For avid readers you'll already know the good news but for those who haven't been following the other blogs I recommend (down the right side on my page) here's a really great story from The Palestine Monitor website...
I hope you click on the link for the full story, but in short, after years of non-violent protest the village of Bil'in has had at least a partial victory against the illegal 'separation wall' going through their village. The Israelis have begun to take some of it down, restoring hundreds of acres of land back to Bil-in and it's citizens. It's only a start, but an excellent result for the determination and persistence of these villagers.
Do check it out for more, including photos - and don't forget the other sites I've highlighted for more on Palestine, including the already mentioned Palestine Monitor, The Electronic Intifada, and the Jewish Voice for Peace.
And speaking of the last one, a quick note regarding my last post.
As I described, I have been moved from despair to hope a number of times by the many awesome people and organisations I've come across in Palestine and Israel working against the occupation and for peace. Encouragingly, many of these individuals and groups are Israelis and/or Jewish (or groups founded by Israelis), and I chose to highlight three such groups in my last post (as well as a joint Jewish/Palestinian group).
I did this because of my genuine delight to find Israelis so willing to hold their country to account for their terrible occupation of Palestine and so determined to work for peace. I also wanted to highlight them because so often the portrayal of Israel in Australia (and no doubt in much of the rest of the world) leaves out these dissenting voices. Perhaps this is not surprising given the official and political positions presented by Israel, but it's important to know that there is a very strong opposition within Israeli society to the occupation, despite them rarely appearing in the mainstream media. (With at least one result being that to support Palestine is to 'obviously' be opposed to Israel, and then to perhaps even be portrayed as anti-Semetic.)
I also found it useful to highlight these groups to demonstrate - at least indirectly - that I am not blindly supporting Palestine, nor anti-Israeli (despite some criticisms of me by people who will remain nameless).
I totally condemn violence by all parties, and strongly support any and all those wanting and working for peace - especially those in Palestine who are feeling the effects of over forty years of occupation. I condemn the violence of Palestinians who take up arms against Israel, and I condemn the settlers, soldiers and other Israelis who daily use violence to brutally suppress the Palestinian people.
I have met inspirational Palestinians, but also Israelis, and stand with them in solidarity against the state of Israel's occupation and inhumanity towards the Palestinian people.
As all of the Israeli peace activists and groups demonstrate, anti-occupation is not anti-Israel and is not synonymous with some apparent goal of the destruction of Israel. To make that clear; I do not desire the loss of the state of Israel.
What I do desire is a peaceful and just settlement between Israel and Palestine which results in two peoples living side by side with justice and equality. Many people I met on both sides of this conflict inspire me to believe this could actually happen.
Update: Here's a link to the BBC report re the Bil'in story.
I hope you click on the link for the full story, but in short, after years of non-violent protest the village of Bil'in has had at least a partial victory against the illegal 'separation wall' going through their village. The Israelis have begun to take some of it down, restoring hundreds of acres of land back to Bil-in and it's citizens. It's only a start, but an excellent result for the determination and persistence of these villagers.
Do check it out for more, including photos - and don't forget the other sites I've highlighted for more on Palestine, including the already mentioned Palestine Monitor, The Electronic Intifada, and the Jewish Voice for Peace.
And speaking of the last one, a quick note regarding my last post.
 |
| Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims of all ages, working side by side for justice and peace |
As I described, I have been moved from despair to hope a number of times by the many awesome people and organisations I've come across in Palestine and Israel working against the occupation and for peace. Encouragingly, many of these individuals and groups are Israelis and/or Jewish (or groups founded by Israelis), and I chose to highlight three such groups in my last post (as well as a joint Jewish/Palestinian group).
I did this because of my genuine delight to find Israelis so willing to hold their country to account for their terrible occupation of Palestine and so determined to work for peace. I also wanted to highlight them because so often the portrayal of Israel in Australia (and no doubt in much of the rest of the world) leaves out these dissenting voices. Perhaps this is not surprising given the official and political positions presented by Israel, but it's important to know that there is a very strong opposition within Israeli society to the occupation, despite them rarely appearing in the mainstream media. (With at least one result being that to support Palestine is to 'obviously' be opposed to Israel, and then to perhaps even be portrayed as anti-Semetic.)
I also found it useful to highlight these groups to demonstrate - at least indirectly - that I am not blindly supporting Palestine, nor anti-Israeli (despite some criticisms of me by people who will remain nameless).
I totally condemn violence by all parties, and strongly support any and all those wanting and working for peace - especially those in Palestine who are feeling the effects of over forty years of occupation. I condemn the violence of Palestinians who take up arms against Israel, and I condemn the settlers, soldiers and other Israelis who daily use violence to brutally suppress the Palestinian people.
I have met inspirational Palestinians, but also Israelis, and stand with them in solidarity against the state of Israel's occupation and inhumanity towards the Palestinian people.
As all of the Israeli peace activists and groups demonstrate, anti-occupation is not anti-Israel and is not synonymous with some apparent goal of the destruction of Israel. To make that clear; I do not desire the loss of the state of Israel.
What I do desire is a peaceful and just settlement between Israel and Palestine which results in two peoples living side by side with justice and equality. Many people I met on both sides of this conflict inspire me to believe this could actually happen.
Update: Here's a link to the BBC report re the Bil'in story.
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