Demonization of nonviolent activists is not original or surprising. Muhatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King were also labeled provocateurs and trouble makers by those that supported the racist systems that they worked against.
IDF spokesperson's campaign to demonize Non Violent peace activists
According to the Israeli news internet site Walla on Friday, May 25, the Israeli military spokesperson claimed that the demonstration in Bil'in "ended in relative quiet." The military spokesperson claimed that "this relative quiet stems from the fact that there were almost no leftist Israeli activists present", since they "cause most of the friction between the demonstrators and the IDF".
During this "relatively quiet" demonstration, soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd from a distance of 200 meters without provocation, injuring six Palestinians, including an AFP journalist, who was rushed to the hospital after being shot in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet. Two activists were detained during the demonstation. The first, Mohammad Khatib, from the Bil'in popular committee against the wall and settlements, was beaten during his arrest and after he was handcuffed. The second, Israeli David Reev, was approached by a soldier who twisted David's arm while demanding that David hand over his camera.
Video of Mohammad Khatib being arrested and abused
Abbas Momani, 33, a photographer for Agence France-Presse, was shot when Israeli soldiers fired at a group of journalists. Turkish Daily News reported that Momani stated he was outside of a Palestinian residence in Bil'in when soldiers confronted them and told them to leave. Momani said, "We explained that we would leave but that we were waiting for the army jeeps who were blocking our cars from getting out. One of the soldiers, who was barely two metres away from us, then fired."
For full AFP story click HERE
Is it really these leftist Israeli activists who incite "friction" and "provoke" the soldiers into throwing tear gas and sound grenades, and to shoot rubber-coated steel bullets?
Or is there another reason why the military wants to be rid of the Israeli and International activists? Israeli soldiers have stated in court that their regulations regarding opening fire differ when Israelis are present than when Palestinians demonstrate alone. If the soldiers assess that Israelis are present they are restricted from firing live ammunition on the crowd. A striking example is Beit Likya, a village neighboring Bil'in. In contrast to its neighbor, there have been no organized demonstrations against the wall and therefore no Israeli or International activists present in Beit Likya over the last two years. And yet within this time, three of the villages children were murdered, shot dead with live ammunition by a solider and a private security guard in incidents related to the Apartheid wall.
Palestinians in Artas have decided to continue to non-violently resist the ongoing destruction and confiscation of their land. Around the same time that the "relative quiet" was happening in Bilin, demonstrators, including Palestinians and a large number of Israeli and international activists, were marching toward the Abu Swai land, which was being blocked by a wall of Israeli soldiers.
Demonstrators chanted, "No to the Wall, No to the Occupation," as they reached this wall of soldiers. The soldiers would not allow the over 150 protesters to reach the Abu Swai land, which is now a 6 meter ditch in the ground.
The activists locked arms, forming a human chain, and tried again to cross. Soldiers responded at first by using their shields to force the activists backwards. Because there were about 7 times more activists than occupation soldiers, this tactic did not work. So, soldiers started to beat people with their batons and shields, kick people, and choke people.
Solider chokes non-violent peace activist
There were at least 31 of these Israeli activist "provocateurs" present. The remaining activists were a mix of Palestinians and internationals. In Bil’in, the army responded to the demonstration, with its low numbers of Israeli and International activist presence, with tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber bullets, shooting one Palestinian journalist in the head and beating and arresting Mohammad Khatib. Here, the army used methods of physical abuse, instead of the aforementioned dispersion tactics.
There were at least a dozen news outlets and tens of independents who had cameras rolling from the start of the demo in Artas. Camerapersons caught this incident like this: Soldiers push and hit the demonstrators. Demonstrators do not respond with violence. Soldiers then grab one demonstrator, handcuff him, take him away, and arrest him.
Yet, the IDF turned the story around and blamed the violence on the demonstrators.
The man arrested was George, a Greek human rights activist. He was taken away to Hebron police station. Police charged George with "assault leading to injury" and "disrupting soldier’s work."
George was scheduled to appear for trial around 20:00 Saturday evening, May 26, at the Russian compound in Jerusalem. Gaby Lasky, George's Israeli lawyer, stated that the Greek consulate was very active, which may have pressured the police to release George before the trial.
Greek consulate representatives and solidarity activists were planning to bring video evidence (including more than the above footage) of George's innocence to the court. George was being faced with trumped-up charges of "assaulting an office leading to injury" and "disrupting soldier's work." The video, to the contrary, shows George and other activists being assaulted by the soldiers immediately prior to George's arrest.
George's injuries during arrest
It would have made for a good show-- the claims being brought against George disintegrating into nothingness as activists and the Greek consulate revealed the video evidence to the judge. So, their bluff was called, they were put on the defensive, and they made a quick decision to release our Greek friend, saving face. But they couldn’t get off the hook without a morsel of victory could they? So, as the legal 24 hour mark of holding an international in prison approached, and without being allowed any contact between lawyer and client, Israeli authorities pressured George into signing "conditions," stating that he will not enter the southern part of the Occupied West Bank for 15 days.
Had the police allowed George to speak with his lawyer, then maybe George would have known for sure that the Occupation’s side of the story was all a bluff, that several of us with different video tapes were almost en route to the court to reveal the abhorring lies of the Occupation, geared at demonizing the non-violent resistance—of the Palestinians, the Israeli activists, and the internationals.
So, that’s what the military has are claims. And more often than not they are false claims. The military, too, is usually seen filming at the demonstration but, of course, this evidence will not be used for the defendant at trial. It will only be used if it benefits the Occupation's version of the story.
These are the Occupation media and military’s attempts at demonizing peace activists. And they either flat out lie about the events at the demonstrations or refuse to include the whole truth, which paints an inappropriate, improper picture of what is really happening.
This demonization of nonviolent activists is not original or surprising. Muhatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King were also labeled provocateurs and trouble makers by those that supported the racist systems that they worked against.