Bil'in..it's not Tel Aviv

Haaretz reports:
Anti-fence protest in Bil'in Palestinian demonstrators frustrated at the lack of international attention being directed towards the separation fence due to the World Cup soccer tournament staged a World Cup-themed protest in the West Bank village of Bil'in on Friday.

Protesters arrived decked out in World Cup garb while waving flags of countries whose teams are participating in the tournament.





Some background:

Bil'in is a village in the West Bank where a section of the separation wall has been built in the form of a barbed wire fence. A group of Israeli activists and local Bil'in-ers get together each Friday to demonstrate against it.

On the way to the demonstration:
Got on the right bus (sherut) but going to wrong way, arrived at the Central Bus Station an hour late.

4 people in the car, 3 of us hopped out to avoid a checkpoint, and we walked up a beaten path littered with cigarettes and plastic bottles. At the top of a hill, we were greeted (warmly I might add) by some local guys from Bil'in (in an Arabic-accented Hebrew) as they sat on an old car seat and communicated with someone else (our driver perhaps) via 2-way pagers. A 5 minute walk but I was scared, not sure of what though.

Then.. sitting for a few hours outside of a really nice house, 1st floor rented to ISM (International Solidarity Movement) where a bunch of kids tried (and succeeded) to sell us popcorn and chick peas. Inside, some posters of martyrs, photographs, children's drawings. Further inside (the bathroom) a number of handwritten signs concerning the importance of bathing regularly, doing one's dishes, and not clogging the toilet with toilet paper.

The demonstration:
Jewish Israelis, Palestinian Israelis, local Bil'in-ers (men and kids), a monk, a few Americans, Europeans (maybe), Asians

Some of the individuals
A flute playing Israeli woman (approx mid 50s)
An American know-it-all
Many of the young guys from Bil'in were wearing football uniforms of Argentina and Brazil and cradling a giant soccer ball (this part along with the chanting of "Argentine and Brazil" resembled a pre-game party)
For many of the activists (Palestinian and Israeli) it was routine.


On the way, I lagged behind. I recordered the procession.

At the site, a 5 or 10 minute walk from where we were, (a fence that cuts off a road and is intended to mark the location of the cement wall), soldiers waiting for us, media crews, demonstrators, kids. The soldiers looked like a combination of confused, annoyed, humored, and generally, too young.

Lots of lots of media, they looked almost as menacing as the soldiers with bulletproof vests and helmets. Many were wearing day-glo yellow with the word "Press", I took this to mean "don't shoot us, shoot them." Associated Press was there among others.

As the crowd approached the fence, a tank awaited, perched on top were a few soldiers, one of whom held an official looking 8 and 1/2 x 11 sheet paper against his chest. I thought about asking him what it said and why he was holding it out for us to see, though it's hard to read 12 point font from down below. It was also in Hebrew and I didn't think to bring my Hebrew-English dictionary with me.

A few photos ops were arranged. Once an Israeli Jeep crossed the fence, a young boy was propped on its hood hoisting a Palestinian flag. Photographers immediately gathered, the solider manning the jeep looked confused.

Once the tension rose (which resulted from sound bombs were thrown and one Palestinian guy arrested, but only after being dragged by 5 or so soldiers behind a truck and out of sight) a taxi appeared at the demonstration site with the driver shouting out some names, a bunch of the Palestinian-Israeli girls and a bunch of kids climbed in and left. Shortly after another taxi appeared, circling the area and then leaving.

I hid behind a rock for the last quarter, emerging periodically to follow around a 5 year old who kept a handful of stones behind his back. I grabbed him each time I saw his hands filled with stones and let him go only as he dropped them. It seemed as though the adults in the group were scolding the kids, the stones were too provocative for a non-violent protest. One (accidentally) hit the flute-playing Israeli who yelled back at the crowd.

The sound bombs were scary, the lesser noises (teargas canisters) were scarier, these were shot out as the crowd was heading back. I got a taste of it in the eyes and mouth, not tasty at all.

And finally,
At what our driver called the "after party" we sat with a group of locals and Israelis, drank tea brought out by the wife of one of the organizers, and answered standard questions posed by someone of Bil'in who said he was writing a book. The questions:

Name
Where are you from
Where do you work and/or what do you study
Why did you come to Bil'in today
Did your family agree with your ideas (or approve of your decision to come today)

I was able to answer the first 3 questions in Arabic, much to the amazement of some of the attendees and much to the laughter of Tal since my Arabic is very robot-like.

On our way out, more soundbombs, stone throwing, and this time, Israelis on the inside of the fence, so some of the party headed out, the International/Israeli presence seemed to be essential, there were some non-Arab bodies ready to follow any commotion. I didn't follow the commotion, I told the owners of the house that I was scared and thus, would rather stay.

And for more backgroud, here's a link to a blog by another American who was also in Bil'in (among other occupied places). His name is James and he seems like a nice guy.