Kim Bullimore, West Bank
On the fourth anniversary of the second Palestinian intifada, the residents of the small village of Budrus once again faced off teargas, sound grenades and rubber bullets to protest the wall that is dividing their land. The September 28 protest was the 45th consecutive demonstration to stop the construction of the Apartheid Wall that is resulting in olive groves being destroyed and farmland being stolen.
The violence and the injustice of the Israeli occupation is not new to Budrus or nearby villages. In 1948, the Israeli forces confiscated 80% of the village's land. In 1953, Israel's current prime minister, Ariel Sharon, led a massacre of 60 people in the neighbouring village of Qibya. Today, Sharon and his government are trying to steal 45% of Budrus's remaining land through the wall.
But the residents of Budrus, which is located west of Ramallah, have refused to concede. Since November 2003, the village has mounted a popular campaign of resistance, based on unity and non-violent action. The town formed a grassroots Popular Committee, bringing together all the political factions within the village, along with the village council, schools, women's committees and youth clubs. The Popular Committee has also sought to work with Israeli peace activists and international observers from organisations like the International Women's Peace Service (IWPS) and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
School students and young people have been at the forefront of the battle. Fifteen-year-old Iltezam Morar explained: "All the young women think we should be part of the resistance struggle. We believe that we are helping to build a free Palestine. We want our future to be better without the occupation. That is our dream.
"I am not free in my country and I understand that if I want a chance to build my dream, to be a doctor to help my people, I must be part of the resistance."
Iltezam's father and village leader, Abu Ahmad told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that Budrus was proud of the non-violent struggle they had mounted. "Israeli propaganda tries always to portray Palestinians as terrorists and does not show that the main problem is the occupation", he said.
"But we choose non-violent struggle because we do not want anyone, Palestinians or Israelis, to be killed. We want to be an example to our people and we will not give up or stop struggling even when [the Israeli security forces] react violently."
In December, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) staged a series of raids in the early hours of the morning, invading the homes of 10 village leaders, including Abu Ahmad. They were arrested and charged with the non-existent crime of housing international observers. When a military judge ruled that they had broken no law, some were released. But others remain in "administrative detention" without charge or trial.
In January, four foreign activists were deported because of their participation in the non-violent actions at Budrus, including an activist from the International Women's Peace Service and Gustav Fridolin, a Swedish parliamentarian.
In response the peaceful September 23 protest, the IDF and border police sealed off the entrances to the village and declared the area a closed military zone — isolating the village from the outside world and preventing activists and international observers from reaching the village.
Travelling to the protest with IWPS activists, I was stopped twice, and threatened with deportation if we did not leave immediately. In the end, we surreptitiously walked to the village from Qibya.
As hundreds of villagers and peace activists marched down the main street of Budrus to the school, the young women and men of the village led the way, chanting that Palestine would be free. For an hour, the demonstration assembled on a ridge, unable to descend due to the overwhelming Israeli military presence below.
The young women students, however, were undeterred, moving halfway down the incline, clapping and singing humourous and political slogans, demanding the police go home. Above them, the young men and elders of the village demanded that the wall fall. Abu Ahmad, speaking as much to the demonstration as to the assembled security forces, spoke of how the village would continue to resist the destruction of their olive groves and the building of the wall.
As the demonstrators peacefully left the school grounds, police hidden on a nearby school roof began indiscriminate fire, triggered by some young men throwing stones. Twenty Israeli and foreign peace activists were attacked with batons as they attempted to prevent the arrest of Palestinian protesters. In a separate incident, three Israeli police attacked and beat a group of elderly women and young girls who were trying to stop the arrest of a fellow villager.
Within minutes of detaining protesters, the Israeli police forcibly separated the Israeli activists. Like laws distinguishing between Israelis and Palestinians — including those forbidding Israelis to travel in Palestinian vehicles or to enter the Occupied Territories — these police tactics are routinely used to hamper solidarity between Israelis and Palestinians.
Even after the protest had been broken up, the security forces continued with collective punishment, indiscriminately detonating sound grenades and teargas for the next hour.
Abu Ahmad told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that the local IDF office had told the village leaders they would do everything in their power to stop the movement, even if that meant that people died.
"They aim to punish our people" he said, "but we will never give up our lands or our liberties and we will continue to resist."
[Kim Bullimore is a member of the Socialist Alliance and is currently working in Palestine with the international human rights solidarity group, the International Women's Peace Service. Visit .]
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, October 6, 2004.
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