One of the classes I teach out here is to college students from the local university, and after class one day one of my students named Mu'ath mentioned that he was from a village named Iraq Burin 10 miles or so out of town, and invited me to visit him. I had heard of the village because a couple weeks ago settlers from the nearby settlement of Bracha had set fire to many of the olive trees of the village (take a wild guess if anyone is being prosecuted), and a journalist friend of mine had gone out there to cover it. Anyway, I was curious to see it for myself, so last Saturday I headed out there to meet him. It started out pretty normal, just having tea in his living room and talking, and looking at pictures of cousins and friends on the wall who had been killed on the way to work or the bus stop or something (sadly that's pretty normal out here too, so many people have a friend or relative who was killed in one way or another). He told me that, recently, every Saturday the settlers come onto their land, sometimes damaging the trees, sometimes bathing in the well, etc. We went out to where a bunch of the village youth had gathered to yell and curse at the settlers, and you could make out on the opposite hilltop where a group of four or so settlers where gathered. Mu'ath explained to me that all the land and the olive trees up to that hill and elsewhere belonged to the villagers and had been farmed for generations, but that the Israeli army had forbidden them to access it because it was too close to the settlement, which of course has a major impact on people who rely on those trees and the olive harvest for income. Anyway, after a while a group of 4 or so of the villagers decided to climb the opposite hill and chase the settlers away. Mu'ath explained that in addition to fear that the settlers would damage property as they had in the past, the villagers were afraid that eventually the settlers would set up a tent or caravan and make an outpost on their land, and claim it as their own (again, sadly pretty normal out here). Once the villagers got close enough to the settlers, the two groups started throwing rocks at each other, and soon after you could see an army jeep racing towards them. Everyone from yelled to the villagers throwing rocks that the army was coming, and they climbed back down the hill and over to the main crowd before the 10 or so soldiers could catch them. Anyway the soldiers started shooting tear gas at everyone, and as I wasn't expecting a protest I hadn't brought any onions, which apparently really do make a big difference as to how much that shit affects you;) Basically it feels like your face and eyeballs are on fire, and if they get one close enough too you, you pretty much feel like you are about to barf your lungs out. The soldiers started firing one or two at first that didn't quite make it to us, but then they shot this giant barrage all at once and Mu'ath just grabbed me and said 'RUN!'. While we were running we heard gunshots, and according to the people I was with they were using live bullets (you can tell from the sound of the gunshot according to the villagers and other internationals I met there). As soon as that started we ran into the nearest house, and just listened and watched from the window. We heard a lot of loud banging coming from the house upstairs, and learned later that the soldiers had busted in the window and kicked out the family that was living there, including three small children. I was freaked out enough as an adult, I can only imagine what a soldier breaking into your house must be like for a child... Anyway, after about 20 minutes or so of gunshots and yelling, the soldiers left. We wandered back out into the street to see what had happened to everyone. Only one person had been injured, thankfully, and not even too badly. We went upstairs and had tea with the family who's house had been broken into, and listened to their story, and I ended up translating for an international who was writing a piece about what was happening in the village. After that, it was getting dark so we all caught a ride back into town. Today in class Mu'ath told me that yesterday night the army invaded the town again in the middle of the night and occupied houses for several hours.
Its getting late, I'm tired from teaching all day (7am to 6pm), and I'm tempted to spare you the political diatribe, but here it is anyway. The settlements, their continuous expansion, and the violent actions of the settlers contribute in such a huge way to the this conflict. From the people I've met in villages, you can sense how angry and frustrated people are. Their lives and livelihood are constantly under threat from the settlers, and the Israeli army sure as hell doesn't do much to protect them. I've talked to so many people that have been beaten or shot at, and people that have had relatives and friends beaten or killed, so many people that have had the land they depend on for a livelihood either outright confiscated by settlers, or declared off-limits by the army in order to create a protective buffer around settlements, which settlers then help themselves to, later necessitating a bigger buffer of course. The impression from so many of the people I've met here, probably the vast majority of ordinary people at least, is that Israelis are all pretty much like the settlers, that almost all Israelis are set on taking all their land and kicking them out of their homes at one point or another. Why else would they be occupying the West Bank for over 40 years and continuously confiscating land for bigger and bigger settlements, they ask. Settlers, and the army, are the only time many of these people come into contact with Israelis. The only group of people I've met who've consistently had a different impression is are those that have been helped by Israeli human rights groups, who will tell you that there is a small amount of Israelis that don't want to claim all of the West Bank for themselves.
I have not met a SINGLE Palestinian yet who believes that Israelis, even ordinary Israelis, want peace. If I ask them, they look at me as if I am asking them the dumbest question in the world. One of the first things they will always site is the fact that Israeli settlements continue to grow, and that Israelis continue to protect them. The other issue that Palestinians always site is all the checkpoints and limitations on their movement, which are necessary all throughout the West Bank in order mostly to protect the settlements (otherwise why wouldn't they just put checkpoints at the borders?). Almost all Palestinians I've met think that the whole 'peace process' is a ruse by Israel to buy more time to confiscate more land (personally I believe this to be true of the Israeli right). I would say the majority Palestinians don't hold much faith that peaceful negotiation with Israel will achieve anything at all at this point. Most don't seem to think that violent resistance, or at least suicide bombing and rockets, does much good either, but most have a lot of sympathy for those that do espouse such views, just because they are seen as doing SOMETHING, and not just giving in. Knowing that most Israelis don't care all that much about the settlements, or at least the small ones deep into the West Bank, I think it is unfortunate to say the least that they continue to look the other way and allow the religiously-motivated far right to do as it pleases, with such disastrous consequences for everyone.
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