Further proof that the Palestinian Authority has become a meaningless insitution in the struggle for freedom. While children are being openly abducted by Shin Bet, the faux 'unity government' suits in Ramallah sink deeper into the abyss of their own self-effacing flattery. The Bil'in Popular Committee is the only group in the West Bank to have achieved substantive success - however imperfect - in getting the Israeli "security barrier" moved back from illegally confiscated territory. The news today is good and reflects the power of sustained civil disobedience as the last resort.
On Tuesday morning this week, army bulldozers began work to dismantle the Wall in Bil'in. As early as 2007, after two years of weekly protests in the village and following a petition filed by the residents, Israeli high court declared the path of the Barrier illegal. The court ruled that the route was not devised according to security standards, but rather for the purpose of settlement expansion. Despite the high court's ruling four more years of struggle had to elapse for the army to begin dismantlement. During these years two people were killed in the course of the weekly protests and many others injured.
Granted, it was ultimately an Israeli court that caused this to happen, but that's actually the point of civil disobedience campaigns: get the courts involved and hope that somehow legality will transect morality. The only time i recall the PA leadership showing up in Bil'in was the Friday following the initial court ruling; a convoy of tinted glass mercedes joined by the requisite PR enablers, there to extend plattitudes to 'the resistance' and then zoom back to Ramallah, DC, Riyadh or wherever to play more charades with their Israel and American handlers. One word, two syllables. Second syllable rhymes with 'nap'.
The Bil'in Committee essentially created the first Palestinian flash mob, gathering every Friday to engage in creative nonviolent direct action. They never sanctioned the used of weaponry against those building the wall or guarding it, which among other things made it possible for them to work in strong coalition with Israeli anarchists against the wall and for a sustained stream of internationals to participate. Other villages have followed their lead, or perhaps it's more accurate to say that Bil'in inspired them to reconnect with those dormant, First Intifada civil resistance roots.
In any event, i think it's fair to conclude these are the folks who are making the untelevized revolution happen and i congratulate them on today's achievement. Must feel great to see Israeli bulldozers used on something other than a generations-old family home. Yet Bil'in has not been totally vindicated: 435 acres of village land still remain on the Israeli side of the barrier, appropriated by a settlement there. No rest for the weary, no need for those ineffectual politicos.
No comments:
Post a Comment