Reading response 2/27

There are endless articles on this topic, however I want to focus on four that I found most interesting.

The first article “Creative Responses to Separation: Israeli and Palestinian Joint Activism in Bil’in” by Maia Carter Hallward focused on creative ways in which activists, both Palestinian and Israeli, interact with one another and the forces that separate them in their search for peace.  There are many barriers- administrative, physical and psychological that counteract joint activism.  This article examines symbols and “out of the box” strategies that challenge the occupation and resume the peace process.  A small agricultural town of Bil’in, in the Ramallah district of the Central West Bank, is discussed because it has been the site of non-violent resistance since February 2005.  In Bil’in, Palestinians and Israelis creatively use resources to confront Israeli administration and military power through non-violent activism.  This really captured my attention because this often goes unseen in the media today.  One of the strategies that I found most interesting was “Creating Alternative Stories”.  Using this strategy activists shifted from representing Palestinian resistance from “terrorism to a non-violent struggle against and oppressive occupying force” by focusing on “common places- frequently cited words, phrases, or events in their sociopolitical context while selecting slogans and demonstrating themes.”

The next article, “The Separation Wall: A symbol of Power and a Site of Resistance?” by Polly Pallister Wilkins also focuses on joint Israeli Palestinian activism.  This article explored activism in response to the separation wall.  The author claims that “tactics of resistance witnessed are informed by the networks of power bound up in and represented by the physical structure of the wall.”  The author expresses that the wall has created an opportunity for Palestinians to resist a visible aspect of the occupation because “the comprehensive bantustanistation of Palestinian socio-political space makes engagement on a national level difficult.”

The next two articles I am going to discuss were found in the Israeli news site/newspaper Haaretz.  I chose these because wanted to also focus on some more up-to-date articles in order to understand where the issue of the separation barrier stands today. 

The first article I want to discuss is written by Amos Harel on February 25^th, 2013, “Israel preventing development of Palestinian owned land near the separation barrier.”  The article stated that Israel is preventing development and building in Palestinian lands adjacent to the separation barrier despite these areas being under Palestinian civilian control according to the Oslo Accords. While the Oslo Accord Peace Process has come to a halt, Israel is still using several clauses in the accords to prevent Palestinian development.  An example of this is the Israel Defense Forces preventing building and development in 4700 dunams on the Palestinian side (Area A and B according to the Oslo accords) for security reasons.  While it is claimed that Palestinians enjoy “semi-independence of these areas under civilian control” military decrees are still issued.  The Defense Ministry of Israel has stated that these decrees are in fact legal.  It has been reported from Security sources that the bans were meant to “prevent effective us of flight weapons against the IDF patrols near the fence and make it harder to plant explosives or place observation posts”.  This article interested me because it expresses how the Israel forces view the purpose of the separation wall. 

The last article I will discuss is “On the path to blood, sweat, and tears” written by Salmon Mashalha on February 26, 2013.  The article started by showing a picture of Palestinians throwing stones at Israeli Security forces at the Jalama checkpoint on February 24^th.  It stated that the “short sighted” leadership of the 2 nations are at blame for the current situation.  The fact that neither recognizes the other has “left to coals of the national conflict smoldering beneath the surface suffused with vapors of bloody memories.” The article also mentioned that Israel is striving to strengthen Hamas in Gaza and the PLO in the West bank in order to separate the 2 regions even further and “deepen the rift” so that Palestine will not appear as 1 body.  Lastly, it summed up by stating that the “Israeli right and Palestinian right need each other as much as they need air to breathe.”  Because the land is not fairly divided they are forced to think out of the box to establish other ways to share the land.  Without a fair solution to divide the land it results in “blood, sweat, and tears.”  I found this article really captivating because it discusses the consequences of the separation.  I was able to find many articles about how Israelis and Palestinians deal with the separation, but this article was unique because it expressed the result of the seperation.