Anarchists Against the Wall
Encyclopedia
Anarchists Against the Wall (AAtW), sometimes called "Anarchists Against Fences" or "Jews Against Ghettos", is a direct action
group composed of Israeli anarchists
and anti-authoritarian
s who oppose the construction of the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier
and Israeli West Bank barrier
. The AAtW calls the West Bank barrier the 'Apartheid Wall'. Although AAtW has no official membership, it claims to have around 100 active participants who coordinate with Palestinians and groups like the International Solidarity Movement
to organize nonviolent marches, civil disobedience
, and direct action
.
A member of Anarchists Against the Wall has described the construction of the barrier as part of a strategy of ethnic cleansing
, "one of the greatest threats the Palestinian population has known over the last century... which is to make life so appalling for the Palestinian people that they will be left with one choice: move out."
near the village of Mas'ha, the Israeli Defense Forces shot and wounded Gil Na'amati, an anarchist and former paratrooper. Shots were fired after demonstrators started to shake the locked gate in the fence. Video clips of that incident were shown on all Israeli TV channels.
On 12 March 2004, during a demonstration against the Wall at the village of Kharbatha, Itay Levinsky was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet
.
On April 3 Jonathan Pollak
was shot in the head with a tear gas canister from an M16
, at a distance of approximately thirty meters, at a protest against the Wall in the West Bank
village of Bil'in
, leaving him with internal brain hemorrhaging and a wound requiring 23 stitches http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=560981
In February 2006, Matan Cohen, a 17-year-old member of Anarchists Against The Wall, was shot with rubber bullets by Israeli soldiers during a demonstration in Beit Sira
village, after stones were thrown at security forces. Cohen, whose left eye was injured, later told reporters, "My feeling is that the blood of left-wing activists and the Palestinians is cheap." Three soldiers and Border Police officers were injured by rocks thrown at them, and one police officer was taken to hospital.
On August 11, in the midst of the 2006 war in Lebanon, marked the most severe injury to an Israeli activist yet. During a demonstration against the wall in Bil'in
, an Israeli border police officer shot Limor Goldstein in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet from a distance of 10 to 20 meters. Shooting rubber bullets from such a short distance is prohibited and video evidence indicates that the shot was unprovoked. With border police officers at the scene initially refusing to provide medical treatment to his injury, or let others treat him properly, it took two hours to complete the evacuation.
Goldstein, who suffered brain damage, later told a Haaretz
reporter: "I'm not depressed, but I feel an ongoing helplessness and disorientation. I have nightmares in which I relive what happened .”
All four of them, and other injured "only with less serious damage" continue with the joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle against the separation fence and Israeli occupation.
AAtW issued a call for support in July 2007, owing more than $40,000 in expense for over 60 indictments.
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
group composed of Israeli anarchists
Anarchism in Israel
Anarchism has been an undercurrent in the politics of Palestine and Israel for over a century.- Early Kibbutz movement :The anarchist ideology arrived in Palestine at the beginning of the 20th century, carried by a big wave of emigrants from Eastern Europe...
and anti-authoritarian
Anti-authoritarian
Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as a "political doctrine advocating the principle of absolute rule: absolutism, autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism." Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil...
s who oppose the construction of the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier
Israeli Gaza Strip barrier
The Israel and Egypt − Gaza Strip barrier is a separation barrier first constructed by Israel in 1994 between the Gaza Strip and Israel. An addition to the barrier was finished in 2005 to separate the Gaza Strip and Egypt....
and Israeli West Bank barrier
Israeli West Bank barrier
The Israeli West Bank barrier is a separation barrier being constructed by the State of Israel along and within the West Bank. Upon completion, the barrier’s total length will be approximately...
. The AAtW calls the West Bank barrier the 'Apartheid Wall'. Although AAtW has no official membership, it claims to have around 100 active participants who coordinate with Palestinians and groups like the International Solidarity Movement
International Solidarity Movement
The International Solidarity Movement is an organization focused on assisting the Palestinian cause in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using nonviolent protests. It was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian activist; Neta Golan, an Israeli activist; Huwaida Arraf, a...
to organize nonviolent marches, civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
, and direct action
Direct action
Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...
.
A member of Anarchists Against the Wall has described the construction of the barrier as part of a strategy of ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
, "one of the greatest threats the Palestinian population has known over the last century... which is to make life so appalling for the Palestinian people that they will be left with one choice: move out."
History
On 26 December 2003, during an AATW demonstrationDemonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
near the village of Mas'ha, the Israeli Defense Forces shot and wounded Gil Na'amati, an anarchist and former paratrooper. Shots were fired after demonstrators started to shake the locked gate in the fence. Video clips of that incident were shown on all Israeli TV channels.
On 12 March 2004, during a demonstration against the Wall at the village of Kharbatha, Itay Levinsky was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet
Rubber bullet
Rubber bullets are rubber or rubber-coated projectiles that can be fired from either standard firearms or dedicated riot guns. They are intended to be a non-lethal alternative to metal projectiles...
.
On April 3 Jonathan Pollak
Jonathan Pollak
Jonathan Pollak is an Israeli anarchist and graphic designer who grew up in Tel Aviv and lives in Jaffa. Pollak was amongst the founders of the radical Israeli group Anarchists Against the Wall, which is one of the most active groups of the Israeli radical left.Previous to the formation of...
was shot in the head with a tear gas canister from an M16
M16 rifle
The M16 is the United States military designation for the AR-15 rifle adapted for both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite, and currently uses that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 fires the 5.56×45mm NATO...
, at a distance of approximately thirty meters, at a protest against the Wall in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
village of Bil'in
Bil'in
Bil'in is a Palestinian village located in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, west of the city of Ramallah in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Bil'in has a population of 1,800, mostly Muslims.-History:...
, leaving him with internal brain hemorrhaging and a wound requiring 23 stitches http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=560981
In February 2006, Matan Cohen, a 17-year-old member of Anarchists Against The Wall, was shot with rubber bullets by Israeli soldiers during a demonstration in Beit Sira
Beit Sira
Beit Sira is a Palestinian village in the central West Bank, located 22 kilometers west of Ramallah and is a part of the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate. The village is situated along the Green Line and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, around 4,000 dunams of its land became a part of the...
village, after stones were thrown at security forces. Cohen, whose left eye was injured, later told reporters, "My feeling is that the blood of left-wing activists and the Palestinians is cheap." Three soldiers and Border Police officers were injured by rocks thrown at them, and one police officer was taken to hospital.
On August 11, in the midst of the 2006 war in Lebanon, marked the most severe injury to an Israeli activist yet. During a demonstration against the wall in Bil'in
Bil'in
Bil'in is a Palestinian village located in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, west of the city of Ramallah in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Bil'in has a population of 1,800, mostly Muslims.-History:...
, an Israeli border police officer shot Limor Goldstein in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet from a distance of 10 to 20 meters. Shooting rubber bullets from such a short distance is prohibited and video evidence indicates that the shot was unprovoked. With border police officers at the scene initially refusing to provide medical treatment to his injury, or let others treat him properly, it took two hours to complete the evacuation.
Goldstein, who suffered brain damage, later told a Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
reporter: "I'm not depressed, but I feel an ongoing helplessness and disorientation. I have nightmares in which I relive what happened .”
All four of them, and other injured "only with less serious damage" continue with the joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle against the separation fence and Israeli occupation.
AAtW issued a call for support in July 2007, owing more than $40,000 in expense for over 60 indictments.
See also
- Jews Against the Occupation
- Israeli-Palestinian conflictIsraeli-Palestinian conflictThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
- Refusenik
- List of Palestine solidarity organizations
External links
- Anarchists Against the Wall - Official website
- Mas'ha Camp Website
- Booklet on Anarchists Against the Wall
- Democracy isn't Built on Demonstrators' bodies - Documentary about the shooting of activist Gil Na'amati
- Photos of an Anarchists Against the Wall protest
- Israeli Anarchism – Being Young, Queer, and Radical in the Promised Land (Article)
- Shachaf Polakow - Anarchists Against the Wall: Solidarity, Resistance, Direct Action, presentation from the recent North America speaking tour, February 12, 2009, Portland, Oregon.