In Defense of Rock Throwing

In the latest phase of Palestinian resistance to occupation on their indigenous lands, the "Popular Committees" are getting complete (and often derogatory) coverage by the Israeli and foreign media. While the basic demands that Palestinians are fighting for - access to their land, an end to the construction of the Apartheid Wall, an end to settlement growth, etc. - are often overlooked, there has been much talk about the "violence" of Palestinian resistance. It has become almost the norm in the media that the Israeli army uses toxic gases, sound grenades, rubber bullets and plastic-coated steel bullets (note the distinction: the steel bullets actually have a 1/8" plastic coating, which delivers a extremely painful punch) against Palestinian demonstrators. Even when live bullets are shot (which is not rare), the Israeli and foreign media protest little.

But there is usually always a distinction in the press between "peaceful" Palestinians and "violent" ones, usually the youth. They are "violent" because they throw rocks at soldiers. This division is usually echoed by "peace-loving" foreigners, who many a time I have heard question why Palestinians resort to throwing rocks. It seems strange to some that a people who have had their lands stolen and are continually harassed, arrested, beaten and killed, would resort to throwing rocks against a vastly superior oppressive force, armed with the latest weaponry.

Sometimes you can hear foreigners saying, "Oh, you should check out Bil'in. It's much more peaceful. Nilin is crazy. They are hard-core: they fight the army." There becomes a neo-colonialist, paternalizing attitude to judge which resistance is more "legitimate".

But many Palestinians are starting to reject the idea that resistance means being humiliated, slapped around and arrested, while the world watches to see if the Occupation will eventually disappear on its own. In An-Nabi Salih, a village of 400 people northwest of Ramallah, I was talking with a member of the town's Popular Committee, formed a little over a month ago to coordinate weekly demonstrations against the theft of the town's water spring by the adjacent settlement of Halamish. He correctly pointed out that despite the "peaceful" resistance of Bil'in, many of their leaders are in jail and the army has begun night raids of the village.

"We invite internationals to come and support us. It's important to see what is happening and tell the world. But we don't want internationals to come and tell us how to run our demonstrations. It's our land that was stolen, why can't we resist?" He explains to me over breakfast before the Friday demonstration that with the repression against the Popular Committees and peaceful protests increasing, Palestinians may find inevitable a return to armed struggle, a situation he feels would not be productive.

In the first demonstration that the villagers of An-Nabi Salih coordinated, olive trees were taken as symbols of peace and a return to their stolen land. Despite their peaceful first intent, the army would not allow them to demonstrate and used heavy force to break up the march. Subsequent demonstrations saw the army enter the village, beating men and women, and in one case, throwing gas into a house full of children.

This past Friday, the villagers decided not to back down. Even before we had reached 20 meters past the last house in the village, the army had opened up their arsenal against us. However, the villagers set up barricades - made of boulders, burning tires and trash cans - on the roads leading to the village and for over four hours in the cold and rain, managed to keep the Israeli army out. Some 10 Palestinians were injured with gas and rubber- and plastic-coated bullets.

With the resistance spreading all over the West Bank, Israel continues to crack down on foreign activists who are talking about what's going on. This morning, Israel raided the ISM apartment in Ramallah - in full violation of the Oslo Accords which gave total control of "Area A" areas like Ramallah to the Palestinian Authority - and once again, arrested and are trying to deport two compañeras. Aside from citing expired visas, the Israeli Occupation Authorities claimed that they "were known to be involved in illegal violence". Documenting the "legal" violence of the Israeli army is a crime. I encourage more would-be criminals to come out to Palestine and break the law. International and Israeli presence at these marches is crucial to prevent a complete assault against the Palestinians.

Many people think that resisting occupation means that Palestinians hate Israelies, or Muslims hate Jews. While that idea might represent a small minority of people, the overwhelming majority of people simply want freedom, and they have a right to resist oppression. When Britain occupied the United States, we used more than just stones to resist. Lots of people died, and yet now there is peace (and Tony Blair lives in the American Colony Hotel). Germany occupied France at one time, now they trade sauerkraut and frogs legs. Racism and imperialism continues to oppress the Native Americans, even if they aren't rising up with sticks or guns. So talk a break from debating Palestinian "violence" and throw some rocks.

More information on the Popular Resistance, see www.awalls.org