A view from the other side
During our training week, our midterm week and in the course of our work we have meet a number of Israeli Human Rights groups. In the absence of any statistical analysis, our impression had been that there are broadly 3 groups in Israel: a minority of more or less aggressive Zionists, a majority group for whom it is easier to accept the security narrative and not to know too much about the terms of the occupation of the West Bank and a minority of very committed human rights groups, who think the occupation of the West Bank has very negative effects on both Israeli and Palestinian Society and who are actively involved in challenging human rights abuses on a daily basis. In this news sheet I will take a brief look at the work and our contact with some of these groups.
Machsom Watch
This is a group of Israeli women, many of them grandmothers, who since 2001 have organised themselves to monitor the checkpoints, which control the entry of Palestinians into Israel, but also control the movement of Palestinians around the West Bank and they also monitor the Military Courts which deal with detained Palestinians, many of whom are young boys arrested on suspicion of stone throwing and appearing without legal representation. Machsom Watch estimate that there are currently 40 permanent checkpoints in the West Bank At the big checkpoints like Qualandyia in the north and checkpoint 300 near Bethlehem in the south, where thousands of people start queuing from 4am in the morning to reach their work, university or hospital appointment, women from Machsom Watch monitor the Israeli side and EAPPI team members monitor the Palestinian side. They watch for human rights abuses: humiliating or aggressive behaviour on the part of the soldiers, protracted delays, late opening of gates etc. We call them if we see unusual delays or aggressive searching at the traffic checkpoint near us. They have direct access to the Israeli District Coordinating Officer and are admitted to the Military Courts and other places, where non Israelis cannot gain access
Breaking the Silence is an organization of veteran Israeli soldiers that collects testimonies of soldiers who served in the Occupied Territories during the Second Intifadah and Gaza. Soldiers who serve in the Territories are witness to, and participate in military actions which change them immensely and the way they are ordered to treat Palestinians often conflicts with their Jewish ethical upbringing at home. While this reality which is known to Israeli soldiers and commanders exists in Israel's back yard, Israeli society continues to turn a blind eye, and to deny that which happens in its name. Discharged soldiers who return to civilian life discover the gap between the reality which they encountered in the Territories , and the silence which they encounter at home. Since 2004, Breaking the Silence has collected testimonies from over 650 soldiers who have served in the teritorries since the beginning of the second Intifadah. The collectors of the testimonies are veteran combatants themeselves. Every soldier who gives a testimony to Breaking the Silence knows the aims of the organization and the interview. ‘We demand accountability regarding Israel's military actions in the Occupied territories perpetrated by us and in our name.’ The testimonies are published in booklets and on the web site www.shovrimshtika.org They give talks both within Israel and overseas and they organize alternative tours of Hebron and the South Hebron Hills. We heard from our Hebron team that the Breaking the Silence leader of the last tour was arrested for his pains
New Profile was founded in 1998 by parents whose children did not want to serve in the Israeli military Working from a feminist perspective they not only support young ‘refusniks’, but also work to reduce the militarised nature of Israel’s government, society and culture. Rutti Hiller, a founder member, told us that she had two girls then four boys. Her 2 girls went to the military without question, but when her first boy reached 16yrs, he was very clear that he did not want to go to the military. She and her husband agreed to support him, provided they did everything together and he stayed out of jail. But he appeared before the conscience tribunal 3 times and each time his case failed. Then they had to go to the United States to find a lawyer willing to take his case to the High Court. Eventually he was released after 3 years of hearings. However orthodox Jews are allowed exemption from military service and the number of exemptions has grown from 400 to 30,000
Women in Black started in Jerusalem in 1988 at the time of the first intifada and it is worthy of note that some of the early members were holocaust survivors. The tactic and focus were very simple: to stand in a public place at a regular time, dressed in black, carrying placards saying ‘End the Occupation’(of the Palestinian Territories). The demonstrations quickly spread to other Israeli cities and were later adopted by other countries for other causes eg at the time of the Iraq war. Ann (my friendfrom Ireland) and myself joined the Jerusalem demonstration on the last Friday in April. It now takes place on a busy roundabout in West Jerusalem, apparently chosen for its proximity to the prime minister’s residence. Yes there was a fair amount of abuse shouted from passing vehicles and pedestrians, but there was also significant support. I was joined by a young Druze man who had served in the military, but was now teaching philosophy to both Israeli and Palestinian children in West and East Jerusalem
Rabbis for Human Rights was also formed in 1988 with the aim of embodying the Torah ideal of being keepers of the law of justice and righteousness. It has a membership of 180 rabbis from all denominations of Judaism. They do not take positions in relation to the big political picture, but attempt to apply the Torah to human rights issues. The team for the West Bank and East Jerusalem includes 4 lawyers and a Palestinian fieldworker, who covers about 30 villages. The work in East Jerusalem is focussed on contesting threatened demolitions in the name of Judaisation. In the villages in the north here it is very much about exposing settler violence
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories, by physically sitting in front of bulldozers and mobilizing activists to help with rebuilding. Their familiarity with realities "on the ground" gives them frequent contacts with diplomats, fact-finding missions, the public and the media. ICAHD aids Palestinians in filing police claims, in dealing with the Israeli authorities, in arranging and subsidizing legal assistance. ICAHD took us on our tour of Jerusalem when we first arrived and explained the housing crisis to us. Our Jerusalem team work closely with them
Other Voice This is a slightly different organization and the one which perhaps made the strongest impression on us. During our mid term week, we visited Sderot, the Israeli town which just over a year ago was always in the news because of its vulnerability to rockets being fired to Gaza. Sderot, which is just about 3 kilometres from Gaza, is a very multi cultural city with over 10,000 immigrants from the Caucasian region. We travelled there to meet with members of an urban kibbuz , 100 of whom had formed this organization called Other Voice. Nomika, one of the founder members told us what life was like, when 6-10 rockets were being launched into the city every day. Taking the children to school or doing daily shopping was a nerve racking experience. All the bus shelters were turned into emergency bomb/rocket shelters and now almost every house has a strong ‘rocket’ resistant room, where the family can take shelter. But, she said , about a year before, the invasion of Gaza, she began to realize what it was doing to her as a person to have fear and security as her daily diet.
With the help of therapy and with other like minded people she decided to make another voice heard. At first they just wanted to give themselves an identity, not wholly based on security concerns. But, soon they found they wanted to make contact with the people in Gaza. In former times it had been common for the people of Sderot to visit the beach in Gaza and they wanted to re establish neighbourly relations. They started by speaking on the phone to people in Gaza and they managed to maintain this relationship throughout the invasion, enquiring after each others safety – replacing fear with empathy. Nomika wrote a diary called ‘Not in my name – not for my security’. She said she was willing to become the public enemy, but found she had support from all round the world. Now, times are much quieter and despite the siege of Gaza, they have managed to organize day meetings with people from Gaza coming to Sderot. Much of their work has focused on young people and they have been able to receive young people from other parts of the world too. It seemed like a real, if small, sign of hope arising from such a difficult situation.
