Chillin' in Bil'in (ok, that was cheesy, but I can't think of anything else)

When the wind pushed the first big cloud of white gas towards us, I figured I would just wrap my kuffiyeh around my face and press forward. "No big deal, Nico." Ten seconds later, I was crying like a baby who just crapped his diapers and coughing like an old man with one lung. That sucked. For a brief second, I remembered the story of Wendy Avila, the 24-year old Honduran woman who, with her husband, left her job in the United States to return to Honduras after the coup to join the resistance; she died of asthma complications after police gassed a demonstration. The 20-something Israeli soldiers, grinning behind the wire fence, literally had duffle bags filled with these gorilla-fist-sized (actually, maybe gorillas have bigger or smaller hands, I don't really know) bombs, and would throw them at anyone who got too close to the fence, or talked too much, or was a journalist, or was Palestinian, or was American, or was Israeli, or was a medic, or was in a wheelchair, or was an olive tree, or was the wind, the sun… they seemed to be firing at anything. The hand thrown bombs are problematic only inasmuch as the gas that comes from it; the real danger are the gas canisters launched from rifles that can cause considerable injury - or death - if they fall on you. We run past the tomb of "Bassem" Ibrahim, a veteran organizer of the weekly protests in Bil'in, who was killed when an IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces, as they are considered) soldier fired a tear gas canister, hitting him on the head. He lays now just 20 meters in front of the fence.

Internationals by far outweigh Bil'in residents, most of whom seem to be almost indifferent now to the weekly protests, though I was told that most of them are scared for fear of reprisals. The youth are the most energetic, making me feel like an old fogey, and seem almost indifferent to the gas clouds. A young-looking veteran of the First Intifada (the Intifada of the Stone-throwers) is decked out in a sweet automatic wheelchair and speeds away down-hill at impressive speeds everytime gas was launched, leaving the rest of us handicapped by the gas (no pun intended). Actually, at one point he stands up in his wheelchair to yell at the Israelis, which leaves me dumbstruck. Israeli tear gas causes miracles. The Tel Aviv mod squad, looking more like Williamsburg hipsters, arrive looking aptly glum. There is an old Irish man in combat boots and a gas mask, who mutters "fucking bastards" or "come on, motherfuckers" everytime a canister is launched. He stands like a rock at the front line the whole time filming the Israeli attack. (Later, at then end of the protest, someone overheard him saying: "I forgot to press the record button. Fuck." Luck of the Irish.) Some journalists for AP and other mass media watch from the sides, donned in gas masks and helmets, looking more like soldiers. Kuffiyehs and Palestinian flags abound. I wonder if the cheese of my left over pizza tucked away in my bag will absorb the gas.

Bil'in's residents have become famous for their weekly demonstrations since 2005 against the wall that has cut them off from more than 50% of their agricultural lands. Together with other towns, such as neighboring Nilin (where, at the same time I was choking on clouds, a young protestor was shot with "tutu" bullets), they have consistently challenged the Israeli state's right to build a wall through their lands under the pretext of guaranteeing security to Israeli Jewish citizens and, more directly, the more than 40,000 colonists living the illegal settlement of Modi'in Illit. (Last year, the Israeli government upgraded Modi'in Illit's status to "city", which some say would encourage more colonists to move in, thus further reducing Palestinian land.)

Most days, Bil'in residents are allowed to access their lands to tend to their olive trees, but only after passing through a checkpoint and as long as the IOF commander in charge deems it appropriate. The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that the wall's path is illegal, and ordered a change in the path allowing for a return of at least 50% of confiscated lands. However, according to one organizer, the Israeli government has dragged its feet, claiming "lack of funds" to destroy and rebuild the wall. See www.bilin-village.org for more information.



Of course, however, plenty of gas and sound grenades. After 30 minutes, it's all over. The protest retreats for the week, and the game is over, for now. It's frustrating for me, this non-violence thing. Our heads still foggy with the gas, two Aussie journalists and I ask Abdullah, a Bil'in organizer, why the use of nonviolence as a tactic. He claims that if they can make the Israeli occupation spend money on having to deploy troops and weapons, little by little, they will become a thorn in the Israelis side and force them to give in to their demands. I wonder to myself how much it costs the Israelis to deploy a couple dozen teenagers against 150 protestors. Personally, I think it would cost more if we sent them to the hospital with a rock lodged in their faces... hmm, prudence, Nico. But hey, Gandhi's nonviolence tactics alone didn't send the English packing, nor did King's brotherly love alone win civil rights. But maybe, just now, I can't - and don't want to - really imagine more bloodshed out here.

As we retreat, I go to watch the parallel protest of a handful of Palestinian teenagers throwing rocks at troops. They are strictly forbidden by protest organizers to mix with us "nonviolent folk". In between olive trees, rocks and shouts of "sons-of-bitches" fly and bounce harmlessly of the wall or an ear. Rock, gas, rock, gas. These kids were the same ones who told me earlier that if they catch any Israeli on "their side" of the wall, they'll kill him. I hope they don't see those poor Israeli anarchists walking ahead of us. We walk back to town, about half a kilometer away, and you can still smell the gas. Some cool-looking Palestinian men are perched on a balcony watching the action, ironically puffing on a sheesha, as if there wasn't enough smoke in the air. The Israelis, to make some kind of point which is lost on us, are still shooting gas long after the protesters disperse.

Looking back across the valley, I see the Israeli soldiers crossing the barrier and removing flags and signs. One of them waves the Palestinian flag then tucks it away. I guess we'll be back next week.

P.S. This coming week, the colonists/settlers and their allies will gather in front of "Bibi" Netanyahu's residence to protest the 10-month settlement "freeze" (actually, they will still be building; I guess they call it a "freeze" because of the coming winter). Funny how tables turn. Go back to October 1995, when Netanyahu and the Likud were leading protests against Rabin for "being removed from Jewish tradition". One month later, a settler assassinated Rabin. I'm sure Mr. Yahoo is sweating his kippa off.