Bil'in

We arrived in Bil'in last night for the demo today. We got put up in basic activist crash space- think staying at LARC or similar. We were staying in a room on the ground floor of a communal building, which the people who organise the weekly demos and campaigns live in. In Jerusalem, we were staying opposite an Israeli police station. In Bethlehem we could see a UN truck from our window. Here it was just garden outside, but the (steel) door wouldn't shut cos it had a massive dent in it where the IDF had busted through the week before.

We were a bit concerned that a similar thing might happen again. We lay there having the old gunshots/fireworks discussion (F says definitely fireworks this time), and I think F fell asleep and woke up occasionally to any loud noise and worried it was soldiers. I didn't sleep cos I had this 2 little bastard mosquitos biting me ALL NIGHT long, and doing that psychological warfare shit where they buzz in your ear. They totally took my mind off the IDF. I don't think F really treated the situation with the gravity it deserved, though she did wake up at one point thanks to my constant swearing and offered me insect repellant. It didn't work. I got bitten on lips, eyebrows, all over. I keep pointing out the more presentable marks to her but she's not overly impressed. By comparison, she got bitten once, the whole night.

Anyway. If you don't know about Bil'in, it's an agricultural village in the West Bank. The wall runs close to it and is annexing land off for illegal settlements (illegal under both international and Israeli law). They stand to lose 60% of their land. http://www.bilin-village.org/english/
Every Friday they have a peaceful demo, basically the aim is just to march up to the wall and protest for a bit. Internationals are invited to join the demo. Today, there were probably about 100-200 internationals, plus a few Israeli activists from Anarchists Against the Wall (not sure if that would technically count as international...). Plus the men and boys from the village, obviously (though not many of the women). Most weeks it ends with the demonstrators getting tear gassed, sometimes water cannon and rubber bullets.

I have to say the march was amazing. I was pretty overwhelmed by the genuine positivity, sound system, dancing etc. It's a story you see in the UK hundreds of times, something built on positive ideals of peace and tolerance being crushed. But here the situation is so much more desperate and the love has to be so much bigger. And it's really depressing knowing that in all likelihood it won't make a bit of difference to the Israeli govt, or the soldiers. The wall will be built just the same.
Anyway we did end up getting tear gassed. The thing that I was most bricking it about was hypothetical. Basically the possibility of getting brained by a tear gas canister. That didn't happen to anyone, though someone from the village did get killed on this demo in April 2009. Most of you probably know why that fact might particularly disturb me.
We didn't get too close to the gas, thanks to a lot of running, but even from about 75m away in the open air it feels like a mini asthma attack. Not nice. And I can't see why you would attack a peaceful demo like that other than out of vindictiveness. I mean what would have happened? If they'd chanted at the wall for a bit?

Headed from there into Ramallah for the night. To a Londoner like me, the centre of Ramallah feels like a home from home, except people smile at you as you walk by.

Thanks for all the well wishes people. My bowels are still a bit dodgy. Still not eating anything yet.

Thanks for the Eastenders updates! How did Hev misunderstand Patrick? How is Libby doing, managing to convey looking happy and sad at the same time? That must be a challenge for her.

Main thing- Happy Birthday, Dad!




L
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Thursday night in Bil'in was pretty scary. We slept in a room in which the metal door wouldn't lock because the previous week the IDF had broken in and dragged off some of the main local organisers. They are still in prison.
The demo was inspiring. A group of around 300 people (international activists, locals, Israeli peace activists...) marched through the village and towards the wall. Sound system, flags, music, dancing and so much positivity. Every week the villagers aim to march up to the wall (both the UN and the EU admit it has been constructed illegally and it cuts off a lot of Bil'in's farmland and is destroying their very existence). Israel has declared the space in front of the wall a "military zone" and as we approached it we were faced with lines of IDF soldiers. They let us protest for a while before the inevitable happened and the tear gas came out. We stayed a way back- this wasn't like Strasbourg, they actually fire the cannisters at you rather than up in the air like they do in Europe. The young guys from the village got it the worst. Yet amazingly, the villagers do this every week. Every week they peacefully assert their right to protest against the confiscation of their land and the destruction of their livelihoods and every week they get shot at.
There were also a few friendly faces from London at the demo- was good to see them.
We're now in Ramallah and will be heading North to Jenin tomorrow morning. We plan to stay there for maybe 4 nights and then try to go over to Gaza (though that is not looking very likely right now. Inshallah we'll get there but our chances don't look good).

Anyway, I hope you are all well.
Parents- please try not to worry, we really are fine. We have it so easy and have only experienced a tiny bit of the suffering that people here endure every day. And if you can't not worry then maybe you should question how you raised me- demos from a young age... Nah, love you guys. Oh and Rosie- saw a "Quick Step" lorry the other day. Started humming the Tour theme tune in my head... Keep commenting- your posts are cracking us both up.


Lots of love
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