Hiking in Solidarity
Jan. 8th, 2011 10:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eumeliaThe last time I was Bil'in was almost three years ago and amazingly, or not, nothing had really changed.
Three years ago, the IDF used rubber bullets and tear gas grenades. Now they still use tear gas (which made the membranes of my head burn and water - I actually had to spit onto the ground the taste in my mouth) and the new fangled tech known as the "Skunk" which is a high pressure hose - used to disperse demonstrations with water - only it literally smells like shit.
It is the worst smell I've ever smelt in my life and I've done garbage duty during my Army service.
I actually said: "At least there's tear gas to clear the sinuses", that's how horrible it was.
One of the things that shocked me the most, beyond the entire situation of being less than 200 metres from the fence and having terrified 18 year olds shoot in the direction I was standing, was seeing them fire a direct hit at a Red Crescent Ambulance.
It's batshit.
The whole day began with actually getting to the village. There was some suspicion that the IDF had set up a road block deeper in the West Bank to stop demonstrators from getting to Bil'in, so we all went on a 40 minute hike down the Wadi to be picked up by local transit - a private car, a truck with a wagon and a bus that looked like it had escaped from the 70's.
The stay was marred by the fact that a friend of my was groped by a local teenager - an intersection of all that is bad in this land.
The hike reminded me of a few things: #1 Always have a hat, #2 A back pack is better than a side purse and #3 always wear hiking boots.
At least I had #3 down pat.
I met a tonne of people I know online, which is always fun, made some new acquaintances and contemplated when I was going back. Because three years ago, I was so not prepared for what I was seeing. My privilege asserted itself and my fear took hold.
Now I'm far more concerned about what might happen to me as a dissident (which is what I'm fast becoming, even if not a significant one, as I'm pretty much a baby guppy when it comes to the body of water of activism) in Israel, than facing the very real and somewhat avoidable violence going on by the fence.
Right now, my legs are killing me and I got up far too early to be thinking clearly. I'm going to read fic and watch escapist television.
Three years ago, the IDF used rubber bullets and tear gas grenades. Now they still use tear gas (which made the membranes of my head burn and water - I actually had to spit onto the ground the taste in my mouth) and the new fangled tech known as the "Skunk" which is a high pressure hose - used to disperse demonstrations with water - only it literally smells like shit.
It is the worst smell I've ever smelt in my life and I've done garbage duty during my Army service.
I actually said: "At least there's tear gas to clear the sinuses", that's how horrible it was.
One of the things that shocked me the most, beyond the entire situation of being less than 200 metres from the fence and having terrified 18 year olds shoot in the direction I was standing, was seeing them fire a direct hit at a Red Crescent Ambulance.
It's batshit.
The whole day began with actually getting to the village. There was some suspicion that the IDF had set up a road block deeper in the West Bank to stop demonstrators from getting to Bil'in, so we all went on a 40 minute hike down the Wadi to be picked up by local transit - a private car, a truck with a wagon and a bus that looked like it had escaped from the 70's.
The stay was marred by the fact that a friend of my was groped by a local teenager - an intersection of all that is bad in this land.
The hike reminded me of a few things: #1 Always have a hat, #2 A back pack is better than a side purse and #3 always wear hiking boots.
At least I had #3 down pat.
I met a tonne of people I know online, which is always fun, made some new acquaintances and contemplated when I was going back. Because three years ago, I was so not prepared for what I was seeing. My privilege asserted itself and my fear took hold.
Now I'm far more concerned about what might happen to me as a dissident (which is what I'm fast becoming, even if not a significant one, as I'm pretty much a baby guppy when it comes to the body of water of activism) in Israel, than facing the very real and somewhat avoidable violence going on by the fence.
Right now, my legs are killing me and I got up far too early to be thinking clearly. I'm going to read fic and watch escapist television.
