On July 9th, 2004 the International Court of Justice ruled that the Israeli wall is illegal and that the construction of it should be stopped immediately. Three years later, the wall still stands and it continues to spread throughout the West Bank, taking more Palestinian owned land with it. To commemorate and remind the Israeli army of this decision, the people of Wadi An Nis, a village south of Bethlehem, held a demonstration for the 3rd anniversary of the UN court’s ruling.

When Martha and Beth arrived to Wadi An Nis, the villagers were holding prayers on the land that is scheduled for confiscation. There were around 60 Palestinian, Israeli and International activists present. After prayers, we followed the villagers towards the site of the illegal wall, chanting such things as “No, no to the wall”, and “Free Palestine”.

There were 49 soldiers dressed in riot gear, five army jeeps, and border police waiting to meet us. The soldiers formed a barricade with their shields ready and would not allow us to pass. Although we were showing we had nonviolent intentions by putting our hands in the air with peace signs, the soldiers began to physically push us back. It is also evident in our picture that they used their wooden batons.

The Palestinians refused to let this stop them, and so we were all instructed to sit down. We sat in a group before the soldiers and continued chanting for a time. A Palestinian woman led the chants and kept them going strongly. Martha and Beth were very surprised and delighted at this, because the Palestinian women are not usually involved, let alone leading, demonstrations.

With the army watching, a very brave Palestinian man (along with his English translator) stood up and told his story. He remembered how as a boy he used to shepherd his sheep and later, how he tended the land of his family. Then, the Israeli army confiscated his land in order to make way for the apartheid wall to surround the nearby settlement of Efrat. He said that he is no longer able to walk on or use his own land. The man pointed to a figure standing up on the hill looking down at us, who was the man in charge of security for the Israeli, Efrat settlement. He said to us, “It is not his land, it is my land.”

This Palestinian man then advised us to go to his land and pick as many grapes, leaves, and almonds as we could find. So we all walked a little ways down the road and did so. When we were finished we began walking back down the road towards the site where the wall was to be built. However, army jeeps drove towards us in an attempt to prevent the protest from continuing. At this point a very beautiful nonviolent action happened.

A Palestinian man stood firmly in front of the first jeep, causing it to stop in its place. The soldiers in the jeep looked surprised, and tried to slowly move forward. However, the man remained solidly against the front of the jeep. Other demonstrators; Palestinians, Israelis and internationals; stood with the man in front of the jeep. One of the Palestinians suggested putting the grape leaves on the hood. So demonstrators began arranging grape leaves on the hood of the vehicle and Beth joined in. Other soldiers came from behind and pushed us away from the jeep.

We ended the protest with more chants, and then proceeded back up the hill.

West Bank Israeli settlements have been allocated huge amounts of Palestinian land, but use little of it according to a Peace Now report. [Peace Now is an Israeli anti-occupation and peace in the Middle East organization.] “Only nine percent of the area under settlement jurisdiction has been built on, and only 12 percent is being used at all, the report said, citing [Israeli] Civil Administration figures. But despite their huge unused land reserved, 90 percent of the settlements exceed their boundaries and about one-third of the territory they use lies outside their jurisdiction [therefore extending into Palestinian land] , the report says. “Settlers use only 9% of state allocated West Bank Land.” Haaretz [Israel’s NY Times] 7/7/07 [information in brackets is our explanation and not part of the article]

The purpose of the wall is said to be the protection of the illegal Israeli settlements, however it actually serves the function of stealing Palestinian land. The wall has spread throughout the West Bank weakening it, like cancer spreading through the body. But the wall is only one tool of the occupation, an occupation which is structurally violent. Systemic violence is any institutionalized practice, which is carried out by such institutions as the military, laws, civil administration, or the racism of civil society, which adversely affect a group of people or individuals. It is the soldiers, the settlers, and Palestinian combatants that use interpersonal violence, but we believe systemic violence comes before and is the cause of interpersonal violence. Sociologist Gregg Barak writes in Violence and Nonviolence, “Violence and violent acts are often social and political diseases before they are psychological malaises.” The violence of the occupation must stop.