Women and the Wall
Protests against
the Wall – Israel
Coordinating demonstrations
with Israelis, Palestinians in the West Bank, Palestinians living in Israel
and internationals is not an easy task. All obvious conflict tensions aside,
finding a day when all three groups can protest together, or at the same time,
is just difficult. The Palestinians do not work on Fridays, the Israelis on
Saturdays, and the Christians on Sundays, so there are preferences with every
group according to their work week and religious practices.
In Israel, it was decided
that the protests were to begin on Saturday, a day before the international
protests, so that as many Israelis as possible could attend. Before I left
for the protest meeting point, I ate a full breakfast and drank lots of water
as it would be disrespectful to eat and drink anything during daylight hours
in front of Muslims fasting for Ramadan.
Saturday, Nov. 8th
Protest against the Wall – East Jerusalem
More protesters showed up
than expected and it looked like we were about 1000 people strong. The buses
arrived to take us to Abu Dis in East Jerusalem, and once we boarded, we were
briefed on what protest actions would be taking place and on safety tips in
dealing with soldiers. Once we arrived in Abu Dis, we quickly left the buses,
grabbed onions to use over our eyes in case the police used tear gas on us,
and headed towards the 8 meter high slabs of concrete which were being stored
along the road.
As we faced the huge monoliths,
spray cans were quickly passed out and words of peace and calls for an end to
the occupation and the Wall were sprayed enthusiastically onto every reachable
spot of concrete. Once we were finished, the giant slabs of wall had become
a colorful mosaic of Hebrew, Arabic, English, French, Spanish, and Japanese
words urging for reason, humanity, and peace to prevail.
The demonstration moved on
to Sawahreh, where the Wall will cut through the town and separate it from it's
cemetery. Once the Wall is erected, the villagers will no longer be able to
bury their dead with their families. The end of the protest was marked with
the call to continue the struggle against the Wall, to end its construction,
and to compensate the Palestinians for their losses. We were all relieved that
the protest remained peaceful and that the military did not decide to barracade
the towns, making them a "closed military zone", which had prevented
demonstrations in the past.
Sunday, Nov. 9th
International Day of Protest against the Wall – The West Bank
Early on Sunday morning I
hitched a ride with one of the staff of the International Women's Peace Service,
to the West Bank town of Haris, about 20 kilometers west of the city of Nablus.
We had to transfer taxis three times and made it to the house in the record
time of an hour and a half. While hiking through the hills to avoid a checkpoint,
a soldier ran up to us and between gasps of breath informed us that we had to
turn around and enter Haris through the checkpoint. The IWPSers' unwavering
response of, "Yeah, but I walked this way yesterday!" seemed to confuse
him and he mumbled something about the checkpoint, wished us a good day and
let us continue on our way.
After arriving at the IWPS
house and greeting the five other international volunteers, we quickly gathered
our protest signs and drove to the town of Mas-ha to wait at the "Baladia"
or town hall, for the Palestinian women protesters. This was a significant
day for the women of Haris and Mas-ha. They were going to have their first
ever women-organized demonstration. The goal of the demonstration was to walk
to a house that is sandwiched between an Israeli settlement and the Wall. The
house belongs to a Palestinian woman and because the Wall is right in front
of her doorstep, the Israeli government fully expected her to leave and abandon
her house. But Palestinian women are strong and resolute and her family stayed
put. To make her life more difficult, the Israeli government buillt a concrete
portion of the wall right in front of her house (the Wall in this area consists
mainly of electrified, wire fences) which blocks her view of Mas-ha and her
community.
As soon as the Palestinian
women arrived, it was clear who the voice of their movement was. A strong,
energetic woman named Selwa* stood in the center of the group and started coordinating
the route our demonstration would take to the checkpoint. Suddenly, several
Palestinian men interrupted our small gathering and started dictating how we
were going to demonstrate. They took our signs away and then a long series
of negotiations between the Palestinian women and men were undertaken to figure
out how best to proceed with the demonstration.
With the men leading the
way, our group, now twenty strong, walked to Mas-ha to pick up more women protesters.
There were about 40 of us as we began to walk hand in hand alongside the trenches
and razor-wire to the checkpoint. I felt exhilarated when a Palestinian woman
unexpectantly took my hand in hers. We walked together and she spoke to me
in broken English about her life in the West Bank.
About ten meters before the
checkpoint, the men called on us to stop and, surprisingly, gave us our posters
back. Without missing a beat, Selwa called for the men to move back and let
the women lead the protest. After all it was a women's demonstration! Amazingly,
the men agreed and with immense pride and relief we walked forward to the checkpoint
where four Israeli soldiers had been waiting for us.
Dealing with the soldiers
went fairly quickly as they were only going to prohibit us from passing the
checkpoint into the Israeli settlement, which was not our intent. At the house
we were greeted by 5-6 national and international journalists, who filmed and
took pictures as we held hands and the Palestinians sang songs of protest.
In the background, the concrete Wall towered over us, but we felt relieved and
happy that we had even managed the protest. Israeli security and soldiers drove
by every five minutes to assure us of their presence, but we turned to face
each other because our presence and solidarity was what was important. One
could say that it was only a small protest that made little difference, but
it was significant for Selwa and the women of Haris and Mas-ha as it was their
first public attempt at voicing their opposition, fears, and anger against an
increasingly brutal life under the Occupation. And as they considered this protest
a success, I am sure it will not be the last.
(addition: On December 26th, 2003, Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals demonstrated at the passageway through the Wall leading into Mas-ha. As the Israeli activists attempted to tear down parts of the metal fence, Israeli soldiers shot first in the air and then opened fire on the activists injuring one young man in the knee.)
*Name has been changed
Sarah S. reported from the region.