Muhammad Bilal Abdul Salam At-Tamimi in Nabi Saleh on Friday 22 April 2011 Photo: Keren Manor/activestills.org
Last summer I found myself wading around a swimming pool in the middle of the scorching desert on a Kibbutz in the Negev. I had come to this kibbutz to see an old friend from high school. Over the past 12 years we have developed and maintained a close friendship despite clear political differences which, in this country, can easily destroy personal relationships.
As we swam in the cool water, the topic of conversation turned to his reserve service. This friend of mine, let’s call him Avichai, had just finished a round of reserve duty in the Palestinian village of Ni’ilin, where I often attend and cover the demonstrations against the Separation Barrier. I was shocked to hear that he had served there and quickly realized that he had probably fired tear gas, rubber bullets or live ammunition at me. Our conversation took an uncomfortable turn.
I asked him directly, ‘what does it take for you to look at children and shoot at them with tear gas, rubber bullets and live fire?” He nonchalantly informed me that they are not children, rather enemies on a battlefield. When I asked him if he considered me an enemy for standing with the children, he brushed away the question suggesting that I was just confused. Sensing his growing discomfort, I ended the conversation knowing that relationships can end over politics in Israel.
Avichai’s thoughts regarding the use of force against Palestinian children, while shocking, are not that uncommon in my experience in Israeli society. Breaking the Silence, an Israeli NGO which collects testimonies from soldiers about their service in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza, has released a number of first-hand accounts of soldiers who were told by their superiors to treat civilian areas as combat zones. Reading the testimonies, one sees an army that does not always make the proper distinction between enemy and civilian. This policy is on raw display during the weekly unarmed demonstrations against the Separation Wall and Occupation throughout the West Bank.
In the quiet village of Nabi Saleh last Friday, during a weekly demonstration against the Occupation, a child was directly hit by an Israeli tear gas canister. According to eyewitness Jonathan Pollak, the media coordinator of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, eleven-year-old Muhammad Bilal Abdul Salam At-Tamimi was standing in a crowd when soldiers began firing tear gas canisters in their direction. Tamimi was hit directly on the side of his stomach and taken to a Ramallah hospital. After a brief stay in hospital, he was released in what appeared to be a good condition.
Continue reading “When a Palestinian child becomes an enemy” →
IOF Occupies Building
Nabi Saleh Solidarity 