The ethos of ethnic cleansing

Hello everyone,

There are so many things that I would like to write about, the trouble is figuring out where to start. In the past week or so, I have been in three places, all of which deserve plenty of description.

One is Qawawis, to the far south of Palestine (the south Hebron Hills), which is a village inhabited by shepherds and farmers, but surrounded by Israeli settlements. The Palestinians were evicted for a year, but after challenging their eviction in court, were allowed to return and now need a constant international presence in order to deter and report abuse by the settlers and the army. While I was there it was pretty quite and peaceful, and I truly enjoyed the company of the men and women of the village, they were kind and caring towards me, and even helped me learn a bit more Arabic in the process.

I was also in Aboud, this time for their second demo against the construction of the wall, which threatens to illegally confiscate much of their agricultural land and turn the village (like many others) into a small prison. Unlike their first demo, the IOF was much better prepared this time. Allowing the crowd to advance down the road, they immediately began throwing sounds bombs and tear gas into the crowd, as well as using quite a lot of physical violence. But, that did not deter the Palestinians of Aboud for a moment, and the demo continued for the next few hours despite the violence. I also made some changes this week and was sure to have an onion with me, as did my fellow ISMers, and we were able to avoid being gassed directly so that we could tend to those who had been. Eventually, the IOF were able to detain three Palestinians, all of whom were beaten severely while detained by the IOF. Myself, an Israeli activist, a Palestinian, and an Irish ISMer who is also a doctor were able to negotiate seeing the men, check their physical state, and were soon joined by their fathers, who escorted them back to the village. Like I said before, this is just the beginning for Aboud, but I have no doubt in their strength to continue to resist.

And that brings me to where I am now, Al-Khalil, Hebron, a city that is affected by settlers like no other in Palestine. I have been in many places here, ands I have seem many settlements thus far; near Nablus are the settlements of Itmar and Elon More, around Jerusalem Maale Adumim, and many more. But Hebron is where the most nasty, racist, and truly unstable ones reside, and altough Kiryat Arba is just outside the city limits, many others are located right in the Old city of Hebron, like Beit Hadassah, Avram Avinu, and Tel Rumeida. I truly thought I had seen and felt the racism here, and I have, but not like in this place.

Tel Rumeida settlement is located right where the city is split between Israeli and Palestinian control, with the tomb of the Patriarchs located in the Israeli part. What is happening here on a daily basis is nothing more than a slow-motion ethnic cleansing of the city of Hebron into Jewish and a Palestinian halves. The Palestinians who live between Beit Hadassagh and Tel Rumeida particularly, are prone to violent abuses by the army and the settlers, particularly their children. It can range from name calling, spitting, to physical violence at the drop of a hat. Just yesterday I witnessed five young settler boys spit at the feet of a Palestinian Muslim woman. It was one of many painful, repulsive things that I saw yesterday.

Yesterday, November 26th, settlers from all over the OT came to Hebron, ostensibly to celebrate aspects of the lives of Sarah and Abraham (I forget, I think it was the day he paid for her burial). What it became, however, was a riot, which targeted both Palestinians and the Internationals who were there to help protect them. I have read about lynch mobs, I have read about Kristallnacht, and I now can say that I have seen something pretty similar, which is what amounts to the basic daily life for Palestinians who live in this area. All the shop and home doors on Shuddadah street, which used to be bustling with shops and people, are closed, covered in racist graffitti, stars of david, and slurs like "gas the arabs," or “die Arab sand niggers.” Gangs of Israeli settler youth, ranging in age from 5 to 25 were roaming the streets, looking to provoke a fight whenever and wherever they could. After helping walk children from their school and people from their houses, I went to our apartment and took a nap, only to be awakened by a fellow ISMer who needed my assistance. I went outside and found myself in the midst of maybe 50 settler kids and young 'adults,' and I was soon confronted by a French speaking settler with a large rifle on his back. His first words to me were 'fuck you' and then he kicked some stones at my feet. With one 74 year old ISMer already assaulted and pushed to the ground by a teenage settler girl earlier in the day, did the best I could to stay away from him, but it was clear that a number of them, particularly the French ones, wanted to do more.

Then, I was lucky enough to be protected by the IOF! Although we tried to get back to our apartment, which was being surrounded and stoned by settlers, the army formed a line between us and the crazed settler youth, and after some time, it became clear that they were the only thing standing between us and a much worse situation. Strange, though, how the mere act of marching in 'confiscated' Palestinian land by Palestinians was enough to necessitate tear gas and sound bombs, as well as the taking of Palestinians into army detention, where they were beaten. Obviously, the IOF treats settlers with kid gloves in comparison.

So after some waiting, as well as witnessing IOF soldiers urinating on the wall of a Palestinian home, we decided to travel back out around by taxi from were we were to the Shuddadah street checkpoint (kind of like going from the 42street subway station, to the east side, up central park, and then back around to the 51st street station in NYC). There we were able to escort more Palestinians, although we did draw some more attention. I kept having these settlers from the USA stop and talk to me, which was a bit freaky- judging from their accents, most were from the NYC area, so I kept dreading the possibility that I would meet someone I knew from high school!

In the end, despite some injuries and property destruction, we were able to provide at least some kind of barrier and presence in the face of such horrible racism and hate. There is so much more that I would still like to say about the settler and their more or less pathological mental state; but let me end with this. At a demo in SF, a very angry Jewish man declared to me that the Palestinians teach their children to hate Jews. This is a very common argument and is racist to the core. In all my time, I have never seen or experienced Palestinians being anything but kind towards myself and the International and Israeli activists who are their to support them and their struggle.

But yesterday, aside from all the young settlers doing and saying horrible things, there is one thing that I cannot forget. A man, probably middle aged or in his 30s, was walking with a young boy, maybe 7 years old. Both wore matching outfits of jeans and a white shirt, sunglasses, and kipa. Assuming he was his father, he also had at his hip a very visible handgun, as did many other settlers. They were just two of the many armed settlers that were parading down Shudaddah street, with the obvious intent of intimidating and instilling fear in the Palestinians of Tel Rumeida, to make their lives so hellish they will leave and that area can be consolidated as a purely 'Jewish' place. It is the basic ethos of ethnic cleansing, and Zionism, for that matter.

As I watched those two in particular, I asked myself; just who is it that is teaching their children to hate?

From Strength to Strength; Bil'in to Abud

hello,

Right now I am back in Ramallah and tomorrow I will be going to the village of Qawawis, which is located south of Yatta, which is south of Hebron. Shepherds there live in caves as they have for some time, and are under threat by a nearby settlement and the road that has been constructed for its use (and not theirs, of course). So, it'll be a few days of goats, caves & lots of tea as I am told by those who have gone before me. That will be a change from the past week, during which I have been to two impressive and inspiring demonstrations, one in the village of Bil'in, and the other in the village of Abud. Both are located to the west of Ramallah, are inhabited by roughly 2500 people each, and are being affected by the construction of the Wall. The Wall in Bil'in has confiscated 60% of it's agricultural land, and the village of Abud (at which construction has just begun) they will lose a similar percent as well as access to water.

Many people I talk with assume that being against the wall is somehow taking a position for suicide bombing, an assumption that has been reinforced by the constant framing of the Wall in a security/suicide bombing context, much like the Iraq war was sold by the constant refrain of 9/11 and WMDS. In both cases, the thing being sold has little or nothing to do with such things, and everything to do with demonizing the opposition and taking attention from the real reasons. All one needs to do to understand the Wall is to take a look at the map; look at its route in regards to settlements and Palestinian villages, come here and see for yourself the destruction of land, the destruction of homes, and the increased infrastructure of control over Palestinian lives and resources. Checkpoints at Qalandia, Bethlehem and Jbarra (among many others) have been joined to the wall and metamorphosed into nightmarish prison-like structures which can cut off access of people to whole sections of the West Bank at a moments notice. The kind of control and oppression that has long been associated with Gaza has been begun in the West Bank, and I can only wonder when, if ever, it will be finished and how much of Palestine is left when that happens.

The protest at Bil'in was one of many that have been going on for months now in reaction to the wall which has cut into the village. The resistance has been largely non-violent, with the occasional stone-throwing young boys (shebab), and the predictable Israeli response and/or provocation of tear gas, sound bombs, rubber-coated metal bullets, and of course, lots of physical violence. My first experience at Bil'in was actually rather calm; the Palestinians did not throw any stones, and the soldiers did not do anything more than some shoving and grabbing. They have been invading the village at night however, and arresting boys that take part in protests, some as young as 14; there are now about 13 people from the village still in Israeli jails.

The last friday (11.11) however, was not so calm. The Israeli and International activists were able to outwit the soldiers and reach the wall work site, and even stop work on the wall for some time. After the initial scuffle and violence from the soldiers, we were able to chant and talk and stage a great protest for the next hour while the work on the wall stopped, but alas, good things just cant last. With no provocation from the protesters, the IOF threw tear gas into the crowd, which included old and young Israeli, Palestinian, and Internationals. This demo, I was able to dodge the gas grenades, as well as the rocky landscape, but I was soon to find myself with about 20 other activists stuck in no-man's land between rock throwing shebab and soldiers firing rubber-coated metal bullets, as well as what appeared to be live rounds of ammunition. Once we were able to get out of that situation, we were able to continue the demo and get close to the soldiers (much safer that way, really!), but a 14 year old boy did suffer mild injury from the "rubber" bullets. Go to www.palsolidarity.org for another description of the demo, as well as some excellent video footage. The thing about the soldiers, though is that many of them seemed to really get into it, really enjoy the violence. One minute they would be standing there, but when they felt like it/were given the order, that was it, the barbarian switch was turned and they would do it all; kick grab, scratch, hit, throw, no matter what you were doing.

Abud held its first wall demo yesterday the 18th, and it was just amazing. This is a small village which is half Muslim and half Christian, so they began the demo with a prayer service by the Imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as an appearance by the head priest of the Orthodox Church. After that, I wasn't sure just what was going to happen, as we were separated from the soldiers by an earth mound roadblock. Then the Palestinians just went for broke, and before you knew it, we were pushing past the soldiers and advancing down the road, right past them. I have never seen Israeli soldiers at a demo look so visibly confused, frightened and disorganized, but that they were. It is actually quite interesting to try and guess what is going through their heads in such situations, and at checkpoints, etc. Sometimes they seem to get into the power trip, and look at people and talk to them like they were dirt; sometimes, they keep a cool facade, and sometimes they look scared as hell! Seriously, it's like they are thinking "I'm in the fucking ghetto surrounded by _____s!" With Arabs so thoroughly identified as terrorists, as suicide bombers, it takes a lot to get past such ideas, and that rarely happens when you are in uniform and hold the power of life and death over other people. That said, I'm sure Palestinians have such stereotyped views of Israelis, but even there, Palestinians still seek work in Israel, whereas Israelis tend to have their first experience of Palestine while in the army. You talk to Palestinians over the age of 16-17 and most know some to quite good hebrew, having worked there and with Israelis before; the younger ones however have been shut out of such opportunity by Oslo and the intifada, replaced by imported and desperate Thai, Romanian, and Philipino workers. Now the only Israelis they know are soldiers that kill their friends and/or family and arrest them in the middle of the night, and they only Palestinians that Israelis know are the potential suicide bombers.

But back to Abud, it was just amazing, as I said. The Palestinians, accompanied by Israelis and Internationals (including Jonathan Pollack, back from a US speaking tour along with Ayed Morrar , Palestinian activist from the West Bank village of Budrus) pushed the army back about a kilometer, during which time all they could do was hit, push and shove us to no avail. They also made frequent use of sound bombs, which are kind of like small explosive charges that make a lot of noise, some smoke, and depending on how close you are, can be a bit disorienting. They must have thrown 20 of them, but they didn't stop anyone; that is, until they let out the tear gas! Once all the soldiers had caught up and got in front of us, then they threw it and shot it from rifles as well, and I caught a whiff of it. This was my first time being tear gassed, and I must say it was quite unpleasant; not only do you tear up and shut your eyes, but you literally feel like you can't breathe. Of course you can, but your brain and autonomic systems get confused, so you think you cant, so it is important to keep calm, and try and let yourself breathe. It is also great to have an onion with you, as the smell of it tends to kick your system into action and remind you that you can breathe. My face was also quite stung, as I had made the mistake of putting on sunscreen, to which the gas can adhere.

So, I ran, and that was quite hard; I couldn't breathe, I could barely see, and I think I ripped my pants in the process, but when I finally collapsed a Palestinian medic from the UPMRC had an onion under my nose and I was able to slowly regain my non-gassed state. Then, after regrouping with a few other internationals that were in the same shape, we went back to the protest, which then had turned into a stand off with the soldiers. After some more chanting, and no stone throwing, thankfully, we left, with the Internationals and Israelis forming a barrier between the two groups and preventing the use of rubber bullets, or some other form of escalation.

Two years ago, I attended one of the first protests held by the village of Budrus, not far from Abud and next to Qibiya, the site of Ariel Sharon's first massacre of about 60 Palestinians in 1953. They have held probably close to 100 protests of the wall and despite some loss of land and trees, have saved much of their land and changed the route of the wall. Many other villages, like Abud, have taken up this struggle, and many more will. The price is high, in the form of arrests, beatings, injury, and even deaths (I think 5 people in Biddu have been killed during demos). But when you stand among the Palestinians, and you see their strength, which is not the strength of having weapons, an army, rifles and tear gas, but strength in truth, plain and simple. Who could just sit and watch their land, their homes, their lives, their families and their futures be torn apart and 'confiscated' simply because some people in the Knesset say so?

Just before I was gassed, I saw a Palestinian man do something quite ordinary, but still incredible. I had just noticed that the tear gas grenade had been thrown and there was already a huge cloud billowing right next to me. But out of nowhere, this man shows up and just throws the canister back at the soldiers. I can still see it in slow motion, and when he ran up to it, he was thoroughly engulfed in the gas; his eyes were already tearing up, and it must have taken a huge effort to keep them open long enough to see where to throw it. Then he did this amazing spinning move, like he was an olympic discus thrower or something, and that thing went flying! I seriously could not have done that, even if I wasn't already affected by gas! I'm sure he suffered from that, and probably took longer to recover than I did, but for him the suffering was worth it. Right now, the army is most likely making plans to break the resistance of Abud village, and I'm sure the Palestinians of that village are planning on yet another demo to show their strength and resolve.

So, now I am off to Qawawis, where I will be out of email range for some time. I'll let you know how that goes in a few days, until then, take care!

Olives and Mothers

As I said in a previous post, I picked olives with a family in Roujeeb, a village just outside Nablus, and we all had a wonderfull time. The daughter in the family, Ghadeer, spoke excellent English and we had some great conversations, about the world, about politics, American TV shows; she learned her english in school and by watching Seinfeld and Look Who's Talking, which explains her sharp comic wit. She and her husband Sami have 3 children, Ahmed, Imad, and Ale, and while we were there they were either in school or with us in the olive groves playing. Before we left today, she asked me if she could write a letter to my mother. I was so overwhelmed by what she wrote and the kindness of her family, I wanted to share it with you all, so here it is;

Dear Maureen,

You don't know me. My name is Ghadeer. I'm a Palestinian young lady who has the honor to have your son at her home, I just wanted to raise my hat to the mother who raised such a son, you should be proud of him. I know that you must have been very worried about him, but believe me you shouldn't. I and my family would protect him with our lives, he is kind and so sensitive. I also wanted to say that if you have a previous idea about Palestinians and Arabs we aren't all terrorists and criminals or at least I know I'm not. We're a simple people who wants to live in peace. We have a saying "May Allah protect the life for us and brought us to life for you," so thank you Maureen, you have done an excellent job.

I am working right now, so forgive me I can't speak or talk too much. I wanted to say hello to his dad, and we loved your son and he loves you so very much. I'm a mother myself so I'll understand your worry,

yours
Ghadeer



if just one good thing comes out of this trip, the love and generosity of this family we stayed with, and my love for them would be it.

"What is so special about Nablus?"

Hello, I just travelled from Nablus to Ramallah, which on a good day is no more than an hour, or an hour and a half drive. Of course, on a bad day, who knows, it could take you all day, or worse; the key of course is getting past the checkpoints that lie between them, particularly Huwwara checkpoint. Myself and a random collection of Swedish ISMers got through Huwwara without a problem, and it kind of looks like what Qalandia checkpoint looked like 2 years ago; bars, cages, concrete barriers, a makeshift roof and areas for cars and buses to be stopped as well. When I arrived in Nablus a week ago, it was a rainy not so pleasant day, which was probably one reason that the soldiers were shouting at the Palestinians trying to leave Nablus; it was a pretty ugly scene. Once an Israeli told me that in the army they learn what he called "oppressor arabic;" shouting various commands, get up, stop, turn around, open the door, etc. Really, what do you expect when you give an 18-20 year old boy a rifle and have he/she spend the next few years holding the power of life and death over another people that they know little about?

So, through Huwwara we went, with minimal comment from the soldiers; once an Irish girl I was travelling with was asked by the soldier; are you from Ireland? Do you drink beer? Anyway, we got a van and a Palestinan man joined us, so off we went... until we reached the next checkpoint, at the village of Zaatara. There the van driver nervously collected our passports and brought them up to the soldier before driving then van up, ran back and then brought the van up to the checkpoint. The soldier then noticed that there was a Palestinian man in the van and his ID was not with the passports that had been brought to him. He asked him "why did you not include your ID, why" in very gruff, patronizing (to say the least) tone. Hell, this kid could not have beena day over 21, sounded like he was Russian, and he was talking to this man who was obviously middle aged like he was some stupid child; but, the Palestinian man responded calmly, intelligently, and in much better english "you did not ask for it, you only asked for the passports, if you want my ID, you can ask for it and I will give it to you." Seeing that he was not going to intimidate him, and probably a bit unnerved in the presence of 6 internationals emerging from Nablus, he then turned to us, well, me since I was closest. He asked me, "where did you come from" and I said "from Nablus" (One thing you learn fast, it's to keep your answers short and simple, no need to go into details!). He then said "what's so special about Nablus?" in such a condesending tone; so I replied, well, it is an old city. Now, those familiar with Nablus know that it is true, it is an old city; but it was also a joke of sorts, because the arabic name Nablus derives from the original Roman name for the city, Neopolis, which actually means "New City." But of cours when he said that, his attitude was like, "why did you go to there, what's so special about the ghetto?" But, without further ado and us stating we were going to Jerusalem (which we weren't) we were off.

After some venting and cursing of the soldier, the Palestinan man, who was in the front seat turned to us and said, "so, what IS so special about Nablus?" Of course we laughed, and he introduced himself; his name is Khaled and he runs a Pizza restaurant in Abu Dis. He then told us that he was just returning after his first visit to Nablus in 5 years. His friend who lives there is unable to travel to Abu Dis, and he was unable to get to Nablus during the Intifada. This is a common story throughout Palestine, as the Israeli army and settler "matrix of control" in the words of Jeff Halper (ICAHD), slice up the territory into cantons and limit the ability of Palestinans to travel from place to place. And of course, this is a process that began not a year ago, and not a few years ago, but in earnest since the times of "peace." Altough settlements began in the hours after the 1967 war, and increased dramatically from the late 70's on, nothing could compare to the settlement and settlement infrastructure (roads, walls, etc) expansion of the Oslo era; that is where the obvious on the ground scheme for ethnic and national separation began, and it has not stopped since.

So now I am in Ramallah and awake at a truly ridiculous hour; that's what you get when you do olive picking for 3 days, the last one from 6:30 AM onwards! it was hard work, but so worth it. But more on that later, gotta go!

-here is the article I referenced by Jeff Halper
http://www.mediamonitors.net/halper1.html
The Matrix of Control by Jeff Halper

The Japanese and East Asians have a game called "Go." Unlike the Western game of chess, where two opponents try to "defeat" each other by taking off pieces, the aim of "Go" is completely different. You "win" not by defeating but by immobilizing your opponent by controlling key points on the matrix. This strategy was used effectively in Vietnam, where small forces of Viet Cong were able to pin down and virtually paralyze some half-million American soldiers possessing overwhelming fire-power.
In effect Israel has done the same thing to the Palestinians on the West Bank, Gaza and in East Jerusalem. Since 1967 it has put into place a matrix, similar to that of the "Go" board, that has virtually paralyzed the Palestinian population. The matrix is composed of several overlapping layers. cont'd at http://www.mac.com//redirect/http://www.mediamonitors.net/halper1.html

Nablus & the Olive Harvest

I am now writing you from the city of Nablus, which is located in the north of the West Bank. For the last two days I have been in the village of Roujeeeb, which like most of the villages here is hemmed in from all sides by either (illegal) settlements (like Elon More or Itammar) or (illegal) military bases. This makes it sometimes very difficult to impossibe for the villagers to harvest their olives without the possibility of conflict. So, groups like the ISM, as well as Israeli groups like Rabbis for Human Rights, Gush Shalom, The Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, all participate in the olive harvest with Palestnian families so that they can help if any conflict arises. For more info, go to www.palsolidarity.org.

That said, the olive picking has for the last two days been quite peacefull, and I hve enjoyed it fully. The famiy we are with has been kind, generous and thankful for our help and presence; I am just glad that their daughter speaks excellent english, as my arabic is quite rudimentary. The other day I was picking with them as well as an Israeli that escaped Germany in 1936 when he was 6 years old; when I was here 2 years ago, I was at a demo along wih Hedy Epstein, who escaped Germany around the same time. So, for the time being, I will be in the Nablus area going from village to village and picking olives, with possible side trips to demonstrations involving the wall and the villages it affects. For now, here is one of many stories. The daughter of the famiy, Ghadeer, told me that her young children had a solution to the situation here; take Sharon and tie his hands behind his back, then everyone can live together in peace.

sounds simple, but who knows, it may just work!

Hello From Palestine

Hello Everyone, I am writing you from East Jerusalem, and I will soon be heading out to the West Bank to participate in the International Solidarity Movement 2005 Olive Harvest Campaign. I intend to stay here through the Olive picking season and hopefully for another two months until my visa runs out! Any donations would be greatly appreciated and would go a long way towards ensuring my stay here, so please contact me and I'll let you know where to send them! I am working with Internationals from around the world as well as many Israeli peace activists from a number of different groups, and our presence makes a huge difference in the lives of the Palestinians that we work with. With the recent holiday the picking season was temporarily delayed, but now it is back on schedule and people are needed to help the Palestinians reach and pick their olive trees. I have been here about a week and have participated in one demonstration so far, in the village of Bi'lin, which is located near the city of Ramallah. It is one of the many villages in the region which is being affected by the construction of the Apartheid Wall, with its lands being confiscated, trees uprooted, and daily life disrupted by army incursions and arrests. In the past weeks, approximately 14 villagers have been arrested, all at night and many as young as 14. Please check the ISM web site for the relevant press releases;

http://www.palsolidarity.org/
http://www.mac.com//redirect/http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/category/press/ http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/category/bilin/

This Friday's demo went well, with relatively little violence from the soliders, which is a change from the norm in the past months. Hoepfully I will be able to return to Bi'lin for another demonstration, but now Internationals are needed elsewhere. There are so many things that I would like to tell you about; I was here two years ago, when the wall construction was begun, and I cannot tell you how much worse things look now. At Qalandia refugee camp near Ramallah, the wall has altered the very physical landscape to the point that it was almost unrecognizable; it was like a scene from a George Orwell production of The Lorax or something, and yet another example of US tax dollars at work. But, that said, the spirit of the Palestinians to resist and keep living on their land is undiminished, and even grown stronger. Despite being unreported in the mainstream media, the last two years has seen inspiring non-violent resistence in the villages and cities affected by the wall, such as Budrus, Biddu, Bi'lin and many more. I was here two years ago when many of these villages began their protests and demos, and I look forward to participating in more during the coming months, and reconnecting with many of the Palestinans, Internationals and Israelis that I met and worked with in the past.I will try and send out regular reports and document the trip as best I can, as soon as I get a web presence worked out, I will let you know. thanks again & feel free to let me know how you're doing!



"For Israel is creating a kind of schizophrenia in world Jewry. In the outside world the welfare of Jewry depends on the maintenance of secular, non-racial pluralistic societies. In Israel, Jewry finds itself defending a society in which mixed marriages cannot be legalized, in which non-Jews have a lesser status than Jews, and in which the ideal is racial and exclusionist. Jews must fight elsewhere for their very security and existence against principles and practices they find themselves defending in Israel." -I.F. Stone


"There's nothing you can do about the fence," concludes Awad, sounding acquiescent. "Look, for 40 years the settlers lived in Gaza, Israeli soldiers lost their lives for them, and all of a sudden the new man of peace, Ariel Sharon, arrives and within a minute orders them to leave. Sharon decided, and the entire Yesha Council (which represents the settlers of Judea, Samaria and Gaza) can't hold him back. If Sharon decided on a fence - and on us, the Palestinians, whom you rule through the army and not through laws - who can hold him back? Even if we fight the fence, the struggle will eventually become a losing battle. I don't expect anything from Abu Mazen; everything is decided by the Knesset. Abu Mazen is smart, because he understands the situation. He understands he has no power." -Omar Awad, resident of Nahalin, near Bethlehem, Occupied Palestine