Israelis and International Students Protest Military Violence

October 2nd, West Jerusalem, Israel
by Russell Maier

In the center of West Jerusalem Tuesday, close to 150 demonstrators lined
the streets of Paris Square to protest the violence running rampant
throughout most Palestinian areas- in particular, the level of force in use
by the Israeli military. Several Jewish and Israeli organizations,
including Peace Now and Daughters of Peace, gathered together to voice their
concerns. A contingent of international students from Birzeit University,
in the West Bank also joined in. On the other side of the street, half a
dozen orthodox Jews set up posters opposing Barak’s concessions, Peace Now
and the general peace process.

The demonstration illustrates the vast political rift in Israel, and the
extent to which many Jews are growing increasingly uncomfortable with their
government’s policies in the occupied territories. In the past three days,
two other such demonstrations have taken place in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Today, the crowd of pro-peace supporters varied in age from adolescents to
senior citizens. Signs ranged from “Stop the Violence”, “Words yes, War No”
to “Two people, two states”. Many Jewish demonstrators were not only in
support of mediation over violence but of Jerusalem as a shared capital, and
a return to 1967 borders. A young woman from Daughters of Peace explained
that the solution must “not only be about peace, but it must be about
justice.” According to a middle-aged Jewish woman and 25 year resident of
Jerusalem, Israel has a moral responsibility of return or compensation to
the displaced Palestinian Refugees.

In the midst of the demonstrators were a group of international students,
who had braved the current West Bank turmoil to be in Jerusalem and have
their voices heard. The group included three Canadians, two Germans, and an
Irishman, all Arabic students at Birzeit University and living near
Ramallah. Most of them, had witnessed first hand the clashes between
soldiers and Palestinians and what they deemed and excessive use of
violence. They cited the use of live ammunition and deliberate shooting
above the waist of Palestinian demonstrators. Wishing to remain anonymous,
one Canadian explained, “I am here today, not just because I am against the
violence being used by both sides, but because from my time living in
Palestine and Israel, it has become clear to me that Israel has been the
cause of great injustice to the Palestinian people. I want to speak out
loudly against its continuation.”

On the other side of the busy street, a handful ultra-orthodox Jews quietly
put up banners on the street sidings. Written in Hebrew, their banners
translated “Peace Now is a knife in the back of Jerusalem” and “Left wingers
are traitors”. More of their slogans sympathized with the far right wing
Rabbi Kanash, known for his radical views against any concessions whatsoever
to Palestinians. The men clarified that they shared no direct political
affiliations other than being “friends with a common cause against the
liberal threat”. They explained their belief that as much force as possible
is warranted to rid areas of Arabs that should, according to the Bible,
rightfully belong to Jews. A bearded young man wearing traditional Jewish
garb and a yamka on his head, explained that the military should be doing
all that it can to “destroy all the terrorists that throw stones.” He added
in broken but adamant English, “Even if a boy throw stone, he should be
shot at.” Currently, the ideology of such fundamentalist Jews, although
watered down in the political arena, is an influential force. According to
several Peace Now demonstrators, it underlies much of the current violence
and the onslaught of tanks, helicopter gun ships, rockets, and hundreds of
soldiers now being deployed to quell the popular Palestinian uprising.

by Russell Maier