The Folly of Israeli Apartheid Knows No Boundaries
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| Police arrest International at Nabi Saleh protest |
By Miko Peled
October 25, 2015
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| Brave Zionist soldier detains boy with broken arm |
The
aim of the resistance is to free Palestine and to give Palestinians the rights
they deserve, says Miko Peled.
The
courtroom in Jerusalem was small with whitewashed walls and a few simple,
uncomfortable wooden benches. The air conditioner didn’t work well, so the room
was either too cold or not cool enough. The atmosphere was very causal. No one
announced or stood when the judge entered. The prosecution and the defense
council were too busy with their papers, and the defendants—me among them—were
caught by surprise as the door to his chambers opened and the judge entered and
sat in his chair.
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Under
the circumstances, the whole thing seemed a waste of time. There I was, along
with two other defendants, charged with participating in disturbances in a
protest in the village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank in 2012. Considering that
during the month of October, armed Israeli vigilantes and soldiers have been
killing and injuring young Palestinians wholesale and getting away with it, our
trial seemed beyond petty—it was stupid.
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| Jerusalem District Court |
The
main witness for the prosecution was Yousef Nasser el-Din, a Palestinian Druze
collaborator who serves as an officer in the Israeli Border Guards, or “Magav.”
He is tall and fit-looking, with handsome features. He came wearing the
distinctive olive green uniform of the Border Guards and he was carrying a
loaded pistol on his belt.
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| Peaceful demonstration at Nabi Saleh |
Officer
Nasser el-Din told the judge about the “Tsambar” hill where we were gathered. I
had never heard this term prior to the trial; it is a Hebrew acronym that
stands for “burning tires.” According to him, we stood on that hill, which the
name suggests is used to roll burning tires down onto the main road, and onto
advancing soldiers. The mob was calling out slogans in Arabic that were meant
to incite for violence. “I understand and speak the Arabic language,” he
reminded the court.
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| Protesting outside the courts of injustice |
By
the time it was my turn to testify, my attorney, Gabi Laski, looked like she
was suffering from hypothermia. Someone asked to lower the air conditioner and
the judge apologized, pointed the remote toward the air-conditioner and turned
it off.
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“What
do you say to these accusations of mob-like disturbances that the previous
witness described?” Ms. Laski challenged me.
“I
am afraid the time allotted for this hearing will not allow me to recount all
the lies told by Officer Nasser el-Din,” I replied.
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| Tariq abu Kheideir led into court, having been badly beaten by police |
When
I was done answering, the judge, Ohad Gordon, looked at me closely. I was
standing behind the small lectern that served as a witness stand, just a few
feet from him. He leaned over, his face almost too young for his
salt-and-pepper hair.
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| soldiers attacking haim schwarczenberg |
“I want to make something very clear,” he
said. “On the one hand, we are hearing descriptions of an unruly riot, stones
hurled at the security forces and incitement for violence. You are describing a
completely pastoral environment, people marching peacefully and then the army,
for no apparent reason, shooting. You see, there is a problem here.”
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| Tariq abu Kheideir led into court |
I
looked back at the judge, who seemed to me to be sincere.
“Your
honor, you described it exactly as it is,” I said. “People marching peacefully
and then the army, for no apparent reason, shooting; not only the place and the
time we are discussing, but at every place and at every time, every Friday in
the various villages in the West Bank. The attempt to paint the Palestinian
popular resistance as a violent mob is deceitful, it is dishonest, it is a lie.
People from around the world come to these villages to participate because the
popular resistance is committed to nonviolence just as it is committed to
resistance and freedom. Palestinian villages have become the international
‘Meccas’ for nonviolent activists. Again I say, your honor, you could not have
described it better.”
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| Police tear gas demonstration at Nabi Saleh |
The
officer-collaborator, Nasser El-Din, also described the goals of the popular
resistance in terms that are congruent with general Israeli thinking.
“The
villagers are protesting because of a dispute surrounding who owns the rights
to the spring at the foot of the village,” he said.
Free Palestine
The
Israeli town of Halamish, where some of the most vicious fanatic Israelis live,
has taken much of Nabi Saleh land, including the small spring. But Officer Nasser
El-Din is a fool if he thinks Palestinians in Nabi Saleh or any other village
are putting their lives on the line for a spring, or a well or even a
settlement here or there.
The
resistance is here to free Palestine and to give Palestinians the rights they
deserve. And it will not end until this is achieved.
It
is the same folly that leads Israeli security officials to think that more
soldiers, more police, more checkpoints and walls will keep Israelis safe from
the consequences of the occupation. If every inch of every street of every city
and town were lined with soldiers, Israelis would still not be safe.
It
is also the same folly that leads Israeli lawmakers to think they can legislate
against the resistance. Legislating against the Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS) movement, legislating against stone throwing, legislating to
loosen the shoot-to-kill guidelines, legislating to keep Palestine supporters
out of the country. One wonders what they may think of next.
But
the fact remains that you cannot legislate to end the resistance any more than
you can legislate to legalize the crimes of Israel. Killing Palestinians in
cold blood is a crime even if it is legal in Israel. The Palestinian resistance
is legal and moral even if Israel calls it illegal.
But
if there is one thing unique about Israel, it is that it’s stupid. Israeli
governments always deal with small irrelevant issues that are devoid of context
and avoid the real problems. Much like my trial, where they tried to place my
co-defendants and I in the midst of an angry mob by showing a video where two
young boys throw rocks at an advancing infantry platoon. Where, in fact, we
were in the midst of a peaceful protest until the army came and all hell broke
loose. But that is neither important nor relevant.
What
is relevant and important is to end the siege on Gaza immediately and without
conditions; to release all Palestinian prisoners immediately and
unconditionally; and to dismantle the military apparatus that has been
maintaining the apartheid regime in Palestine for close to 70 years.
Back
to my court hearing, the young prosecutor, his black hair cropped short, seemed
at a loss. He kept scratching his head until finally he looked at me and asked:
“Why would the army attack, just like that with no reason?”
“That’s
an excellent question,” I replied. “I suggest you ask the army.”
A
final hearing and verdict will take place in a few months
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