A Palestinian protester is seen in front of the Separation Wall in Ni'ilin. Photo by Joseph Dana
As we stood on the windswept hillside with the jumbo planes landing behind us at Ben Gurion International Airport, I was struck by the gentle breeze full of fall hints that was engulfing our group of fifteen people. Shacaf, a photographer and fellow activist, turned to me and said, “we have a holy breeze today, the wind is blowing right on the soldiers so they do not want to fire tear gas.” Indeed, he was right, not a single shell of tear gas was used on our demonstration on this day.
Ni'ilin Popular Struggle Committee Member is Seen Approaching Soldiers. Photo by Joseph Dana
The weekly demonstration against the Separation Wall and occupation in Ni’ilin was smaller than usual this week. Maybe this was due to the holidays, or perhaps due to the end of summer laziness or perhaps due to the successful Israeli campaign to crush non-violent resistance to the occupation in the city. Despite the small numbers, we did manage to walk to the wall and chant slogans like “no no no to the wall” and “occupation is a crime.” One of the members of the popular committee against the wall in Ni’ilin, Mohamad Amireh rushed with his hands high in the air, one holding a Palestinian flag, to talk with the soldiers face to face. The southern portion of the wall is actually a fence in Ni’ilin and so we can see each other.
Where Wall Meets Fence in Ni'ilin. Photo by Joseph Dana
Mohamed expressed his deep frustration to the soldiers, “This is my land. Please let me go to my land. You have no business here.” The soldier dismissively said to us “Inshallah, there will be peace. You need to have patience.” It was a stark statement given the situation, standing in front of a 6 meter high concrete wall randomly placed in the heart of Ni’ilin’s farmland and olive grove. Mohamed screamed and pleaded for ten minutes and then told us that there was no more point in talking for the day. We retreated to the village without a single shot of tear gas being fired due to the holy breeze of the afternoon.
Palestinians Talk with Soldiers in Ni'ilin. Photo by Joseph Dana.
Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war – the atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel and the massive retaliatory Israeli attacks on Gaza. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing violence.
We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed unleashed by these events has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Hamas’ murderous assault in southern Israel has devastated and shocked the country to its core. Israel’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza is wreaking destruction on the already besieged strip and killing a ballooning number of civilians. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to escalate their attacks on Palestinians.
This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 13 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, the entrenched occupation, and an increasingly normalized siege on Gaza.
We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives.
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