Kobi SnitzAnarchists Against the Wall |
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“ In late 2003, the first time I came was for direct action in Mas'ha. We cut the fence and opened the gate and it was made famous by the army shooting live rounds at us from a short distance. One of the guys got shot in both legs, nearly bled to death and nearly lost one of his legs. He's fine now. Direct action became a lot more dangerous after that. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ [Residents of] Budrus, a village west of Ramallah, very close to the Green Line, were demonstrating. Over the course of six months, I think they counted something like close to sixty demonstrations. The planners decided to move the fence to the Green Line almost completely. It deviates from the Green Line at some point, but the significance was that it wasn't a court decision. It was the demonstrations that forced a rethinking of the route. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Israeli/Palestinian Power Dynamics:
“ My impression of some dialogue groups is that sometimes the starting premise is that in order to get along, in order to make this pleasant for everybody, we need to start from a position of parity: Palestinians suffer, Israelis suffer. If we start from that position, it will be easier to get along. But I think as far as relating to the political situation I think it's quite misleading. Israelis and Palestinians are not in the same position. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ There's a matter of cultural norms that Israelis need to learn while they're in Palestine. If you're a woman you have to wear a long sleeve shirt, or at least you can't wear a tank top. No skirt, no short pants. I find myself being fashion police on the bus to demonstrations sometimes. It's not something we like to do, but if you don't it could cause problems with the village. It's not that the people we know well are necessarily bothered by it, but it's a big village, and not everybody might be 100% thrilled about working with Israelis, so if some Israelis don't respect cultural norms, or it's mostly that they don't know about them, then that's a potential problem. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Israeli/Palestinian Power Dynamics:
“ I think a deeper political issue is Israelis' position in organizing the demonstration. It is a partnership, and we do work together with Palestinians, and yet it is their village, and they should be leading the demonstration. It's not the Israelis' place to lecture Palestinians about how to conduct their struggle… I find that sometimes Israelis, especially those who are not experienced or aren't in close contact with the village, would take more charge than they should: go this way, don't throw stones, that's the sort of tension that could come up with larger groups that don't have a long history of joint action. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ Just about everywhere, the organizing committees-- especially when they invite us-- have made a commitment to nonviolent demonstrations, which means that they march, and typically what we do is try to get to a work site and sit in front of a bulldozer to try to prevent the construction. Now, this commitment to nonviolence does not include policing the youth to the point that they won't respond to army provocations. They are not committed to being an extension of the police who are going to chase them [the youth] and prevent them from responding to army provocation. They do typically urge the youth not to throw stones and not to place themselves at risk that way and not to respond to army provocation. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ A commitment to nonviolence is not necessarily a religious one. It does not have to be total; it could be up to a point, such as up to a certain number of casualties. So to answer your question, I do consider a demonstration to be nonviolent even if some of the participants are not above being provoked. As far as the demonstrations in Palestine, the youth who respond with stones are not exactly part of the demonstration. They have their own tactics, which they pursue mostly separately from the rest of the demonstration, and even the army sort of understands that distinction. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
Violence and Civil Society:
“ Even ten Israelis at a demonstration can make a real difference. We know from the army's own declarations that their open fire regulations change as soon as they think there are Israelis around. For example, they are not to use live fire when there are Israelis around, and they are not to fire rubber bullets in a direction where they think there are Israelis. So even a small number of Israelis can make a difference, and a large number obviously can make a big difference. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ [Being an anarchist] means being opposed to the existence of the State in general- the State of Israel, and actually a Palestinian state as well, except that as far as the day-to-day struggle, it makes little difference [...] I'd rather societies be organized in a different way, but it's almost completely irrelevant as far as political work or political priorities right now. Before we talk about getting rid of states, there's a long, long way of organizing and of dismantling the occupation and the wall. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ I think even in the most hostile press coverage, there is a degree of reality that cannot be suppressed. The fact that there are Israelis that are against this thing [the separation barrier], the fact that they are demonstrating with Palestinians, the fact that they are arrested and injured, that, even if we are described as crazy-and it's getting harder and harder to do that because there are more and more Israelis joining demonstrations-even in that situation, part of the reality is still transmitted. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
“ You don't have to be an anarchist to be against a Jewish state. A lot of people are against a Christian state in the US but they're not anarchists. I have a quote by Ben Gurion where he's against a Jewish state. He's not an anarchist and everybody considers him a Zionist. He was considered a Zionist when he made that statement. Ben Gurion describes a bi-national state, he says a state that has cultural and educational autonomy for Jews and Palestinians, a two house parliamentary system that prevents one group from dominating the other, and the political system should be such that Jews will not dominate Palestinians and Palestinians will not dominate Jews. That's Ben Gurion, and again, he's not an anarchist and he was considered a Zionist when he made that statement. ” [Source in Complete Interview]
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