Author: Daniel Roberts | Date: September 2015
Ahed struggling to pull her brother away from a soldier in their village of Nabi Saleh. Photo: Bilal Tamimi
Earlier this year I went to Palestine for my second stint as a volunteer with ISM. When I made the crossing via the Allenby Bridge from Jordan I was taken out of the normal line and into a little room for questioning. I had an hours worth of questions, soldiers went through my phone and laptop. My previous experience in ISM had prepared me for this and I was ready. There was one point where I really thought by the tone of the questioning and their rude treatment that I wouldn’t be allowed in. Border soldiers are trained to keep out activist and journalist that have any pro-Palestinian leanings. My cover story was that I had a friend who was a pro-Israeli skater and that I was doing some filming for a skate video that was featuring the Tel Aviv skate scene. I had his cell phone number. He is a well-known guy so I believe that’s what helped me get in.
Being part of an ISM community means breaking bread daily with people who share the same heart and drive about Palestine, and discussing how we can make a positive change.
I had a few other friends that I recruited to volunteer with ISM. As they completed their training in Ramallah I had a chance to catch up with ISM friends. Often times living in the US I feel very isolated in my passion for Palestine. The narrative is very pro-Israel at home. A recent survey by The Brookings Institution on the American public view on Israel and Palestine found that 55% were in favor of Israel’s side of “the conflict,” 39% were neutral, with only 6% leaning towards Palestine. Facing that kind of cultural bias can be a daunting task in our efforts of educating, reporting, and raising awareness about what’s truly going on. One of the things that I enjoy about ISM is that like-minded people from around the world come to the occupied West Bank because they are passionate about the Palestinian issue. Being part of an ISM community means breaking bread daily with people who share the same heart and drive about Palestine, and discussing how we can make a positive change. I’ve had housemates that have ranged in age from retired to straight out of high school. It was great being back in Palestine with a supportive community.
Trying to sum up almost two months of experiences in a short article can be difficult. I’ve learned that within the ISM group we as individuals have the ability to use our individual gifts to contribute to the overall efforts. One of the core priorities of ISM is documentation. This is from the ISM website “documenting and reporting to local and international media about the daily life under apartheid and countless human rights and international law violations by the Israeli military. The need for documentation is not just to show that there are illegal and unjust actions going on, but also to provide a real means of evidence for accountability to the police and courts, case by case.”
Parts of our daily activities were interviewing Palestinian families and publishing stories, videos, and photos after incidents of violence perpetrated by illegal settlers and IOF incursions. During my first experience with ISM we had discussed making a short film focusing on one village to better document what daily life in Palestine is like. Karam who is one of the main Palestinian leaders in ISM has spent a lot of time in a small village of Nabi Saleh. Every Friday he goes to the village to participate, take photos, and video the demo. He introduced us to the Tamimi family and A’hed Tamimi. When she was just 13 A’hed won the Handala Award for courage from Turkey. She was flown to Turkey with her mother where she was presented the award and met with Prime Minister Erdogan.
Janna Ayyad marching in a demonstration on Nakba Day. Photo: Rise Up International
During our trip we spent a lot of time in Nabi Saleh, gathering stories from the people, documenting night incursions by the IOF, and documenting the weekly demonstrations. Nabi Saleh in unique because it is one of the few villages where women and girls participate in the weekly demonstrations. A’hed and other teen girls leave their heads uncovered and are actively part of the non-violent protests. A’hed has long curly blonde hair and blue eye so she shatters many stereotypes of what a Palestinian looks like.
A’hed, her family, and friends had a very deep impact on me. After several viral videos, including the incident a few weeks ago when she intervened as a soldier was choking her brother she has become the poster child for Palestinian resistance against the occupation. We plan to use the video, photos, stories, and interviews to release a short film about A’hed and the unique non-violent resistance technics that Nabi Saleh uses. I believe that as the outside world learns more about the Palestinian struggle through the eye of a teen that sympathy will grow for the independence movement. Our film titled Radiance of Résistance focuses on A’hed Tamimi, Janna Ayyad, their friends, and family will be released in 2016 in film fest around the world. People can follow our facebook page for ongoing updates on the project. www.facebook.com/radianceofresistance Our efforts would not be possible without the support of ISM in California and ISM Palestinian leaders including Karam who served in a producer role. It was amazing to have the support locally in Nabi Saleh , with Karam and the ISM community. As we look to the future of ISM, I can see us getting involved in more projects like this where we balance the daily reports, with larger film projects and stories that raise awareness on a larger scale.
Daniel is an American who has volunteered with ISM two different times. His involvement with Palestinians started in 2012 when he received a grant to teach art classes at Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan. A year later he was part of a team built the first skate ramp in Gaza.