The Routine Violence of Israel's Occupation is Caught on Camera

The Campaign Against 'Anti-Semitism' will say this video is 'Anti-semitic' and Len Duvall, London's Racist Labour Leader will agree

Only the die-hard Zionists of the misnamed 'charity' the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism will say this video of sickening Israeli police violence is anti-Semitic.  Their grounds no doubt will be that it insinuates that British Jews and all Jews are violent thugs.

This is however just an example of the routine violence of Israel's occupation.  Not just the occupation of the West Bank but the ritual bombing of Palestinians in Gaza, the regular shooting up of Palestinian fishing boats and as the video also shows the consistent violence meted out to young Palestinian children.

I post below the article by the legendary Gideon Levy, one of Israel's few anti-racist journalists in Ha'aretz newspaper.

 Opinion Israel 2017, Now the Video

The public outcry over footage of a violent policeman attacking a Palestinian truck driver is almost as nauseating as the video itself.

Gideon Levy Mar 26, 2017 12:52 AM

Police officer caught on video attacking Palestinian truck driver. Screenshot/Twitter

The shock, tut-tutting and condemnation over Thursday’s video footage, in which a policeman is seen beating a Palestinian truck driver, are maddening and repulsive. Only the video itself is more repulsive. The policeman disgusts you? That’s exactly what the occupation looks like. It is as violent, ugly, brutal and loutish as the policeman; this is exactly how Israel has abused millions of people every hour, every day, for 50 years.

It’s not just that the video reflects routine in the occupied territories: At any given moment, there are Israeli soldiers and policemen who strike Palestinians, kick, head butt, bark or swear at them, like in the video. What’s worse is that the footage reflects a far broader reality than the occupation.
It is a situation report, an Israeli selfie. If the film “Exodus” aspired to present an Israel of the War of Independence era, the video of the violent policeman presents Israel 2017. Exodus was the dream, the policeman its fragment: watch the film and you’ll see us.

Every Israeli has seen countless similar images in this “land of quarrels”: on the road; at the supermarket; in the hospital; on the soccer field or the parking lot ... in almost every line, this is the language, the Israeli lingua franca: bullying. Why pick on the policeman? He’s typical of his homeland. He did what everyone else did, almost. He’s also the son of us all. He’s a uniformed thug – so what?

He was already suspected of beating a civilian once before, and the police force didn’t see fit to prosecute him then. So, he acted as expected. It’s important to note the type of violence used: this is seasoned violence, almost inbred violence. The head butt is the weapon of an experienced bully; an inexperienced bully does not head butt.

You also have to listen to his language, the jargon of Israel. “I’ll pay for that? You son-of-a-whore … get out of my sight!” he shouts at Mazen Shwiki. “I’ll screw the mothers of all of you.” That’s how they speak in Israel. Not only in the occupation, not only on the road. It’s all here: the most important value of Israeliness – not to be a sucker (“I’ll pay?”); the immediate transition from threat to action; the power, the aggressiveness, the arrogance, the coarseness. The filthy language.

The fact that he did it in uniform makes no difference. The policemen also speak Israeli. Israel is violent because it can be. It bombs in Syria and assassinates in Gaza because it can. It’s the neighborhood bully because no one stopped it. And it is also violent within because it’s possible.
The policeman – who goes by the so-Israeli name Moshe Cohen – is also violent because he can be. The fact that he stood opposite a crowd did not deter him. He knew and they knew that he’s the strong one and they the weak; he’s the oppressor and they’re the oppressed, so he’s allowed to. He is lord of the land and they the dust at his feet. Everyone here fulfilled their role: the helplessness and fear of the Palestinian drivers who were afraid to come to the defense of their friend against the policeman’s rage. The uniform of the occupation against the helplessness of the occupied. The pistol in its holster, pay attention to the way the cop stands and walks: this is how the owner behaves. This is how our country behaves.

It’s an ugly picture, really ugly, hence the instant outcry when we witness it. More than the outcry was aimed at the policeman – he’ll quickly be forgotten, and it’s doubtful he’ll face trial – it was directed at the mirror it put up, a self-portrait of Israel 2017.

Which is why we’d like to forget this policeman. Let him be kicked out, let him be under house arrest for a few days, then get out of our sight (in his words); just don’t let him be put on trial. We had enough with the Sgt. Elor Azaria manslaughter trial: deep down, we knew we were all on trial.
A few hours after the video was broadcast, a reception was held at the home of peace activist Alice Krieger. Guest of honor was Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, the doctor from Gaza [who lost three daughters during Operation Cast Lead]. “Hatred is weakness,” the bereaved father said in Hebrew, a language that only a few are still able to understand in Israel. “Kindness, tolerance and patience are power.” In the darkness of the evening and the video footage, the doctor’s noble words reverberated as detached, ridiculous, almost hallucinatory.

US Police More Violence Against Black People

US Cops Slam 12 Year Old Girl Head First to Ground

Israel’s Jim Crow Justice – The Case of Tariq Abu Khdeir

For Beating Up a 15 year old boy – Police Receive 45 Days Community Punishment

Tariq Abu Khdeir after being released

Lest anyone be in any doubt about the ingrained nature of Israeli and Zionist racism, then the case of Tariq Abu Khdeir is a textbook example.

2 of the culprits behind the murder of Mohammed abu Khdeir

His brother Abu Khdeir was murdered by up to 6 Israelis who took him into a forest, poured gasoline down his throat and then set him alight.  The response of the Israeli Police?  To beat to a pulp his 15 year old cousin, Tariq Abu Khdeir.  The cowardly animals who carried out the beating had first tied the child’s hands together and then kicked and beat him mercilessly.  Their actions were captured on video and have been given wide publicity, even in the United States, where certain Congressional staffers have spoken out.

Tariq abu Khdeir after being spending 2 weeks in prison 

What has been the reaction of the authorities in Israel?  Well the culprits have been convicted and sentenced.  If they were Palestinians, bearing in mind that throwing a stone can get you 20 years, you would imagine that the culprits did at least 5-10 years in prison.  If they were Palestinians that would be a dead cert.  But they weren’t Palestinians, they were Jewish and they were Policeman.  They have therefore been sentenced to 25 days community service.  A complete joke and an invitation to the Police concerned to take two lessons to heart:

The racist nature of the Israeli courts is also exposed because these animals wearing Police uniforms went to court and were sentenced by the court.  There can be no doubt, although there is no law to this effect, that in the eyes of the courts, beating Palestinians is not a crime.

Mohammed abu Khdeir - burnt alive by settler trash

And then they say they don’t understand why Palestinian kids go out and stab Israelis!

i.               Police don’t go to prison for beating up Arabs.

ii.             Don’t let them video you again.

Tony Greenstein

No justice for Tariq Abu Khdeir — even US State Dept faults Israeli ‘accountability’

Update: The State Department has sharply criticized the Israeli handling of the Tariq Abu Khdeir case. Spokesperson John Kirby:

'We were disappointed to learn that the Israeli police officer who severely beat American teenager Tariq Abu Khdeir in July of 2014 was spared prison time by an Israeli court yesterday. Given the clear evidence captured on videotape of the excessive use of force, it is difficult to see how this sentence would promote full accountability for the actions of the police officer in this case. We understand there is a possibility for the Israeli state prosecutor to appeal the decision, and we’re going to continue to follow that closely, as you might expect.
I’ll just state again, the safety, security, and protection of American citizens overseas is of paramount importance for this Administration, and we have demonstrated repeatedly – we’ve demonstrated that repeatedly in cases all over the globe.'

Original post:

In a mockery of justice, an Israeli border police officer who assaulted 15-year-old Palestinian-American Tariq Abu Khdeir following the kidnapping and torching-murder of his cousin, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, in Occupied East Jerusalem in July 2014, has been sentenced to a mere 45 days of community service. Zip, that’s it.

Abu Khdeir house after Police had ransacked it

The anonymous officer, whose identity has been protected by the state, stomped on Abu Khdeir’s back and beat him so relentlessly he lost consciousness. The officer was convicted of assault and battery in Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court and granted a “suspended term of four months in prison“. The judge wrote in the verdict that the state prosecution has not presented a case with similar circumstances that resulted in the defendant “behind bars“.

Here is a statement from the family of Tariq Abu Khdeir:

“To hear that the officer responsible for the inhumane beating of our young son, Tariq, was only sentenced to one-and-a-half months of community service is a shameful slap on the wrist and sends the wrong message that Israel tolerates the violent, extrajudicial beating of children. We continue to demand that justice be served, for the officers that participated in his cruel beating to be held accountable in a transparent manner, and for assurances that such treatment of Palestinian minors by Israeli forces will end.”

Statement from Ahmad Tibi, a member of the Israeli Knesset:

There can be no doubt that if PA police had beaten bloody a Jewish child that Israel would have prosecuted them to the full extent of the law — if they weren’t killed on the spot. The fact that the officers who beat Tariq Abu Khdeir so brutally aren’t serving serious prison time highlights the two-tier nature of Israel’s justice system.  This miscarriage of justice is precisely why Palestinians are taking to the streets in yet another wave of anger for freedom and equal human rights.  We are fed up with what was recognized as apartheid in South Africa and Jim Crow in the American South but is business as usual for Israel’s many trade partners. We have had enough deaths and injuries in the Abu Khdeir family, the Nawara family, and the Dawabsheh family. We insist on immediate change to protect the lives of Palestinian children.  This flagrant racism must end.

Naturally, after Abu Khdeir’s assault the U.S. State Department expressed “deep concern” on behalf of an American citizen. It strongly condemned the use of excessive force and said it was “profoundly troubled” by the case. And that the U.S. government was “shocked” to learn that 15 year old Abu Khdeir was severely beaten while in police custody. The State Department called for an investigation. At that time, Abu Khdeir’s mother, Suha Abu Khdeir, said if her son wasn’t a US citizen he’d be “just pushed to the side like a dog. .. left to rot in jail.”

It is startling to think that the U.S. government was shocked by the treatment. According to the human rights group Yesh Din in a report, “Criminal Accountability of Israeli Security forces”:

Most cases of violent crimes against Palestinians not only go unpunished – but often are completely ignored by the authorities. This is a blatant violation of the human rights of Palestinian civilians living in the West Bank and of Israel’s duties under International Humanitarian Law.

Even when criminal investigations against soldiers accused of such offences are opened, they almost always fail…..approximately 94 percent of criminal investigations launched by the IDF against soldiers suspected of criminal violent activity against Palestinians and their property are closed without any indictments. In the rare cases that indictments are served, conviction leads to very light sentencing.

Tariq Abu Khdeir’s beating took place at a time when anger spilled out into streets all over Palestine following his cousin Mohammed’s lynching. Israeli forces responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, and some live ammunition. Israeli forces surrounded the neighborhood of Shufat in occupied East Jerusalem from which Mohammed had been abducted. And just hours before the earliest tweets of Tariq Abu Khdeir abduction surfaced, our Ramallah correspondent Allison Deger quoted Mohammed Abu Khdeir’s uncle, Walid Abu Khdeir, as saying the Israel police had virtually accused family members of the killing, when police asked the family to “get the boys for questioning.” The uncle responded: “We refused this. If you want them come and capture them.”

Tariq, one of the last people to see his cousin alive, was abducted shortly thereafter.

Tariq Abu Khdeir said he was just standing there watching the protests of his cousin’s murder when police ambushed and attacked him, beating him unconscious. He was then held in custody for three days, part of that time chained to a hospital bed, part at the Russian Compound being interrogated. And finally after a hearing, at which he was barred from returning to his home in the U.S., his family had to pay an 800 dollar fine for his release. Tariq remained in occupied East Jerusalem sentenced to 9 days of house arrest.

The Abu Khdeir home following vandalism by the Israeli police. (Photo provided by Hassan Shibly)

When Tariq was finally able to return to his home in Florida, the Israeli police exacted a price from his relatives by raiding the family home in Occupied East Jerusalem, arresting Abu Khdeir’s uncle and cousins without charges, and ransacking their property.

Had a video of the assault not emerged and gone viral on social media, his trauma, no different from countless other assaults/tortures/crimes carried out routinely by Israeli forces against Palestinian children, would have gone unnoticed.

Nine months later, all charges against Tariq were dropped; as he said, it was a “make-believe case.” And here we are 16 months later and the assaulting officer can just walk away from this. Brad Parker, Attorney and International Advocacy officer for Defense for Children International – Palestine,  said the conviction “must be understood within the context of an Israeli judicial system where impunity reigns … impunity is the norm for Israeli forces.” Parker said, via Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU):

Israel claims to open investigations into incidents involving injury and violence against Palestinian children, but indictments are incredibly rare and impunity is the norm for Israeli forces. When compared to the brutal use of excessive force employed against an incapacitated fifteen-year-old boy, most should agree that this is an incredibly light sentence. It is troubling that Tariq Abu Khdeir, who was cleared of any wrongdoing, possibly spent more time in detention than the unnamed officer convicted of brutally assaulting him.”

To add insult to the injury and injustice, the New York Times today concluded its account of the case, saying, “The Israeli authorities said that Tariq was masked and holding a wooden slingshot when the officer chased him.” Really? But all charges against him were dropped. There was no case.

Israel’s Racism Against Its Black Jewish Citizens

Israeli Police Confront a Demonstration by Ethiopian Jews

If the primary fault line in Israel is between Israeli Jews and Palestinians, we should not overlook the racism within the Israeli Jewish population.  Ethiopian Jews and Black Hebrews also experience extreme discrimination and brutality at the hands of the state .  The attack below by the Border Police, who are known for their brutality, on a Black Israeli is typical.  As the article points out, a death squad of Border Police had killed an unarmed and defenceless Palestinian inside Hebron’s hospital the previous day.

Tony Greenstein

Israeli Border Police Brutally Assault BlackHebrew

by Richard Silverstein on November 14, 2015

An Israeli border Police officer brutally assaulted a Black Hebrew Israeli citizen at a security checkpoint in Eilat. The victim, Yair Israel and his wife Anat, were en route to a local hotel where he had planned a relaxing weekend celebrating his wife’s birthday.

Yair Israel’s natural foods business, Otentivee

Israel is a well-known businessman in Dimona, where he runs a natural foods boutique, Otentivee (“Authentic Natural”), whose products are known by vegetarians throughout the country.  He’s been interviewed on a number of Israeli TV shows where he’s showcased his passion for natural and organic products.

The brutal attack would’ve been just another anonymous, unseen incident of Israeli official racism had not, Oded Zamora, an Israeli native who has lived in Maryland for the past 14 years, been in the car following Israel at the checkpoint.

Yair Yisrael being choked during Border Police beating (Oded Zamora)

As he saw the attack unfold, Zamora bravely exited his own vehicle and asked officials why the attack was happening.  When no one responded he took out his cellphone and began videotaping.  He told the attacker that he was filming him. Unfortunately, this did nothing to abate the assault, which increased in ferocity.

The entire incident began with a policeman asking Yair to present his ID.  He did so.  Then the policeman asked for his wife’s ID.  Though he found this unusual, he then presented his wife’s ID.  At this point, a Border Policeman who was sitting inside the security booth came on the scene and began shouting angrily at Yair: “What’s your problem?”  Then the attack escalated.  The Border Policeman began punching him.  He tried forcing Yair’s car door open.  So the victim opened the door for him.  He then grabbed him and ejected him from the vehicle, continuing to brutally strike him.  He then dragged him behind the security booth where he beat him even more.

The entire scene unfolded in front of the victim’s wife, who was forced to see her own husband brutalized by a bully in uniform.  Both the victim and witness attest that the former did nothing to provoke the attack, that he continually asked in a civil manner why he was being assaulted, that he told the security forces then he was a citizen of Israel and had at a local business. None of this helped at all.

Eventually they handcuffed Israel, who repeatedly asked them why he was being arrested and received no answer, and took him to the local police station.  At the station, he was questioned but could not explain to them what he had done to provoke the attack.  He was taken to the investigations unit and after two or three hours released.

When a reporter asked him why he thought the incident had occurred he replied:

“I don’t know.  I only know there are many racists in Israel.  Each day I have similarly unpleasant experiences because of the color of my skin.  Everyone from our [Black Hebrew] community faces this.  I know that there are people in Israel who believe there is no value to a person and no equality possible for someone of a different skin color [than them].  It’s simply unbelievable what happens here.  These are things we face every day.”

After her husband was taken away from the checkpoint, Anat was told by the police to leave the scene. She told them she had no driver’s license. They told her that as far as they were concerned she could walk to Eilat.

The eyewitness, who remained at the scene, was asked by the police to leave the area.  He refused, telling them they should be ashamed and that the whole incident was on video.  He thought that might cause them to restrain themselves.  But it didn’t help.  Instead, they demanded that he give them his cell phone.  They lied telling him it was illegal to film them.  He refused again. They told him that if he did not do so they would open a criminal investigation against him

Zamora then ran to his car and called his sister who is a member of a local kibbutz in Eilat. He told her to drive urgently to the checkpoint. He said that if he was no longer there, she should drive immediately to the police station. When she arrived, Zamora asked his sister to drive Anat to the Kibbutz while he drove to the police station to be with Yair.

When asked by the reporter to explain why he understood Yair had been attacked, he replied:

“Because of the color of his skin.  I see no other reason this should happen to a young couple celebrating a birthday in Eilat.  Yair offered his ID.  He didn’t attack anyone.  He was inside his car the entire time.  I can’t even imagine how long it will take him to recover from this.”

When asked if he regretted intervening in the incident, Zamora added:

'No one wants to go through such a thing.  Maybe it will be a blemish upon me, but when you see policemen behaving with such brutality you must get involved.  I thought about Yair.  He had no one.  He was lying on the ground handcuffed.  His powerlessness obligated me to get involved.'

Oded Zamora is a true mensch.  He stood up to injustice without fear.  Some, but likely very few Israelis would’ve done the same.  So if there are any readers who are going to say that Zamora’s courage redeems redeems Israel or shows it to be a decent, liberal, humane society–think again.  He likely intervened because he’s been living in the U.S., where we are becoming less & less tolerant of police abuse and executions.  Even if that’s not the case, the individual righteousness of citizens cannot compensate for the overall evil that infects the official state apparatus.

This is not a one-off act of racism by an lone-wolf Israeli police bully. This is official racism and brutality. This is official sanctioned violence by the state against its own citizens. Though they happen to be citizens who are not White and therefore not worthy of the full rights of every other Israeli citizen.  Israel is a state seeped in racism and violence: not just against Palestinians (which is half to be expected) but against its own Palestinian and Black citizens.

I’ve often remarked here upon the special reputation for brutality and cruelty “enjoyed” by the Border Police.  They take torture to an entirely new level.  The assassination in a Hebron hospital a few days ago was perpetrated by a Border Police death squad, Yamas.

This must end.  There is only one way to do it: Israel must become a state of all its citizens.  Everyone must be treated the same.  No person, religion or ethnicity deserves superior treatment.  Separation or privilege based on these criteria must be rooted out.  I am not saying that religion should be rooted out, just that religions must be treated the same.  They must all receive respect and none treated better or differently the other.  And no religion may replace the state or supercede the state or compel the state to act politically to achieve a religious objective.  Religions must occupy a spiritual space, not a political one.

The Thugs Respond

Israeli Border Police spokesperson responded to the charges against his force by claiming that the level of force used in the incident was proportional and reasonable. He lied, claiming that Israel refused to identify himself and attacked the officers. He further claimed that while the victim was being arrested he continued to resist.  There is no evidence whatsoever to support his account and the video completely repudiates this version.  Further, it makes no sense whatsoever that an Israeli citizen at a checkpoint would refuse to identify himself.  Every Israeli understands security protocols and why they’re necessary.  No one refuses to participate.

With a straight face, the flack noted that because of this incident, the Border Police were asking all citizens to behave with restraint and to coöperate fully with security forces so that they could perform their duties.  No one can get Israeli border police to except any responsibility for its actions. It is above the law, because it is the law.

Further, the spokesperson claimed that Zamora had interfered with the arrest.  He also falsely claimed that the police asked him to accompany them to the station as a witness to the event and because the video was evidence.  When he refused, he too was detained and brought to the station.

Yair further claimed that the police lied when they told the media he’d been released with conditions placed upon him.  He was released without anyone telling him anything about any conditions.  He told the reporter that he would continue to fight against this injustice:

“I am the second generation born in this country.  And I must continue to fight for change because there are new generations behind me.  I must not give up because the generation before me suffered from the same things, but had no power to change anything.  God gave me the strength to fight this so that it won’t happen again.

…I want people to know the good things about our community.  To give us respect.  Though we are a community that prefers to remain quiet, we can’t ignore these things anymore.”

For yet another example of the grievous suffering inflicted on the Black Hebrew community, this time by the IDF, read of the suspected murder of Toveet Radcliffe, a young woman serving in the army.  It claimed she committed suicide by shooting herself with her own rifle.

H/t to David Sheen and Ofer Neiman.

See also Israel detains and deports AmericanJews because they are Black 

A Day in the Life of Jerusalem's Magistrates Court

The Folly of Israeli Apartheid Knows No Boundaries

Police arrest International at Nabi Saleh protest

A post by Miko Peled, an Israeli anti-Zionist, on a day in the life of the Jerusalem Magistrates Court. As one can seen, lying in court is a ritual that Israeli police and military engage in as a matter of course.  Almost certainly Miko will be convicted because the word of a military liar is valued more highly than a civilian demonstrator.  As the magistrate makes clear, he cannot understand why the Nasser el-Din, the Arab collaborator is lying because acceptance of the good intentions and the role of the army is part of the normal state of affairs in Israel.  It is the foundation stone of society and therefore Mick Peled, in denying the allegations is challenging the Zionist political status quo.

By   Miko Peled

October 25, 2015

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.

Brave Zionist soldier being attacked by cowardly Palestinian girl and women - Israeli 'culture' Minister said soldier should have shot his attackers to avoid 'Jewish humiliation'

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tariq abu Kheideir, boy of 16 beaten by Israeli police - his brother was burned alive by settlers

“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.

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.

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.”

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.”

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