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more reports by John click here>>

John Petrovato is a bookseller from Western Massachusetts. He is a dedicated activist in the struggle for social justice. He is currently participating to the ISM's Olive Harvest Campaign

John's reports:

6) School Run in Nablus
By Charlotte, Siama & John Petrovato in the Balatta Refugee Camp, Nablus
November 7th, 2002

Early evening under a starry sky in the scarred city of Nablus,
families enjoy their first meal of Ramadan and children play with
fireworks on the street, while less than a hundred metres away tanks
roll up the hill firing live rounds of ammunition into the air
followed by jeeps scattering tear gas to remind the residents of the
city in case they could forget that curfew has been imposed. In
fact the Eastern half of the city has been under curfew all day
yesterday and today. There is no pattern; curfew is imposed on
different parts of the city according to no apparent logic other than
to divide the city and perhaps to foster some ill-feeling between the
residents of the curfewed camps in the East and the city dwellers in
the West.

So for the children of the camps who attend school in the city, the
15 minute walk to school is fraught with military obstacles- sound
bombs, tear gas, shooting and possible arrest. This morning three
internationals, Charlotte (Ireland), Siama (UK) and John (US), bleary-
eyed after a night interrupted by heavy gunfire in the camp, set out
to accompany a group of teenage girls from Balatta Camp up the road
to the city of Nablus. Heading out on to the main route into the
city we found the road scattered with groups of children making their
way up to the huge roadblock from where they would detour behind the
bombed wreck of the Nablus police headquarters to avoid the military
who would normally be stationed there. Before we got near the
roadblock we were met by an Israeli army jeep which blasted out
orders over its loudspeaker for the children to go back home. The
children, defiant as ever continued on their path up the hill. A
group of teenage boys threw rocks at the bullet-proof jeep from
behind a nearby building and were met with tear gas and gun shots in
the air in response. Another boy who was quite close to the jeep at
the time, but who hadn't thrown any rocks was grabbed by two of the
soldiers and bundled into the back of the jeep. On seeing this the
three internationals rushed towards the jeep and beckoned to the
driver to open the door to talk to us. Asked why they had taken the
boy they replied that he had thrown rocks and would therefore be
taken to the military base and interrogated. Siama reasoned with the
officer in charge that this was no way to treat a child and that we
had seen him and he had not thrown any rocks. The group continued to
engage the soldier in an explanation of the curfew rationale
stressing the right of the children to attend school, and the
relative harmlessness of throwing rocks at an armoured jeep. After
about ten minutes they released the boy from the jeep, returned his
identification documents and shaken but unharmed he rejoined his
friends at the side of the road.

At this point we noticed that further up the road another jeep had
stopped a group of about fifteen girls who were attempting to pass
through an archway to avoid the roadblock. As we approached we could
see that some of the girls were talking to the soldiers, showing
their school books and asking to be allowed to pass. We were stood
behind the girls allowing them to continue their negotiation when one
of the soldiers jumped out of the jeep and discharged a sound bomb in
the middle of the group. Some of the children started to run through
the tunnel and immediately another soldier threw a tear gas bomb into
the tunnel were the children were hiding. As the children coughed
and wheezed running out of the tunnel, the soldier, laughing, jumped
back into the jeep triumphant at this early morning victory. Minutes
later some children called to the internationals to get an ambulance
for a young girl who had passed out as a result of inhaling the gas.
After checking that the ambulance arrived and the girl was being
treated, we moved across to the 'detour' road where the children
seemed to be passing freely through to the city.

We decided then to relocate to the major checkpoint which divides the
city during curfew, where two tanks and a couple of jeeps were
holding up traffic in four directions. On arrival at the checkpoint,
behind the tanks and a parked jeep we could see two teenage boys
crouched down facing the wall of an adjacent building. Thinking this
strange we approached the soldiers to ask why the boys were being
held this way. One soldier explained that they were being 'punished'
for throwing rocks at the tank. Whether or not they were throwing
rocks there is no justification for this treatment of 15 year old
boys and we told our feelings to the soldiers. The boys were
obviously frightened and had been told to close their eyes and not to
talk. Not wanting to get them into more trouble we stood silently
beside them and waited for them to talk us. They told us that the
soldiers had ripped up their school books and asked us if we could
somehow help them. One soldier spotted him talking and came over to
him and pulled at his ear and neck, which already seemed to be
causing him pain. Charlotte took a photo of this incident and the
soldier immediately threatened to break the camera. Distracted by the
build up of traffic, including several ambulances, the soldiers
failed to keep a watch on the two boys and they managed to escape
about thirty minutes later. Shortly after this the internationals
left the checkpoint.

Later in the afternoon, two of the internationals stopped by the
checkpoint and found that another young boy was being 'arrested' for
supposedly trying to climb on the tank (!) We had in fact watched
this boy approach the tank, as everyone who wants to pass must do,
and he did nothing of the sort. Siama rushed to intervene, demanding
to know why this boy was being trailed across the ground by soldiers,
while the boy pleaded with her to help him. They said they were
arresting him and threatened them both with a sound grenade. One
soldier pulled out his gun and pointed it at the boy. Siama jumped
between the gun and the boy and subsequently more soldiers joined in
and five soldiers were attempting to arrest the boy. The petrified
boy attempted to hold onto Siama's legs and begged the soldiers not
to arrest him and Siama pleaded with them not to use unnecessary
force. Meanwhile Charlotte who was photographing the incident was
being chased by another soldier attempting to take her camera.
Unfortunately there was nothing we could do to stop the soldiers from
dragging the boy into the jeep, tying his hands and taking him away.

This was one checkpoint, in one city, on one day of the occupation of
the West Bank. In the course of trying to get to and from school,
pupils suffered tear gas, gun fire, detention and arrest and this
was in the presence of international witnesses, so who knows what
happens when we are not there. This ritual humiliation is a part of
every day life for Palestinian children, undocumented by the world
media. There would be an outcry if OUR children could not get to
school let alone have to endure this brutality on the way. Yet these
children who desperately want to go to school are being denied this
basic right.

*************************************
This report is co-written by John Petrovato of bostontopalestine and
two other internationals working in the West Bank. John is part of a
Boston-area delegation to the International Solidarity Movement's
Olive Harvest Campaign. Over one hundred Internationals and Israeli
peace activists are in the rural West Bank accompanying Palestinian
farmers as they harvest olives. The presence of Internationals
reduces the threat of settler/army violence and assists the
Palestinians in their resistance to settler land-theft and military
occupation.

5) The Difficulties of "Normal Life" for Palestinians
By John Petrovato in the West Bank
November 5th, 2002

Understanding life under military occupation requires more than documenting and observing major incidents such as military strikes and operations. While these things should never be ignored, so much violence is perpetrated by the Israeli occupational regime in the "everyday," in so-called "normal" life.

Indeed, the difficulties of "normal life" for Palestinians is something which most Americans could never imagine. Beyond daily violence by the illegal settler population against Palestinian civilians; curfews and closures encompassing entire cities as collective punishment for the acts of a few individuals; barricaded roads and military check-points restricting travel to those with Israeli passports; civilians detained and tortured for speaking-up to the military or engaging in a non-violent demonstration; humiliation; etc.

Many Israeli's have told me very openly that the intention of Israel is not peace, but acquisition of the West Bank. That it was "God's will" and they are in the process of implementing it. The "Arabs" (most Israeli's call Palestinians "Arabs" so to indicate no special privilege to the land) are being forced to leave by such military and economic oppression and Israel is actively transferring its own population into this occupied territory. Many Palestinians will leave for Jordan because opportunities and a better life. Others say they will never leave Palestine and believe that if they can just withstand this brutality, the world will eventually awake and they will be granted a state.

Below is an account of what "normal life" entails for an average day. These are a few incidents which I encountered while staying and speaking with individuals in the West Bank community of the Balata Refugee camp (outside of Nablus) on November 4th, 2002.

1) In early morning it was discovered that a Palestinian friend of ours was picked up by the military for not carrying his identification card. The identification card is basically a passport (with photo and information) which Palestinians are required to carry at all times (in their own country!) Muhammed and a friend of his were picked up and brought to a military base outside of Nablus. A few hours later, his friend was released and told us of the beatings he and Muhammed endured while they were detained. Muhammed was not released (for reasons unknown to us) and we were concerned because of a medical condition he has which can lead to death if he receives regular blows to the head. Three of us went to the military base in which he was being held and received no assistance. They informed us that "no hostages or prisoners were being held on the base". After a few hours of attempting to receive cooperation, we noticed a military vehicle leaving the compound with Muhammed inside - blindfolded. We inquired about why the military lied to us about holding him and they said that we were mistaken and that there were not prisoners in such a vehicle. However, after we called a human-rights lawyer from Israel, who contacted the military base, we found out that it was indeed him and that he has been moved to military prison about 20 km west of Nablus.

This is an important story to tell because it relates to the fact that hundred of Palestinians are regularly held in prison (they can be detained for up to 90 days without being charged). The family of the person detained has no legal recourse to find out where such a person is held or why they were detained. Because we were internationals and hired an Israeli lawyer, we had been able to obtain a little bit of information. Palestinian families would have to worry about whether the person detained was alive or dead and what kinds of torture endured (torture is not here being used in a loose fashion -- Israel has been constantly reprimanded by the international community and human rights organizations for their use of torture in both military and police prisons).

2) A few hours earlier I had met a man who was originally from a village which is now part of Israel. He was forced to leave his home in 1948 when the UN created the state of Israel. He has not been allowed to return to home in these 54 years and now lives with his extended family in a "refugee camp" (which was also created by the UN to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of refugees). Refugee camps are in reality towns. Balata refugee camp has over 30,000 residents cramped into a very small space. Because people had to flee without belongings and had no land, they remain, for the most part, poor.

3) A military closure has been implemented throughout the Nablus area. While curfew was already imposed in the evenings, now travel between towns is impossible even during day light. Schools and factories closed, people cannot travel to medical appointments and the like. Basically, the area is turned into a group of islands maintained by military checkpoints where tanks and other armored vehicles enforce them.

4) Also during the early hours of the morning, tanks had rolled through the camp with machine guns firing into the air. For what purpose? What else but to terrorize the civilian population. Such usually occurs between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. in the morning. When this happens one can here the cries of fearful children from near and far. Such psychological warfare is also a daily occurrence here.

5) Due to a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, Israel responded with 2 military strikes in the Nablus area. One by the university, the other just a mile or so away from where i was staying in the Balata refugee camp. A factory had been destroyed by an Apache helicopter because it was supposedly "producing weapons". Of course one might find it suspicious that such a strike occurred against a factory producing so-called weapons at this moment, as opposed to dealing with it earlier if they had information of such. In any case, the fire was blazing and the fire department was not allowed to the site. It was called a military operation and no fire vehicles or ambulances were allowed in the area. Firefighters stood helpless awaiting the okay from the Israeli military to respond.

Meanwhile, it was rumored that a group of women were trapped in an apartment building next door to the demolished building and not allowed to leave. A plan was devised to respond to this crises. 25 delegates for the International Solidarity Movement walked in front of the fire engines and medical teams to the site of the fire (to protect them from a military attack on them) so we could monitor the situation. As we approached the fire, a military vehicle sped out toward us at a very aggressive speed. We approached them and knocked on their windows and attempted to talk with them, but they would have none of it. Instead they would continuously drive into the crowd of internationals to try and disperse us. Finally, out of frustration, they went to the fire truck and told them "if you don't leave, you will be shot". The fire department had to retreat, for it is believed that the military would indeed follow through with the threat (the firemen, after all, are Palestinians). The fire department had to wait many hours into the night to receive permission to put the fire out.

These few examples, i hope, illustrate some of the daily occurrences here in Palestine as perpetrated by the illegal Israeli military occupation. I apologize for the fact that it is extremely difficult for me to articulate how the occupation affects the lives of these civilians. I just hope that people will try to imagine what it would be like if their country, their communities, and their friends and family had to endure such things on a daily basis and how the international community, as a whole, has neglected serious interest in responding to such. This occupation is not for "security reasons", but for the acquisition of land. And, as such, it represents a crime against humanity -- a crime which people of conscience can no longer afford to accept.

4) November 2nd, 2002

Daily humiliation at check-points
John Petrovato near Nablus, West Bank
Edited by Ben Scribner

I visited Nablus University today, a modern institution which just re-opened after 4 months due to the city-wide curfew imposed by the Israeli occupying forces. Over 6,000 students attend this institution (54% women/ 46% men) which specializes in hard sciences such as engineering, chemistry, and medicine. While many of the students lived in areas close enough to the university to get there even during curfew (which was dangerous), they had decided to stay closed because of Israeli snipers on the hillside outside of the city who would occasionally shoot into the courtyards of the school. Today, however, after 4 months of curfew, the school is reopened and there is an amazing air of excitement on behalf of the students as they are finally able to resume studies. (Palestinians, by the way, have one of the highest percentages of college educated adults in the world).

After leaving the university, I along with 3 ISM delegates attempted to accompany a Palestinian friend to his home in Far'a refugee camp about 15 Km northeast of Nablus. It used to take about 20 min. to travel between these 2 places, but military check-points have made the trip take between 2 - 4 hours; Palestinians are not allowed to use any major road and have to spend much time awaiting permission to pass through check points.

About 15 minutes into our journey we encountered a military check-point outside the village of Deir Sharaf. The check-point had just been established an hour earlier and we were told that the entire Nablus area was under curfew due to the arrest of 4 Palestinians caught transporting explosives. Thus, no civilian movement into or out of the city would be allowed.

Standing at the check-point were university students, mothers holding infants, professionals, and others on their way home. People were obviously irritated by such closure, though they seem somewhat used to it.

The four internationals of the ISM (from Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Lithuania, and the United States) attempted to negotiate with the soldiers to allow people through. As we approached the soldiers, I noticed that other soldiers were occupying military vehicles and pointing machine guns at us. One by one the internationals attempted to negotiate, but without much luck. The soldiers claimed that the complete curfew and road closures had to do with "security reasons" and that any one of the people standing at the check point is a suspected "terrorist."

First they demanded that everyone pass through a military checkpoint outside the town of Huwara. Then they told us to merely return to Nablus. Most people did not move. Some stood around talking, others sat down in apparent resistance. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the soldiers began letting people cross. First, they allowed women and children to cross, later some of the men.

One wonders what the "security risk" is when they allow people to cross the check-point without checking their bags. I believe that one can make the assumption that what happens at such check points has to do with "power." For instance, the soldiers would demand that people move back 20 meters. Then they would allow some to pass. Then they would make another demand, which might result in "rewarding" people for their obedience. During this time, however, the Palestinians would be forced not only to accept these demands, but also to stand in straight lines and keep conversation to a minimum. One Palestinian at a time would be called to the soldiers (who keep their machine guns pointed at the approaching person at all times). The soldiers would ask: "Where are you coming from? What business did you attend to in Nablus?" Then they would say "I will allow you through today, but do not come through here tomorrow -- you see that I am doing you a favor".

Such use of military force by an occupying army results in humiliation. The Palestinian culture, which is one of the least violent (violent crimes are minimal, as with other crimes such as theft, etc. - besides the point that they are unarmed) and most friendly which I have encountered, has to endure such humiliating demands on a daily basis.

After a short time the military, just as soon as they began to allow people through, decided that no more would cross -- including us. While they usually allow foreigners the privilege of not having to endure the humiliation that they impose on the Palestinians, they would not allow us to pass because "we angered them with our questions.ä We were being punished because we inquired about the process, as well as having shown solidarity with the Palestinians.

We began to make our way back to Nablus as night fell. While the ISM delegates would be allowed in theory to roam the streets of Nablus, the Palestinian gentlemen we were traveling with would be in quite serious danger of arrest (and beating while held in prison which is the norm). We were lucky to find a taxi driver who agreed to take us into the city. The overcrowded taxi sped through the streets as we attempted to get into the city center before night fell. We were dropped at a hotel in the city just as we began hearing gun shots being fired in the near distance.

The hotel we were dropped at in Nablus has a policy of giving ISM delegates a discount so to make it affordable under such situations. Such generosity has been common on the part of taxi drivers, hotels, and even restaurants who give either free or discounted fares to "internationals" of the ISM. This is amazing to me since these people, after all, are quite poor and living under very stressful conditions. But such generosity and hospitality is the norm here. As such, working here for people who are really appreciative that internationals come here to observe what is happening makes our work much more rewarding.

3) October 30-31th, 2002

Stolen Land in Salfit District-

-John Petrovato-
Salfit, West Bank

10/30/02
After completing a successful day harvesting olives in Jammain, ISM
delegates headed to Salfit. It is a small city about twenty minutes
away. Things were relatively quiet in Jammain, so we decided to go
to Salfit, to assist with recent problems the Palestinians were
having with the Israeli military and security forces for the colony
of Ariel.

Yesterday, harvesters were attacked by the Israeli occupying forces
close to the border/fence of Ariel. Tear gas spread through the
olive fields and harmed people--entire families and ISM members. The
tear gas assault was unprovoked. The army had given no warning that
such a thing would happen. Evidently, this was a warning to
harvesters to stay far away from the border fence of Ariel. Such
unprovoked attacks have prevented many farmers/ harvesters from
picking olives in that area.

Salfit is in a particularly difficult area. The district of Salfit
includes twenty-four villages and 65,000 Palestinians, along with
twenty settlements and 50,000 Israelis. This means that
approximately half the population in this West Bank district is made
up of illegal settlers occupying the land. The Israeli ministry of
defense chooses a location for settlements, and then seizes land
without even considering any compensation.

The legal rights of settlers and Palestinians are different.
Settlers may travel anywhere in the West Bank, while Palestinians
are, by law, not allowed to travel to any settlement or travel on the
roads built by Israel. Israeli military check points are placed
every few miles and at every major intersection, assuring prohibition
of travel.

At 6 P.M., we twelve ISM delegates arrived in Salfit. We met with:
Dr. Eshteih, the mayor of the city; the Palestine General Federation
of Unions (PGFTU); the Peasants and Farmers Union, and other
representatives of the community-- in order to discuss the current
situation. Besides the problem with military assaults on olive
harvesters, there has been a problem with water resources being
rerouted to serve the large settlement needs. As a result, some
Palestinian villages have insufficient water supplies, and need to
have water delivered daily.

Unemployment is another problem associated with the occupation, with
its severe restrictions on travel. Many of the villages have
unemployment levels over 70%. The PGFTU has 4,000 members in the
district, but only 80 of their members are actually employed. The
occupying military forces and illegal settlements are suffocating the
Palestinian economy.

10/31/02
At 6:30 A.M. we headed to olive fields located about 100 yards from
the fence/border of the Ariel settlement. The farmer with whom we
worked owned much of the land that is now occupied by the Ariel
settlement. Twenty years ago, when Ariel was built, the land was
taken from the family, without compensation. His olive fields are
now about half the size of what they had been.

For today's harvest work, the Internationals (ISM) broke up into
four
teams--about four people each. We occupied key locations along the
fence, over a total distance of about one-half of a mile. The idea
was to monitor military activity and, if any problems arose, other
teams would be close enough to respond.

The day went along quietly, with the exception of the annoying and
eerie music emanating from a school in Ariel, quite audible to the
olive harvesters. Every 15 minutes, irritating, simplistic keyboard
music, with songs such as "Happy birthday," "Row, row, row your
boat," etc. was being played" and for the entire day. Besides
being
infuriating, I thought that it was tragic that the people of Salfit
have to put up with such an annoyance on a regular basis--in a place
where there used to the quiet solitude of acres of olive trees,
rolling hills, and the knowledge that the land that one was standing
on had been passed down through many generations of one's family.

The day finished with no attacks on the harvesters. So, it was a
good day for this West Bank community.

This report is from the Boston-area delegation to the International
Solidarity Movement's Olive Harvest Campaign. One hundred
Internationals are in the rural West Bank, accompanying Palestinians
defying settlers and military curfews to harvest olives, the
lifeblood of Palestine's rural economy and symbol of traditional
Palestinian life. The presence of Internationals reduces the threat
of violence from settlers and the military, and assists the
Palestinians in their resistance to Israeli land-theft and occupation.

2) October 27th, 2002

NEGOTIATING THE OLIVE HARVEST
John Petrovato, in the West Bank
Edited by Ben Scribner

After couple of successful olive harvests in the village of Yasuf, more difficulties have ensued.

The military constantly changes decisions about where the villagers can harvest and whether there will be protection for them if they do so. On Monday, October 21st, the army informed us that we could harvest, only to find out on our arrival at the road block at 6 in the morning to find out that the military has closed the area. The IDF assured the villagers that in following days the [Olive harvesting] area would reopen and protection [from settlers] would be given. We believe such assurances are weak, but Palestinian villagers felt they had little choice and agreed to accept the military's offer.

Our group then traveled from Yasuf to Yanun. There were unconfirmed reports that settlers in that area had occupied houses and burned some of them down. It was also said that they had destroyed the power generator for the village.

On the way to the town we encountered a military checkpoint. The soldiers recognized us as "internationals" from Yasuf. They refused to speak English to us and told our driver that we couldn't pass because we "were seen throwing stones at the settlers" (an incredible lie). Thus we had to take a different route, far out of our way, passing on long, almost impassable dirt roads. It took us over an hour to get there when it normally takes twenty minutes.

Upon arriving at Yanun, we met a group of residents who told us of the recent settler violence. They said "thank you for coming," "please tell the world what you see here," and "tell the truth, there is no reason to lie, the truth is enough," along with the familiar plea that they don't want to be seen as terrorists. On arriving in the village center, we found a media circus and dozens of activists. Some activists were protecting houses from being re-occupied and others were documenting the situation.

We got out of the buses and strategized. As with all actions, the ISM does not take the lead in determining an action/response. While we may make suggestions, we don't propose courses of action without the consent of the people we are working with. We believe that the Palestinians should decide what they want to do and we make it clear to them that we will respect any decision they make....even if the decision were to lead to arrest or beatings for ourselves.

Near Yanun we met a gentleman who had just witnessed his fields being cleared and tilled by settlers. We discussed actions: he told me that he did not want us to occupy the land as I suggested but would rather go through legal channels to fight it. About this time, twenty military police showed up on the scene and proceeded to guard the settlers from any action we might have took. The owner of the land yelled out "you have no right being on this land" and the response by the settler was "god gave this land to the Jews". The owner responded that his father gave this land to him.

We managed to work out a deal with the military where we would be "allowed" to harvest some of the fields that this gentleman owned as long as it wasn't close to where the settlers were seizing the land! We picked olives for most of the day.

VILLAGER LEADS DEFIANCE OF ARMY AT YASUF

The next day, we met again at the road block leading out of Yasuf to harvest olive trees and the military informed us that, because of a suicide bombing the evening before north of Tel Aviv, all olive harvesting "anywhere in the West Bank" was prohibited. People were furious but most accepted the order. Then one lone gentleman tried to enter his fields. Soldiers jumped in front of him telling him to leave or be arrested. With amazing courage, the gentleman pushed his way past the soldier and, along with me and a couple of other ISM delegates, walked with into his fields. The soldier did nothing. After a few minutes, a few more families did the same and with the assistance of about 15 internationals the villagers were able to put a good day in harvesting the fields.

Toward mid-afternoon the military officer informed us that the rest of the fields would be opened. As soon as we left the farmers, the army moved in and tried to forcibly remove them. We had, it seems, been bluffed into believing the army's promise of opening the fields. We had to run back to the site and made sure that the harvesters would be able to collect their equipment and pickings without intimidation.

The next couple of days were quiet. We went to olive fields which are considered very dangerous because they abutted settler land but saw no settlers.

The military was there, of course, making sure that we were not going to attack the settlements. They often have a tank on the hillside with its barrel facing the center of Yasuf. When we ask them why they respond "we are protecting the villagers of Yasuf."

NABLUS

On Friday, three people from my affinity group traveled to the Balata refugee camp outside of Nablus. Though only 14 kilometers away, the journey took us over 2 hours. We encountered two military check points where no Palestinian vehicle could pass. So we had to take cabs in between them and walk through them. At one check point, the soldier was suspicious that we were filming him and he approached us in a very aggressive manner and tried to grab a camera from us. When we resisted, he said "I am the law, you shut your mouth."

In Nablus the military has just lifted its 24 hour curfew which lasted over 3 months. The curfew is now in effect at night only. The city is devastated. Everywhere is a sea of destruction. Telephone poles knocked into the middle of the streets, bullet holes on the sides of buildings, tank tracks on pavement, houses demolished, etc.

Upon leaving Nablus, we traveled to Jami'ia, a village of about 10,000 outside Yasuf. We went there to investigate reports that an olive harvester had been repeatedly fired on by the settlers. We met with the harvester and after an interview, decided that we needed to dispatch a team of at least 5 ism delegates there the following day.

John Petrovato

1) 10/16 and 10/17, 2002
Major Confrontation with Israeli Settlers--Nonviolence Prevails

Report composed after phone calls from John (to Ben) and from Susan (to Ken)

Wednesday, 10/16/02 Testing the Waters - Yasuf village, West Bank This morning, villagers from Yasuf and 13 internationals from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) walked to the olive orchards  located near the Israeli settlement, Tapuac. On the way to the olive orchards we heard gunshots, and soon people were running toward us, warning us that the settlers were shooting-from a nearby hilltop. We internationals headed toward the gunshots and made visual contact with a handful of settlers. They stood on the hill above us with their machine guns, shooting over the heads of the Palestinians harvesting in the fields. We tried to speak to them, saying, "We are here in peace." They said, "We are here in peace too," then threw rocks at us and fired shots over our heads.

The military and the police arrived and detained (arrested?) a settler who, in full view of the soldiers, had fired his rifle and hit a rock about twenty feet away from us. The Palestinians were nearby, yelling to the soldiers that they needed to harvest their olives. The soldiers said they were leaving but that they were declaring this a closed military zone and that the police would arrive soon to arrest us. We were quietly sitting in a line. One of us tried to negotiate with the soldiers, to no avail. The military them forced the villagers to leave, actively pushing many of them. We held our ground, then finally decided to leave for the day.

In the evening we met with the villagers and talked about what to do next. They told us that nothing had worked, so far. The village is surrounded by settlements that take more of its land each year. The villagers are prevented from harvesting, but if the villagers don't harvest the orchards, the land is ruled "unused" and is confiscated by the settlers.

We began talking about how we could return to the fields tomorrow, for a major harvest action. The feeling of solidarity was powerful, with peasants (in modern and traditional dress), young and old trading ideas with the internationals and Israeli peace activists. The villagers were risking a lot, but they were willing to take a chance and follow our recommendation to do a direct action. This was to be a totally nonviolent action-no stone throwing, and completely peaceful and silent.

We told the Palestinian villagers we were willing to risk injury or arrest if they thought this would help. But the villagers told us, "We won't let you do this alone, and we will be with you even if it comes to beatings and arrests." This is a huge risk for them. For most of us, we had never in our lives seen anything quite like
this.

Thursday, 10/17/02 Action and Victory

It was time to proceed with this well-planned major harvest action. The participants included: about 400 Palestinians from the village; 16 internationals-13 ISMs and 3 women from IWPS (the International Women's Peace Service); plus 8 Israeli activists (some of them from Rabbis for Human Rights). The plan was for this large number of villagers to carry out major harvesting work today--to be shielded from the settlers by the internationals and the Israeli peace activists. The settlers had been raiding the olive groves, preventing the Palestinians from getting to their fields and groves, and annexing more and more Palestinian land to their settlement. We awoke at about 6 A.M. and met the villagers at the roadblock leading to their fields. There were about 400 villagers. There was enormous anticipation in the air-it had a been a long time since they had been able to visit these fields, because of the great danger. The villagers started to separate, going down the slopes to their family plots. We had planned to stay together for safety reasons, but the Palestinians moved ahead in this manner because they felt that this might be their last chance to visit their land.

We soon found out that we were encountering bands of armed settlers - total 16. And there was NO sign of any soldiers or police officers - no protection whatsoever. The planners of today's action had received direct assurances that there would be formal Israeli protection for this harvesting today. The assurances had been given by the local Israeli civil administration and by the commanding officer of the local IOF. The group felt that we had been set up. The American Consulate in Jerusalem was immediately contacted, but it took them almost an hour before they made a substantial reply-saying that they had finally made calls to Israeli officials in the area. (Presumably they made such calls.)

The settlers were firing shots from different directions. We could see them firing their guns, running toward the Palestinians. They looked like an army-heavily armed with machine guns, pistols, and large knives, and carrying walkie-talkies. The internationals and Israeli peace activists descended quickly onto the scene and
confronted the settlers. The settlers were firing shots over peoples' heads, pointing their guns at villagers and internationals, hurling large pieces of rock-sometimes from only a few feet away. They were screaming at the Palestinians, pushing them, and generally terrorizing them. Some of them were pointing their guns at us, pushing us, shouting threats, like "I will kill you." (They seemed more angry at the Israeli activists than the internationals.) We immediately began trying to shadow the settlers, following them wherever they went. We were trying to put two of us on each settler, but in some situations the settlers outnumbered us. And there was the additional problem of the Palestinians being already spread out. But we did have some success in diverting the attention of the settlers in their attempts to attack the Palestinians. While all of this was happening, we noticed two Israeli soldiers standing a distance away, watching, doing nothing. Three soldiers finally arrived on the scene-a grossly inadequate number. They began telling the internationals to leave. There was, of course, no reasoning with the settlers. We reminded them that none of us was armed, and that we were here to harvest olives. But the settlers continued to shout things like, "You came with the murderous Arabs to our settlement to kill us." One of them taunted us, saying, "Don't touch me, don't touch my gun-if you do, I'll kill you. Come on, touch my gun, touch my gun!" Their language was, of course, foul - "bitch!," "faggot!" "Fuck you," "Fuck your country!" etc. Other quotes were noteworthy. One of us said to them, "The whole world is watching you." The reply was: "The whole world hates us because they are anti-Semites, and these Jews that are with you here-they are anti-Semites!" About fifteen minutes later a dozen more soldiers arrived. Some shook hands with settlers, gave them hugs and hi-fives, and joked with them. When the settlers would be firing their guns, the soldiers would say "Hey, hey, you can't do that," not exactly seriously.

At one point a settler was aiming his gun at a crowd of Palestinians. One of us shouted to one of the soldiers, "Arrest him!" The soldier replied, "He is allowed to aim his gun at others as long as he does not shoot." The soldier did nothing. So an elderly Israeli peace activist moved in front of the settler's gun. Every time a settler pointed his gun at someone, this seventy year old man would stand in front of it, with the barrel pointed at his chest. Actually, we did see one soldier put himself squarely between a settler's gun barrel and a villager. Later, other soldiers arrived. The villagers were beginning to carry  out the plan. They sat down, silently-their message: "We are absolutely in control and unafraid." The Israeli commander told us
that this was a closed military zone and that we had to leave. We argued that it was not. The soldiers seemed stumped. They knew we were right. So they finally asked the settlers to leave. Some of our group told the military that they couldn't expect the settlers to just wander away-they would have to move them away. The soldiers finally did move the enraged settlers up the hill, and away. The Palestinians were finally able to carry out their harvesting  work. They were ecstatic. The olive harvest went on all day long. People were incredibly happy. There was a feeling of victory. Hundreds of olive trees were harvested, and the Palestinians seemed to feel very empowered by this. Later we gathered together at the village. The villagers,
internationals, and Israeli activists took time to acknowledge everyone's courage. The villagers said, "Even if we were only able to pick one olive, and no one was hurt, it would have been a victory. But to harvest from hundreds of trees--this was incredible."

The experience today represents a victory. But, of course, there is still no real assurance that the Israeli authorities and military can be expected to provide ongoing adequate protection for Palestinians. (These particular settlers happen to be the fanatic rightwing-ideology variety, but such behavior and policy is the rule all over Palestine.) This village, with its population of 1700 people, has had no success whatsoever in resisting the violence of the settlers and stopping the annexation of their land. This is the first thing that has worked for them. The word is already spreading. An added note. Today was the 7th anniversary of Rabin's
assassination. It's a joyous holiday for many of the settlers.

This report is from the Boston-area delegation to the International Solidarity Movement's Olive Harvest Campaign. One hundred Internationals are arriving now in the rural West Bank, to accompany Palestinians defying settlers and military curfews to harvest olives, the lifeblood of Palestine's rural economy and symbol of traditional Palestinian life. The presence of Internationals reduces the threat of violence from settlers and the military, and assists the Palestinians in their resistance to Israeli land-theft and occupation.
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Four local Boston-area people-Karen, John, Phil, and Susan-are part of a 13-person ISM group in Yasuf (Salfit district, north of Ramallah). Additional Boston-area delegates are about to join the campaign.

For more information:

International Solidarity Movement: www.palsolidarity.org
The Rapprochement Center: www.rapprochement.org