Breaking Down the Wall

This is an article I wrote for the nonviolence conference coming up
in Bethlehem, December 27-30 (www.celebratingnv.org). I wanted to share it with
you..

Breaking Down the Wall
It is estimated that Israel's Annexation Wall will be completed in
the early part of 2006. When it is finished it will annex 47% of the
West Bank, and hand it over to the settler population. At least 15%
of Palestinians will be left outside the wall[1], completely
isolated from the rest of society, and over 222,098 refugees for the
second or third times will experience, "land confiscation,
destruction of property, and denial of access to their lands thus
directly affecting their means of livelihood"[2]. In the end, it is
not an over exaggeration to say that the entire Palestinian society
will directly suffer by its completion, in addition to the seemingly
unstoppable illegal Israeli practices that continue unhindered.

Still the question is often asked by critics and supporters alike,
why don't Palestinians resist non-violently, and continue to do so
even if in the face of overwhelming military force. During this time
of intensive Israeli expansionism, and growing Palestinian
isolationism, internationals and Israelis alike want to know where
the next Gandhi or MLK is. Many may not even know that Palestinians
have in fact engaged in ongoing organized, nonviolent resistance
since the beginning of the century (please email me for a
Palestinian history/timeline of nonviolence). As well, there is too
often confusion and questions about the issues of history, religion
and who is right, or more deserving of a homeland. The issue
however, is simply one of equality, human rights and international
law, for all.

On October 28th, 2005, eleven year old Ahmad was celebrating the
Muslim holiday, Eid, while playing with his friends in a Jenin
refugee camp. He was shot dead in the head by an Israeli sniper. The
soldier admitted he shot the boy while "mistaking" his toy gun for
the real thing. Did it ever cross the mind of this soldier with the
best military technology in the world available to him, to take a
closer look? In response, the parents of the boy who was
accidentally murdered - donated his organs to an Israeli family. At
least three young Israeli girls were saved as a result. Ahmad's
father said that the action he took in donating his son's organs was
meant as "a message of peace to the world, stating that Palestinians
want real peace, and the only way of achieving that is by ending the
illegal Israeli occupation." Sadly, the difference between Gandhi &
MLK, versus Ahmad's family's brave acts is that they were
Palestinian; and for them was nether a whisper from within the
oppressive system, nor the rest of the world community. In fact, the
soldier that killed him like so many others guilty of the same
crime, was found `not guilty' of any charges. Equally disturbing, is
the Israeli man who was present at the newly united Palestinian and
Israeli family's home, and had the nerve to tell Palestinians that
they need to learn to stop their violence!

The Israeli system is one with no regard for Palestinian life.
Tragic as it was, Ahmad's death is in no way the exception.
Likewise, on November 8, three teen age boys hiking in a park, armed
with a `family-sized bottle of water' were shot - one in the head,
in short range - died on the spot. The IDF soldier claimed the four
boys were a terrorist band that were about to plant a roadside bomb.
Under the umbrella of security, these ongoing war crimes continue
unquestioned. When recently speaking to a friend from Nablus I asked
him his thoughts about the International Solidarity Movement and
nonviolent resistance. He made a point of telling me how he recently
counted 97 friends of his that have been killed since 2002.
Occupation surely did not enter their lives peacefully, and fifty
seven years of struggle to simply live their lives in peace, can not
be easily forgotten or ignored. Stateless, and without
representation, where is the justice in continuously placing the
responsibility and burden, on the victims of so much violence?

Relative to What?
Although the situation is relatively quiet in Palestine, it is a
tense calm that surrounds us. While there are no major incursions,
and rarely do we see the Israeli military presence during the day -
other than while crossing checkpoints - everyone knows that the
building of the wall, settlements and occupation infrastructure
continues at a frighteningly rapid pace. Palestinians are dying for
relative calm. Since the ceasefire was declared in February 8, 2005
to December 1, 2005, upon the writing of this article - 78
Palestinian civilians have been killed by Israelis, including 20
children[3]. We should compare it on a humanitarian level, but
sadly Palestinian lives are relative, their lives are not considered
of equal value to their oppressors. While the prospects for
Palestinian statehood are tauntingly dangled overhead: the
strangulation of the economy, the Annexation Wall, 8,000 political
prisoners in Israeli jails, the growth of the settlements, the
vicious attacks by settlers, denial of movement, especially roads -
the jailing of an entire people has become the political reality.

Here in Bethlehem, the first administrative detention checkpoint
center has been erected, reminiscent of a border crossing but more
likened to a federal penitentiary, with an armed guard perched up
high, pacing back and forth. The administrative detention center
serves to effectively separate Bethlehem from Jerusalem
Palestinians, and will ensure that travel from the West Bank is
securely severed. It is rumored that it actually serves as a model
for future checkpoints which will be littered throughout the West
Bank. Sadly, to an unknowing eye the spotless passage ways and
sanitized surroundings make it appear as if it is actually progress,
instead of an attempt to cement and beautify the ugliness that is
occupation.

International Law
I recently attended an international humanitarian law conference and
was struck by the depth of institutionalized racism that has
developed, and is accepted throughout society as a whole. As
Palestinian attorney and co-founder of the pioneering human rights
organization Al-Haq, Raja Shehedeh, noted in his opening
remarks, "the power of a colonizer is in his technical, legal and
organizational abilities. Slowly and overtime a system developed by
which they re-interpreted the land laws of Palestine…a dual system
of administration one for the settlements and another for the
Palestinians. Their old idea of functional separation between
Palestinians and Israeli Jews living in the occupied territories has
been a driving force for over 25 years now." According to a 2004
Foundation for Middle East Peace report there are over 601,000
settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the number has
grown steadily since. The annexation wall has butchered the West
Bank into a number of disconnected area units to protect these very
settlers, effectively isolating Palestinian villages and homes from
other Palestinians; and the rest of the world (go to http://www.nad-
plo.org/listing.php?view=maps_wall to see maps of settlements/wall).
Forget the state for a moment - this wall erases any hope of a
viable, contiguous Palestinian life!

This December 3, 2005 a UN General Assembly resolution indicative of
world opinion, overwhelmingly voted for Israel to end its illegal
settlement activities and construction of the wall around East
Jerusalem, demand Israel's withdrawal from the Golan Heights and
return to the Road Map, all of which US Ambassador John Bolton
dismissed as "meaningless".

Under international law, the legal consequences of grave breaches of
human rights are three fold:
1. State responsibility: the occupying power is legally responsible
for the acts of its agents, and is under corresponding obligations
to ensure that its agents adhere to the Convention and to prosecute
those who commit grave breaches;
2. Individual responsibility: an individual who commits a grave
breach is criminal liable for his or her acts and should be
prosecuted accordingly;
3. Interstate responsibility: of other State signatories of the
Convention: all state signatories are under an obligation to seek
out and prosecute individuals responsible for committing or
commissioning grave breaches (art. 146).

There is no way to have a peaceful, beautiful or just occupation. In
fact, Israeli policy and practice in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories (OPT) has not been guided by respect for international
law, but rather by how to most effectively violate. Ignoring scores
of international law rulings, regular Israeli violations continue
with impunity. States with power have absolved themselves of any
form of responsibility, turned a blind eye and are directly or
indirectly funding the abuses. According to a March 2005
Congressional Research Brief entitled "Israel: U.S. Foreign
Assistance," since 1985 the U.S. has given Israel three billion
dollars a year in grants; and since 1976 Israel has been the largest
annual recipient of U.S. aid and is the largest recipient of
cumulative U.S. assistance since World War II. This year, three
additional billion dollars were guaranteed to aid the relocation for
the mere 7,500 Gaza settlers who evacuated – and will fund the
relocation of Israeli Occupation Forces after the withdrawal. This
aid is in addition to the more than 2.5 billion dollars already
provided by the U.S. to Israel in the 2005 fiscal year for economic,
military and migration resettlement assistance.

The European Union and Palestine
Under International Law the EU also has a responsibility. A recently
leaked document written by the EU heads of missions from to
Jerusalem and Ramallah clearly states the direness and urgency of
the situation. The report found that settlement activity is
happening rapidly ongoing construction and is contrary to Israel's
obligations under international law and the Roadmap. They are well
aware that "when the barrier has been completed, Israel will control
access to and from East Jerusalem, cutting off its Palestinian
satellite cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah, and the rest of the West
Bank beyond. This will have serious economic, social and
humanitarian consequences for the Palestinians." They have no
illusions about the wall being for security, "Isael's main
motivation is almost certainly demographic - to reduce the
Palestinian population of Jerusalem. But the policy has severe
humanitarian consequences."[4] Although the EU could act
unilaterally and has harshly condemned countless Israeli policies,
they are yet to put any meaningful pressure on the state - neither
diplomatic nor economic.

…and the building continues.

Helplessly the world sits idly by and watches as states with power,
with the aid of individual Israeli soldiers, commit regular war
crimes against a largely civilian population. Clearly seeing the
injustices and fundamental flaws inherent in this system, and the
mistakes of history being repeated, we continue to hope it
miraculously changes. When states and individuals responsible for
upholding human rights are the ones guilty of violating it, what
options are the oppressed left with? These governments should be
held accountable - yet as seen international law can not be enforced
without the support of citizens worldwide. As Palestine solidarity
activists, it is vital for us to take a moral stand in favor of
international law by putting pressure on our respective governments
to do so.

Calling on People of Good Will & Moral Conscious
The Palestinian people are calling on the international community to
hold the Israeli government responsible for their actions, where
states have failed to. Together, we who believe in human rights, can
help stop the regular breaches of international law through economic
pressure. Over 170 Palestinian NGO's have signed onto the Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, until Israel complies with
International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights: "We,
representatives of Palestinian civil society, call upon
international civil society, organizations and people of conscience
all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment
initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa
during the apartheid era. We appeal to you to pressure your
respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel.

We also invite conscientious Israelis to support this Call, for the
sake of justice and genuine peace. These non-violent measures should
be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the
Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and
fully complies with the precepts of international law by:

Ending its occupation and colonization of All Arab lands and
dismantle the Wall;
Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab Palestinian citizens
of Israel to full equality; and
Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian
refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN
resolution 194."

Divestment, boycott and sanctions are a strategy designed to put
economic pressure on the unjust Israeli system, and are so far are
the greatest hope to realize human rights for the Palestinian
people. A growing divestment movement world wide is enjoying early
successes. Divestment campaigns, academic boycotts and economic
sanctions continue to grow across the US and Europe and new ones are
being regularly launched.

In 1948 we saw direct transfer; they called it a voluntary exodus.
Today we see imprisonment of an entire people, confiscation of land,
isolation and the growing prospect of Palestinian Bantu-state(s)
hood; they call it security. We don't have much time. This is more
than apartheid. Only by ending the occupation, and recognizing the
right of self-determination of the Palestinian people and their
sovereignty over their land and resources, will positive change be
achieved. Such a solution can not occur without strict adherence to
human rights and international law, enforced through a wide range of
economic sanctions, divestment and academic boycotts.

Noura Khouri
Occupied Palestine

"Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have
recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and
oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of
law" (From Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to
which Israel is a signatory).


[1] Statistics taken from the Stop the Wall Campaign
(www.stopthewall.org).
[2] The effects of the wall compiled by BADIL - A resource center
for Palestinian residency and refugee rights-by gathering census
information by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS),
and the most recent map of the wall prepared by the UN Office of the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
[3] Statistics gathered by Palestinian international human rights
organization, Al-Haq.
[4] The EU report/document is available online at Electronic
Intifada, under `historical documents'.


For a current list of divestment campaigns & resources, email me.