Working Class Action
Palestine Reports
Thursday June 26th 2003
Colm Walsh is a Dublin based activist with Working Class Action and is in
Palestine for two months working with the International Solidarity Movement. He will be sending back regular reports on the situation there.
First Day - Arrival and Jerusalem (26th June 2003)
Well, I made it.
Fairly minimal hassles at the airport. Jerusalem is an interesting if slightly
bizzare city. I'm staying at a Christian guesthouse which is fairly kumbaya
in its evangelicalism but still slightly scary! I've just had a guest there
tell me to stay away from the Muslim Quarter because they will only try
to convert me...kinda ironic really, but I let it drop and made my excuses
and left him to his Bible study.
This morning I overheard a conversation between two American Orthodox Jews
talking excessively loudly whilst overlooking the Wailing Wall about how
Jesus was going to come back "very soon" to raise the dead and smite all
non-believers. Also imminent according to this guy was the complete annexation
of East Jerusalem, also that all Christians were heathens and Mary was a
"sex goddess". At this point I felt a smile break across my face and had
to walk away.
Anyways, looking forward to starting work. All this religion could make
a guy kinda crazy.
Colm
Greetings from Ramallah (1st July 2003)
Hey folks,
In Ramallah right now, just finished Day 1 of training.
Been walking around the city tonight on a walking tour of some of the siege sights, Arafat's compound etc. The people in the city are just amazed to see us, stopping us up to ask us where we're from and telling us how welcome we are- pretty heartening that people are interested in our presence here.
Will write more after I know where I'll be going.
Colm
In Tulkarem (6th July 2003)
Hi All,
Just a short one this time.
At the moment I'm based at a farm that's a few
miles from Tulkarem, so it's not easy to keep in touch, so this is really
just to check in and let everyone know that things are going well so far.
I'll do my best to get more detailed reports out in the coming days.
Meantime, youse can check out www.palsolidarity.org for update for a demo
that the Tulkarem folks were involved in organising.
Will be in touch soon!
Colm
Deir el-Ghussun: Farmers against the Apartheid Wall! (9th July 2003))
Hi everyone,
I'm afraid time and location constraints don't really allow for individual emails as I only get into Tulkarm every few days.
Things are really getting together out here right now as far as the farmers getting organised in opposition to the Apartheid Wall goes. We are inundated with visitors every day as word of our presence here spreads from village to village. With many of these bringing food and drink every day, we feel a bit like VIP's right now!! Really the reception we have been getting can't be described.
Our first night here we had a visit from the army who asked us to move but didn't order us to. Since then no visits, but now that the campaign in the area is starting proper, we're expecting them back at any time...fingers crossed. That is why we keep a minimum of three activists at the camp at any one time. It would be a real shame after the trust we have built up in the area with the locals if we were forced to evacuate the camp. ISM training for internationals in Palestine continues every week and we are one of five areas to which they are sending people so our numbers are growing every week.
So for the past week I've been staying at a camp set up outside the village of Deir el-Ghussun at the invitation of the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee and with the support of local farmers.
The camp is located just inside a section of the Apartheid Wall which pretty much surrounds the Tulkarm region and which is in the process of being completed. The wall has completely separated whole villages and has taken upwards of one fifth of the farmland in the Deir el-Ghussun region, or the food supply of over two thousand people. The farmers whose land is now located in Israel have not had access for months now, and some not since the end of last year.
Just now the ISM in the region are holding a series of meetings with farmer and party reps to explore what combined actions we could take to bring attention to the wall and what practical steps we can take to try to get farmers on to their land to do necessary maintenance work.
With this in mind it was decided yesterday to accompany the farmers to the gate at Deir el-Ghussun this morning to try to force our way through to the lands on the other side. On arrival at the gate, our presence there set off the motion sensors positioned along the gate and an army jeep pulled up. The soldiers re-closed the gate before we could push through to the other side. We then, with the farmers, staged a sit-down protest at the gate. Gradually, more police and army jeeps showed up.
After about an hour of a tense stand-off with the army, a television cameraman turned up from a local station. Rather strangely, this was the cue for the forces to get back into their vans and drive away. It was quickly decided by the farmers that they would make a second attempt on the gate. We quickly made it onto the main road and were heading towards the land on the other side when the army jeeps raced back to the scene.
Some minor exchanges occurred at first but then an attempt at detention of one of the farmers was made. The internationals quickly surrounded the detained farmer and managed to take him away from danger. After further heated verbal exchanges everybody was pushed back through the gate. The farmers hadn't made it through to farm their land but left vowing to return tomorrow and every other day until they can again gain access to their land.
Despite the massive hardships being endured, not just with the construction of the wall but for the past fifty years, the spirit of resistance still endures.
Colm
ARREST OF SEAN O'MUIREAGAIN IN RAMALLAH (15th July 2003)
Yesterday I was informed of the arrest of West Belfast man Sean O' Muireagain
at a checkpoint in Ramallah on Sunday. The details at this point are a bit sketchy but it would appear that Mr O' Muireagain was here in the West Bank on assignment for Belfast-based Irish language newspaper, La, and to work on a school links project.
He is, according to Palestine activists in Belfast, a long-standing member of Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign and unaffiliated to any dissident Republican groups.
Why then, only hours after his arrest, is he portrayed by Henry McDonald of The Observer as a high profile member of the Real IRA with extensive explosive-making skills who was in Ramallah to establish links with Palestinian groups opposed to the so-called Road Map?
It has since emerged that he shares the same name as a member of the Reals who has been out of circulation for some time, according to security sources. Fairly slim grounds then for the assumption that Mr O' Muireagain is the same person. Or are there more sinister forces at play here? A quick glance at Henry McDonald's record for a start shows him to hardly be the most impartial or reliable journalistic source.
Further to this, the attempted smear of Sean O'Muireagain may well be proof of a concerted effort by British and Israeli security services to blacken the name of anybody who is willing to observe the conditions under which Palestinians are forced to live under Israeli occupation, with, it has to be said, British and American compliance and support.
Just now 6 internationals are being detained and threatened with deportation for the removal of an illegal roadblock.
Just what is it that the Israeli government is trying to hide by denying access to international observers in Palestine? Are they afraid, perhaps, that they will be exposed for their cotinuing oppression and land-grabbing in the West Bank while the rest of the world is duped into believing that the Peace Process poses the solution to the conflict here.
ENDS.
Colm
Tulkarm Farmers Breach Apartheid Wall (23rd July 2003)
Since the construction of the Apartheid Wall started last year in the northern Tulkarm region of the West Bank, the livelihoods of up to 120 farmers have literally been stolen away. But this figure is a gross underestimate of the number of families whose food supply is directly dependent on this land. The scale of the loss affects the farmers differently. At the sharpest end, I have personally spoken to a farmer who has lost 95% of his land.
Israel claims that the Wall is merely a security fence aimed at countering terror attacks. It has been compared by various Israeli commentators as being something akin to a home security device. Following this logic, the norm for homeowners who wish to counter a perceived threat from their neighbours would be to put up a fence around their neighbour’s home instead of their own.
The term security fence connotes an innocuous wire fence. The reality is something quite different. In the towns and cities of the West Bank, the Apartheid Wall is just that- a massive concrete fortress reminiscent of the Berlin Wall. In rural areas, it takes the form of a ten foot high fence, buttressed on the West Bank side by coiled razor wire and trenches. Sensor motion detectors alert the security forces if an attempt is made to approach the fence. At fifty foot intervals, signs warn of the risk of mortal danger for anybody found in the vicinity. At the moment on the eastern side of the West Bank, the wall runs for some 160 kms and to an extent of anywhere between a few hundred feet and up to 3 kms beyond the bounds of the 1948 border.
At the outset of the construction, the affected farmers were promised that access to their lands would not be denied upon completion. Israel has since reneged on this promise and the access gates along the route of the fence are now being locked. In order to appease the farmers, the Israeli government has stated that special permission for access may be applied for and will be dealt with on a case by case basis. So essentially the farmers are expected to beg for permission to enter their own land. Not surprisingly, the farmers have 'politely' declined the offer.
Yesterday, at one of the access gates outside the village of Deir el-Ghusun, around 120 farmers and 15 internationals gathered for the second attempt in two weeks to get to the farm land on the other side of the fence. This was an almost fourfold increase in the numbers that participated in the first action. Word had spread about the success of the last demo in actually crossing the fence and this seemed to instil more confidence in the farming community here. The potential repercussions for the farmers who chose to participate in an action such as this, both for themselves and their families, cannot be overstated and takes huge courage for them to take that extra step. The general levels of fear and trepidation are palpable. But then there are others who, with a sense of hopeful resignation say to us, "well, we could be shot tomorrow anyway, so what have we got to lose". For me, these farmers really are the inspiration and spirit of the intifada. Their level of hope despite all is truly incredible.
So yesterday morning, in upbeat mood, we marched to the gate. On arrival, we found that a lock had been attached to the gate since our first visit. This didn't deter the farmers and after about five minutes of pulling and dragging, the gate was brought down. Everybody was making their way across the access road when the first jeeps started to arrive. The crowd at this point split, but the greater number ignored the presence of the soldiers and proceeded to the nearest field and started to do some basic maintenance work in the olive groves.
Tensions began to heighten with the arrival of more army and police. Some scuffles started and an hour long stand off commenced with the soldiers ordering us back to the other side of the fence, and us refusing to leave. Eventually a commander showed up and spoke with a delegation of farmers, but after twenty minutes of appeals he still refused them permission to work their land. The atmosphere at this point became even more strained with the farmers deciding that now that they had made it through, they did not want to be locked out again.
Everybody stood their ground and internationals formed a line between the soldiers and the farmers. The soldiers now too formed up and began to proceed towards us. The soldiers then attacked our line and after about five minutes and against superior force and aggression from the soldiers we were forced back. Fortunately there were few injuries and no arrests made despite the best efforts of the army and police. Even though the soldiers openly toyed with their tear gas canisters and one or two aimed their guns at head level at what was clearly a peaceful demonstration, the situation did not escalate beyond this.
Most importantly, though, some of the farmers had made it to their land albeit for a very brief period. This was a vital symbolic gesture in letting the Israeli authorities know that the farmers of Deir el-Ghusun will not be deterred from fighting for their basic right to access their land.
Colm
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