Mohammed Abu Khdeir was kidnapped, and taken into a forest near Jerusalem. His assailants took him out of the car, and beat him with a crowbar. After he fell to the ground one last time and was unable to get up again, his killers poured gasoline over him. Afterwards, while he was still alive, he was set on fire.
The murder of Mohammed happened a few weeks after the kidnapping and shooting of three Israeli teenagers, who were living in a settlement, by a group of armed Palestinians. There are obviously some similarities. In both cases, young people were killed, young people who had their lives ahead of them. In both cases, grief stricken parents mourned the loss of their sons. I am sure that the unimaginable pain that comes with losing one's child is the same for all parents, whether they are Israeli or Palestinian or Canadian or Kurdish or Turkish or Polish or German.
However, there are some some obvious differences that should not be overlooked. After the murder of the three Israeli teenagers, Israeli soldiers invaded towns and villages in the West Bank and put them on lockdown. During these raids, people who had nothing to do with the killings were harrassed and beaten and arrested and shot. The people who shot the Israelis were eventually tracked down and killed by the Israeli Army. The homes of their families were demolished, even though they had nothing to do with the killings.
Of course, no one has punished the families of Mohammed's killers. They were not shot during arrest, and are awaiting trial. Two of them are legally recognized as minors, and the third, an adult, is claiming insanity. They face no risk of being killed, and their neighbours and families do not need to fear seeing a bulldozer outside their home, or their villages or cities being invaded by angry soldiers.
There is a fear among many Palestinians that Mohammed Abu Khdeir's killers may soon be walking free.
A protest was organized today near the settlement of Adam, where the murder of Mohammad was planned. Several Palestinian groups got together, and decided to mark the anniversary of Mohammed's murder by blocking an "Israeli Only" road. Yes, you heard that right. In many parts of the occupied West Bank, there are roads that Palestinians are not allowed to drive on.
About 50 Palestinian demonstrators, accompanied by us newly trained ISMers as well as some ISMers who had been there for a while now, came out to the demonstration.
Unlike some protests I have been to in the West Bank, this one was entirely peaceful. Waving Palestinian flags, the people stood on the road, and began to stop cars. Although they were chanting, no one was throwing any rocks or threatening the drivers, or trying to damage the cars.
In about a few minutes, the Army and Border Police showed up. Unlike the demonstrators, they clearly came for a fight. As the vehicles drove in, the soldiers began to throw sound grenades.
"Get the fuck out of the way" some of the soldiers and police said as they began to move in.
The BP and soldiers began to push and shove the protesters, and soon afterwards they began to pepper spray people in the face. One particularly aggressive commander, who swore at us and called me "an idiot", tried to tear people's posters out of their hands and sprayed them. His soldiers followed suit.
Two ISMers were sprayed in the face, Oscar and Muhammad. I was a small distance from them when it happened, and could feel a bit of the intense burning in one of my eyes and my lips. I can't even begin to imagine what they went through.
Then things got really ugly, as the thugs (I apologize, but even hours after this took place, it is hard for me to think of a different term to describe them) turned on the journalists.
Although they were wearing vests clearly marked with the words PRESS, it was no protection for them. They were Palestinian, and that was enough. The soldiers began shoving them to the ground, and turned their weapons on them also. A woman journalist was sprayed directly in the mouth.
Neta Golan, our Israeli trainer and ISM co-founder, was pepper sprayed directly in the face at extremely close range, and had to be hospitalized. Fortunately, she was released after a few hours.
The soldiers and Border Police began to chase people, shoving them and throwing sound grenades. A soldier tried grabbing my camera from me, and aimed a kick at my legs as he was chasing me. We were chased down the hill, where they continued to throw their percussion grenades. We heard explosion after explosion. A group of Palestinian men held up a picture of Mohammed Abu Khdeir and continued chanting. The soldiers began coming down the hill, and everyone dispersed.
I found two things that were noteworthy about what happened today.
The first thing that I have to admit surprised me, was the reaction of the soldiers. This is my third time in Palestine, and I have been to a few rallies that were peaceful and where no one was throwing rocks. At these demonstrations, I have witnessed the military push and shove and arrest non-resisting people, as well as one time throwing two sound bombs. I have never seen anything more used when people were not throwing rocks.
Today was different. The men who attacked us used their pepper spray indiscriminately and threw a large amount of sound grenades. While they did this, some of them were laughing and others showing the middle finger.
After Oscar was pepper sprayed, Maria* recounted that he was mockingly asked if he was OK, and then threatened with more of the same. The soldier who kicked me pointed his gun at another ISMer who was tending to Neta. He also kicked another demonstrator.
I have never before witnessed this type of brutality directed at people who were doing absolutely nothing violent, except chanting and blocking a road that is illegal according to international law.
The second thing, that amazed me, was the discipline of the Palestinian demonstrators. Even during the pepper spray attacks and the insults and physical assaults and the sound bombs that were thrown one after another, no one made a violent move, either to throw a stone or to hit back at the soldiers and police. The people stood together, and helped out those who were pepper sprayed and knocked down and hurt.
After the demonstration ended, two young men angrily threw rocks at the soldiers, who were standing on top of the hill after they just finished terrorizing us. The soldiers were well out of range by then, and I am pretty sure the people throwing the rocks knew that.
I was extremely impressed by the discipline and non-violence shown by our Palestinian friends in the face of what can only be described as a brutal and violent assault.
Jesus tells his followers that we are to love our enemies. That is hard. It is hard to love and forgive people who not only harm innocent people, but also enjoy it. I am not feeling a lot of love for the soldiers or police right now. May God have mercy on them, and may they repent and turn to Him.
* Most ISM volunteers use pseudonyms, this is the name my wife chose.
No comments:
Post a Comment