Norwegian Socialist Youth League member Kirsti Bergsto

A Norwegian woman representing her country’s Socialist Youth League stood about a yard from the combat-ready Israeli soldiers at the anti-Wall demonstration in Bil’in on December 14th. Kirsti Bergsto delivered her message in English to the soldiers, with Palestinian, Israeli, and international protestors (including MPT members Brenna, David, Joe, and Martha) as well as some media listening:

“I want you to know that the Norwegian people do not support apartheid Israel and do not support this occupation, but we do support the Palestinian people and their fight for freedom.

“I am a leader of the Socialist Youth League. Our party, the Socialist Left Party, which is part of the Norwegian government, promotes economic and academic boycotts and divestment against Israeli policy. And of course we don’t want to trade with an apartheid state. We have to tell people all over the world that apartheid is not past history: it’s right here, right now, and lots of people are suffering because of Israeli apartheid.

“The United Nations and international society must do more than just talk. We have to say ‘no’ to apartheid and keep on supporting the occupied people of Palestine.” ^[1]

Delivering a strong message

Palestinians also delivered strong messages to the Israeli soldiers, sometimes practically nose-to-nose with them. At one point members of MPT joined Palestinians in a brief sit-in. When they stood up, several soldiers started to push Palestinian demonstrators, and an order seemingly was given to take tough measures to disperse the crowd. Some soldiers flung and others fired tear-gas canisters at the people, who then ran ahead or aside to try to avoid the gas-laden wind. We also had to dodge noise bombs and try to cover our ears before the bomb exploded, which is not an easy maneuver.

This was the latest in a series of demonstrations held every Friday in Bil’in for the last three years to protest the Wall, which cuts off and incorporates into Israel 60% of the land of the agricultural village of Bil’in^[2].  Even though the Supreme Court has recently ruled^[3] that the Wall must be moved because some of this encroachment is illegal, the Wall has not been moved^[4].

Working-class people unite.
Don’t waste your lives in the army.

In an interview later in the day with Michigan Peace Team, Ms. Bergsto pointed out that “most of the Israeli soldiers are working-class people, but they are here to shoot and to harm working-class people in Palestine. Working-class people should stand together and struggle together, because we have everything to lose if we fight against each other. The real fight is not among the Israeli, Norwegian, U.S., or Palestinian peoples, but rather between the classes; and that is why we must fight this imperialism and the policy which makes the young Israelis waste their young lives, three years, in the Israeli army.”

MPT asked the young Norwegian political leader: “Do you see, or feel, any parallels between the occupation of Palestine and the Nazi occupation of Europe?” “In fact I do,” she replied. “My father was a freedom-fighter when the Nazis were occupying Norway. Even though the occupation of Norway was only five years, many, many people still remember it. All people have the right to fight against occupation and for their freedom, and every nation which has suffered occupation of its land should stand together with the occupied today.” She stated: “There are also many similarities like torture: the torture in Israeli prisons is like the torture of the Jews during the Second World War.”

When asked for her view of how the soldiers had conducted themselves at the demonstration, she began by going to the roots of the conflict: “The Israeli soldiers should not be here at all, should not be part of this occupation. They are really aggressive toward people who are committing only one ‘crime,’ which is to ask for their freedom. That is why about 10,000 Palestinian people, whose only ‘crime’ has been to ask for their freedom and to work politically against this occupation, are in prison.”

Young and old take part in the demonstration.

MPT asked whether the occupation would be possible “without the practically unconditional U.S. military aid to the state of Israel.” She responded: “No, Israel has to get weapons and military equipment from the U.S. to sustain this occupation. That is why we must stand against it and tell the American, Norwegian, and all people what is going on here so that they will tell their governments to stop supporting this war. The American government is directly involved in this occupation.”^[5]

Ms. Bergsto noted that this is her third visit to Palestine and that she and her group are “listening to the histories of the people under occupation and meeting the NGOs, political parties, and of course many Palestinians. Our party, the Socialist Youth League, is going to launch a solidarity campaign with the Palestinian people next year. We are really working hard on this issue and trying to get the Norwegian government to disinvest from Israeli companies.

“I would like to thank you for being here, because international people must be here to be the eyes of the world. The media are the Israeli propaganda arm. For instance, when one Israeli is taken captive, everyone knows it; but no one knows the names of 10,000 Palestinian prisoners. So we must keep fighting and saying ‘No’ to apartheid. It is not past history.”

Thanking Ms. Bergsto for the interview, MPT urged all “to keep strong in the struggle.” Her response: “We have to.”

What might he be thinking?

After the demonstration, some youngsters staged a “David and Goliath” operation against the Israeli soldiers, with the Palestinians taking the role of the Jewish hero David and hurling rocks and even using a slingshot against the contemporary Goliaths. The latter, well-armed and with Israeli army jeeps on the horizon as potential reinforcements, responded by firing rubber-coated bullets at the young Davids. Three reportedly were hit by the bullets but without serious injury.

As we were walking toward the village and away from the lingering tear gas, MPT interviewed Rasha Ahd, a Palestinian who was born in Syria and who has been living in Norway for 17 years. She told us, “My grandparents who were living near Haifa/Acca (not far from the Lebanese border) had to leave their homes in 1948 when the Israeli state was established. Palestine was already populated, and the Israelis wanted to ‘clean it up’ so they would have some space.

She continued, “I really want to thank all of you for your support for the Palestinian people. We need all the support we can get, especially now when we are facing the ‘security wall,’ which really is not a security wall because it separates Palestinian towns; it is not even on the 1967 line. It is part of the theft of land and water resources from the Palestinians, and it also robs them of their opportunity to have a Palestinian state which is their right.”

When MPT asked for her opinion of the Israeli soldiers’ behavior today, she said that they were “very calm. By contrast, when I was here in 2005 they used a lot of violence against the demonstrators even though we were all sitting down. Today they did not arrest or beat up anyone, which is very unusual, although they were really aggressive with the tear gas.

“In conclusion, I hope that with your support we can end this occupation and demolish this apartheid wall.”

Palestinian and soldiers separated by tear gas

Resistance to the occupation takes many forms. Bil’in residents have been collecting the tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated bullets fired by the soldiers and using them as pegs for artistic purposes such as making wall maps of Palestine and lettering various slogans on walls. On the way home from the day’s events, a Palestinian musician who had introduced a particular instrument to his people and who is helping to form an orchestra got into our cab at Ramallah and said proudly and with all confidence: “This too is resistance.”

[1] Notable international figures have likened Israeli policy to that of the former apartheid state of South Africa, citing the fact that Palestinians cannot enter Israel without special permission (hard to get), that their land is being carved up into “bantustans” by the Israeli occupying power, that they are subject to numerous and onerous checkpoints even within Palestinian territory, and that even Palestinians living within Israel (who are Israeli citizens) are the victims of many forms of discrimination by the “Jewish state.”   Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter predictably provoked the wrath of the hard-line pro-Israel lobby by the very title of his book, “Peace Not Apartheid.”

[2] http://www.worldproutassembly.org/archives/2005/12/bilin_villagers.html .

[3] On May 8, 2007. See http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/901229.html .

[4]  Videos about the Bil’in movement can be seen at www.youtube.com/BilinPalestine

[5] On July 29, 2007, BBC reported: “Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has confirmed that the United States is planning a significant increase in military and defense aid to Israel. The package would reportedly amount to more than $30bn over the next 10 years. Mr Olmert described it as an important element for the security of Israel. . . . US defense aid to Israel currently stands at $2.4bn a year - the new package would amount to a 25% increase. Mr. Olmert said the aid had been agreed at a meeting with US President George W Bush in Washington last month. . . . Mr. Olmert said the increased support was a sign of US commitment to maintain Israel's military ‘advantage over the Arab states.’ ‘We understand the need of the US to assist the moderate Arab states which are in one front with the US and us in the fight against Iran, and on the other hand we appreciate the renewed and re-emphasized support for Israel's military and security advantage,’ he said.“