West Bank Journal: Last Update -- The Israeli Activist Festival

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Two weeks ago, I left Ramallah and the West Bank to spend a few days in Israel proper, at a 'festival of activism.' It seemed a good chance to meet up with some of the Israeli activists I knew, meet some others, and see a different aspect of the political scene. My friend Rena was also planning to go, with her family, and kindly offered to translate for me as the workshops were all in Hebrew.

The festival had been planned for a forest site, but hassles and restrictions from the authorities forced it to move to the grounds of a peace center near Haderah. Around two thousand people attended, camping or staying in dorms or simply coming for the day. There were workshops on everything from resisting the wall to permaculture, and I gave two presentations on some of the organizing I've done this year in the global justice movement, trying to link it to the resistance to the Occupation, and on the ways we've brought permaculture into our mobilizations.

For the first day, I wandered around in a state of mild culture shock. After a month on the Palestinian side, it felt strange to see so many people who looked just like any crowd of activists back home, to see bare arms and legs and uncovered midriffs, and such a preponderance of flowing, curly hair! A group of young soldiers camped near us, and my body went into a moment of visceral shock. But I took a breath, reminded myself that almost all Israelis do their year of military service, that man soldiers are also resisters, and that it was a good thing they were hear to participate in the festival. I saw a few familiar Palestinian faces from last year's peace camp at Mas'Ha, where the nonviolent resistance to the wall was kicked off, and we greeted each other warmly. One woman from the International Women's Peace Service had spread out a blanket and is doing outreach, but I was the only representative from the ISM -- in part because all of the workshops except mine are in Hebrew. Next year, I think, we should have an information booth.

I attended workshops on the wall, and two given by the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions. (ICAHD). I was interested -- and a bit surprised -- to learn what background information the presenters needed to give about the wall, how little even this group of people progressive enough to attend this festival knew about it, how many basic terms of the occupation had to be defined. The Israelis who are involved in the day to day resistance are incredibly committed and courageous. Many of them said to me that they know it is only a matter of time before there is an Israeli 'shaheed' -- a martyr of the occupation. Being Israeli is no longer a protection against the violence of the military. One Israeli, Gil Na'amati from Kibbutz Re'im in the Negev desert, himself just weeks out of the army was shot in the legs with live ammunition. Etai Levinsky was shot by a rubber-coated steel bullet right between the eyes while he was lying on the ground, talking to the soldiers in Hebrew through a bullhorm. Jonathan Pollack was nearly run down by a jeep, but managed to leap onto the hood and save himself. Many of the activists are young, and go home from the demonstrations to families who do not support their politics or their actions.

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