by Ricarda Sammaneh, January 12, 2011
Israeli Activist Details Battle to End Apartheid in the West Bank
Hapless elderly parents look on in horror and dismay as their sons are clubbed and their livelihoods, in the form of olive trees, go up in smoke via Israeli chainsaws, bulldozers, and jeering soldiers threatening with machine guns. A movie set? No, unfortunately this is the village of Bil’in, Palestine, filmed in 2005 by Israeli and international peace activists in the award-winning documentary Bil’in Habibti (Bil’in My Love) to draw international attention towards illegal Israeli acts of violence and economic destruction against the Palestinian population.
Gal Lugassi, a Jewish Israeli conscientious objector and activist with the Anarchists Against the Wall (AATW) direct action group, showed parts of this film and others as she spoke passionately about Israeli injustice towards Palestinians to a packed house on Sunday January 9, 2010, at Sisters Camelot in Minneapolis.
Gal detailed the stark contrast between her rights as a Jewish Israeli, and the rights of her Arab (Palestinian) neighbors. It was her sense of powerlessness within Israeli society to help Palestinians and peace activists, especially after the Gaza Flotilla Massacre in which international aid workers were murdered by Israeli soldiers, which finally drove Gal to actively engage in direct action as a member of AATW.
It was clear from her speech that Gal Lugassi and other AATW members regularly put themselves at risk of being killed, injured, or otherwise harassed by Israeli authorities, by participating in peaceful demonstrations against Israeli confiscation of Palestinian land, the Apartheid Wall, and other Israeli violations of international law.
Human Shields and “Skunk Water”
Israelis tend to use less deadly force against groups of Israeli and international activists who demonstrate or accompany Palestinians. Gal gave an example of accompanying Palestinian shepherds as they take out their flocks to graze, to act as human shields against armed Israeli settlers who shoot the shepherds on their own land. (Under Israeli law, the “Right to Bear Arms” does not apply to Palestinian shepherds defending their flocks.)
Audience members grimaced as Gal described being sprayed with “skunk water” by Israeli soldiers. “Skunk water,” she stated, “stinks like raw sewage” and covers you with a foul stench that lasts for days. Soldiers use water cannons to spray “skunk water” into crowds and into the homes of Palestinians. It may stink, but it doesn’t kill you.
In contrast, Palestinian demonstrators, including children and the elderly, are shot with rubber bullets aimed at their heads or backs, real bullets, and tear gas. Gal described how tear gas attacks are deadly when soldiers use high-velocity canisters, because of the rapid firing (30 canisters in a few seconds) and the canisters’ force of impact into the head or chest. She went on to say that .22 caliber bullets, which the Israeli authorities declared illegal for crowd control in 2002, are still being used by Israeli soldiers to shoot Palestinians even in the presence of international peace activists. (This is confirmed by other reports, such as the Haaretz article dated 16 November 2009, http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/protesters-idf-used-22-caliber-ammo-at-west-bank-fence-1.4111).
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS)
Gal showed other graphic examples and photos of steps AATW members take to raise awareness within Israeli society, which, she lamented, is mostly indifferent to the suffering at their back door. She also stressed how important it is for the global community to stand in solidarity with Palestinian civil society by joining the BDS campaign of Boycotting goods that profit off of the Israeli occupation and Divesting from Israel, as this has been shown to be the most effective means of ending Apartheid in other countries violating international law (according to the informational site www.IfAmericaKnew.org and others, Israel is the target of 65 United Nations Resolutions)
The Role of Direct Action Groups in Israel
Anarchists Against the Wall is a direct action group that was established in 2003 in response to the construction of the wall Israel is building on Palestinian land in the Occupied West Bank. Since its formation, the group has participated in hundreds of demonstrations and direct actions against the wall specifically, and the occupation in general, all over the West Bank. All of AATW’s work in Palestine is coordinated through villages’ local popular committees and is essentially Palestinian led.
In 2008, AATW was jointly awarded the prestigious Carl von Ossietzky Medal in Berlin, given annually by the International League of Human Rights, and named after German Nobel Peace Prize winner Carl von Ossietzky, who died in a Nazi concentration camp. AATW works in cooperation with Palestinians in a joint popular struggle against the occupation.
This event was jointly sponsored by the Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign (MN BBC) and Minneapolis Autonomous Radical Space (MARS). The event was a fundraiser to help cover legal expenses incurred by Israeli and Palestinian demonstrators persecuted in the Israeli legal system, as well as a venue for raising awareness and funds for the Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign actively pursuing changes with the current legislative session.
Gal Lugassi is an Israeli conscientious objector who is an activist with the Anarchists Against the Wall action group, and the Boycott! from Within group. She also volunteers at the Coalition of Women for Peace with the Who Profits project. Gal is a 3rd year BA student of Gender Studies at Tel-Aviv University.