by Michael Jansen

On Tuesday, the liberal Israeli daily Haaretz carried an editorial asking, "Where's the restraint in Bil'in?" The paper observed that the Israeli army used "sensitivity and intelligence" in dealing with Israeli demonstrators in Gaza, but pointed out that it did not adopt a similar line with Israelis, foreigners and Palestinians taking part in last Friday's protest in the West Bank village of Bil'in.
On this occasion, 100 Israeli troops preempted the weekly demonstration.

The troops entered the village as participants convened near the mosque. Without any provocation from the protesters, the soldiers fired tear gas and salt rounds and rubber-coated steel balls, scattering the crowd. The soldiers kicked and beat left-wing and anarchist Israelis, Quakers and members of the International Solidarity Movement who normally take part in this event. Twelve people were wounded and 14 arrested, 12 detained briefly, two until the next day.

During the more than 60 previous protests, the troops had waited at the bottom of the village for the protesters to reach the traditional point where they converge and stage a brief stand-off before troops commence firing.

Israeli troops normally use tear gas, percussion bombs, rubber coated steel balls, live bullets and, recently, projectiles scattering sand or salt. More than 100 demonstrators have been wounded and dozens have been arrested.

The Israelis detain fellow countrymen and women for a few hours, deport foreigners, and jail Palestinians for weeks. The Israeli army has invaded the village at night and arrested people who have been videotaped taking part in protests. Israeli secret agents have infiltrated rallies and thrown stones at troops to provide pretexts for arrests.

West Bank villagers have been demonstrating against the wall for two years. But the inhabitants of Bil'in have more than the wall to protest. Sixty per cent of their agricultural land is being expropriated to expand six illegal settlements and to build a new colony called Nahlat Heftziba. The villagers have lodged cases with the Israeli courts, including the high court of justice, but the confiscations continue. Haaretz warns that the peaceful "fence Intifada" of the villagers could, ultimately, be transformed into a third armed Intifada if Israel does not cease its seizure of Palestinian land.

What happened last Friday in Bil'in showed that the Israeli army is no longer prepared to counter with measured force legitimate Palestinian protests. The army, certainly acting on the instructions of the politicians, is seeking to put an end to all opposition to Israel's policy of creating fait accomplis in the West Bank. Israel's aim is to annex half or more of this territory by means of colonisation and the wall complex which is designed to fix the final border of Israel well within the West Bank.

After covering the Israeli army's kid-glove removal of settlers in Gaza, I decided to report on a Bil'in protest which took place on Aug. 19. I wanted to see what would happen when Palestinian protesters met Israeli troops.

Would it be the kid-glove or the iron fist? Or, something in between?

One reaches Bil'in by driving 20 kilometres westwards from Ramallah along winding roads through stone-walled olive terraces, stone-strewn hills and stone-built Palestinian villages. As I arrived in Bil'in, Israeli, foreign and Palestinian protesters dressed in T-shirts and jeans, cloths round their necks, were assembled outside the mosque, waiting for the communal prayer to end. In the shade of the door of a large house, a small elegant woman introduced herself as Hedy Epstein of St. Louis. She is an 81-year-old Holocaust survivor who has taken up the Palestinian cause. There were nine Quakers, 40 independent activists from France, Spain, Catalonia (a part of, but distinct from Spain), Germany, Italy, Sweden and the US, and more than 50 Israelis, the majority of whom had come in a bus from Tel Aviv. One hundred Palestinians appeared from all directions and the dusty walk to the lower village commenced. Two small boys ran alongside the protesters trying to sell a sweet carob drink.

Waiting at the customary place were dozens of uniformed Israeli troops wearing flak jackets and helmets with visors and carrying plastic riot shields and various weapons. A Quaker offered me a slice of onion to hold to my nose and mouth to counter the effects of tear gas. "They always use gas," she said. "On Monday, about 50 members of Women in Black came to protest. It went peacefully until they began to leave and the soldiers opened fire with gas."

Israelis and foreigners formed up ranks at the front to shield the Palestinians and stood facing the line of Israeli troops deployed across the road leading to Bil'in's olive orchards. Soldiers were also deployed on both flanks and scattered amongst the olive trees beside the road. Palestinian boys were carrying mirrors on which they had written backwards in English, Arabic and Hebrew "No to the Wall". The lads tilted the mirrors to catch the powerful rays of the sun and flashed the message into the eyes of the soldiers. Soldiers videotaped protesters while protesters carrying cameras videotaped soldiers.

Hedy hung back from the fray. "I'm leaving tomorrow so I can't afford to get arrested." During one visit she had been detained for several hours and strip searched, she said.

A woman warned us to move to the side of the road in case the troops began firing. "You'll be knocked down when they begin to run away."

Mira and Oded Efrati, Israelis from the small town of Tivon, said they come often to Bil'in. Their son was arrested during one protest. Mira observed that there was a "connection between what is happening in Gaza and what is happening here". Oded said the soldiers were being patient. "Usually they begin shooting after five minutes." He showed me a hole a gas canister had made in his broad brimmed straw hat at an earlier protest and said he and Mira would be back next week. "There is no [security] justification for this wall, its only purpose is to grab land," he asserted.

After 20 minutes, the troops grew weary of the stand-off and made a grab for demonstrators in the front row. One Israeli girl was slammed to the ground and dragged for a few metres but managed to escape in the melee. The troops fired a volley of gas canisters and percussion or sound bombs. Protesters drew cloths over their faces or held onion slices to their noses and fled into the lower village, gagging from the acrid gas, eyes streaming with tears, skin burning.

The troops advanced, gas canisters hissing as they flew over housetops. Palestinian youths lurking in alleyways replied by pelting them with eggs and stones. The troops lobbed round after round of gas, driving the protesters to seek refuge in gardens, houses and shops at the top of Bil'in. The confrontation lasted for an hour and a half. The score was seven Israelis and four foreign peace activists arrested, two Italian journalists injured by stones ("friendly fire"), and an infant rushed to hospital after inhaling gas as he lay in bed at home.

During a brief tactical retreat, Kobi, an Israeli anarchist from Tel Aviv, said the toll would have been much higher if Israelis were not involved. "The army has different rules of engagement when Israelis are present. When Israelis take part they don't shoot [live bullets]. It is essential for us to be here."

He was correct. Palestinian demonstrators at another West Bank village had been brutally beaten the week before because there were no Israelis or foreigners present.

In the street in front of the mosque stood Abdullah and Rateb Abu Rahmeh, prominent members of Bil'in's committee against the wall. They are known as the "Palestinian Gandhis". Rateb was shot in the thigh during an early demonstration and kept in prison for two weeks. "They treated the wound but would not give me any painkillers," he said. "I have never felt such pain." Abdullah has been arrested twice, is awaiting trial, and is barred from participating in protests.

Rateb remarked: "We've studied Gandhi's methods and try to think up a new way to protest for each week." Abdullah led the way into the garden of his house and sent a boy in for bottles of water. He said that sometimes there are 500, 600 or 1,000 people taking part in the protest.

It is unlikely that the aggressive line the troops took last Friday will deter the people of Bil'in and their allies. The price of acquiescence to Israel's colonisation and wall construction is too high. If Israel continues confiscations at the present rate, the Palestinians could very soon become a people without a land.

This article was published in the Thursday, September 8, 2005 edition of the Jordan Times. It is used here with permission.