Author: Simon Marshall | Date: October 2015
A demonstration in Susya over Israeli plans to evict and demolish the entire village. Photo: Jesse Locke
My name is Simon. This past spring I spent six weeks as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine. I had never been to Palestine or the region before. As I sat on my flight many thoughts ran through my head. To be honest I was pretty nervous. I had a friend who volunteered with ISM in the past and he told me some interesting stories about a few people on his team that that had been shot by the IDF while taking pictures at local demonstrations.
I arrived in Ramallah on a bus from Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. It was a contrast to Jerusalem; not very many tourists could be seen walking the streets. My first impression of the ISM apartment where I was receiving my training was that is looked liked a college dorm. Posters of the occupation hung on the wall, empty teargas canisters lay on the coffee table. The rooms were a bit dirty and cluttered as people were coming in and out of the apartment. I felt a little unsettled. Over the course of a few days I got the in’s and out’s of ISM history, philosophy, cultural training, and the purpose of our teams. I met some good people during the training and decided to go and stay in the Hebron house.
The Israeli settlers are protected by IDF soldiers and rarely have consequences for their actions, while Palestinians live in fear.
Hebron or Al-Khalil was like nothing I’ve ever seen. Most Israeli settlements are placed just outside Palestinian towns in the West Bank but in Al-Khalil the settlement has taken over half of the town. Many of the narrow streets had multiple checkpoints. Heavily armed soldiers and settlers wandered the streets with automatic weapons. There is one section where the street is literally split in half: with Palestinians only allowed to walk on one side. It is an active example of apartheid. The Israeli settlers are protected by IDF soldiers and rarely have consequences for their actions, while Palestinians live in fear. Israeli human rights group Yesh Din reports that 83% of all crimes committed by settlers against Palestinians are not investigated.
ISM in Hebron had been experiencing problems with IDF coming to the house shortly before I arrived so there was some anxiety amongst the group. Most days we spent walking with Palestinian youth to school as a form of protective presence. They often faced harassment from occupation soldiers and settlers. Every week reports came in of settler crimes of harassment, assault and vandalism against Palestinians and their property. Our job was to interview families, take pictures, and write reports for the ISM website. One family in particular had two very young daughters around two or three years old. They have settlers that live next door and the family is in fear everyday to even go outside. While I was there the neighbors had thrown glass bottles at the little girls and fragments of glass had cut the children. Their reports to the IDF fell on deaf ears. There were times when myself and ISM housemates were walking with Palestinian children and settlers would throw trash and rocks down from their houses above. I witnessed the IDF or as many in ISM refer to them IOF – Israeli Occupation Solders harass children as young as seven years old.
Two of these girls in Hebron suffered facial injuries when settlers threw bottles at them. Photo: Jesse Locke
Every Friday I went with ISM volunteers to different demonstrations in Palestine: Nabi Salih, Bil’in, and sometimes near Ofer Penitentiary which houses around 100 Palestinian minors under the age of eighteen. I could write pages about what we encountered at the “demos” — IOF shooting tear-gas, rubber bullets, and live .22 bullets at children, journalists, and unarmed international activists. I saw several people shot over the course of my time.
It’s absolutely unbelievable that the world doesn’t know the level of injustice that is ongoing against the Palestinians.
Another area where we did a direct action was in Susya. This is located in historical Palestinian Bedouin lands with a school and playground. Israel is threatening to displace all 400/500 villagers off their land so that Israel can take it for their own developments. I went with a team on Nakba Day, which was very symbolic and fitting as this was the day that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians lost their homes and farms to the newly immigrated European settlers. We talked with school kids who expressed how they were worried that they would lose their homes and told us about how Israeli settlers often try to steal their backpacks and rip their books just to threaten them.
Seeing the situation in Hebron, Susya, and in a few of the villages during the Friday demos was very disturbing for me. It’s absolutely unbelievable that the world doesn’t know the level of injustice that is ongoing against the Palestinians. I believe the work that we are going with ISM is helping for a few reasons: our timely reports and documenting through filming and photos help expose the truth though online media, working in partnership with Palestinians helps provide some support through solidarity: they know they are not alone in the struggle, IOF and settlers are less like to commit violent acts against children when we accompanied them on their way to school in Al-Khalil.
I know that my Palestinian experience has forever changed my view of the region and that I will never look at the “conflict” the same way. I would love to go back and help with the olive harvest in October. Thanks to NorCal ISM for your support in helping me participate on this trip.
Simon Marshall is a Canadian-American musician who lives in Oregon. He is a first-time ISM volunteer.