The Guardian 11 May, 2005
Brutal treatment of
Palestinian and Israeli protestors
Uri Avnery gives an eye-witness account of the Israeli authorities' brutal repression of
dissent.
Last Thursday, two demonstrations were held just a few dozen kilometres apart. One took place
at the Israeli Homesh settlement, not far from Jenin, Palestine. Tens of thousands of settlers
and their sympathisers came to demonstrate against the planned evacuation of this
settlement.
The protestors swore to sabotage the decisions of the government and the Knesset (the Israeli
Parliament). One of them declared that they could be removed only in coffins draped with the
national flag.
Hundreds of soldiers and policemen were stationed along the route to protect the demonstrators
against all eventualities. The official Voice of Israel radio told its listeners that the traffic police
were acting on instructions from the leaders of the Settlements Council.
Theft of more land
At the same time, another demonstration took place at Bil'in, west of Ramallah. The Palestinian
inhabitants of that and the neighbouring villages, together with Israeli peace activists,
demonstrated against the "separation fence" that is being put up on their land.
This demonstration was savagely attacked by soldiers and policemen, who assaulted them,
beat, injured and arrested them using old and new weapons. The security people, as the
Hebrew expression goes, "had murder in their eyes".
In this area, there is not even the pretence that the separation fence serves security purposes.
The real aim is evident to anyone visiting the place — to rob Bil'in and the other villages of their
land, in order to enlarge the settlement of Kiryat Sefer.
I remember that place from some 10 years ago. Then, well-kept olive groves were being
expropriated and destroyed by bulldozers. At that time, too, the villagers asked us to protest and
try to stop this.
Now, a large town of ultra-orthodox Jews has been built there and is growing rapidly. The
separation fence will pass close to the last houses of Bil'in and cut the village off from the
remainder of its lands.
On this land, new neighbourhoods of Kiryat Sefer will be built. Together with the nearby
settlements of Modi'in Ilit and Matitiyahu, this is one of the "settlement blocs" that Israeli
governments — whether Likud or Labour — want to annex to Israel, with the blessing of President
Bush.
The villagers' plan was to conduct a peaceful demonstration on the path of the fence and plant
some symbolic olive saplings there. But experience in this area has taught us that one must
expect the security forces to react violently.
Therefore, only activists who know the conditions and are experienced in dealing with them
were asked to take part.
Strictly non-violent
We were some 200 Israelis, men and women of all ages. The instructions given in the buses,
orally and in writing, were to keep the demonstration strictly non-violent.
We expected the buses to be stopped on the way and were prepared for this eventuality. We
were, therefore, quite surprised when we reached the village without incident. Only later did we
realise that it was a trap.
In the village, we joined some thousand inhabitants of this and the neighbouring villages, men,
women and children, and set off together towards the path of the fence.
At the head walked the former Palestinian minister Kadura Fares, the Palestinian presidential
candidate Dr Mustafa Barghouti, the Arab members of the Knesset Mohammad Barakeh, Jamal
Zahalkah and Abdul Malek Dahamsheh, the village chiefs and I.
We were holding olive branches in our hands to plant along the path of the fence. The village
youngsters also carried a 50-metre-long Palestinian flag. Ahead of us, a decorated van was
driving slowly and a Palestinian activist on it announced in Hebrew through a powerful
loudspeaker: "This is a peaceful and non-violent demonstration."
About a kilometre before the path of the fence, a line of security people stopped us. They wore
no insignia and so we did not know whether they were soldiers or border policemen.
Suddenly, without any warning, a salvo of tear gas grenades was launched at us. Within
seconds, we were enveloped by a cloud of white gas, with the thump of bursting grenades
coming at us from all directions.
Barakeh had a heated exchange with an officer and, while they were arguing passionately, a
soldier fired a gas grenade at point blank range between Barakeh's legs. He was slightly
wounded in the leg.
Another, particularly ferocious soldier took hold of the poster that I was holding in my hands —
the Gush Shalom sign of the flags of Israel and Palestine — and pushed me savagely, knocking
me over.
At other places, the rampage was even worse. Muhammad Hatib, one of the village chiefs,
noticed a man who, with his face covered, started to throw stones at the soldiers.
He ran towards him, shouting: "We decided not to throw stones! If you want to throw stones, do
it in your own village, not ours! What village do you come from, anyway?"
The man turned towards him and attacked him, at the same time calling out to his associates,
tearing the handkerchief from his face and donning a police cap.
Thus, the secret was out and was also documented by the cameras. "Arabised" undercover
soldiers had been sent into action.
These started throwing stones at the security people in order to provide them with a pretext to
attack us.
The moment that they were uncovered, they turned on the demonstrators nearest to them, drew
revolvers and started to arrest them.
Later on, when it became clear that the events had been recorded by foreign television crews,
the police officially confirmed that throwing stones is the method used by "Arabised" undercover
soldiers so as to merge with the crowd.
In the course of the day, more details about the events emerged. This was a unit that had never
before been used for such an action — the Prison Service unit Massada, whose normal job is to
suppress mutinies in the prisons.
Salt bullets
This is an especially savage unit, perhaps the most violent in the country, which was supplied
with new means of "riot control."
Among others are salt bullets, which are designed to cause particularly painful wounds.
Muhammad Hatib, the man mentioned above, 30 years old and father of two children, got four
bullets in his back — he was left with large, swollen, black-blue rings the full width of his
back.
These salt bullets were brought to Israel from the US at the beginning of the 1990s, but until
now, the army has shrunk from using them, fearing a public outcry.
They were tried on us for the first time.
The shocking difference between the ways in which the two demonstrations were treated
provides food for thought.
The settlers are openly preparing and trying to paralyse the state, prevent the implementation of
the government and Knesset decisions and, in effect, to overthrow Israeli
democracy.
But Ariel Sharon and his people call publicly to "embrace them," to "love them" and "view their
pain with understanding." This is the directive given to the security forces. For peace activists,
quite different treatment is indicated.
This throws light on a much more important phenomenon that may determine the future of
Israel. Here, people have got so used to it that they accept it as natural. Abroad, people don't
know about it.
Between the settlers and the media, a kind of symbiosis has come into being — they work "with
one head".
Every day, several events are prepared for the media, which scoop them up greedily, to serve
as unpaid propaganda organs of the settlers and the extreme right.
Once upon a time, it was usual to give the other side the right of response, for the sake of
"balance". Not any more. There is no other side.
In the news programs, not a word — literally, not a word — of criticism of the settlers is ever
heard. The Establishment "leftists" also speak of the need to "embrace them" and "understand
them" and so, of course, do all the spokespersons of the government and the big
parties.
To people who have an opposite opinion, no opportunity is given to speak about the settlers on
the main media of the country.
In this way, Israeli democracy puts all its media exclusively at the disposal of the enemies of
democracy. Even in the Weimar Republic, stupidity did not go this far.
Absurd? It only seems so. In reality, it reflects the real situation — in spite of all the loud talk
about "disengagement", Sharon's heart is with the settlers. He intends to annex to Israel most of
the West Bank settlements, if not all of them.
Uri Avnery is an Israeli journalist and peace activist and former Knesset member. He is one
of the founders of Gush Shalom, a broad-based Israeli peace group.