|
CounterPunch
October
28, 2002
Picking Olives & Removing
Roadblocks as Acts of Resistance:
an Interview
with Ghassan Andoni
by IDA AUDEH
It is olive picking season in Palestine, and so
far about 120 activists from almost a dozen countriesæthe
US, England, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Austria,
Switzerland, France, and Italyæhave responded to an appeal
by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and arrived to
help Palestinians harvest their groves. But the season is not
getting off to a good start. Reports from Jayous (near Qalqilya),
Aqraba, Inbus, and Awartha and Beit Furik (in the Nablus district)
tell of beatings and shootings of Palestinians by the Israeli
settlers and at least one shooting death, that of Hani Yousef,
a 22-year-old Palestinian from Aqraba. In some instances, the
settlers harvest the olives while Palestinians watch, helplessly.
The Israeli army does nothing to prevent this. Since October
2000, Israeli soldiers and settlers have bulldozed, uprooted,
or set ablaze about 200,000 Palestinian olive trees, at a cost
to Palestinian farmers of about $10 million.
The 2-year-old ISM is committed to an
active, engaged, nonviolent confrontation of the Israeli occupation.
I interviewed ISM co-founder Ghassan Andoni, who spoke in Boulder,
Colorado as part of a national tour.
Question: Why the focus on olive picking?
Andoni: Most Palestinian villagers have
no access to their olive groves right now. They are either adjacent
to Israeli settlements, and Israeli settlers do not hesitate
to shoot them if they appear, or they are in closed military
areas, or the towns are surrounded and anyone who ventures out
of town risks being shot. We don't want to lose olive picking
in Palestine for two reasons. Life in Palestinian cities and
refugee camps is being destroyed. If Palestinian villages are
turned into cement blocks, without land, without olive groves,
then they become refugee camps. We don't want that.
In addition, olive picking is an act
of defiance, because you are willing to go to areas close to
settlements or areas announced as closed military zones. Soldiers
and settlers will try to stop you, attack you. It is an act of
defiance that many Palestinian villages are willing to take part
in. In the villages you can convince people to participate in
civil disobedience and nonviolence.
Question: Tell me about the road that
took you to civil disobedience and nonviolence. What model of
nonviolent resistance are you following? What was your inspiration?
Andoni: The idea of nonviolent resistance
to occupation arose mostly during the first (1987) intifada.
The Rapprochement Center in Beit Sahur led a civil disobedience
movement, and the experience with tax resistance inspired many
people in town, who saw that nonviolence could be effective too.
When the second intifada began, people again started to think
about moving in the direction of nonviolent resistance. We thought
that nonviolent resistance could provide the platform for people
who are not engaged to become engaged. The occupation tries to
kill the spirit of resistance. We didn't want this to happen
among Palestinians, and we didn't want this to become a fight
between a few hundred idealists and the occupation army. That
would definitely be a lost cause. The problem is, we didn't have
hundreds, we had dozens, and they could easily be shot at. So
the question of protection came up immediately, and that's where
the internationals come in.
Those of us who eventually formed the
International Solidarity MovementæHuweida Arraf and Adam
Shapiro in Ramallah, Neta Golan in Jerusalem and Hare, myself
in Beit Sahurægot together because we found that we were
engaged in the same kinds of activities. Ours were totally individual
efforts, dictated by events on the ground. We weren't trying
to apply things we read about, we were just learning from our
own experiences.
Question: What is the focus of your
activities?
Andoni: Our focus is on active nonviolent
resistance as a way of challenging the tools of Israeli control
and expansion of the occupationæmainly roadblocks, checkpoints,
and land expropriation. Without those tools, it will be very
difficult to maintain the occupation. You cannot challenge the
control system by shooting at it. But if you are able to remove
a roadblock or go through it regardless of the orders of the
soldiers and if you can do that collectively and regularly, they
either have to bring more soldiers to sustain it, or they have
to abandon it. So it makes the occupation more costly. The idea
is this: Instead of Palestinians adapting to the occupation,
we have to shift the burden from the Palestinian side to the
occupier through acts of resistance. Adapting to occupation kills
resistance. Our approach is to take actions that are considered
by the occupier to be illegal and that expose you to punishment
and risk. You need to decide to take the risk.
If you look carefully, you find that
people who wage war are highly motivated, whereas peacemakers
are shy, afraid to take positions because they want to appear
to be objective. Why? Why should people who wage war be so committed
and people who believe in peace not have the guts for it? The
ISM says, don't just think peace or talk about it. If you want
it, stick your neck out. Come and protect civilians in times
of war. Go to the Church of the Nativity. Stand with [those under
siege in the church], take food to them. And many did. Go to
Jenin when the massacre was taking place. And come and help Palestinians
dismantle the systems of control. Remove the roadblocks.
The roadblock between Birzeit and Ramallah is operated by two
soldiers, but the road is used by more than 100,000 Palestinians.
For the longest time, no one challenged it. Twice, Palestinians
and internationals dismantled it. If this is done daily, they
would have to bring dozens of soldiers to maintain it, or they
might just forget about it, because in fact the checkpoint is
about control, not security. The Israelis increase their control
of us, and Palestinians are expected to adjust. If Palestinians
stop adjusting and crack the system of control, then Israel has
to adjust. Israel can't achieve security by caging and starving
people and destroying communities. People have to move, they
have to live, they have to work.
The ISM's first activity was held on
Dec. 28, 2000, about 3 months after the start of the second intifada.
A number of internationals and Gush Shalom members marched with
Palestinians into a military camp at the edge of Beit Sahur,
entered the military camp, asked the soldiers to leave, and put
a Palestinian flag on the tower. The soldiers were caught by
surprise, and spiritually the act was very moving. In Gaza 12
people were killed in an effort to raise the Palestinian flag
on the tower at Netzarim. In Beit Sahur, no lives were lost and
the soldiers stood by helplessly, not knowing what to do.
Question: How would you describe the
structure of the ISM?
Andoni: We agreed from the start that
we would come up with campaigns of direct actions and that the
movement had to be international and Palestinian. It has to be
a Palestinian led movement; we did not want international coming
and deciding the agenda. And we agreed that it would be decentralized
and that we would operate by consensus.
Once a month, the core group meets to
strategize, think about campaigns, decide on where a presence
is needed. Internationals form affinity groups and work together.
We don't really tell them what to do. We might give the broad
outlines, such as the importance of deploying people in Nablus.
The main purpose might be for internationals to stay in the homes
of martyrs [suicide bombers] and protect them from demolition.
The group members sit and discuss this, and you end up with the
people who are really into it.
As a movement, we categorically reject
physical and verbal violence, and we distance ourselves from
any Palestinian effort that mixes both. There is a certain way
we want to conduct ourselves, and we don't violate our ground
rules.
Question: How able are you to involve
Palestinians?
Andoni: In the beginning, people were
skeptical. We started an ongoing dialog with people until they
accepted that our activities should be done and that there was
nothing suspicious about it. We started coordinating with different
active groups in different areas to organize campaigns, because
we didn't want ISM to become an additional Palestinian faction.
We are building a network of activists, people as well as groups
and organizations that are attuned to working with international
groups. I think ISM is well perceived. People appreciate what
the international activists are doing. [Our challenge] is to
get people to see ISM not only as something positive but as something
in which they want to participate.
Question: Defying a military occupation
that doesn't hesitate to shoot entails substantial risks. How
possible is to get people to overcome their fear?
Andoni: It depends. Some are, and some
are not, and that's why we are not talking about big numbers.
We think it will build up very slowly, but if you remember 1987,
nobody expected that Palestinians would do anything. There comes
a point you can never anticipate when collectively people take
a decision, and we hope that this point will come soon. We hope
that the example set and the work done will accelerate this process
and get people into it and at least increase the number of people
who are actively resisting the occupation.
Question: How did the spring incursions
change your work?
Andoni: When the incursion started, we
tried to identify what would be the most powerful ways to mobilize
this movement during a time of war, and we realized that we needed
to work on the level of protection and presence. And that's why
we started to deploy internationals in refugee camps, the most
dangerous areas, and we entered the presidential compound and
the church of the nativity while under siege. The internationals
took in food and raised morale and were there to report, because
there were lots of biased media reports, images coming from there
of a hostagelike situation. I think those two incidents were
what made the ISM famous.
Question: How many internationals
do you think you have at any given time?
Andoni: We got much more than we expected.
ISM has grown a lot in a short period of time. The numbers depend
on the campaigns. When we have a campaign, during the freedom
summer campaign, we had between 70 to 100 people at any time
during the 3-month period. Between campaigns we might have between
20 and 40 at any time.
Question: What is the relationship
between ISM and Palestinian political factions and the Palestinian
Authority?
Andoni: ISM is part of Grassroots International
for the Protection of the Palestinian People (GIPP), but in fact
the relations with GIPP have never been clear. We have a different
focus: GIPP does a lot of fact finding and reporting, whereas
our focus is direct actions. You have to be open to everyone,
to work with different political factions. But we have our ground
rules. We don't work with any group exclusively, and we won't
engage in any violence whatsoever. That's taboo.
ISM tends to keep a distance from the
PA. The PA has a lot of appreciation for the ISM especially after
our members went to the presidential compound and the Church
of the Nativity during the sieges. But we were always aware that
we wanted to keep a distance. We have always turned down their
offers of financial assistance.
Question: What kind of relations does
ISM have with Israeli groups?
Andoni: ISM accepts individuals as activists
irrespective of color, religion, nationality, whatever. We don't
mind working with Israeli radical groups but we don't invite
them. If we have an activity in Nablus, then it is up to the
people of Nablus to invite Israeli groups to participate. We
act as guests, not hosts.
Question: What do you think the future
might hold in store?
Andoni: Things could get worse. We used
to think that forced massive transfer [ethnic cleansing] would
be impossible, but now it seems possible. I think if war breaks
out in Iraq, Sharon will spend every minute thinking about a
pretext for massive transfer. Among the Israeli population, it
is discussed as something that is inevitable, as the only solution.
When you undermine any form of coexistence, even one of occupation,
you open up the door to other alternatives, including fascist
alternatives.
Question: You must have some hope
that the ISM will make a difference.
Andoni: Each of us has a certain faith
that he doesn't discuss. It is not necessarily logical or rational.
I have this deep faith in the ability of my people. I have never
stopped believing in their capacity to revive, even when things
got really bad, when morale was low. I believe that's what the
Palestinians did in 1987. If you remember that period, everyone
was detached, we were even ignoring what was going on around
us. In my town, young people started going to parties. We thought
we lost that generation, the PLO was out of Lebanon, and the
occupation appeared to be here to stay. Suddenly, without anyone
expecting it, the intifada broke out. You cannot force people
to think the way you want them to thinkæit doesn't work
this way. The collective unconscious of people moves them in
a direction. You need to trust that the collective unconscious
of people comes to the right decision at the right time. This
has happened so many times, and it will continue to happen.
Ida Audeh's
interviews with Palestinian survivors of Israel's spring 2002
offensive have been published as "Narratives of Siege: Eye-Witness
Testimonies From Jenin, Bethlehem, and Nablus," Journal
of Palestine Studies, Vol. 31, no. 4 (Summer 2002), 13-34.
She can be reached at idaaudeh@yahoo.com.
Information about the ISM is available
at www.palsolidarity.org
Yesterday's
Features
Naseer Aruri
Remapping
the Middle East:
Whose War Is It This Time?
Yigal Bronner
A Letter
to the General
Kurt Nimmo
Horowitz, Powell and Belafonte
Robert Jensen
Bush's
Lies and Simple Truths
Patrick Cockburn
Putin's Gas:
115 Killed by Poison Gas
Anthony Gancarski
Johnny Muhammad Got His Gun
William Hughes
Report from DC:
The Anti-War Movement Arrives
William Blum
Bush's Wars:
Anti-Terror or Empire Building?
New
Print Edition of CounterPunch Available Exclusively
to Subscribers:
- The Shafts of Death: Bush, Coal Mines, and Death
in the Tunnels;
- Speak Memory!: Carter and the Draft;
- Daniel Pipes' World: Smearing Pro-Arab Academics;
- Ashcroft's Gays: the War on Free Speech;
- Saddam's Amnesty: Could It Happen Here?
- Criminalizing Dissent: a history and preview;
- Iraq 1987: When the Going Was Good;
- Egypt in Turmoil: an Anthropologist's Account;
- Green and Grounded: Profiled at the Gate.
Remember, the CounterPunch website is
supported exclusively by subscribers to our newsletter. Our worldwide
web audience is soaring , with about seven million hits a month
now. This is inspiring, but the work involved also compels us
to remind you more urgently than ever to subscribe and/or make
a (tax deductible) donation if you can afford it. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe
Now!
Or Call Toll Free 1 800 840 3683
home / subscribe
/ about us
/ books
/ archives
/ search
/ links
/
|
October 26
/ 27, 2002
Michael Wolff
A Place
of Tears
Ilija Trojanow
Bali Mon Amour
Ben Tripp
Crocodile Tears
Hope Shand and Silvia Ribeiro
The Great Containment:
GM Fallout from Mexico to Zambia
M. Junaid
Alam
The Wolf Who Cried Wolf:
Charging Anti-Semitism & Extending the Iron Wall
Gavin Keeney
The Fusion Thing:
Landscape + Architecture
Adam Engel
A Good Man is Hard to Misfit
Anis Shivani
Is America Becoming Fascist?
Jason Leopold
Is Thomas White Fit to Lead the Army?
Philip Farruggio
Let Them Eat (Crumb) Cake
Josh Frank
The Grassroots of Hope
Anthony Gancarski
Concerned Citizen: episode 5
Night School
M. Shahid
Alam
The Civilizing Mission
October 25, 2002
Wayne Madsen
Pappy
Bush on Wellstone:
"Who Is This Chickenshit?"
Stuart Timmons
Harry
Hay Dead at 90:
He Paved the Way for Modern Gay Activism
Vanessa Jones
Australia
Votes Green:
Historic No Vote to US War Plans
Ben Terrall
Rep.
Tom Lantos' Big Lie
Ismael Hossein-Zadeh
Behind
the Drive for War:
The Escalating Bush Military Budget
Will Youmans
Israel's and Divestment
Norman Madarasz
Lula
on the Verge
October 24,
2002
Jo Freeman
How the
Christian Coalition Boosts Israel
Ben Tripp
George
W.: Caught Between Iraq and a Hard Place
Harry Browne
Ireland's Dreary Yes to Nice
Anis Shivani
A Guide
for the Perplexed:
the Major Countries of the World as Defined by the Office of
Strategic Influence
T.W. Croft
America's
New Improved War
William Hughes
A Free
Press, But for Whom?
Alan Farago
Jeb Bush and the Environment
October 23,
2002
Daniel Wolff
Pataki,
Witt and the Indian Point Nuke
Wayne Madsen
A Saudiless
Arabia
Sam Bahour
and Paul de Rooij
Abritrary
Imprisonment
Chris White
Why I Oppose
the US War on Terror:
an ex-Marine Sergeant Speaks Out
Anthony Gancarski
Back to Bali
Adam Engel
Twilight
(of the Idols) Zone
Robert Fisk
How to Shut Up Your Critics
October 22,
2002
Jack McCarthy
A Letter
to C. Hitchens
Carol Norris
This Message
Brought to You by Breast Cancer, Inc.
Joanne Mariner
Just
Say "Not Until We're Married":
Legislating Morality and Understanding HIV/AIDS Prevention
Kathleen Christison
Excuse Me?
How Israel Justifies Killing Palestinians
Linda Heard
Iraq War
Mongering:
A Game of Chess with Lives at Stake
Roger Peacock
Marketing the War on Iraq
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By
Alexander Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
(Click Here to Order from CounterPunch
Online at 20% Off Amazon.com's price!)
Read
Whiteout and Find Out
How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
|