Anarchists Against the Wall

Anarchists Against the Wall (AAtW), sometimes called "Anarchists Against Fences" or "Jews Against Ghettos", is a direct action group comprised of Israeli anarchists and anti-authoritarians who oppose the construction of the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier and Israeli West Bank barrier. 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." ["We Are All Anarchists Against the Wall". Federazione Dei Comunisiti Anarchici, 2004 [http://www.fdca.it/wall/media/wall_english.zip] ]

History

Anarchists Against the Wall was formed in April 2003 in the village of Mas'ha, where activists gathered to create a protest camp. The camp lasted for four months during which time it was visited by thousands of foreigners and Israelis. AAW went on to coordinate anti-barrier actions in Salem, Anin, and Zabube.Fact|date=September 2008

On 26 December 2003 during an AATW demonstration 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. Following this, the chief commander of the army, Ramatkal, was forced to visit Na'amati in hospital and apologize.Fact|date=September 2008

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. Levinsky was shot while shouting to the soldiers to stop shooting, through a bullhorn. He suffers from permanent damage to his eyesight.Fact|date=September 2008

In August 2004, Anarchists Against the Wall, in cooperation with Palestinian residents of the West Bank, broke through the barrier during a march from Jenin to Jerusalem.Fact|date=September 2008

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. Three soldiers and Border Police officers were injured by rocks thrown at them, and one police officer was taken to hospital. Cohen, whose left eye was injured, later told reporters, "My feeling is that the blood of left-wing activists and the Palestinians is cheap." [ [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3220888,00.html Injured anti-fence 'anarchist' speaks out] (via Ynetnews)]

On August 11th, in the midst of the second Israeli war on 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 [cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/760139.html |title=One blow to the brain |accessdate=2007-12-30 |quote=Limor Goldstein, a lawyer who was born in Germany and who holds permanent residency in Israel, was wounded by a rubber-coated metal bullet that penetrated his brain. ] 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. [ [http://mishtara.org/blog/?p=70 Lymor Goldstein, An Israeli demonstrator got shot in his head by an Israeli border patrol soldier during a demonstration in Bil‘in] ] 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 .” [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=760139 One blown to the brain] , Haaretz, 8 September 2006 en icon]

All four of them, and other injured "only with less serious damage" continue with the joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle against the separation fence and occupation.

AAtW issued a call for support in July 2007, owing more than $40,000 in expense for over 60 indictments [ [http://marseille.indymedia.org/news/2007/07/10426.php Call for Support by Anarchists Against the Wall] , Indymedia (Marseille), July 31, 2007 en icon] .

References

ee also

* Anarchism in Israel
* Jews Against the Occupation
* International Solidarity Movement
* Israeli-Palestinian conflict
* Refusenik
* List of Palestine solidarity organizations

External links

* [http://awalls.org/ Anarchists Against the Wall] - Official website
* [http://www.stopthewall.org.il/mashacamp/FrontPage.html Mas'ha Camp Website]
* [http://www.fdca.it/wall/media/wall_english.zip Booklet on Anarchists Against the Wall]
* [http://images.indymedia.org/imc/washingtondc/media/video/10/the_right_to_protest.mov Documentary by Anarchists Against the Wall]
* " [http://alllies.org/zope/home/english/video/video4 Democracy isn't built on demonstratos' bodies] " - Documentary about the shooting of activist Gil Na'amati
* [http://squat.net/antiwall/pictures/index.htm Photos of an Anarchists Against the Wall protest]
* " [http://aaron.resist.ca/?q=node/33&PHPSESSID=388ce34a4cdac9ac8b2d8bac7b81bb55 Israeli Anarchism – Being Young, Queer, and Radical in the Promised Land] " (Article)