Why would Palestinian activists be concerned enough to conduct a tribute to the students and professors who died in the Virginia Tech massacre? This question may only be really answered by Palestinians themselves, who have died in the tens of thousands since 1948, attempting to defend their ancestral lands. Most of them, innocent civilians, including many hundreds of children, died an unjust death. And so when Palestinian peace activists see the deaths of innocents such as occurred at Virginia Tech, they feel empathy.
Most American are not aware of the Friday protests at Bil'in, Palestine against the Apartheid Wall, which cut the village in half and confiscated most of the villagers' farmlands. For the past two years, these protests have not only inspired Palestinian activists, but Israeli and international activists have come from all over the world to join them. It is these activists who are seen paying this tribute to the dead at Virginia Tech in the video below.
Sami Awad, a Palestinian activist who was there wrote in his blog:
...In a sign of solidarity the people of Palestine in general and those from the Sothern villages surrounding the Holy city of Bethlehem dedicated their weekly nonviolent activity against the building of Apartheid wall to the families of the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre.
Every Friday, Palestinians, internationals, and Israeli nonviolent activists gather in the Southern villages of Bethlehem to protest against the building of the Apartheid Wall that will eventually destroy the livelihood of these villages. This Friday, the protest began with a silent procession by the group of about fifty participants. We carried banners and leaflets with the Virginia Tech logo and statements supporting them in this time of pain. Thirty two olive trees were also carried in the procession to remember each person killed in the massacre. The olive tree is a global symbol of peace and hope.
Once we reached the path created by the by the bulldozers for the building of the Apartheid Wall we dug the earth and plated the thirty two olive trees in a row – instead of building an ugly wall that divides people, let us plant trees that bring people together. Several of the participants made statements condemning the violence that we all, as the human family are witnessing and condemning the building of the Apartheid wall and the killing of innocents. Over 150 Israeli soldiers came to dismantle our protest. Our commitment to nonviolence and to achieve our goal completely paralyzed their weapons and their goals and eventually our power made them withdrawal. The planting of the trees was followed by reciting the names of all those who were killed in the Virginian massacre followed by a fifteen minute period of silence before the group moved back to the villages.
More details and photos can be found here:
http://samiawad.wordpress.com/...