[GushShalom] Gandhi grandson at Abu-Dis demo + anti-Wall alpinism
Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)
info at gush-shalom.org
Sat Aug 28 18:43:39 IDT 2004
GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 www.gush-shalom.org/
International release, Aug. 28 2004
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"An injustice somewhere is an injustice everywhere"
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[Hebrew version (shorter) at request
âéøñà òáøéú (î÷åöøú) òì ôé á÷ùä ]
"This wall which I see here reminds me of the Bantustans which the
Apartheid regime in South Africa tried to create. It is my dream that
one day Israelis and Palestinians in their thousands will pull down this
wall which separates them".
The speaker was Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi,
himself head of the Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence. He was speaking
in the shadow of the eight-metre wall bisecting the Palestinian town of
Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem.
As soon as it was announced that the Mahatma's grandson would be
addressing a rally at Abu Dis, interested phone calls and emails
started flooding also our offices. There were quite a few mainstream
adherents - people who, without the historical and ideological
associations of the name Gandhi, may have hesitated to take an
action so radical in today's Israeli
context as going to a Palestinian city and participating in a joint
demonstration with its inhabitants.
For the Palestinian Coalition for Peace and Liberty, which had invited Gandhi,
his tour of the country is
intended to launch a widespread campaign aimed at showing the Palestinian public the advantages of
waging the struggle against the occupation by non-violent methods. Originally, among Palestinians
non-
violence was often confused with passivity and non-resistance. But the success of this year's strug
gle by
village communities mobilizing against construction of the Wall on their land has made the idea mor
e
concrete, and the virtual cessation of suicide bombings in the past half-year may among other thing
s indicate
willingness of Palestinian society to consider a fundamental change of tactics.
The idea of a joint demonstration by Israelis and Palestinians was not new; and knows its own routi
ne: the
bus cavalcade crossing the unmarked but very manifest border, the Israeli activists pouring down an
d
picking up their signs, the quick and smooth joining and mingling with the massed local demonstrato
rs
into a single crowd - as if we were not members of two societies which are locked in a daily, blood
y conflict.
Still, there was something different about today's event - a feeling of hope, maybe a new beginning
, despite
the grim reality against which we were protesting. It was noticeable in the smiles, in the way that
Abu Dis
women, dressed in their best, carried small children along the line of march, in the noticeable det
ermination
of Palestinian demonstrators to chant slogans in Hebrew: "Peace Yes - Occupation No!" and "The Wall
will
fall, the Wall will fall!".
At the front, a giant Palestinian flag carried horizontally by four youths gave some welcome shade
to those
who walked behind, followed by the marching band with drummers and trumpeters which is almost
inevitable at Palestinian demonstrations. The two-flag round signs of Gush Shalom were highly visib
le, and
Ta'ayush had produced special posters with the picture of Mahatma Gandhi and his words: "An eye for
eye
leaves the whole world blind", while an ubiquitous Palestinian poster showed photos from the fall o
f the
Berlin wall. And there were quite a few Peace Now flags fluttering in the wind - not a usual sight
on such
occasions - and the European rainbow peace flags, and a forest of placards and banners in Arabic, H
ebrew,
English (and a few in French): Together we will pull down the wall / Yes to the International Cour
t, No to
the Wall! / Freedom to the Prisoners of Freedom!/ Geneva Convention to the Palestinian Prisoners!
/ Walls
= Ghettos = Apartheid / Liberty is the key to peace / One, Two, Three, Four - Occupation No, No Mor
e!/ All
Children have the right to live in peace / Non au mur! / To be silent is to be an accomplice to War
Crime! /
Freedom is a birthright!
Among the marchers, we suddenly noticed the figure of the Nuclear Whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu -
after
so many years in close imprisonment and isolation, free to walk a street among a mass of demonstra
tors. He
was not among the scheduled speakers - still, a Channel-1 TV crew singled him out for an interview
("I
sympathize with the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, I know what they have to endure").
Finally, our destination : the Wall - an eight-metre high monster visible from afar, blocking off t
he main
street of Abu-Dis, blocking off view of the sky ahead. Like the Berlin Wall (which had not been nea
rly as
tall) it was covered with many layers of graffity, as well as posters with the faces of locals kill
ed by the army.
Many of the scrawled slogans, bearing the signature of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestin
e and the
distinctive Red Star, were in Hebrew: "Soldier, get out of your tank!" "Soldier, are you from Tel-A
viv? Do
you want a wall like this in Dizengoff Street?" "People of Israel, don't let Sharon destroy peace!
Don't let
the fascists win!"
There were also numerous copies of a poster in Hebrew, highly visible on walls all along the demons
tration
route as well as on the Wall itself, entitled: "Soldier, why did you kill Fadi?". Israeli participa
nts paused to
read:
"It was on May 9, soldier. Do you remember? It was Sunday evening and the youths were going out of
the
club. Do you remember, soldier? Do you remember that they did not throw stones, they did not threat
en you,
they just wanted to go home. You got off the jeep, soldier, you took aim, you shot Fadi directly in
the head.
Do you remember? Do you remember Fadi? Fadi, yes, Fadi Baher, he was just 19 years old. And for a w
hole
hour you did not let the ambulance come near, you did not give the doctors a chance to save him. Do
you
remember, soldier? Do you still think of it sometimes? How long, soldier? How long until you unders
tand
that it is more clever to live without violence?"
(Many of these posters were half torn down, as if soldiers found them unsettling... )
In the shadow of the wall, a podium had been erected, draped with the flags of Palestine and India.
As we
were approaching, Abu Dis Mayor Na'im Ahmar was warmly welcoming the visitors to his city. Then, a
blare of very loud music, followed by the passionate voice of Sheikh Al Tamimi talking in rapid suc
cession
about the cruelty of Sharon and Police Minster Tzahi Hanegbi, about brave prisoners hungering in th
eir
cells, about farmers quietly cultivating their fields, about destructive bulldozers relentlessly bu
ilding walls
and settlements, about President Arafat imprisoned in his headquarters, about freedom and independe
nce
and a glorious tomorrow...
Hulud Badawi spoke for Ta'ayush, switching between Arabic and Hebrew: "We thank the Palestinian
public for giving us this privilege, this chance to participate in a non-violent struggle against t
he
occupation. There are those who ask all the time 'Where is the partner? Where is the partner?' The
partner is
here, we are all each other's partners for peace and common struggle!".
Then Uri Avnery for Gush Shalom: "We are all opposed to violence. But what is violence? Is only th
e act of
a suicide bomber in West Jerusalem violence? Is it violence only when it is in opposition to the o
ccupation
- what about the occupation ITSELF? Occupation is VIOLENCE. Occupation IS violence. Building
settlements is violence. Destroying homes, uprooting plantations, taking away land is violence. Thi
s wall,
this terrible wall which is cutting a town in two,is violence. It does not shoot, it does not kill,
but it is
violence! To put an end to violence means putting an end to the occupation, fighting by non-violent
means
until we achieve peace".
Then came the speech of Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia (Abu-Ala), himself an inhabitant of
Abu
Dis, whose own daily life is directly affected by erection of the Wall: "The Holy Land, this narrow
land in
which we all live,does not need walls of hatred which breed despair and pain - it needs bridges of
peace and
hope, of loving and hope. I welcome you, the Israeli seekers after peace, in my city of Abu Dis and
my
country of Palestine. We are together in this, the struggle to end the occupation and build a bette
r future for
both our peoples."
And then the moment for which everybody was waiting - Dr. Arun Gandhi, silver-bearded and serene wi
th a
Palestinian scarf around his neck, took the stand: "Greetings to you all, salaam, shalom, peace, na
maste! I
have come to this country and this rally to protest two kinds of injustice, the injustice of a wall
which
separates between people, and the injustice of prisoners being treated worse then animals. When I a
rrived
here, somebody asked me why did I come, why do I interfere with the problems of this country and th
is
region. I will answer in the words of Martin Luther King - an injustice somewhere in an injustice
everywhere. The problem here is not a problem of Palestinians alone or of Israelis alone, it is a
problem of
the whole world, and it is up to the whole world to intervene and end it. The Twentieth Century was
the
most violent in the history of humanity - it is up to us to make sure the Twenty-First will be diff
erent."
Already during PM Qureia's speech, an incredibly agile activist climbed the wall like a real-life S
piderman,
putting hands and feet into cracks between the huge concrete slabs. Reaching the top, he walked bac
k and
forth, waving a small Palestinian flag, then secured and let down a rope by which those a bit less
nimble may
follow.
During Dr. Gandhi's speech, some fifteen youths climbed to the top, drawing enormous cheers from th
e
audience (though many were afraid that something terrible would happen...). "This may indeed be w
hat
Mahatma Gandhi would have advised in a situation like this" remarked Avnery "An open non-violence a
ct
of defiance, without trying to hide or avoid the consequences, and showing the oppressor the futili
ty of his
measures - as these climbers have surely demonstrated the utter futility of the Wall.."
[Report written by Adam Keller].
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Attached photo of the climbers appeared immediately on the website of the not-often-friendly Jerusa
lem Post
(article hereafter). Photos of the demo soon at the Gush site http://www.gush-
shalom.org/english/index.html
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Sari Cohen, Jerusalem Post, Aug. 27, 2004
Gandhi's son leads rally in Abu Dis
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1093587048864
Over 2,000 Palestinians and Israelis marched Friday afternoon through the village of Abu Dis, on th
e
outskirts of Jerusalem, in a peace rally headed by Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Dr. Arun Gandhi and
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.
The demonstrators called for non-violent action against the construction of the security fence, whi
ch runs
through Abu Dis, and against the Israeli military presence in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
As they marched through the streets of Abu Dis, the Palestinian and Israeli demonstrators voiced sl
ogans
promoting peace and demanding liberty for both nations.
The rally is part of an extended campaign that activists are currently attempting to develop in ord
er to
promote non-violent action in the territories, said Anat, an Israeli activist with Tayush Arab-Isra
eli
Partnership group, who marched in the demonstration.
"One of the intentions of the demonstration is to prove that both sides are available partners for
peace and
diplomatic discussion," Anat told The Jerusalem Post.
Friday's rally was concluded with speeches by Qurei, Gandhi, Shawky al-Hatib, who heads the Israeli
Arab
Coordination Committee, and Uri Avnery of Gush Shalom.
Qurei addressed the audience saying that the Palestinians will fight the construction of the securi
ty fence
"until death," and they would fight occupation until they gained independence, Army Radio reported.
Dr. Arun Gandhi addressed the demonstrators saying that the fence causes a great deal of grief and
suffering
to the Palestinian people.
"It is disturbing to see people being treated as animals," he said, referring to the Palestinian in
mates who are
on the 13th day of a hunger strike in prisons throughout Israel.
Gandhi arrived in the area from his home in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday following an invitation f
rom
Mohammed Alatar of the US-based grassroots group Palestinians for Peace and Democracy.
Alatar is hoping that Gandhi's presence will inspire Palestinians to choose the path of non-violent
resistance.
However media comments that Gandhi made over the past week have already incited some anger from cri
tics
who accused him of speaking against Israeli military operations and the construction of the securit
y fence,
but not against the brutality of Palestinian suicide bombings.
Ghandi, however, defends that he supports stopping all forms of violence, including suicide bombing
s, and
that this should be implicit in word "non-violent".
Before the conclusion of his visit, Gandhi also plans to meet with the initiators of the Geneva Acc
ord peace
plan. In addition, he will be speaking at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute. The visit was partly fu
nded by
Norway and Sweden.
Gandhi was born in Durban, South Africa, in 1934. His father was jailed for 14 years in South Afric
a for his
work against its apartheid regime. Gandhi moved to India at age 23, where he worked as a journalist
for The
Times of India. He and his wife started India's Center for Social Unity that worked against poverty
and caste
discrimination. He came to the US in 1987 and opened the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non-violence in
1991
in Memphis. He has also authored eight books.
# Daily updates prisoners' hunger strike at:
http://www.mandela-palestine.org/en_strike2004/daily.htm
# Truth against Truth - opposite views on the history of the conflict
in 101 steps
Hebrew / òáøéú
http://www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Heb.pdf
English
http://www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Eng.pdf
# Boycott List of Settlement Products (newly updated)
Now also with list of settlements
Hebrew / òáøéú
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boycheb.htm
English
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boyceng.htm
--
http://www.gush-shalom.org/ (òáøéú/Hebrew)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html (English)
http://www.gush-shalom.org/arabic/index.html (selected articles in Arabic)
with
\\photos of recent actions
\\the weekly Gush Shalom ad
\\the columns of Uri Avnery
\\Gush Shalom's history & action chronicle
\\position papers & analysis (in "documents")
\\and a lot more
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