Personally, I never liked the city, every time we had a school trip, guess to where they would take us "here is the dome of the rock, here is Alqasa mosque, stay together kids.... and here u can see...". You know what!? We figured it all by ourselves, can we go to swim, now!?
In 2000 I went to AlQuds with my scout team, we went to it to compensate the actual school trip to Jabal Al Shaikh and Tabaria"yaa, AlQuds is Equally fun, WoHoo". We missed it to go to scout training.
We reached Jerusalem around 10AM, all the trip long from Nablus to Jerusalem we had no music in the bus but the tape our teacher found in his car. It was the worse Hamas's album ever.. "Blood, Blood, Blood, they killed our ancestors and slaughtered our uncles....".
The tape was gone as we stepped out of the bus. we would rather walk back, but god know, we are not listening to this tape again. Well, what else you expect we were living in Oslo era. When the illusion of independence took over. who gave a damn about some Hamas over reaction. Fuck this shit.
When we were in the Haram Shareef, we went to Wodo'o, before we go for a prayer in the Morwani mosque, as we were gathering around the phantom in the middle of the square, a group of tourist came by with their Israeli guide. He started to explain the washing up the Muslims do before they pray.
We stopped, as we couldn't finish from laughing. The guide fuck it up! Everything he said was pretentious, stereotyping and Ignorant. Well, he was Zionist what else you expect!
After the usual ritual of praying at the Haram Shareef we headed to Omar mosque next to the church of the Holy Sepulcher. after visiting the mosque we went in a tour in the church.
As we walked out, we went face to face with a bunch of Israeli soldiers, also in a tour in the old city. as I walked passing them I was surprised about similar my scout uniform to what they wearing. The only difference was the badges.
I looked to my instructor in protest, "What on Earth was that!?"
"Border police" he said.
"I know, why we were the same uniform!"
He node to the huge scout badge on my shoulder, and the ranks below it, and said nothing.
Something like that.
without the guns of course
But we had this colorful badge on!
I was proud of it
Few months after this trip, the Second Intifada started, and the chances of going to AlQuds again, started to fade away every time a young man dies. in No times the whole idea of leaving Nablus became a far away dream.
I didn't step a foot in AlQuds since then, although I had a lot of chances of maintaining a permit, or smuggled in Palestine48. But I refused, and I will never accept either of those options.
I still don't like AlQuds.
Doesn't mean I will ever give up on having it back!
First of all, allow me to start with the
definition of ‘normalization,’ at least the one that Palestinian anti-normalization
activists use; normalization is the participation in, or joint work with, any
Israeli in a field other than politics, which might imply that the relation
between the Palestinian and the Israeli is normal. i.e. myself and an Israeli
write a book about fashion. Normalization is also
when Palestinians and Israelis meet "voluntarily" to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict without the Israeli participant’s recognition of the Palestinian’s
rights to return and self-determination. i.e. Well, all those programs we have
been protesting!
"Voluntarily" being highlighted in
the previous paragraph brings me to my second point. My birth
certificate has the IDF civil administration logo on the top, and it’s written
in Hebrew and Arabic, same as my ID card. Do you call this normalization? If
you do, allow me to remind you that in the case of occupation, the occupier
takes the responsibility of administrating the occupied nation’s needs. That
includes issuing ID cards, drivers licenses…etc. In other words, we, the Palestinians
living in the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and in ‘48, don’t cooperate with the
Israeli occupiers because we choose to, but because we have to. Or, do you want
to lose your Jerusalem ID because you didn't renew it on time?
Beside Mr. Aziz’s ignorance in the definition of normalization,
he has obviously never stepped foot in any of the weekly protests across the West
Bank, such as the one in Nabi Saleh. Over the last 2 years, Israeli activists
who recognize the Palestinian's rights to return and self-determination joined Palestinians in
the field against their government’s oppression. They jump in
front of the soldiers to protect Palestinians from getting arrested,
and if they are arrested, they provide the needed legal aid to
the detainees and their families. Many of those activists challenged
their loved ones, their families, and their whole world to protest on our side.
Speaking of that, allow me to quote my
friend’s sarcastic comment in Nabi Saleh last Friday, in which she referred
to Mr. Aziz Abu Sarah’s article.
“I did something shockingly bad
today, I called an Israeli activist "Habibti" after she swore she
wouldn't sign release papers, in the case we got arrested, until we both get
released. Aziz Abu Sarah, I have joined your ranks of Normalization.”
Finally, the Freedom Riders, I knew this would
happen, and this is why many of the anti-normalization activists protested the
action, as we were almost sure it would be misused, or at least misunderstood
by world media. If you read the coverage of the action, you would see it. They ignored
the original press release that explained why those activists were carrying out
the action, and concentrated on what serves their propaganda. So,
please, spare some time and read the press release again. You can also find my take onthe Freedom Rides actions right after it.
In the end, I have Israeli friends, they are good
people, but the moment they reenlist in the army, or question my people’s
rights to return and self-determination, they are out of my life.
As the oppressor, Israelis hold more
responsibilities than the oppressed Palestinians.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a case of the
oppressed against their oppressor, just a reminder in case you forgot.
يوافق التاسع من كانون الاول القريب الذكرى الرابعة والعشرين لانطلاق الانتفاضة الفلسطينية الأولى.
نحن، مجموعة من الشباب الفلسطيني، أبناء الجيل الثاني للانتفاضة الأولى، كثير منا ولد خلالها، نحني رؤوسنا إجلالاً لأبطال الانتفاضة الأولى، شهداءها وأسراها، أطفالها، شيوخها، نساءها ورجالها.
إننا نرى في الانتفاضة الأولى حقبة هامة في تاريخ شعبنا، على الأجيال أن تتناقلها وتتعلم منها، كما وأنها شكلت نموذجاً تستلهم منه شعوب العالم في نضالها من أجل العدالة والحرية.
بهذه المناسبة نؤكد إيماننا بالمقاومة الفلسطينية الشعبية كجزء أساسي في نضالنا من أجل الحرية وتحصيل حقوق الشعب الفلسطيني، غير القابلة للتصرف أو المساومة أو التفريط، وبمواصلة النضال حتى تحقيق الحرية والعودة.
عليه، نتوجه بنداء لكافة أبناء شعبنا في الوطن والمنفى بإحياء هذه الذكرى من خلال تكريم صانعي الانتفاضة وأبطالها، ومواصلة طريقهم.
كما نتوجه بنداء لكافة المدونين الفلسطينيين في الوطن والمنفى بتخصيص مدوناتهم يوم التاسع من كانون الاول لنشر قصص أو مقابلات مع شخصيات عايشت الانتفاضة الاولى أو مقالات أو صور وأشرطة توثق الانتفاضة، وندعو كل مبدع فلسطيني، أن يقدم شيئاً في هذه المناسبة وفق ما يراه مناسباً وممكناً.
عاش شعبنا وتحيا فلسطين
December 9th this year is the 24th anniversary of the First Palestinian Intifada.
We, a group of Palestinian youth, children of the First Intifada, bow in front of the heroes of the Intifada, its martyrs, children, elders, women and men.
We view the Intifada as a significant era in the history of the Palestinian people that future generations need to learn from, and that many have used as a model in their fight for justice and freedom.
In this occasion we confirm our belief in the Palestinian Popular Resistance, as a principal part of our struggle for freedom and Palestinian rights that are not open for compromise. We support the struggle to achieve freedom and the right of return.
Based on that, we are calling out to all our people in Palestine and in exile to commemorate this anniversary, by honoring the heroes of this Intifada and to follow in their footsteps.
We are also calling out to all the Palestinian bloggers in Palestine and in exile to dedicate their blogs on the 9th of December to honor the people of the First Intifada through writing stories from the Intifada or conducting interviews with the heroes, publishing videos or photos etc. Also we call every Palestinian artist to dedicate something for the Intifada.
In November 15, 2011, a group of Palestinian activist calling themselves the "freedom riders", attempted to ride "Israeli only" bus in its way to Jerusalem " all Israeli buses operating between the settlement in the occupied west bank don't allow Palestinian IN" , the action organizers said this action is to........ read the press release here
This action I didn't support, and those are my reasons:
1- The Name, "Freedom rides": Although the use of this name may help the average US citizen to relate the palestinian freedom ride with original freedom rides in the late 60's. It was a historical political statement against segregation and white supremacy.
Yet what the people missed is, average person will make the relation directly, they wont read the press release "how many people you think actually read". Next thing you know is tweets and posts "Brave Palestinian fighting the Israeli segregation in the West Bank demanding equality and social justice" specially if they knew so little about the conflict.
2- It was an educational event, introduced to the world as a Liberation act. YES, it was a great method to educate the world about Israel's segregation system in the occupied West Bank. Yet the the freedom ride was introduced to the media as an act of liberation. which confused individuals and media outlets, turning the Palestinian struggles from a fight for liberation and decolonialization into a struggle for equality with colonizers and social justice.
3- All struggles for justice, equality, and freedom, all over the world, established its personal tactics in resisting oppression whether they used chooses Nonviolent as their weapon, such as the civil right movement, or used armed resistance such as the Cuban revolution.
At the same time Palestinian failed to establish their own resistance tactics, well, this is not fair, the Palestinian did establish their own tactics, they did adopt the popular war in the first Intifada".
In other hand when the Palestinian adopted nonviolent, they end up imitating other nations, without any creativity or consideration to the special case the Palestinian cause is.
They even used the same names for god sake "really? freedom rides!!?".
Using the wrong tool leads to the wrong out comes.. simple logic
4- Disengaging the average Palestinian. let me put it this way, when you do something almost half of the world know about it, at the same time your own people almost knew nothing about it, then what ever you do, does not represent them, but represent you as an individual or your group. In other words, you are doing it wrong.
Every time I sit and talk to new foreigners coming
either to study Arabic in Beir Zeit, or to spend the summer volunteering in
some NGO or doing some work somewhere, the hell I care, I hear the same old
talks. Ohh I love Palestine and Palestinians, I am so coming next year,
freedom, Love, Peace... CRAP CRAP CRAP and finally BS.
I usually listen to them
talking passionately about the amazing time they spend at this
village or that. "ohh i am sooo in love with tea and Meramyeh and na'a
na'a" they would also talk about the Wara'a Enab they ate the other day
too, and they always finish it with "Ohh, Ahmad living with those people,
sharing food with them, made me understand their pain, I feel like I am one of
them." (seriously, already? You came like a week ago!). I usually
smile, and think "how deep lady gaga’s lyrics are!?"
Most of those people never stayed in Palestine longer
than the usual 3 months, they come in, have a nice trip, and maybe hook up with
either a Palestinian, or an Israeli(you never know) Then they get on an
airplane and get the fuck out of here. Many we never see again(Thank God),
some return;"they come back to liberate Palestine".
Ramallah down town
About a month ago a friend of mine asked me to meet up
in a bar in Ramallah called Bait Annesah, despite my promise to myself not to
step a foot there, I went to see this friend, as she was leaving the next day.
I finally got in the pup,, after convincing the bouncer that I am part of a
group, which was waiting for me inside.
I walked up to sit with my friend, who was already sitting
with a group of Palestinian(i am not sure) Europeans and Americans. The
conversation carried on, while I sat there saying nothing, until one of the so called Palestinian said
"Existence is Resistance, being here is part of resisting the
occupation". I looked to their faces for reaction, I saw nothing but
approval. I said bye to my friend directly, as I couldn't stay any longer;I would
kill someone if I did.
FYI: existence is resistance when your house, land, or even bar under threat of being attacked by settlers or army, when your existence as individual effect the Israeli policies in your area. Existence is NOT resistance if you are sitting in a bar in Ramallah downtown!
This is one of the too many statements I heard from
many of those same pretentious, arrogant white-people, with a big
colonialist and orientalist mentality. And just to help you
understand why I said what I said, I am adding a couple of those statements I heard:
"The Palestinian keep fucking it up." American. "they wont give up!"
"I really can't understand why you people love
violence that much" European. "coffee?"
"Palestine will be much better, if you got rid
those bearded fanatic" European. "who?"
"I can't believe this man, he told me I can't
drink in there, so dark age" European. "OK"
"I dressed as Palestine for Halloween this
year." American. "not going to ask how!"
"I don't think Palestinians understand, what
non-violence means" American. "TRUE"
This post is not directed against a lot of the great
people who got to knowthe Palestinian cause as their own, standing at the front
line in Nabi Saleh, Bilin and Nilin, or spend hours documenting and translating
to expose the Israeli practice against my people. I have nothing but respect
and appreciation for them, this post is against those who think by spending a
week or 2 hanging out in Ramallah bars and expensive restaurants, they
can claim to understand me, my people and my cause. This one is against everyone
who thinks he/she has the right to judge my people, based on their standards.
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged"
Luke 6:37
For four years Yasin Abu Saleh el-Rifai and his wife Iman are fighting an almost doomed battle to save their land. The plot has belonged to his family, the el-Rifai family, for generations and it is his land, by inheritance. His grandfather's tomb is situated there too. The impressive structure of the tomb still stands, but the settlers have desecrated it, removing the bones from the tomb and destroyed the any remains in order to eliminate the evidence. Unfortunately for him, and for many other residents of Anata, some of them members of his family, an Israeli settlement by the name of Anatot (aka Almon) was built on their land in 1982. This settlement has grown over the years and today its fenced-off area includes hundreds of acres of private, taboo-registered Palestinian land, which the Palestinian owners cannot access.
A few words about this settlement: the settlers of Anatot are some of the worst people. It is a secular, extreme right-wing settlement of police officers and army officers, some of them retired. So the law is with them…and far away from the public eye they do what they want, a constant rampage. Sicilian Mafia in Israel of 2011. Netanyahu's personal driver is also a resident of Anatot.
El-Rifai's story is somewhat different from the story of the other Palestinian landowners. He and his wife, an Israeli citizen, formerly Jewish with a "blue" ID are allowed to enter the settlement and they are not denied access to the land. This is not the case for the other landowners, who are not Israeli citizens, and are therefore required to conduct impossible coordination procedures in order to reach their land and cultivate it.
Their 'blue' ID cards have not spared el-Rifai and his wife a great deal of agony. In recent years Anatot's settlers have been doing all they can to try to expel them from their land. The land that appears to be barren in the clip was once full of olive trees. Settlers ran over el-Rifai's wife with a mini-tractor, the two were beaten on several occasions, requiring hospitalization. Yasin was also stabbed. Their share of misery has also included the uprooting of all fruit trees on the plot, destruction of agricultural equipment, contamination of the water well by throwing carcasses and garbage into it, burning the cave which is located within the confines of the plot, constant uprooting of any newly-planted trees, threats against the two as well as physical assaults on them. Countless complaints have been submitted to the police, but nothing has been done to stop the abuse. El-Rifai and his wife have not given up, and against all odds they are trying to hold on to their land. Yasin, desperate to find some support, contact activists through the Internet a few months ago.
b. Activist Tal's account:
On Friday, a group of Israeli activists from various groups came down to sit with Yasin on his land, drink coffee, eat something, plant a few symbolic trees, and raise a Palestinian flag on his plot. We were certainly not looking for trouble. We were a small group, women and elderly people among us.
As we were sitting there, eating and laughing, Yasin received a call on his mobile phone, and the settlement's security officer threatened him that "people want to come up and beat you to a pulp, if that's what you want, keep the flag there". The phone call was recorded. You can listen to it here:
Afterwards, seven police and military vehicles appeared on the main road. They stood there for half an hour. Then a few civilian (privately-owned) cars drove up to them, and there seemed to be an exchange going on. All of a sudden, all the military vehicles disappeared, except for one police car, and within minutes tens of private cars gathered on the road. Around 50 people came out of these cars, led by an army officer and a border police, who were not trying too hard to stop them...The rest is history. They came up to us, cursed us, beat us with stoned and clubs and iron rods, plundered. Yasin was thrown to the ground, his head cracked open with an audible bang (he's not a young man, and he suffers from a heart condition and diabetes). He lay motionless on the ground for a few minutes, his wife holding his head and trying to stop the bleeding. We formed a protective ring around him, so that the bloodthirsty settlers don't reach him. At that time I thought he was dead. I yelled "get an ambulance", but no one paid attention. Miri (an activist) saw another activist, Edo, being beaten right next to a police officer, the settlers taking his camera. The officer was speaking on his phone. She approached him and said: "They stole Edo's camera and now they are hitting him!". The officer's nonchalant response was "you're interrupting my conversation". I stood there trying to prevent the attackers from reaching Yasin. A police officer came and took me away saying he's doing it to protect me. None of the officers protected Yasin. None of the attackers were pushed back or detained. Three of us were arrested on false charges and released later that evening because there was no case against them. The settlers chased us with their cars, causing damage to our cars, all the way up to West Jerusalem. Police officers who drove along, escorting us, did not think something had to be done about that. An entire spectrum of Anatot settlers, children, youths, women, the young and the elderly participated in the attempted lynching. No one would have cared if we had been killed there. Only the police who would have had to account for this…
c. Activist Guy's account:
Three months ago, we, Taayush activists, received an appeal from the couple. They were almost desperate and they asked for our help. We came down there, another activist and I, and we met a lovely couple, whose sole request was not to be driven off their land and not to suffer physical abuse and damage to property.
Due to various constraints, it was difficult for us to help at the time, but we did try to enlist various activists and groups. In recent weeks, activists have come down a few times and planted new trees, but each time, after a short while el-Rifai found them uprooted.
Today, Friday 30.9.11, a few of us decided to come and visit the couple. We numbered around 15 people. we brought work tools with us, such as hoes. Needless to say, we were welcomed with open arms and much love.
A short time after our arrival, we saw the settlement's security vehicle stop on the main road. It seemed that the security officer didn't like our presence there and called the police. A Border police team arrived, but they didn't intervene or interfere. Gradually, more and more settlers gathered on the main road, approximately 200 Meters in front of the hill where we were working. By noon, more than 20 settler cars could be spotted there. Then we saw two of them going up towards us, and I immediately called the police and alerted them to the danger. Below us, on the main road, we were able to see a few police cars, but they didn't prevent the two settlers from approaching us. When they came near us, they cursed and threatened us. Other settlers began to go up the hill towards us, dozens of them...
I called the police again, I warned them that bloodshed was imminent, I begged them to send the policemen who were present uphill, towards us, but to no avail. The settlers came up to us, and attacked us. This was simply an attempted lynching. I was punched a few times, knocked down to the ground, and when managed to lift myself up, I saw a border police officer. I ran to him and begged him to protect me, to save me, I practically hung onto him. But they just kept hitting, not heeding his calls to step back. They broke one of the cameras which I was holding, snatching it and throwing it to the ground and trampling over it. More punches and I am screaming and seeing the end. Again, I find myself on the ground, again lifting myself up and starting to flee, my glasses are gone and I don't know where I'm running, and I do see the settlers approaching me, and screaming at me. I ran towards the road and saw a police officer. Weeping and distraught, I asked him to save me.
He took me to the car and somehow I along with another activist managed to escape and exit the settlement.
But what about the rest?
They continued to be beaten, and the attempted lynching went on. Three of us are still at the hospital, one with a head injury, and I came out of all this, miraculously, with just one arm broken and lots of bruises.
for more data:
1. A preliminary report with two clips and photos was published on Mondoweiss yesterday:
The trial of Nabi Saleh protest organizer,
Bassem Tamimi, opened today with the testimony of Major Michelle Dahan who
alleged that Tamimi ordered youth to throw stones based on the fact that he saw
him on rooftops during demonstrations.
After more than half a year behind lock and key,
the trial of Palestinian protest organizer, Bassem Tamimi, opened today with
the testimony of the first prosecution witness, Major Michelle Dahan. Dahan
served as a deputy battalion commander in Nabi Saleh between January and May
this year, and was to testify on behalf of the prosecution in order to
substantiate allegations of incitement to violence against Tamimi.
Dahan, who was commander of the military forces
in the area and in charge of the Nabi Saleh demonstrations throughout said
period, made it clear that the protests were dispersed before any violence
ensued . He said, "[...] after midday prayer, at around noon, some 40 to
70 people would set out from the mosque's courtyard [...] and march down with
flags [...]. As soon as the procession arrived at the [village's] main
junction, we would declare it illegal and order people to disperse [...]. When
the march would not disperse, we would start using crowd control measures
[...]".
Referring to the protesters Dahan said, "We
recognized the same activists, the same children and adults, with the adults
mostly occupied with directing the forces [...]". Throughout his
testimony, Dahan reputedly to referred to the stone throwing children as "forces",
alternating the two words.
He went on to say that "The defendant
would appear at the beginning of every demonstration, and as soon as it would
turn violent, the defendant would disappear. During the stone-throwing, when we
would enter inside the village to arrest the stone throwers, we'd
recognize him on rooftops".
The indictment against Tamimi alleges that he
architected an elaborate system of violence against soldiers during Nabi Saleh
demonstrations. Dahan indeed testified that Tamimi directed the village youth
from rooftops, but could not back his statement by more that hearsay and
speculation. The only concrete incident Dahan was able to tie Tamimi to took
place at an unknown date in January wherein he claimed to have seen the
defendant standing on a roof top in the village, shouting and waving his
arms during clashes in the village. Dahan, however, admitted to not having
heard what the older men were shouting and to the fact that he does not at all
understand the Arabic language.
When asked why he did not order Tamimi's arrest
based on what he saw, Dahan admitted that his commanding officers ordered him
not to do so, saying "My certainty [that Tamimi incited the youth] was
apparently not sufficient [to justify arrest]".
I barely knew Abu Haneen, I had the pleasure of
meeting him a couple of times.I was even detained with him by the Israeli army
at Attara checkpoint at one point. After that, I met Abu Haneen a couple of
times, either at a protest at Qalandia or in Nabi Saleh. The last time I saw
him was at last Friday’s protest in Nabi Saleh. We barely talked then, I
remember how I was showing him some of the pictures I took earlier that day, how
we shared a couple of laughs before we went our separate ways at the
end of the day.
Yesterday, while the PA was manipulating the
Palestinian masses at AlMannara, some activist took matters into their own
hands and marched towards the Israeli wall and checkpoint at Qalandia,
announcing it loud and clear "We don't want to see you anymore". The
Israeli army responded in the only ways it knows: violence. While they were
attacking the crowds with gas, Rubber bullets, beating and undercover police;
the Palestinian youth responded with the oldest weapons on earth, stones.
Note the beating of an unarmed man in the first few seconds
As a result of the clashes some young kids were injured including 13-15 years old Ahed Wahdan who lost his eye, other young men were arrested by the undercover Israeli Police including AbuHaneen.
Ahed carried away by a foreign Journalist
Although we are aware
of the consequences ofgoing into protests and confronting the colonialist army;
many will be thrown to jail, and many others will be taking to Hospitals either
dead or with serious injuries. Yet, it still hurts every time we hear
the news about a fallen or a captured fellow activist
The path is long and hard, but we have no choice. Its
either this, or living on our knees; we can’t do that,our knees hurt.
In the last Friday of Ramadan, an Independent Palestinian group named "Olive Revolution" called for a protest at the gates of Jerusalem; the wall gates at Bidu, Sho'afat, Bethlehem and Qalandia were the targets. Unfortunately, all of the protest were canceled last minute, except for a small gathering at Qalandia.
The protest was supposed to start at 10 AM, as announced on the facebook event. But, off course Arabs are always late, even when they revolt. The people who were standing by the checkpoint were either waiting to be allowed to pass qalandia checkpoint or were already denied, but were still waiting for a wonder to get in after all. Most of the people in the lines at qalandia had no clue about the protest that was announced earlier and many of the denied men left to nearby mosques to pray.
Meanwhile at the other side of the checkpoint, a crowd of women was waiting to enter; many of these women were already denied and out of frustration they started chanting against the Israeli occupation, which banned them from entering Jerusalem. They chanted for a while, even before the protest organizers had arrived. Finally the Friday prayer was announced and people started gathering for prayer at the gate of the checkpoint. It was announced that the protest would start directly after the Friday prayers with the ultimate aim to enter Jerusalem. The soldiers at the checkpoint were already geared up; they had started the gearing as soon as the women had started to chant.
The call for prayers was announced, women and men, used pieces of cartoon to sit on while listening to the Imam's lecture. Meanwhile the internationals and Israeli activists stood in the back watching. The Imam spoke about AlQuds, and the right of every Muslims to reach and pray at its holy places. -I couldn't keep myself from pointing the Irony of this speech to the photographer standing next to me, though-
As soon as the prayer ended the protesters walked 2 meters towards the barrier that separated them from the Israeli soldiers. The protesters started chanting; they chanted loud against occupation, racism, settlements, and demanded their rights to enter Jerusalem. In the middle of this mess -I was informed about this later- 1 young men from Bilin actually tried to reach Jerusalem and walked over a lower part of the wall through the checkpoint, he was arrested and released later that day.
20 minutes after the protest started, the organizers announced the end of it; calling the participants to leave the place of the protest. However, many of the young participants refused, stayed, and continued chanting. While the protest was continued, some soldiers positioned in the tower which overlooked the protest were spitting at the protesters who stood below it. The protesters below the tower were provoked and soon one of them threw a stone at the tower; the soldiers got their excuse.
As soon as the soldier saw the stone flying, they start throwing teargas and concussion grenades; the protest ended at that point, some of the youth threw stones, but the whole confrontation ended within a few minutes.
In the end, I realized how weak the Palestinian independent movement is, and how long it's going to take before it will become capable of moving the people. In other words, I think the Palestinians with their long history of revolution, find themselves now in a similar place as the Egyptians found themselves in 2004.
Wish us luck, we need it in this long run towards revolution and decolonization!
