More IOF Violence in Bil'in, aka, Oh My Aching Knees!
Hello everyone,
well, I sit here in Ramallah tonight, and that odd warm spell we experienced back in December is a distant memory, unfortunately. The hills are now gripped in a dense fog, it's pretty darn cold, and the drizzle is, well... drizzling.
And in addition to that, I'm tired, sore & still reeling from what was yet another incredible demonstration in the village of Bil'in. Today we had somewhere between one to two thousand people in Bil'in, and in this game, numbers make all the difference. Of course, one reason is that many Palestinian politicians and their party members were present to pay their dues before the elections next week. But, it also doesn't hurt when 300 Israeli activists show up, as well as nearly 100 Internationals; yeah, I know, like where the heck did they all come from?
So, it was a march, then some soldiers, then we all started doing our thing, and man can I tell you how much those damn batons hurt! Later in the demo we had to de-arrest quite a few Palestinians, which we did, mind you, but we all got a bit beaten in the process. As for me, not just one knee, but BOTH knees eventually got nicely banged up by some nice baton work. I was hit harder back in early December, I think, at the third Aboud demo, when I seriously thought I had gotten my arm broken... ok, for about an hour I thought that (but no worries, I was ok!).
But, a few bruises this time, a bit of a limp, nothing that a little sleep and Ibuprofen can't work out. It sure as hell is better than, oh, I don't know, let's say the average experience of arrest and prison for Palestinians; beating, torture, administrative detention, and the list goes on. You could be held for a few hours, or end up staying in jail for days, months, or even years, for nothing more than attending a demonstration in your own village. See this link for the experience of a young man from Bil'in in an Israeli prison; http://www.palsolidarity.org/... .
We have put up a report on the demo, which is at this link http://www.palsolidarity.org/... , it's got some cool pictures (we shot some good video footage as well, thanks Paul!). It's kinda funny, if you check on google, the Palestinian news agency WAFA copied our report almost verbatum! There is also a Ynet article at http://www.ynetnews.com/... .
So, there you have it, I wish I could tell you more, but I need to either crash & get some sleep right now, or stay up and write some more about other stuff. Tomorrow I'll be off for Tel Rumeida in Hebron, where some of the most fascist Jewish settlers have been totally out of control, and then to Qawawis, where the shepherds have been without our presence lately... yes, due to lower number of activists.
So, if my stories have been giving you the itch to check the situation out for yourself, then there's only one thing to do; get the hell over here!
thanks & love to you all
well, I sit here in Ramallah tonight, and that odd warm spell we experienced back in December is a distant memory, unfortunately. The hills are now gripped in a dense fog, it's pretty darn cold, and the drizzle is, well... drizzling.
And in addition to that, I'm tired, sore & still reeling from what was yet another incredible demonstration in the village of Bil'in. Today we had somewhere between one to two thousand people in Bil'in, and in this game, numbers make all the difference. Of course, one reason is that many Palestinian politicians and their party members were present to pay their dues before the elections next week. But, it also doesn't hurt when 300 Israeli activists show up, as well as nearly 100 Internationals; yeah, I know, like where the heck did they all come from?
So, it was a march, then some soldiers, then we all started doing our thing, and man can I tell you how much those damn batons hurt! Later in the demo we had to de-arrest quite a few Palestinians, which we did, mind you, but we all got a bit beaten in the process. As for me, not just one knee, but BOTH knees eventually got nicely banged up by some nice baton work. I was hit harder back in early December, I think, at the third Aboud demo, when I seriously thought I had gotten my arm broken... ok, for about an hour I thought that (but no worries, I was ok!).
But, a few bruises this time, a bit of a limp, nothing that a little sleep and Ibuprofen can't work out. It sure as hell is better than, oh, I don't know, let's say the average experience of arrest and prison for Palestinians; beating, torture, administrative detention, and the list goes on. You could be held for a few hours, or end up staying in jail for days, months, or even years, for nothing more than attending a demonstration in your own village. See this link for the experience of a young man from Bil'in in an Israeli prison; http://www.palsolidarity.org/... .
We have put up a report on the demo, which is at this link http://www.palsolidarity.org/... , it's got some cool pictures (we shot some good video footage as well, thanks Paul!). It's kinda funny, if you check on google, the Palestinian news agency WAFA copied our report almost verbatum! There is also a Ynet article at http://www.ynetnews.com/... .
So, there you have it, I wish I could tell you more, but I need to either crash & get some sleep right now, or stay up and write some more about other stuff. Tomorrow I'll be off for Tel Rumeida in Hebron, where some of the most fascist Jewish settlers have been totally out of control, and then to Qawawis, where the shepherds have been without our presence lately... yes, due to lower number of activists.
So, if my stories have been giving you the itch to check the situation out for yourself, then there's only one thing to do; get the hell over here!
thanks & love to you all
posted by Jontheantizionistjew at 2:07 PM
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