In an interview with the Israeli group Anarchists Against The Wall, A-Infos talks to Sahar M’Vardi. The A-Infos interview outlines the successes and failures of the direct action group’s resistance to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and the West Bank fence.

A solidarity action group established in 2003, the organization is an Israeli initiative directed mostly by Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Using festive protests and direct action against the fence and wall, the group has become well known for its creative modes of resistance. Most recently, the group built a counter-outpost, which they squatted to demonstrate the double standard the IDF uses against those acting in solidarity with the Palestinians versus those acting against them.

In this action, activists erected a “house” on Palestinian land from which they were forcibly evicted by Israeli soldiers and police officers. This symbolic action served to point out the racism and hypocrisy of the daily erection of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. In effect, the entire occupation of the West Bank can be seen as a mass squatting of Israeli settlers on Palestinian land. This hypocrisy is further revealed through a comparison to the treatment of hundreds of Israelis who in the early 90s squatted in unfinished West Bank houses. Needless to say they were not and are still not targeted or evicted.

“The settlers are many and they have a lot of money. Also, the government and military is definitely on their side” says Ms. M’Vardi. She continues to point out the Gaza disengagement in 2005 was merely a figurative action with no unfeigned results. “Not only are the [IDF] not evicting the settler outposts, they are actually being expanding. There are at least five Israeli construction companies working there as we speak” she says.

Her organization’s resistance to this aggression is strong but is rarely effective. “We try to physically protect the Palestinians when the IDF comes to build an outpost, but it’s very hard to actually stop them from doing it” she points out in reference to Israelis using their privilege against the IDF soldiers. This has been a powerful and effective tactic employed by international and Israeli activists but is revealing of the racism manifested in the apartheid state of Israel.

Sahar admits “soldiers always try to hurt Palestinians more because it’s hard for them to hurt Israelis. There are a lot of things the army tries to do to separate us and they definitely punish the Palestinians more than they punish us.”
This is further demonstrated by Israeli law, which allows arrested activists to be held for a maximum of 24 hours while Palestinians to be held for up to 7 days.

When talking about AATW’s actions inside Israel, such as their establishment of fake check-points in the streets of Tel-Aviv to expose daily oppression Palestinians cope with in the West Bank, Sahar speaks of intolerance and understanding.
Describing encounters with Israeli civilians, she hopefully states, “we are usually faced with angry reactions but afterwards they just have to start thinking.”
In spite of the group’s negative portrayal in the media and the legal system, it remains restless and dedicated. Today it is committed to bringing international attention to highway 443 on which only Israeli settlers are allowed to step foot and in general continues to fight the tyrannical laws and crimes committed by the Israeli state and military.

As for foreign solidarity, dozens of volunteers travel to the region to help with such organizations as the International Solidarity Movement and the International Middle East Media Centre. Yet, Sahar points out that resistance must be present everywhere. “There are a lot of ways to protest, so if you can join the struggle anywhere, anyhow, that would be great,”

And there is certainly no shortage of resistance in Ontario. Not In Our Name (NION)-Ottawa for example, meets biweekly at the downtown Ottawa Chapter’s store for a festive and information-sharing boycott. This protest stands against Chapters’ CEO establishing the HESSEG foundation which supports the IDF and the North American Jews who serve in it. Other active organizations are the Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights student group and the Canadian Palestinian Network of Ottawa.

Links
Not in Our Name www.nion.ca
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights: http://www.sphr.org/
Can Pal Net- Ottawa http://www.canpalnet-ottawa.org/index.html
International Middle East Media Centre: http://www.imemc.org/index.php
Ittijah- Union of Arab Community Based Organizations: http://www.ittijah.org/