AxisMundi Jerusalem

In Bilin…every Friday

Click below for a multi-media ’essay’ on the weekly protests staged in the West Bank to protest the barrier Israel is building in and around the West Bank. Israel says the barrier prevents Palestinian attacks in its towns and cities. Palestinians say the barrier is a land grab as much of it is built on land they want for a future state.

You Got Skunked

“Skunk”, the Israeli Army calls it. Good name.

It had been a month or so since I was last in Bilin, a village in the West Bank, north of Ramallah. Regular protests occur here every Friday over the controversial Israeli barrier fence. Palestinian, Israeli  and international protesters and activists gather near the fence to protest and sometimes throw stones at the Israeli security forces standing guard on the other side who fire teargas at the protesters. Sometimes the amount of teargas the security forces fires can be overwhelming because they are firing into open fields rather than narrow streets or houses. The gas is usually enough to turn all but the hardcore protesters back along the path from which they came.

I knew beforehand the Israeli security forces had recently introduced a new sort of smelly chemical spray, called Skunk, fired from a police water cannon. I was told by Fadi Arouri, our Ramallah photographer, how horrible it was after he experienced the lasting stink it left with him the week before. He politely offered to stay back last Friday, a few hundred meters away, to get a long shot of the tear gas being fired.

I thought, no problem, I’ll get in there and get the shots before any spraying starts. I should have known better with my track record. I was once sprayed by a police water canon in Kuala Lumpur during a protest and had to walk the walk of shame through a brand new shopping mall, covered in yellow die and  pepper spray,  to find a dry shirt and a  pair of pants. Nobody in the mall wanted to serve me.

A few years later, outside the American embassy in Jakarta, I was directly hosed by a police water canon, for more than the required amount of time I might add. Moments later I discovered, to the amusement of the few hundred hard-core anti American protesters who were also there, that I was the only person who was wet.

This time in Bilin, I promised myself, it would be different.

Some of the protesters were wearing heavy yellow rain gear, the type fishermen wear or crossing guards don in storms. I wonder where they bought them, out here in the desert where it rains only a few days a year. The police water canon quickly emerged from hiding behind a house on the hill. I was already wearing my gas mask as I casually started walking backwards, trying not to appear like I was retreating.

Techniques and counter-techniques in anti-barrier protests

Our TV cameramen and stills photographers prefer to shoot anywhere except in the West Bank village of Bilin. That’s where Palestinians, foreign supporters and Israeli left-wing activists hold weekly protests against the barrier Israel is building in the occupied West Bank.

Seeking to quell protests in Bilin,  Israeli security forces spray a foul-smelling substance that sticks — for a long time — to skin, clothes and cameras.  Staying their ground, protesters have been trying a counter-measure: yellow plastic suits and masks.

Our cameramen don’t have those “protection suits”. So they use another technique when the spray starts to fly — they take wing, leaving the camera running as they seek cover.

Click hear to watch the full picture.

PHOTO: Friday protest in Bil’in. July 10, 2009. REUTERS/Fadi Arouri

5 Years On: The ICJ and Israel’s Separation Barrier

This week marks the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice’s ruling against Israel’s controversial separation barrier, which  is still under construction in and around the West Bank. According to a report from the UN High Commission for Human Rights, about 60 percent of the barrier has been constructed.

Israel says the barrier is aimed at preventing Palestinian terrorism, and says that since the wall has been built there has been a significant drop in attacks. However, the ICJ condemned Israel’s construction of the barrier on land within the West Bank-land Palestinians want for a future state-instead of on the Israeli side of the green line (the 1949 armistice line).

The separation barrier leaves some 80 percent of Jewish settlements on the Israeli side, leading the the ICJ to conclude that “the construction of the wall and its associated regime create a ‘fait accompli’ on the ground that could well become permanent, in which case, . . . [the construction of the wall] would be tantamount to de facto annexation” of Palestinian lands. (Read the entire text of that decision here).

In response to the ICJ’s ruling, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued this statement, where it argued that the ICJ’s ruling on the barrier was the result of a “politically motivated maneuver.” It denies the permanence of the barrier: “The fence is reversible, whereas the lives taken by terrorism are not. Moreover, the fence works. It is a temporary, non-violent security measure and it saves lives.”

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Reuters this week that thanks to the barrier there’s been a “90% plus” reduction in suicide attacks by Palestinians in Israel.

Many Palestinians reject that idea and say the reduction in suicide attacks has nothing to do with the barrier which, after all, they say, is not yet complete and the border between the West Bank and Israel is still porous in many places.

Too Close for Comfort

Every week our photographers and cameramen cover any number of demonstrations organised by activists protesting against the barrier Israel is building in and around the West Bank. Palestinians say the barrier is an Israeli land-grab that stifles freedom of movement and economic growth. Israeli authorities say the barrier prevents would-be attackers from reaching Israel.

You can read more about the controversy over the barrier here.

Covering the demonstrations has become a kind of routine. Most demonstrations happen on Fridays in the early afternoon. Protesters usually arrive along the same route. The Israeli army or Border Police are usually positioned in the same places. Protests start fairly quietly with chanting and flag-waving but almost invariably degenerate into skirmishes where demonstrators throw rocks at the Israeli forces who fire tear gas or rubber coated bullets to disperse the crowd.

Occasionally serious injuries and even deaths have occurred at these demonstrations. Israeli security force personnel have also been wounded during these events.   Our journalists also follow a routine, but their work can be tricky. They try to pick a position where they can film or photograph the demonstrations, while staying out of harm’s way. Sometimes that’s easier to plan, than implement. When covering these demonstrations, our staff wear helmets, body armour, and gas masks. They’ve been trained to operate as safely as they can in these types of environments.

Last Friday, July 3, our cameraman Saed Hawari covered one of the regular demonstrations outside the village of Bilin on the West Bank. The demonstration was not unusual, but our camerman ended up a little too close for comfort. As you can see in the video below, some tear gas grenades bounced up and nearly struck him. Fortunately, he was not hit, and was not injured.

Check out the video below – especially the first few shots.