By Leehee Rothschild

J14 leader Daphni Leef held down on the ground as she is arrested by police officers (photo: Dan Haimovich)

Look at this photo of Daphni Leef. Look at her, thrown at the floor, crushed under uniformed men – uniforms which define them as the guardians of law and order and give them the authority and power to use reasonable strength, allowing them to define what’s reasonable.

Look at them triding on her, pulling her, dragging her, beating her, twisting her hand, breaking her bones.

Feel her pain.

Read the media reports on the demonstration and her arrest. Read the police response. Feel the outcry and the rage about the blatant lies used by policemen, the injustice in turning the victim into the accused, and the way in which their words are accepted as of truth and justice.

Look, ache, shudder and feel rage.

I ask you to remember this photo. Remember how it was reported in the media, remember the police’s response, remember against whom they placed charges.

Next time you read about leftist activist “rioting,” about activists who attack police officers in a demonstration in Jaffa, or Lod, or Sheikh Jarrah, or about disturbances of public order in Bil’in, clashes between soldiers and Palestinian protestors in Nabi Saleh or Nil’in, remember this photo. Remember that the ones who are portrayed by police and media as the rioters, the attackers, the violent ones, are most likely the victims of the situation. Remember that they are the ones who took to the streets to protest injustice, to demonstrate against discrimination and oppression, to oppose the government. Remember that those who represent the law do not necessarily represent truth, and certainly not justice. Remember that the ones who protest for their most basic rights might find themselves crushed under the boots of democracy.

This piece was first published in Hebrew in the blog Radically Blonde.

Leehee Rothschild has been active in the Palestinian struggle for over a decade. She currently works with Anarchists Against the Wall and Boycott From Within.

By Leehee Rothschild

An Israeli activist displays a closed military zone order which, given to her by Israeli policemen at 6 a.m. in her Tel Aviv home, November 11, 2012. (photo: Activestills)

Israeli police officers distributed closed military zone orders for four West Bank villages early Sunday morning to 13 prominent activists in groups such as Anarchists Against the Wall, Ta’ayush, and the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement. In most cases, the military orders were delivered personally, but for some activists who happened not to be home, they were left under their doors. In some cases, the officers came to look for the activists in their old addresses, disturbing family members and friends, entering homes without a court order, and videotaping those present against their will, even after they were requested not to do so.

The orders, which are timed from 8:00 a.m. to 7 p.m. every Friday, and are valid from the beginning of September until March 4, define all or part of the villages of Bil’in, Nil’in, Nabi Saleh, and Kufr Qaddum as closed military zones, prohibiting any entrance into those areas. These are four of several villages in which Palestinians hold weekly demonstrations against the wall, joined regularly by Israeli and international activists.

The weekly demonstrations are deemed illegal under Israeli military law, much like any form of protest or demonstration in the West Bank. In fact, every Friday, the Israeli military issues orders defining those very villages as closed military zones. The demonstrations are violently dispersed by the Israeli army and police with tear gas, stun grenades, rubber bullets and live ammunition. The military’s violence has led to the death of 28 activists, and the wounding of countless others. Palestinian organizers and participants in those protests face ongoing persecution, including night raids on their homes, and long periods in prison, sometimes under administrative detention.

While Israeli demonstrators are often arrested, charges are usually not brought against them, and when they are, they rarely lead to conviction. It seems that this is what this latest operation seeks to circumvent. In a statement published on the INN website, a police representative of the Shai District (which oversees activities in the West Bank) stated [Hebrew]: “The orders… were distributed to them personally as part of an offensive action led by a commander in the area. It is being implemented in order to prevent illegal activities under the pretense of lack of awareness that the locations are closed military zones. This operation is part of the day to day activities of the Shai District against those who disrupt public order with nationalist motives from all sides of the political map (be it from the left or from the right).”

The police’s operation seems to be another attempt to sever the bonds between Palestinians and Israelis who take part in acts of popular resistance which challenge institutional policies of separation and segregation. However, those orders are unlikely to deter most activists who join the Palestinians in protest on a weekly basis.

Related:
Visualizing Occupation: The right (or privilege) to protest?

Friday protest against the wall in al-Ma’sara August 24, 2012. The late American activist Rachel Corrie is pictured in the sign. (Activestills)

Some 200 Palestinians and a handful of Israeli and international solidarity activists joined the protest in Kufr Qaddoum on Friday. The demonstration was dedicated to the commemoration of American peace activist, Rachel Corrie, who was run over by a bulldozer while attempting to prevent house demolitions in Rafah in 2003. The verdict in the civil lawsuit against the State of Israel in her case will be announced next week on August 28. The protest opened with speeches, following which the crowd started marching towards the main road of the village. Without any provocation on behalf of the protesters, the army started repressing the march with tear gas and rubber coated bullets. Fortunately, the demonstration ended without any arrests or severe injuries.

Protest against the Israeli separation wall, Al Ma’sara, West Bank, 24.08.2012 (Activestills)

The protest in Ni’lin started with a sermon and prayers on the land, following which the demonstrators marched to the gate in the wall. The army unit that was stationed on the other side of the wall used tear gas canisters against the demonstrators, but did not make any attempt to cross the wall and conduct arrests.

In Bil’in, demonstrators marched to the Abu Lamon grove and burned tires near the barbed wire protecting the wall. The soldiers reacted with a barrage of dozens of gas canisters, rubber coated bullets and the “skunk.”

In al-Ma’asara, dozens marched to protest the confiscation of lands and the construction of the wall. The crowd marched peacefully to the end of the village, where the army was awaiting. The marchers advanced peacefully and were stopped by the soldiers. The crowd stood their ground, facing the army. Slogans against the occupation were chanted, and many demonstrators started talking to the soldiers. The march ended peacefully. The planned route of the wall in this area would cut off 3500 dunams of Palestinian land and would also cut off the village’s acess to water and the primary routes between Hebron, Bethlehem, and Ramallah—three of the largest cities of the West Bank.

The IDF conducted house-to-house arrests during the weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh. For more information, see this photo report.

By Noa Shaindlinger

Activists from Anarchists Against the Wall in West Bank. Sign reads "resistance" in Arabic and Hebrew (Photo: Tamimi Press)

Since 2003, a growing number of Israeli activists, primarily affiliated with Anarchists Against the Wall, have been joining the Palestinian popular struggle against the separation wall and settlements. Israelis accompany Palestinians in weekly demonstrations throughout the West Bank in villages like Bi’lin, Nil’in, Nabi Saleh, Beit Ummar and al-Ma’asara.

Recently, I have become aware of an internal debate in the circles I am a part of and privy to in Ramallah, Nabi Saleh and in the virtual circles of Twitter, Facebook and the blogosphere. This debate has spilled into activist circles I frequent and aroused an array of responses, most of them quite emotional. Some people, Palestinian and others, have begun calling into question the participation of Israeli activists in Palestinian demonstrations against the wall and even challenge the efficacy of a joint Palestinian-Israeli struggle in general.

An accusation I have heard is that, as Israeli Jews, we enjoy privileges denied to Palestinians and that, moreover, unaware of these privileges, we show up at various demonstrations in the West Bank demanding to be treated as equal partners in the struggle. One person dismissed offhand Israeli activists’ often harrowing experiences of arrest, injury or harassment by the state’s security apparatus because we cannot understand what it’s like to live under military rule, fearing daily for oneself and loved ones.

As a result, I’d like to attempt to address some arguments I have heard from certain activists in recent conversations and blog entries, about the role of Israeli activists in the popular Palestinian struggle. I am speaking only for myself and do not represent any other activists.

Yes, we are painfully aware of our colonial privileges as Israeli Jews. We articulate that every time we get into our cars, driving back to Tel Aviv from Nabi Saleh or Bil’in, leaving our Palestinian friends behind to deal with repercussions, including night raids and brutal arrests. We recognize the dire implications these joint actions carry for Palestinians.

We do not wish to be treated as “equals” or to lead the struggle. On the contrary: we do not make demands, and we are not attempting to lead or be decision-makers in this process. At most, we see ourselves as allies, junior partners in a joint struggle. “Joint” does not mean equal partnership, but it does indicate our deepest commitment to and solidarity with the ongoing Palestinian struggle for liberation from the shackles of colonialism and apartheid. The fight to end racial oppression must entail a joint struggle that brings together people of different ethnicities and creeds, including those who enjoy colonial privileges, to demand an end to a racist regime.

I take issue with what feels like a dismissal of incidents of injury of Israeli or international activists. We also suffocate from tear gas, get hit by rubber bullets and stink from skunk water. Several of us have, over the years, sustained life-threatening injuries, lost an eye or wound up in a coma for weeks. Was this suffering meaningless?

The mere existence of Israeli solidarity activists, or our presence in West Bank demonstrations, should not be taken for granted. For someone who was born into the occupation and indoctrinated to be a proud colonizer, idolize the military and partake in the ongoing erasure of Palestinian history, the road to dissent is far from clear. And those of us who have turned our backs on the state and its racist ideology are often shunned by our family and friends, and constantly threatened by Zionist activists and state agencies. The life of an anti-Zionist activist in Israel is a lonely one; I sometimes find myself envious of the tsumud (Arabic for “streadfastness”) I see in the West Bank.

But what I find most disturbing about the argument that we should not attend West Bank demonstrations is the assumption that, after the liberation of Palestine and the end of occupation and Zionism, Jews will just leave, “willingly or not,” as one activist boldly told me. It saddens me, not just because at the heart of a joint struggle should lie a vision for a just postcolonial society, but because it speaks to the lack of understanding by some that Israeli Jews are rooted here, have a profound sense of belonging and attachment to their place of birth, and that another wave of mass displacement will never be a just solution. This realization is vital, if not only for the shifting dynamics of the current struggle, but more significantly – for the imagined future of Palestine and the shape its society takes. I’m afraid if we maintain the separation the current regime desires, between Israeli Jews and Palestinians, post-liberation Palestine might become a dystopia of inter-ethnic, interfaith discord and mutual suspicion that will descend into further conflict.

Noa Shaindlinger is a PhD student at the University of Toronto, a human rights activist and citizen journalist.

In the video below, uploaded by Bilal Tamimi, you can hear the IDF shooting stun grenades into the village and see the flashes of light they give off. Towards the end of the video, you can clearly see the IDF jeeps parked in the village, some soldiers firing shots, and then they all drive away.

While it is difficult to see in the dark, it seems as if the soldiers are shooting in every direction around them, nearly a full 360-degree circle. If the soldiers were being attacked in some way, it is unlikely it would be from literally all sides and besides, if they were really being threatened, they would be probably also use tear gas, not just stun grenades. It is hard to understanding this as anything other than the IDF terrorizing the village, punishing it for holding weekly demonstrations that call attention to Israel’s occupation.

- – - – - – - – - -

The village of Ni’lin, which recently marked five years of demonstrations, suffered an especially harsh night raid on Thursday night in which two Palestinian residents were arrested. According to the Ni’lin village website, from Saturday:

At 01:30 on Friday morning more than 120 soldiers surrounded the village of Ni’lin from all sides but the west. Thirty minutes later the soldiers invaded the village on foot accompanied by 14 military jeeps. They proceeded to raid five houses inside the village, the houses of Jameel Srour, Jammal Srour, Yousef Srour, Shukri Kawaja and Mosab Srour.

During the house raids, the families were put in one of the rooms in the house while the soldiers harshly went through their belongings, destroying furniture and leaving chaos in their wake. The five men listed above were all arrested but three of them were released later during the night. The two remaining men, Yousef and Mosab Srour were taken to an as of now unknown Israeli military facility where they are still being held as this is being written.

During the invasion of the house of Mosab Srour one of the soldiers stole NIS 1000 NiS from a moneybox of the youngest brother of Mosab. Mosabs brother had been saving this money for months, little by little from his work as a vegetable farmer and salesman. A laptop was also stolen from the house.

While this has not been verified, Palestinian residents claim that in addition to stun grenades, the IDF shot tear gas straight into civilian houses and that live ammunition was used as well.

Related:
WATCH: Office in Nabi Saleh night raid blames residents for ‘show’ 
Eyewitnesses, video challenge army account of Nabi Saleh shooting
Palestinian women take back spring as settlers, soldiers look on

[UPDATE: I've been told the video is inaccessible in the United States, so I'm attaching six screen shots from it at the end of the post for their benefit]

The famous singer chose to perform in Ramat Gan despite being called upon by Palestinian, Israeli and other groups around the world to boycott Israel as long as it maintains an apartheid regime in the occupied territories. To subdue criticism, Madonna invited 600 activists from various peace NGOs to come to the show for free. But activists in Anarchists against the Wall refused the invite, and members in the group stated that they would not come to the show as long as their Palestinian friends are barred from coming too.

To drive home the point, several activists in the group shot a short video, showing Sa’id and Muhammad Amira from the village of Nil’in– which tomorrow will be commemorating four years of struggle against the wall constructed on its land – trying to reach the concert. The two brothers are seen holding tickets to the show, and leaving their village towards the main road to Ramat Gan, until they are forced to stop at the wall. The brothers call upon Israeli soldiers to open the gate, but are left unanswered. Attempts to go to a checkpoint or contact Israeli DCO authorities are all in vain as well.

“Ms. Madonna, I would like to apologize, first, for not being able to come to your concert,” says one of the brothers at the end of the clip, and continues thus:

With all the peaceful songs that you sing for peace, in an apartheid state, it doesn’t help the real peace. Because for me as a Palestinian I cannot get in, because I have been suppressed and oppressed and they don’t give me a permit for anything. And I don’t need a favor from (President Shimon) Peres or from anyone, or fromIsrael. As a human I would like to come to your concert. You can see the Israeli apartheid wall that is double the wall of Berlin and that prevents us from accessing everywhere. We are here in a big prison, in a big jail, and it’s the reality of the situation. It’s not about peace or something – it’s about an apartheid state”

Update: six screen shots from the clip, for people in the US who cannot open it:

The brothers leaving the village

Running into the wall

Walking to a chekpoint

Returning after being turned down at the checkpoint

Calling the Israeli DCO and asking for permits

Sending Madonna a message

Read also:

Madonna invites leftist groups to concert, Anarchists refuse

Visualizing Occupation: Freedom of movement

The incident took place during the weekly demonstration against the separation fence in Bil’in on March15, 2008. At the time, demonstrations used to reach the old route of the fence – which has since been found illegal by the Israeli High Court of Justice but not yet dismantled – and the army would cross the gate in the fence and chase demonstrators back into the village. A video recording of the shooting shows the soldiers marching back towards the fence, and one of them pushing away a photographer standing nearby. At this point, Israeli activist Eran Cohen, standing less than five meters away from the road, is heard shouting, “What are you doing, soldier?! Don’t touch the journalists.” At this point, one of the soldiers, apparently an officer, slightly raises his gun and shoots Cohen in the leg with a rubber-coated bullet, even though it is clear that Cohen was in no way a threat to the soldiers, and that no fighting is taking place elsewhere in the area. The bullet penetrated Cohen’s knee, which was later removed in surgery after Cohen was rushed to the hospital.

At the request of B’Tselem, a military police investigation was launched by the end of that month, and the video was submitted for military inspection. Now, almost four years later, the army says the case is closed and no charges are to be filed. The military prosecution did not elaborate on the reasons for its decision.

A silent approval for unjustified violence

This is in no way a unique case in the history of the popular and joint struggle. According to B’Tselem spokesperson Sarit Michaeli, it is safe to say that on the whole, soldiers and border policemen are not charged with the wounding or even the killing of demonstrators. “While we have countless reports of injuries and more than twenty deaths in demonstrations, and while many incidents are documented with footage, you almost never see investigations ending with indictments,” says Michaeli.

In the past, army regulations required that every death caused by soldiers prompt an investigation by the military police. With the start of the Second Intifada in October 2000, the army openly canceled these regulations, which were put back to force last April. This is why most deaths of demonstrators, peaceful and stone-throwing alike, have not led to investigations, except for two very rare ones: the killing of Bassem Abu-Rahme in Bil’in (caused by a tear gas canister shot directly to his chest), and that of 10-year-old Ahmad Musa in Nil’in  shot in the head with a rubber bullet by a border policeman after a demonstration). Even here, the former has yet to turn into an indictment (investigation was only launched following a long legal struggle on  the family’s part), and in the latter case, the charge is negligent manslaughter. The only demonstration-related conviction activists remember in the many years of the popular struggle was that of the two soldiers who shot the cuffed and blindfolded Ashraf Abu-Rahme in the foot.

While Palestinian and Israeli activists keep documenting attacks on demonstrations, and while NGOs keep filing complaints against the use of force, the army on the whole seems untouched. In December, B’Tselem wrote the army with great concern, reporting what seems to be a constant policy of soldiers and officers on the ground to ignore the army’s own regulations, which forbid shooting tear gas canisters at a direct angle. B’Tselem have backed up this claim with extensive footage of soldiers shooting tear gas canisters in the same illegal fashion that caused the deaths of Bassem Abu-Rahme and Mustafa Tamimi. However, just last Thursday the military authorities replied, saying that “security forces use tear gas canisters only to disperse violent rioters, and only in an arched angle.”

“They are not even willing to admit that soldiers are disobeying their own regulations”, says Michaeli, “what kind of a message do you think that gives the soldiers?”

The separation wall in Bethlehem (photo: Anne Paq / Activestills)

It’s been two weeks now that I’ve been wanting to write this post.

I wanted to write two Fridays ago, when it became apparent that two more West Bank villages – A-Diq and Qadum – successfully joined the cycle of popular resistance. Villages like Bil’in, Ma’asara, Ni’lin, Beit Umar and Nabi Saleh have already become known for their persistence in weekly demonstrations against the Wall and the settlements, but these two villages are relatively new to the popular and joint struggle.

For more than two months now, residents of A-Diq are protesting against continuing land grabs, which have cost them 4,000 out of 6,000 dunams (or 990 out of some 1,500 acres) over the many years of Israeli occupation. Qadum villagers are demonstrating against the prolonged closure of the only road that connects them to the rest of the West Bank. The road was closed by the Israeli army nine years ago, at the height of the Second Intifada, because – officially – it runs dangerously close to the nearby settlement of Qdumim. While the settlement keeps expanding to lands near the old closed road, Palestinians must travel difficult and long alternative routes to get in and out of the village. In both villages, dozens of people have been arrested or injured from army attacks on the demonstrators – yet no news of this reaches us at all.

I also wanted to write last Sunday, when a group of nine Israeli activists were arrested while stopping bulldozers from constructing the Wall near Al-Walaje. This small village on the outskirts of Jerusalem is slated to be surrounded by almost all sides, which will turn it into a horrible prison, detached from its agricultural lands. The activists, there in solidarity with the people of the village, were arrested for their non-violent resistance – yet no news of this reached us at all.

I wanted to write this post last Thursday, when dozens of Popular Committee activists gathered in Jericho for a “freedom ride“: an attempt to drive their cars to Ramallah on the fast lanes of the apartheid roads meant for Israelis only. Naturally, the convoy was stopped by the Border Police, and five activists were arrested, four of whom were later released. One is still detained. This was a classic civilian non-violent protest, which once again no one in Israel heard about.

I wanted to write about last Friday’s weekly demonstrations against the renewal of construction on the agricultural lands of Ma’asara and Um-Salamuna; about yet another hundred trees set alight by settlers last Saturday; about the sentencing of Bil’in’s Ashraf Abu-Rahma to six months in prison; about the 13 people arrested in the West Bank yesterday, including two brothers aged 16 and 19; and about the two people killed in an air strike on Gaza today.

*But I didn’t*

I didn’t write about any of these things. I didn’t, because I found myself falling prey to the oldest trick in the book of journalism. I didn’t write because nobody else is writing about the occupation anymore, because it’s considered “non-news,” and better to write about something else: the struggle for social justice within the Israeli society, the economy, racism towards Ethiopian-Israelis, the Iranian bomb – anything but the occupation. Not that the occupation used to get even half the coverage it deserves, but now it seems that the little it got has disappeared. Like a person who wonders if it is the world that’s gone mad or he himself, I found myself actually wondering whether it’s at all important to write about the occupation.

But even worse, I didn’t write because I was afraid to bore my readers. I thought of the regular crowd that reads my posts on MySay and +972, I thought about my Facebook friends – and I feared that both groups would see the headline, tag it under “yet another Haggai Matar text about the occupation,” and move on. Why? Because the occupation, and all those people struggling for freedom and getting arrested and shot at, are just not interesting anymore. You know – “OK, we got the message, now move on.”

And then I saw this picture of a segment of the Wall around Bethlehem, taken by Anne Paq. A strong picture of a strong painting, which made me write all this down. Because there IS an incredible struggle going on here against a brutal occupation. It’s an occupation that can be dreadful, when it entails military campaigns and the killing of hundreds of people, and similarly dreadful when it creates the appearance of a peaceful routine. All the while, under its boot there are millions of people suffering, resisting, acting, speaking out and not giving up, in spite of the passing of years and the violent oppression used against them. Against it all they keep fighting for freedom, fraternity, equality and peace.

And if they manage to keep their struggle going, against all odds, we should do no less. We must go on publishing what the mainstream media doesn’t. We must tell these stories even if they do bore people, because they do mean something. We must go on resisting.

(1)

The day: December 10, 2009.

The time: Somewhere between sunrise and the first pangs of lunchtime hunger.

The place: Tel Aviv and A-Nabi Salah – so near and so far.

The scene:

For the first time, we marched together in a festival of democracy and human rights that occupied the streets of the big city, reverberating in every direction. On the same day, the residents of A-Nabi Salah also attempted to march for the first time to protest the seizure of their land by settlers.

While we waved banners and shouted slogans for democracy; while we tried to paint ourselves in colors of liberty, tolerance and human rights – they also tried to raise posters, shout slogans and paint themselves in colors of hope.

We were successful, and we have continued to march since then.

They were unsuccessful, but they keep on trying.

(2)

Muhammad

Muhammad ‘Amira is a human rights activist and a member of the Popular Committee in the Palestinian village of Ni’lin in the Ramallah district. On June 15, 2011, Muhammad was arrested during a demonstration in the village of Dir Qadis to protest the paving of a new road designed to serve a new development in the adjacent settlement of Nili.

During the demonstration, Muhammad sat on the ground, in front of a Civil Administration tractor that was plowing up land belonging to the residents of the village, which is surrounded on one side by the settlement of Nili, and on the other remaining sides by the Separation Barrier. He shouted slogans against the occupation and protested the usurpation of Palestinian land.

Muhammad was brought before a judge for the first time on June 19, 2011, and his detention was extended for three days at the prosecution’s request. Muhammad was ultimately released after six days’ detention in exchange for NIS 3,000 bail, and an undertaking on his part not to return to Dir Qadis until the completion of the proceedings against him.

The indictment filed against Muhammad accuses him of incitement and disturbing a soldier in the performance of his duty.

Today, Wednesday, a further hearing was due to be held in Muhammad’s trial at Ofer Military Court. The hearing has been postponed pending further notice.

(3)

Bassem

Bassem Tamimi is the head of the Popular Committee in the village of A-Nabi Salah in the Ramallah district. He is one of the organizers of village’s weekly demonstrations, and a leading proponent of the non-violent campaign against the occupation in the West Bank.

Bassem, who is the same age as the Israeli occupation, has been arrested 11 times by Israeli security forces, and spent approximately three years in administrative detention. He was eventually released without being convicted of a single offense (or even charged).

Since the beginning of the demonstrations in A-Nabi Salah, Bassem and his family have been treated particularly harshly by the Israeli authorities. Soldiers have raided the family home countless times. Bassem’s wife, Nariman, an activist in the popular struggle whose speech will be read out at this year’s Human Rights March, has been arrested three times. Two of their sons were injured during violent dispersal of demonstrations. Immediately after the demonstrations began in the village, the Civil Administration issued demolition orders against 10 buildings situated in Area C, on the pretext that the buildings are illegal. One of these buildings is Bassem’s home.

Nariman Tamimi at the Ofer military prison ahead of husband Bassem's hearing. October 2011 (photo: Oren Ziv, Activestills)

On April 17, 2011, Bassem was indicted on offenses of incitement, organizing and participating in an unauthorized procession, soliciting others to throw stones, disrupting legal proceedings, and failing to obey an order to attend a police investigation. Bassem denied the charges. He was detained pending completion of the proceedings and has been held for some nine months.

The main evidence against Bassem is the testimony of a minor from the village of A-Nabi Salah who has also been indicted, and whose trial is being conducted alongside that of Bassem. The youth was interrogated after spending a night in detention and being deprived of sleep. He was not informed that he was entitled to remain silent or to consult with an attorney, and he was questioned by four interrogators, three of whom are not authorized to question youths.

Today, Wednesday, a further hearing was due to be held in Bassem’s trial at Ofer Military Court. The hearing has been postponed pending further notice.

(4)

Who will march on Friday?

Since their arrest, and in addition to the violation of numerous rights during the criminal proceedings against them, the right of Muhammad and Bassem to freedom of expression, demonstration and protest has been severely curtailed. These rights are important anywhere, but particularly so in the Occupied Territories, where Palestinian residents have no access to the authorities. There, injury to the right of protest also injures the right to oppose so many other violations: the right to freedom of movement, the right to freedom of worship, the right to water and shelter, the right to property, and the right to liberty and self-determination. The attack on Muhammad and Bassem is an attack on the heart of the popular struggle.

The court files labeled “Muhammad ‘Amira” and “Bassem Tamimi” are living examples of the numerous obstacles facing activists against the occupation, and facing the popular Palestinian struggle in general. They highlight the absurd nature of military orders that prohibit almost all demonstrations in the Territories, except with special permission from the military commander – the same commander who, for the Palestinians, symbolizes the illegal presence of the occupying force. They reveal the extensive powers and discretion granted to junior soldiers in the field to use violent means to disperse demonstrations. They attest to the violation of the rights of minors and adults alike in the criminal process – in detention, in interrogation and in the military courts. Muhammad and Bassem are examples of the power of oppression Israel uses against freedom of expression in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Muhammad and Bassem are not just two individuals. They represent many others: Ashraf and ‘Abdullah and Khaled and Nariman and Manal and Bushra and ‘Issa and Iyad and Ahmad and Bilal…. and all the other Palestinians struggling against the protracted occupation. Muhammad and Bassem tell the stories of A-Nabi Salah, Ni’lin, Bil’in, Walajeh and Al-Ma’asara. They shout out the pain of Beit Ummar, Susiya, A-Tawaneh and the South Hebron Hills. They raise the banners of Dir Qadis and Kusra, of Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah. They are the voice that opposes roads open to Israelis only; that fights against closed checkpoints and blocked roads. They are the voice that demands equality, justice and fairness. Muhammad and Bassem are my voice too, and I want it present at this week’s Human Rights March.

And this is why:

On Friday, I will make my voice heard for their right to make their voices heard.

On Friday, I will march for their right to freedom of movement, expression and protest.

Hearings were due to be held today in the trials of Bassem and Muhammad. On Friday, I will march for their right to due process.

On Friday, I will demand their rights, my rights, and our responsibility to end the occupation and remove the regime of separation and discrimination.

If you haven’t got the message yet – I’m going to the march on Friday with a bag of my own reasons and messages.

How about you?

Raghad Jaraisy is an attorney at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), where she specializes on issues relating to the right to protest and freedom of expression in the