison guards" and "Refuse, Refuse, Refuse!"

"There is a semantic debate about whether to call this thing in front of us 'wall' or 'fence', 
since physically it is a bit of both" said Uri Avnery. "But as to its function, the best term 
might be 'noose'. A strangling noose around Qalqilia, around all Palestinians, around the 
neck of all of us in this country and this region, a direct threat to all our hopes for  peace."

Towards the end of the demonstration, the military commander on the spot relented to 
the extent of allowing a single Palestinian to cross the closely-guarded gate and present 
greeting to the Israeli participants. He gave his consent to that radical step only 
reluctantly, first declaring it "a security risk" (which declaration was greeted by jeering 
remarks from the demonstrators). 

The young woman was allowed to spend only a few minutes on the Israeli side, before 
being escorted by soldiers back into her beleaguered city - just long enough to say a few 
words, hand over a hastily-scribbled message of thanks and solidarity, and receive and 
enormous cheer from everybody present.  

Photos from the Qalqilya demo can be viewed on the Gush Shalom website at 
http://www.gush-shalom.org/actions/q_fence_eng.html

On the way back to Tel-Aviv, we listened to the news and, yes, our little action got 
mentioned (and the evening TV news of Channel-II gave considerable coverage of the 
action from the Palestinian side of the Wall). 
But - as we also heard on the radio broadcast - this was also the day that the Knesset 
definitely voted into law a regulation which makes it from now on impossible for an Israeli 
citizen to bring a Palestinian marriage partner over to live in Israel - a measure which will 
force especially Israeli Arabs to choose between leaving the country or living a 
clandestine life.

P.S.
Back in Tel-Aviv the Gush Shalom bus went straight to the District Court where some 25  
demonstrators filled the benches during the hearing of two internationals who upon arrival 
yesterday were denied entry and detained pending their appeal. The Judge, Tzippora 
Baron, expressed surprise how these hardly arrived detainees got so many friends 
together. The decision will be handed down later in the week. Meanwhile David Watson 
and Michael Shake - both "recidivist internationals" - remain at the far from comfortable 
Airport Detention Cells. They are defended by Advocates Gabi Laski and Yoni Lerman.

--
A map of the separation wall:

http://www.gush-shalom.org/thewall/hebrew.html (òáøéú)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/thewall/index.html (English)

--
Our site:
http://www.gush-shalom.org/ (òáøéú)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html (English)

with
\\photos - of actions or otherwise informative 
\\the weekly Gush Shalom ad - in Hebrew and English 
\\the columns of Uri Avnery - in Hebrew, Arab and English
\\and an archive full of interesting documents

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