chapter 3 - falastine herrah

Hello everyone, this email will be short. Just want to let everyone know I am fine, I know the news looks bad, but nothing much has changed where I am at other than the soldiers being particularly nasty. I took an M16 to the chest today, I am not hurt just bruised a little, and I am very lucky, several of my friends were beat pretty badly as well as shot with rubber bullets. An Israeli activist from Anarchists Against the Wall was taken away in an ambulance and is still in the hospital as I write this. This all happened at the demo in Bil'in I was telling you about last week. The soldiers were pissed and on edge from all the action happening in the north and in Lebanon, and this week, after we had been peacefully protesting for awhile, someone - I think a young boy - threw a stone that hit a soldier, and they immediately fired at least 10 sound bombs into the protestors, and began beating the protestors who did not leave, myself included. Then they took a jeep into the village itself and shot at people with rubber bullets. All this because a little boy threw a stone...I have spent the last week in Bil'in, guarding a Peace Outpost built by Palestinians on land illegally annexed by the Israeli government as a measure to stop the expansion of settlements. It has been vandalized by the soliders a couple times, and been threatened with demolition. in the back Every day we walk through a security fence manned by Israeli soldiers, who search our bags and ask for our passports no matter how many times we have already walked through that day.....this wall is built on Palestinian land, and seperates the village of Bil'in from land and olive groves that they have legally owned for many many years.

There are already settlements built on the other side of the fence, also on illegaly confiscated land, and they are planning to build more.

Israeli settlement which has been ruled illegal by Israel's own court

There are currenly several court cases trying to determine who the land actually belongs to....the Israelis claim the land was sold to them by a farmer who is now, conveniantly, dead. The land actually belongs to a farmer who currently lives in the village. Every day of the week we walk through without much problem and then, on Fridays, with no reason, the soldiers declare this same area a "closed military zone" and refuse everyone entry. There is much more to this, but after today's demo I am a bit anxious and my mind racing, so I will explain all this better in another email when I have my thoughts about me. Bil'in's Peace Outpost - illegal settlement in background

So much to say, I am too hyper and need to breathe a little bit, another email soon. I wish you all could meet the people of Bil'in, they are the most welcoming people I have ever had the pleasure to meet....I cannot walk down the street without being invited for tea 20 times, without almost every person I am seeing saying "Welcome!", without the little kids begging to have their picture taken, to play soccer, to shake hands.

These people, who have seen loved ones killed and paralyzed, who themselves have been beated and imprisoned for days weeks months without charges or a lawyer, who have lost their jobs and livelihoods, but who are so concerned with how I am sleeping, how I am eating, if I am having fun, if I am happy, if I am loving Palestine. I love them. Falastine Herrah! (Free Palestine)

masalaame,

magan