Another dove of peace painted on the apartheid wall. This one is bound and blindfolded, it cannot even attempt to fly. A powerful symbol.

The poet Chaim Nahman Bialik makes the point, in what is almost a Jewish haiku:

"The sun is shining

The acacia is blooming

And the slaughterer is still slaughtering."

The dove

On a nearby wall in Bethlehem is this painting of a dove in flight, wearing a flak jacket and carrying an olive branch in its beak. A sniper has it in his telescopic sights.

The so-called peace process is equally doomed. Year follows year of fruitless negotiations. Nothing is achieved. And this suits Israel's purpose down to the ground. After all, the state of Israel was founded on terrorism and military might and, while "peace negotiations" drag endlessly on, the dispossession of Palestinians from their homes, lands and businesses continues unabated. As a militaristic economy, with the fourth largest sales of arms worldwide, Israel goes from strength to strength. Why would they want a peace agreement?

The struggle

What is one to make of this wall painting on the side of a building near Bethlehem? Two donkeys, their tails tied together, pull in opposite directions. The white donkey appears to have a Palestinian village on its back while the black donkey supports a Jewish settlement (the trees and the style of buildings give the clue). The donkeys - notoriously stubborn beasts - appear to be engaged in a futile, unthinking struggle.

If the artist has used the donkeys as a metaphor for the struggle between Palestinians and the Jewish settler movement then he (or she) is way off the mark. Settlements in the West Bank are encouraged, protected and supported by the government of Israel as part of its decades-old campaign to ethnically cleanse the land of its indigenous population. Israel, with the fourth most powerful army in the world (one which has the power and military hardware to crush Australia's armed forces) is opposed by a handful of lightly-armed resistance fighters in Gaza. Economically, Israel boasts one of the highest per capita incomes in Europe. It has imposed a "surrender or starve" policy upon the populations of Gaza and the West Bank, where poverty is widespread.

To depict this as a struggle between equals, or infer a moral equivalence in the Palestinian or Israeli positions is, quite frankly, disgusting.

The human spirit

On this grey obscenity which has been designed to grab land and split communities -even families - apart, the human spirit shines through. Amongst the political statements and messages of solidarity there are moments of happiness and even humour.

Talking to people throughout the Occupied West Bank I couldn't get over their lack of bitterness. Mostly, they felt bewilderment: Why do the Jews steal our land? Why won't they live in peace? And the one I couldn't answer: If people in the West know what is happening here, why do they do nothing?

The evil you deplored

Great image! The camel is being swarmed by tiny figures emerging from the depths. Down at the base of the wall someone has asked the question: "Israel - have you become the evil you deplored?"

For many of us the question is rhetorical - and the answer is "Yes". Like the abused child who goes on to himself become an abuser, most modern-day Israelis are indifferent to the sufferings of the people they have dispossessed. They enjoy their privileged lives upon the suffering, despair and pain of the indigenous population, the Palestinians. So much pain and suffering, all predicated upon a belief that there is such a thing as a Chosen People.

I'm from Texas

One of the more down-to-earth images appearing on the apartheid wall lampoons the 43rd president of the United States of America, whose foreign policy has proved such a disaster for that country. He and his neo-con henchmen leave behind a legacy of death, destruction and misery throughout the Middle East. His delusional secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, recently declared herself: "especially proud of the situation in the Palestinian territories".

The hopes of millions around the world are pinned to the president-elect, Barack Obama. He seems like a decent sort of person. However, his appointment of Rahm Emanuel, son of an Israeli terrorist and himself a hardline supporter of the Zionist state, as his chief of staff, sends an alarming message. If the Barack administration continues the disastrous policy of putting Israel's so-called interests ahead of American interests then Israelis and Palestinians will continue on in their lethal struggle for the forseeable future.

Faces

This series of large-scale photo portraits has been pasted on The Wall near Bethlehem. The grimacing faces make a powerful statement - the nature of which eludes me!

This part of The Wall is rich in graffiti and street art and has become something of an "in" tourist destination. The nearby shops, however, struggle to exist, as foreign tourists are warned against entering Bethlehem (or indeed, anywhere on the West Bank) for "security reasons" by the occupying Israelis. This is a strategy in their ongoing campaign to ethnically cleanse Palestinian neighbourhoods - starve them out and they will, in desperation, abandon their homes and businesses.

An olympic sport

While I was photographing The Wall at Qalandia four young children came out of their nearby houses to see what I was doing. I agreed to take their photos and, despite the lack of a common language, we established a rapport. When it was time to leave I said my goodbyes and walked off. I hadn't gone far before a shower of stones came whizzing past. I thought I was their friend! Later, an acquaintance explained that stone-throwing amongst Palestinian kids is almost the national pastime, and if it is ever made into an olympic sport then Palestinians will be world champions. *

Which is all very amusing until you reflect that a number of kids have been shot dead while throwing stones at Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers, and that many young stone-throwers rot in Israeli jails at this very moment.

* I would like to add that, at the time, I thought: "Israeli soldiers and border police have fired rubber-coated steel bullets at me and missed (except once). So give it your best shot, kids." But no, I didn't. I was really pissed off.

Another world

The quote on the right, attributed to Arundhati Roy, reads: "Another world is not only possible, she's on the way. Many of us won't be here to greet her, but on a quiet day, if you listen very carefully, you can almost hear her breathing".

Heartbreaking, when you think of the generations of Palestinians who have passed away while waiting to return to their beloved homeland.

Kiwi Peace Call

I liked this graffiti on The Wall near Bethlehem. Sonny Bill (Williams) is - or was, until he defected to rugby union - a star New Zealand rugby league player, As is, I assume, TC.

They may speak funny but those Kiwis have their hearts in the right place. And, bless them, they have even painted their message in the Australian sporting colours!

Banksy (2) too

Banksy at Bethlehem.

Another Banksy wall painting, this one on the apartheid wall near Bethlehem. It's quite a witty piece of role-reversal, the little girl patting down a spreadeagled Israeli Defence (sic) Force soldier. Body searches at the hands of the occupying force are an everyday part of Palestinian life and are carried out more as a form of humiliation of the population than out of any concern for security.

Banksy

A Banksy painting at Qalandia checkpoint.

The pseudo-anonymous British street artist Banksy works in an instantly recognisable style. He uses a stencil technique to transfer his graphic images onto walls and footpaths. His work is remarkable for its visual wit, often using satire to make his point.

Stop killing my sons....

A Michelangelo-inspired wall painting near the Qalandia check point.

Contemporary visual arts practice is, for the most part, really boring. Audiences have switched off in droves from the rampant egotism and posturings (hello, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin et al, are you listening?) of the young and not-so-young wannabees. This kind of art just doesn't connect with ordinary people.

An art of rejection has grown out of this. For decades now young artists have turned to the streets, to walls, to railway carriages as their canvas of choice. I'm not talking about the brain-dead "taggers" who disfigure our cities with their repetitive tags, but to the genuine graffiti artists who have something new and original and heartfelt to say. Crikey, some have even become rich, like Banksy, or been subsumed by the mega-rich art market (Basquiat, Keith Haring and so on) and received the ultimate accolade - their paintings reproduced on tea towels and coffee mugs!

Massive, bland, obscenely expensive, Israel's separation or apartheid wall is a metaphor for the New York art scene. However, in an act of subversion, graffiti artists from around the world have turned it into a huge canvas for their ideas and beliefs. Over the next short while I'd like to share some of this with you.

Hooligan settlers

Soldiers watch on while settlers threaten olive harvesters.

Yesterday's editorial in Haaretz "Hooligan settlers who call themselves Jews", condemned the actions of militant settlers in no uncertain terms: "They have been stealing the land of powerless farmers for decades and do not recoil from stealing the fruit of these farmers' humble land. A society that declares its longing for peace cannot accept such malicious Jewish terror against innocent Palestinian civilians."

Oh that our own quality newspapers dared to speak with such objectivity and courage on matters concerning Palestinian human rights. Instead, we must turn to an Israeli newspaper to find the truth.

Harvest of hate.

Settler attack in Hebron olive grove (courtesy ActiveStills)

Haaretz has reported the most recent attack on Israeli, Palestinian and foreign helpers attempting to harvest olives near Hebron, in the southern West Bank. Several of the pickers were attacked, including Janet Benvie, a British volunteer with the Christian Peacemaker Teams, who was punched in the face after settlers attempted to steal her camera.

Israel Defence (sic) Forces arrived and promptly declared the area a closed military zone.* They described the harvest as a "provocation" because it had not been previously cleared with the IDF.

* Closed military zones have the effect of making Palestinians' presence on their own property unlawful.

Martyrs

Tom Hurndall

The activists I met in the West Bank earlier this year came from Japan, the UK, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, the USA and Norway. They were wonderful people, giving up their summer holidays and paying their own way to take part in a just, humanitarian struggle.

Not all of the young volunteers who have come to Palestine over the years have returned home. Rachel Corrie, run down by an army bulldozer while protesting house demolitions in Gaza and Tom Hurndall, shot in the head by an IDF sniper while escorting young children to safety, also in Gaza, never went home. Both members of the International Solidarity Movement, they became martyrs in the struggle for Palestinian human rights.

So far this year 420 Palestinians (including 80 children) have been killed by Israeli forces. Amnesty International (UK) in a recent report describes a situation where Israeli military forces kill civilians in Gaza with "near-total impunity, week in week out". This is state sanctioned murder.

To read the full report go to: http://palestinechronicle.com.

Time to leave

Israel's daily newspaper Haaretz reports on Middle Eastern issues with the kind of objectivity that news media in Australia and the United States - in thrall to the Zionist lobby - do not. It can be read online at: http://haaretz.com.

In today's issue an article by Avi Primor, "It's time for the IDF to leave the West Bank", argues that security concerns are the biggest drawback to Israel pulling out of the occupied territories. He suggests that an international force of armed observers could be installed in place of the IDF, thus ending 41 years of military occupation.

Such a force, I suggest, would be better disciplined, more humane and more professional than the IDF and the brutal Border Police. Their role would be that of peacekeepers, not as oppressors of the native population and facilitators for settler violence.

Whether the Israeli political class can wean itself off its war mentality and relentless expansionism is another matter.

Watch out Fatima

The now-faint graffiti on the wall of a Palestinian home near the Tel Rumeida settlement in Hebron reads "Watch out Fatima - we will rape all Arab woman". It is meant, obviously, as an encouragement for the indigenous population of this beleagured neighbourhood to flee their homes. It reminded me of another slogan I had seen, years earlier, on a wall on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives, "Death to all Arabs and Christian dogs".

These purveyors of hate are, sadly, everywhere. In today's Haaretz (http://haaretz.com) the Israeli commentator, Akivar Eldar, gives an excellent analysis of the state of the "peace process" and observes that the PA has become "a fig leaf covering the nakedness of a deluxe version of occupation." However, the published comments on his article come overwhelmingly from religious/nationalist zealots, whose hatred of Palestinians and opposition to a just resolution of the conflict is entrenched.

Hatred of Jews, hatred of Muslims, hatred of Israelis, hatred of Palestinians, all have their wellsprings in ignorance and fear. All are abominations.

Dan

Young Israelis spend three years in the military forces and are sometimes posted to the Occupied West Bank. Their duties may include manning checkpoints or patrolling near the many illegal Jewish settlements.

As one of several human rights workers with the International Solidarity Movement, based in the southern city of Hebron (Al Khalil), part of my daily routine was to monitor a checkpoint next to the infamous settlement of Tel Rumeida, scene of many vicious attacks against Palestinian residents. These residents were routinely searched and required to produce their identity cards before they were allowed to go on their way. Whether these searches were security measures or part of the regime of routine harrasment and humiliation is open to dispute.

If they were approachable I would sometimes engage the heavily-armed soldiers in conversation. One of them, Dan, had two years' service under his belt and could hardly wait to get out. He would sometimes joke and play with the local kids and he seemed quite a reasonable person. He told me that he wanted to study literature when he left the army. However, when I asked him what he thought about the situation in Hebron, he replied, "It's their fault, the Palestinians."

Such certainty! It allowed him to justify the presence of the Hebron settlers in properties and on land stolen from the Palestinian owners. It allowed him to condone the attacks these settlers make on Palestinian children on their way to and from school. But then, if he was to admit to himself that Palestinians are human beings like himself, and are entitled to the same human rights as Israeli Jews, how could he do the job he was doing?

Flipping Out

Pity about the late-night slot on SBS last night for the documentary "Flipping Out - Israel's drug generation". The Canadian film-makers went to North India and Goa to record the drugged antics of young Israelis "flipping out" after their compulsory three year stint in the Israeli Defence (sic) Forces.

With their 15,000 shekel severance pay from the army, thousands of young Israelis head for favoured destinations in India where they spend months, sometimes years, partying in a drug-induced haze. For some, the party ends only when they succumb to psychosis and, in some cases, repatriation back to Israel. Feeling (with some justification) that the world despises them they group together in tight communities, wrapping themselves in a sheltering, Israelis-only coccoon.

During their three years service some had served in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza. When interviewed, a few felt remorse, others were indifferent to the suffering and humiliation they had inflicted upon their Palestinian victims. In a sense they, too, were victims of Israel's political culture which sees war and conflict as the preferred option.

Pogrom in Assira

The village of Assira al Qibliya, before Saturday's rampage.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli PM, has described a recent rampage by Jewish settlers through the village of Assira al Qibliya as a "pogrom".

In response to an altercation between two youths, one Palestinian and one Jewish, heavily-armed settler terrorists rampaged through the village on Saturday, shooting indisciminately and vandalising houses and property. Several villagers suffered critical gunshot wounds while soldiers from the Israel Occupation Force stood passively by.

A pogrom is a form of riot directed against a particular group, characterised by destruction of their houses, businesses and religious centres. The term is more usually associated (though not exclusively) with riots against Jewish communities in eastern Europe during the 19th Century. For Olmert to use it in this instance is both a correct choice of words and an indication that the government of Israel has lost control of the monster which it created - the settler movement.

Back to school

Imagine this, where you live, here in Australia: You send your kids off to school in the morning. On the way, they are stopped at an army checkpoint, questioned and maybe searched. Then, before they get to the safety of the school grounds, they are verbally abused, stoned and spat upon by immigrant children and their parents. These immigrants have arrived in the country uninvited, illegally. The police stand by and do nothing. On their way home it is the same story - your children run the same gauntlet of abuse and humiliation.

Sound far-fetched? Well, not if you're Palestinian and live in the West Bank adjacent to an Israeli colonist settlement. Every day of the school week many children leave their homes in fear of their Jewish neighbours, whose sole aim is to drive them from this land. The situation is probably worst in Hebron, where settlers have established themselves in the heart of the city. Foreign human rights workers from such groups as the Christian Peacemaker Teams, Ecumenical Accompaniment and the International Solidarity Movement do their best to shepherd the children to and from school, hoping to ward off the worst violence, but they themselves are open to attack.

Last week school began again for the children of Palestine after their summer holidays. It should be a positive, enjoyable experience. But for many, school days are tinged with fear.

Home of the brave, land of the free.

One of the most depressing aspects in the run-up to the US presidential election has been the candidates' unseemly scramble to demonstrate his or her unflinching commitment to Israel. Not to peace. Not to justice or fairness. To Israel.

Obama or McCain, Biden or Palin, Democrat or Republican, it doesn't really matter, all are in the thrall of the pro-Israel lobby. They know that it is political suicide to demonstrate anything other than fawning admiration for the Zionist state. AIPAC (the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee) and other powerful lobby groups work unceasingly to purge the Senate, Congress, universities and public life of any American who dares to speak up for Palestinian human rights. It has come to this.

Israel may attack a US warship in international waters, plant its spies in US defence establishments, soak up billions of US taxpayers' money each year and thumb its nose at calls to respect the "peace process" with, it seems, impunity. Indeed, as the rape of Palestine accelerates, the stranglehold of the pro-Israel lobby grows stronger.

The Americans and their toadies (sorry, allies) will abandon Iraq in the not-too-distant future. Echoing the Vietnam experience, they will one day retreat from Afghanistan, with their tails between their legs. Their client state, Israel, has maintained a military occupation in the remnants of Palestine for over forty years. Unless a just solution to the conflict is found then America's woes in the region will not go away.

Hamas

Support for Hamas is widespread throughout the villages and towns of the West Bank. Painted signs symbolise the religious and revolutionary nature of the movement (the green flag of Islam and the AK47 automatic rifle). For many, the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas has failed to provide credible leadership. Indeed, the PA is widely regarded as carrying out the orders of the Israeli government by suppressing dissent and closing down charitable organisations linked to Hamas.

Like the liberation theology movements of South America, Hamas gains support from the people through its provision of social services and its opposition to tyranny and repression. Confronted by one of the largest and best equipped armies in the world Hamas has only a relative handful of lightly-armed men. All Palestinians know, of course, that only a political solution will deliver them any measure of justice, but they also know that without an armed resistance they are even more helpless in the face of Israeli depredations. Hamas gives them hope.

Home

Israeli storm troopers invade the Beit Hanina house.

Mission accomplished.

Palestinian houses are often impressive affairs. Constructed of stone or concrete blocks, they may be two, three or four storeys high, built to accommodate growing and extended families. Their solidity reflects the importance of family life.

In the Occupied West Bank the Israeli authorities seldom issue permits for the indigenous population to extend their houses, let alone build new structures. In desperation, the home owner is forced to build "illegally". Then, as one of their strategies to ethnically cleanse the land of its occupants, the Israelis order the demolition of the house.

Last week the imposing, four storey home of Abu Majed Eisha in Beit Hanina, a Palestinian community close to East Jerusalem, was destroyed with explosives while his family, friends and supporters from the international community looked on, helpless. His crime was to have built additional floors onto the existing two storey home.

Israel has destroyed 18,000 Palestinian homes since it occupied the West Bank in 1967. A further 22,000 houses in East Jerusalem have demolition orders on them. As part of their agenda of land acquisition the occupiers aim to make life unendurable for the Palestinians, thus forcing them to leave and paving the way for the settlement of yet more Jewish colonists from the United States, Europe, Canada, Ethiopia and yes, shamefully, Australia.

Ordinary people

So many of the international activists I met in the West Bank were there for two reasons: they had a commitment to justice and human rights and they had had a previous experience of Palestinian society - there is something about Palestinians and the way they live their lives which is very appealing. Who has ever been there and doesn't afterwards speak of Palestinians' hospitality, generosity and courage in the face of some of the worst injustice of our times?

Here are just a few of the acts of generosity which happened to me:

In the old city of Nablus my companion and I were vainly searching for a cafe which sold the famous kanaffa nablisi, that incomparable concoction based on goats' cheese and honey. Two passing men saw our predicament and showed us to "the best place". They sat with us while we ate and, before they left, told us of how they had spent 7 years and 12 years in Israeli jails for opposing the Occupation. When it came time to leave, we found that they had paid our bill.

The same thing happened in my share taxi from the Huwarra checkpoint into the city. The young bloke sitting next to me told me of how he had been forced to leave Nablus because of the economic stranglehold which the Israelis have imposed on his city and was now working in Amman. He got out before me and, when we arrived at my stop, the driver told me that my fare had been paid.

This sort of thing happened all the time; small acts of kindness. Like the tailor who sewed up my backpack and would accept no payment, and the shopkeeper who would add a slice of halva to my groceries, free of charge. I could go on and on. One soon learns not to admire someone's personal possession - like a watch, for instance - for fear that it will be offered, sincerely, as a gift.

So, forget the hype, forget the lies and misinformation. Go to Palestine and meet ordinary people who have not become embittered because the rest of the world has turned its back on their plight. They will show you friendliness and hospitality which will take your breathe away.

Allenby Bridge

The Allenby Bridge (also known as the King Hussein Bridge and, in Arabic, the Jisr Malik Hussein) is the main crossing point between Jordan and the occupied West Bank. Since 1967 it has been under the control of Israel. Its well-established palm trees, manicured lawns and trim buildings give the impression of an orderly, civilized establishment

Nothing could be further from the truth. While organised parties of European and Asian tourists may be checked through with reasonable despatch, for all others, especially those of Middle Eastern appearance, the visa process is one of humiliation and discomfort. While queues lengthen the young, invariably female, security officers sit in their booths, chatting with one another, filing their nails, going outside for a smoke, shouting at the human cattle to straighten the lines. From time to time they deign to process one or two from the head of the queue. This can go on for hours. It is not something that we in the West would tolerate.

When the supplicant reaches the head of the line he or she is asked their reasons for visiting "Israel" and cautioned against spending any time in the West Bank (even Bethlehem is "too dangerous") and of having anything to do with Arabs. With luck, one is given a three month entry visa. My friend Nokia wasn't so lucky - his human rights record counted against him and he was turned back.

For others, particularly Palestinians, the process is not merely humiliating and uncomfortable, it can be fraught with danger. One such case involved Mohammed Omer, a young journalist who was beaten and hospitalised by security officers at the Allenby Bridge while attempting to return to Gaza after being awarded the coveted Martha Gellhorn prize for journalism in London. To learn more go to the link: http://palestinechronicle.com on this page.

Beit Furiq

We had been asked to come to the village of Beit Furiq, near Nablus, to witness and report on the damage done by invading Israeli troops the previous night. During this large-scale incursion soldiers had ordered villagers from their homes while they conducted intensive searches, smashing down doors and damaging property.

We were shown over the balladia, or council offices, where doors had been prised open and files strewn around the rooms. The soldiers had also attempted to break into the children's centre, housed in a newly renovated historic building. Luckily, they had failed and the computer equipment, donated by the Australian people through Ausaid and Austcare, remained safe. (It's not unusual for the Israeli army to smash or steal such equipment in these circumstances.)

Beit Furiq is a peaceful village and the villagers were puzzled by the incursion. Some said that it was a rehearsal for an attack on Gaza, or for a future invasion of Lebanon. Who knows? Whatever other reasons lay behind it, it succeeded in terrorising a peaceful village.

Australians, you can have no idea what it is like to live every day under such an oppressive and brutal military occupation.

God's Bunker

"All the world hates Arabs,
And the main thing is to kill them one by one,
With these feet I stepped on my enemy,
With these teeth I bit his skin,
With these lips I sucked his blood,
And I still haven't had enough revenge."

(Song sung by children of Kiryat Arba settlement, Hebron, quoted in the SBS documentary "A Season in God's Bunker".)

Today, a different sort of poetry, the poetry of hate. The corrosive nature of such extreme sentiments are felt not only by Palestinians but they pollute and corrupt mainstream Israeli society, from within.

I Come From there

"I come from there and I have memories
Born as mortals are, I have a mother
And a house, with many windows,
I have brothers, friends,
And a prison cell with a cold window.
Mine is the wave, snatched by sea-gulls,
I have my own view,
And an extra blade of grass.
Mine is the moon at the far edge of the words,
And the bounty of birds,
And the immortal olive tree.
I walked this land before the swords
Turned its living body into a laden table.

I come from there. I render the sky unto her mother
When the sky weeps for her mother.
And I weep to make myself known
To a returning cloud.
I learnt all the words worthy of the court of blood
So that I could break the rule.
I learnt all the words and broke them up
To make a single word: Homeland......"


Shed a tear today for Mahmoud Darwish, the poet of the Resistance, who has died following heart surgery. Born in 1941 in the village of Barweh, Palestine, he became the voice of the expelled, the dispossessed. His spirit joins Abu Amar, George Habash, Naji al-Ali, Edward Said and the tens of thousands of ordinary people who never lived to see their homeland again and who fought so that Palestine could be free.

Hebron antics

It seems like every day there are reports of settler violence in and around Hebron. (Well, not, that is, in the Australian press; our news is sanitised to reflect the Zionist viewpoint.) They throw a boy off a roof here, they beat up an old woman there, they attack children on their way to school - it has become routine.

And it's not only ordinary people they terrorize. Yesterday a group of settler thugs attacked a vehicle containing a delegation of British diplomats, visiting the city under the auspices of Breaking the Silence, an organisation of Israeli ex-servicemen dedicated to exposing the evils of the occupation. An earlier delegation of European parliamentarians had been subjected to similar treatment, being physically beaten, to cries of "Nazis, Nazis." These people are relentless, empowered by their belief that they are a Chosen People and that all of Palestine is theirs by divine decree.

You see, they don't want the outside world to observe what they are doing in Hebron.

A walk through the streets of the old city is an education: it's exhilarating and colourful, throbbing with the life of a traditional Palestinian market. However, many of the shops remain closed, their doors welded shut by the Israeli military since the settler invasion of the old city. The local people have put up netting and mesh to protect themselves from the rubbish and excrement thrown down on them by their unwelcome neighbours from the houses above.

If only they would go back to New Jersey! But of course they won't and, like a festering sore, their ideology of race supremacy and hate continues to pollute this once-beautiful city.

The worst of the worst

On Saturday armed settlers from Kiryat Arba invaded a Palestinian house in Hebron where a wedding was taking place, throwing stones and harrassing guests. Two of the guests were wounded and one, 15 year old Hamza Abu Hitta, was thrown from the roof. He suffered a broken back and is in hospital, where his condition is described as serious.

Soldiers from the Israeli "Defence" Force, whose job it is to protect the settlers (but not the Palestinians), attended the crime scene. No arrests, of course, were made.

Israeli settlers from Kiryat Arba and Tel Rumeida, widely considered to be "the worst of the worst," routinely use violence against the Palestinian residents of Hebron as a strategy of intimidation in their efforts to ethnically cleanse the city and its environs.

Fear

Fear is a natural response, a protective measure awakening us to dangerous situations. In the course of our daily lives there are few situations which trigger our fear response. The nearest I would normally come is when I paddle out in a heavy surf - all surfers experience that adrenaline rush when the surf gets big.

At my first demonstration at Ni'lin, when the soldiers turned nasty and began throwing sound grenades and firing tear gas cannisters, followed by rubber-coated steel bullets, it was all rather fun. As we dodged down behind rock outcrops to avoid the metal cannisters and bullets whizzing past there was, sure, a rush of adrenaline, but no great sense of danger, that our lives were under threat. There was a feeling that, as foreign nationals, armed only with cameras and camcorders, we were almost exempt from the violence. Call it the westerner's sense of privilege. After my next demo at the same village, when I was badly gassed and hit in the back by a rubber-coated bullet, I learned to be more circumspect. I learned to keep my distance from the stone-throwing shebab, the village boys who were the Israeli snipers' prime targets. I learned to fear.

For the past three years the people of Bil'in have staged a weekly protest demonstration against the theft of their lands. Since May villagers from nearby Ni'lin have demonstrated almost daily against similar land thefts. The Israeli military has responded with increasing levels of violence and brutality resulting, this week, in the deaths of a young boy and a teenager in Ni'lin. But still the people come out, in their droves, defying the might of the great army machine.

What the Israeli government and the occupying troops do not seem to realise is that these tactics do not work. Instead of cowing the Palestinians into submission such brutal methods only serve to embolden them, to strengthen their resolve. And when they see heavily-armed troops running from stone-throwing boys to the shelter of their armoured personnel carriers, they know that cowards such as these can never, ultimately, prevail.

I love Sderot

Sorry to keep banging on about the Awful Obama but we are going to see a lot more of him in the coming months and, if his "charisma" convinces a gullible American public, he is destined to become the most powerful man in the world.

During his 36 hour visit to Israel - from which he spared one hour to see Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah - Obama was taken to the border town of Sderot for another photo opportunity. As with a visit to the Holocaust Museum, this has become an obligitary ritual for visiting politicians.

Speaking about the home-made rocket attacks on Sderot by militants in Gaza, Obama declared such "terror is intolerable".

What this opportunistic politician failed to mention is that, in the first five months of this year, 362 Palestinians and just 14 Israelis have been killed in and around Gaza. It is hard to escape the conclusion that Obama, too, views the conflict through the distorting lens of race - that Palestinian lives count for less than Israeli lives.

Obama, Clinton and all the rest.

Barack Obama's fawning obsequiousness to his Israeli hosts last week will, no doubt, help to cement him in the favour of many Jewish voters in the USA. It does nothing, however, to advance the prospects for peace in the Middle East. It will have the opposite effect: by extending uncritical support for the Zionist state, it will encourage Israel to maintain its expansionist, colonialist regime.

The respected commentator, Uri Avnery, has pointed this out in articles written for the newspaper Haaretz and on the website for Gush Shalom, the Israeli peace bloc. In her recent blog, livefromoccupiedpalestine (see Useful Links on this page) the Australian activist Kim Bullimore laments Obama's failure to acknowledge the depth of Palestinian suffering under military occupation.

Forty years of military occupation of the remaining 22% of pre-1967 Palestine has resulted in continuing land thefts, the imprisonment of many elected politicians (amongst the 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners languishing in Israeli jails), the suspension of human rights, and the brutalisation and humiliation of an entire people. This by a state which sanctions torture of political prisoners and the assassination of Palestinian leaders.

Obama and his advisers are well aware of the history of this conflict and of the situation on the ground today, just as was that other shameless presidential hopeful, Hillary Clinton. Before succumbing to their political aspirations both Clinton and Obama took more measured and rational approaches to the Israel/Palestine question. In fact, both of them have spoken sympathetically of the Palestinians' plight. That was, before their naked, overweening ambition led them to defer to the power and influence of the Zionist lobby in the USA.

One can see the same influences at work here in Australia. It takes a brave politician indeed to speak up in support of justice and human rights for the Palestinians. Lyn Allison, leader of the Australian Democrats until her defeat at last year's elections, was one such. She will be sorely missed. Thank you, Lyn, for all your efforts on behalf of a downtrodden and dispossessed people.

Violent demonstrations

Most people would have been horrified and disgusted by the recent video footage showing a young man, Ashraf Abu Rahma, being shot from close-up by an Israeli soldier while in custody and while blindfolded and handcuffed. The video has been widely circulated on YouTube.

Israeli army sources claim that shooting helpless prisoners is against IOF policy and that the incident is being investigated. Meanwhile, according to local sources, the soldier responsible was back on duty next day. In the eyes of his superiors, I suspect, his crime is that he was caught on film.

Official Israeli spin doctors have gone into top gear, assuring us that Abu Rahma was only shot with a rubber bullet (read rubber-coated steel bullet) and that he was taking part in a violent demonstration. Both statements bear closer examination:

• The so-called rubber bullets are designed to hurt and to incapacitate. They have the power to cause fractures, to blind, to penetrate the flesh and to cause severe trauma, even to kill. They are used routinely by Israeli troops against peaceful demonstrators.
• The regular demonstrations at Ni'lin (where this incident took place) are organised along non-violent lines. Villagers, supported by Israeli and international activists and supporters, make speeches, wave flags and banners and attempt to march, through village lands, to the site of the latest land theft. They are met by lines of heavily armed troops and border police, who attack them with sound grenades, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets - sometimes with live ammunition. In this sense, yes, it is a violent demonstration - the Israeli troops use unprovoked violence.

I can attest to this violence. On May 27 of this year I, along with several scores of villagers and a number of Israeli and international supporters - including women and children - attempted to walk from Ni'lin village to the site where bulldozers were clearing olive trees for another land confiscation. As we approached we were confronted by a line of Israeli soldiers barring our way. Without warning, they lobbed sound bombs and commenced firing tear gas grenades into our midst. Blinded, tears streaming from our eyes, our lungs on fire, those of us at the front could only lurch about, unable to retreat or to get our bearings. Some were on their hands and knees, retching. At this point, the brave soldiers of the Israel "Defence" Force commenced firing rubber-coated steel bullets into the helpless crowd, from close range. I was hit in the lower back/hip (see above photo) and, while it hurt, others around me suffered much worse injuries.

This is the common scenario when Palestinian villagers attempt to peacefully demonstrate against the theft of their lands: they are met with violent, often brutal confrontation by the Israeli military. Veteran newsmen and photographers prepare for it by wearing flak jackets and military-style helmets. Ambulances and medical crews are always on standby to treat the inevitable injuries and wounds. Internationals always attempt to accompany any Palestinians who may have been arrested or detained, fearing what may happen to these detainees once they are taken out of public sight . Abu Rahma's experience confirms the wisdom of this practice. The helpless are easy prey.

Tautology

Tautology: the redundant repetition of a meaning in a sentence, using different words.

The phrase "illegal Israeli settlement" is a tautology. All Israeli settlements are illegal. Whether they started out as an outpost, a few caravans dragged onto a hilltop in the middle of the night, or whether they are huge developments approved and funded by the government of Israel on confiscated land, all settlements are illegal. Each and every settlement, it must be understood, is built on land stolen from its Palestinian owners.

Since 1967, when Israel imposed its military occupation upon the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza , the colonisation of Palestine has grown apace. Today, more than 420,000 Israeli settler/colonists live in the captured territories, making the possibility of a viable Palestinian state an empty dream. While leaders have talked, while promises have been made, successive Israeli governments - whether of the Right or the Left - have gone about fulfilling the Zionist plan, of settling the land and ridding it of its indigenous inhabitants.

While government approval for several thousand more apartments in a settlement bloc is claimed as "natural growth" by the Israeli government, Palestinians are routinely refused permission to build on their land. From their overcrowded houses they gaze up to the look-alike condominiums, replete with swimming pools and lush gardens - built on their land - of their uninvited Jewish neighbours.

The photo above shows the house of a Palestinian family on the outskirts of Hebron, overlooked by the massive settlement of Kiryat Arba. They have been encouraged to leave by settler thugs who routinely threaten violence, spray racist graffiti on their walls and throw rubbish down onto their roof. They have been enticed to leave by offers of up to US $3,000,000,000 and the promise of USA passports for all family members if they will sell up. The settlers' honeypot is a large one: Jewish businessmen worldwide (not forgetting Australia's own Frank Lowy) are generous donors to the Zionist enterprise.

There is another form of natural growth. One or two caravans or demountables are dragged onto Palestinian land, usually at night, by religious zealots. The squatters move in, equipped with a power generator and building tools, and fence off the land around the structures. Soon, a swathe of land surrounding the embryo settlement is declared off-limits to the nearby villagers, for "security purposes". This, in time, becomes, de facto, part of the settlement. And so it goes on, each settlement growing like a cancer. Add a settler-only road and the collusion and protection of the Israeli army, and we have another fact on the ground.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) produces maps detailing road closures and the spread of settlements throughout the West Bank. These maps reveal the stranglehold the settlements have on the Palestinian landscape and on Palestinian life. Dominating the hillsides, built atop the significant water acquifers, menacing existing villages and cutting off Jerusalem from its heartland, the pattern of settlement is revealed as one of calculation. A grand design. The Zionist dream coming to fulfilment.

The farmers of Atuf

The small farming village of Atuf is in the north east of Palestine, right next to the Jordan Valley. The land is fertile but nothing grows without water, of course, and what rainfall there is comes during the winter season. Fortunately, however, there is an abundance of artesian water to fill the village wells.

Or so it would seem. The Israeli army of occupation has forbidden the people of Atuf to draw more than a minimal amount of water from the village wells, scarcely enough to satisfy their domestic needs. No-one is allowed to use water for the purpose of agriculture. So, what limited crops are grown, are dependant on the scanty winter rains. If they had unrestricted access to their wells the farmers of Atuf could truly "make the desert bloom".

Much of the village land has already been lost to the voracious appetites of the Israeli settlements of Hamra and Beqa'ot. Seen from a distance (and the Palestinians cannot approach within a kilometre - on their own lands - for fear of being shot) the settlements are an oasis of green in the brown, arid landscape. Here there is no restriction on the amount of water which can be pumped up from underground and crops are grown all the year round.

The Jordan Valley is the eastern-most part of Palestine, running from north to south along the length of the Jordan River and borders the state of Jordan. It is a desolate, mostly barren and weirdly beautiful landscape, in stark contrast to the more intimate hills and valleys of the West Bank. Most of the indigenous inhabitants have been expelled from their villages and farms and, in their place, is an almost contiguous line of Jewish settlements, cutting off Palestine from its border with Jordan. Partly, this is due to demographic reasons, the desire to create "facts on the ground" if ever a Palestinian state came to be negotiated. Just as importantly, though, are the enormous water acquifers which lie below, making it a potential agricultural heaven.

The farmers of Atuf, and the farmers of the other Palestinian villages which still remain, cling to a bare existence and can only gaze with envy at the green fields of the Jewish settlements which surround them. One day, if the western world's leaders continue to look on and approve this grand experiment in ethnic cleansing, they too will be gone.

The heroes of Bil'in

Ibrahim Bornat, 25, was shot last month while demonstrating against the annexation of land from his village, Bil'in, in the West Bank. Continuing land grabs by the state of Israel will annexe 58% of the agricultural lands from this farming village. Bil'in is remarkable in that it has staged weekly demonstrations against the theft of its land for a number of years.

After midday prayers each Friday villagers march from the mosque in an attempt to reach the separation wall. They are joined by international and Israeli sympathisers and observers, who document and record the often brutal response of the Israeli Occupation Force. Leading the march, from time to time, are wheelchair-bound young men, crippled in previous demonstrations by the Israeli army's use of live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets.

The usual scenario is that the demonstrators are confronted by heavily-armed soldiers well before they reach the barrier. Without warning, sound bombs and tear gas cannisters are lobbed amongst the chanting villagers as a prelude to volleys of rubber-coated steel bullets. These are not the so-called "rubber bullets" as described by the army and the popular press. They can be lethal: they fracture bones, they sever arteries, they blind, they maim, they kill.

These brutal responses usually succeed in dispersing the crowd, who retreat out of range. This is the signal for the shebab, the youth of the village, to throw stones or use slingshots against the soldiers and their armoured vehicles, usually from well out of range. Occasionally, a stone will bounce off an armoured car, to shouts of delight from the shebab. At best this is a token victory, a mere signal of defiance.

But the cost is enormous. Every week there are casualties, some minor, some requiring hospitalisation. Some of the wounds are just painful, some lead to the loss of limbs, of eyes, to major physical trauma. Nevertheless, in a continuing saga of remarkable courage and tenacity, the villagers come back, week after week, putting their bodies on the line in defence of their village.

What the Israeli army stands to gain from their habitual brutal response is more problematical. Why not let the villagers march to the barrier and make their speeches? Why not let them wave their flags and display their signs? Why put down a peaceful demonstration with such force?

On Friday June 13 Ibrahim Bornat and a few other young men had succeeded in approaching to within a few metres of the cyclone wire fence. The demonstration had all but fizzled out and most of the villagers had gone home. No internationals or Israeli activists were left at the scene. Before I left I saw Ibrahim throwing stones at a spy camera mounted on the fence, watched by a group of Israeli soldiers on the other side. When we were gone, with no outsiders there to observe their actions, the soldiers shot him, at close range, three times, using live ammunition. The dum dum bullets (which are banned under international humanitarian law) severed an artery and Ibrahim was rushed to hospital. If he succeeds in walking again, he will be back, one day, at the Friday demonstrations. For the full story, follow the link on this page to the electronic intifada.

Ibrahim's story is one amongst many others. With the most powerful army in the Middle East, Israel is powerless, it seems, to destroy or even dampen popular resistance to its continuing occupation and theft of Palestinian land. Bil'in should be an inspiration to all who love freedom and value justice.

Zawata

We had been asked to accompany a farmer to his olive groves in the village of Zawata, on the fringes of Nablus. He was afraid that if he went to work these particular fields he might be harrassed or shot by Israeli soldiers using the nearby military-only road. (It was a Palestinian road on Palestinian land, but the army had told them that they could no longer use it.) Having a few "internationals" along - especially if they had cameras and video equipment - lessened the chances of him coming to harm.

So we went with him and enjoyed being in the country air while he and his son tended to the olive trees. He had brought along some freshly-made felafel sandwiches and some mint tea for us all to share, and the morning passed very pleasantly. Afterwards, back at his house, over yet more tea, cola and coffee, he explained how an older son had been martyred, at the age of twenty two, when fighting for the resistance in Nablus. He invited me inside to see the over-life-size portrait painting of his martyr son, and the framed photographs, hanging on the walls of the sitting room. The room had been set up as a shrine.

Now the armed resistance has been driven from the city of Nablus. Its members have been disarmed or imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority, who are in charge of the city during daylight hours. As midnight approaches, however, under orders from the Israelis, they return to their barracks and the night belongs to the Israeli army of occupation.

The martyrs of Nablus

Nablus, in the northern West Bank of Occupied Palestine, lays claim to being the most beautiful city in the country. Built on two steep hills, or jebels, its main road runs on an east-west axis between the two. Alongside this thorougfare is the Old City, a maze of narrow streets, crowded markets and old stone houses. It is a magical place, reminiscent of the medieval bazaars and souks of Jerusalem's Old City.

Unlike Jerusalem, however, Nablus rarely sees a foreign tourist. Citing "security concerns", the government of Israel strongly discourages Westerners from visiting any part of the Palestinian territories. Those who do, discover a sense of safety and security which they do not find in, say, New York, Sydney or London. Indeed, experience of the famous Palestinian hospitality soon brings the realisation that the security warnings were nothing more than gross misinformation designed to instill fear of all things Palestinian. And, perhaps, to hide the evidence of the brutality of their military occupation from the eyes of the world.

In every Palestinian town and village one sees posters everywhere. Staring down are the faces of the shehada, the martyrs. Mostly young men, they are the victims of Israel's army of occupation. Some had taken up arms as part of the resistance. Some had been murdered in extra judicial assassinations. Some were just killed, as one crushes a cockroach, almost casually.

The most poignant, and the newest, was the poster of a sixteen year old boy, shot dead at the Huwarra checkpoint on 20th May, just before I arrived in Nablus. To get into or out of Nablus from the south everyone must pass through this checkpoint, suffering the indignity of queueing in long lines in an open-sided cattle pen, wondering if and when the gun-toting Israeli soldiers will let you through. On this day, like any other, this young Palestinian boy stood in the queue, waiting to be let through. He was listening to music through ear pods on his cell phone. Suddenly, spotting the wires from the ear pods trailing below his shirt, a young female soldier shouted "Bomb!" and shot the boy repeatedly with her automatic weapon. In the confusion that followed everyone was herded together and held under armed guard. The boy lay on the ground for two hours, bleeding to death while ambulances and medical personnel were refused access.

He was only sixteen years old. Like most young people he had his own cell phone. Like most young people he enjoyed listening to music. His misfortune was in being born Palestinian, in living under a brutal, callous military occupation. He became a shaheed. A martyr. A statistic.

The young female soldier who shot him will, no doubt, have her actions investigated by a military or civil court. She will, no doubt, be exonerated of any guilt. And so it goes on.