Bil’in Demonstration
July 8, 2005
[Sorry Sarah, mom and Sarah’s mom]
Today was a day of many firsts for me. I will upload pictures as soon as I am able, but it may not be until Sunday, because tomorrow our group will travel to Jenin.
What were the firsts for Adam?
- It was my first time in Bil’in (click here for the ISM’s page on Bil’in, which will probably have information about our day).
- It was my first demonstration.
- It was my first demonstration in Palestine.
- It was the first time I’d seen what a non-violent demonstration is like.
- It was the first time I saw Palestinian youth throw stones, against the will of much of the crowd.
- It was my first time seeing a non-violent demonstration become violent.
- It was my first time being tear gassed and shot at with shock bombs by the Israeli army.
- It was my first time running away, covering my face with my Buff (thank you BUFF!) and taking bites out of and eating an onion, because that helps to neutralize whatever the tear gas does.
It was my first time for a lot of things today. All of our group is back and safe, while there were two Palestinians who were injured with rubber bullets. It was a crazy day…pictures will come on Sunday afternoon.
The following is actually quoted from the ISM’s most recent post, describing the demonstration:
Demonstration in Bil’in
On the first anniversary of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that declared Israel’s Annexation Wall in the West Bank illegal, the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in has organized a nonviolent demonstration on Friday the 8th of July at 11:00 AM in Bil’in. Protesters will carry a large representation of the scales of Justice held by “Uncle Sam” with the world on one side and Israel outweighing it on the other. The demonstration will also hold Friday prayers in the path of the Wall which will isolate more than 60% of the lands of Bil’in, if completed. Friday’s demonstration will be attended by Palestinian Legislative Council representatives and ministers, Israeli Knesset members, representatives from the Palestinian National and Islamic parties, along with international and Israeli supporters.
Mohammed al Khatib, community leader and member of the Popular Committee in Bil’in explains, “One year ago, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest legal body, ruled that Israel’s construction of a wall on Palestinian land violated international law and must be stopped. Today, Palestinians in villages like ours are struggling to implement this decision and stop construction using nonviolence, but the world has done little to support us.”
After Israeli courts refused appeals to prevent Wall construction, the people of Bil’in, along with Israelis and people from around the world, began peacefully protesting the confiscation of their land and have held more than 50 peaceful demonstrations since February 2005. The Israeli military regularly attacks the peaceful protests with teargas, clubs and rubber-coated steel bullets.
Tags: Bil'in, Demonstration, Israel, Palestine, Protest, The Wall, Travel
Posted in Politics
Adam Walker Cleaveland: 
July 8th, 2005 at 12:09 pm
That’s scary man. Please take care of yourself….
July 8th, 2005 at 12:41 pm
May the Lord bless you and keep you, may he make his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.May the Lord turn his face to you and give you peace.
You are in my prayers, continue doing what you need to do on His behalf.
July 8th, 2005 at 1:42 pm
take care adam… sometimes it’s scary to follow that long haired hippie we call jesus. i was at a protest in chicago wherethe police tried to funnel everyone into the streets so they could be rounded up at the end and arrested. exercising the right to protest and dissent is the only way to keep it. for many people protest is not a right and certainly not safe. important for us to remember stateside.
July 8th, 2005 at 1:42 pm
praying for you, and for peace.
July 8th, 2005 at 4:22 pm
Bro,
Remember, keep your head down!
Praying for you,
Paul
July 9th, 2005 at 11:59 am
praying for you adam, and amen to jeremiah’s prayer…the Lord bless and keep you.
July 9th, 2005 at 5:15 pm
Bro
You remember when I told you about the tear gas? It gets stuck in your eyelids and on your clothing. Glad to hear that you are fully living and still alive. Haven’t heard much about shock bombs. Can you fill a brother in?
July 10th, 2005 at 7:26 am
Rubber bullets are not nearly as fun as they sound. And all the Lord’s people said…
July 10th, 2005 at 8:01 pm
More power to you Adam . . . if you’re going to do then dive right into the deep end. I can’t argue with your passion.
BUT, the real question is did you deserved to get dispersed . . . since the so called “non-violent” demonstration turned violent?
Who’s going to get the bad press here?
the Pals?
No, Israel . . . for what? . . . getting suckered into allowing the Pal’s to “peacefully demonstrate” (emphasis on the quotes).
grace and peace brother
Salam aleichem
July 10th, 2005 at 9:47 pm
Reno,
I’m not sure that Israel’s going to get bad press about it if, as Adam candidly reported, the “non-violent” demonstration actually became violent. The Palestian boys who started throwing rocks are to blame. Period.
The thing that sucks is that — as I understand Adam’s account of the event — the violence began against the best wishes of the demonstration’s organizers. A little leven, you know….
July 11th, 2005 at 3:58 am
Nick, yes. I remember what you said about tear gas. Thanks man.
Yes, I am glad that I didn’t experience any rubber bullets. Yes, DRM, very glad that I didn’t experience that.
Reno, bro, why use the phrases “so called non-violent demonstration” or “peacefully demonstrate”? It was non-violent. It was non-violent from the very beginning and lasted that way for close to an hour.
And yes, Kellen, it did become violent because of the Palestinian youth who threw stones - and while I disagree with the use of violence at a non-violent protest/demonstration, I do believe that throwing stones is a legitimate way of resisting the occupation for Palestinian youth. I do question the timing, in regards to our experience at Bil’in - I will be posting in the next few days about some thoughts on stone-throwing.
July 14th, 2005 at 9:55 pm
Take care, Adam.
I’ve been to numerous non-violent demonstrations in Australia, but aside from the recent anti-war rallies, I can’t remember any that were responded with non-violence. I’ve seen violence used to break up a small group of people praying, or to respond to a young girl handing a young police officer a sunflower across a picket line.