Not Anonymous

It would appear I volunteered to lead a team aimed at busting the myths and misinformation concerning the Occupation towards the Student body at TAU, my Uni.
I really like being a part of the Student Coalition*.

Dude, talk about stress, especially since my fellow team leader lives quite far away from me and both of us have tons of stuff to do academically. But both she and I thought that the most important thing to get out there is the fact that there is a whole lot of misconceptions in the Israeli public (in this case the average TAU student) concerning Gaza, Sderot, '67 and its consequences (for which this activity is being done, this week is the 41st anniversary to the Six Day War and the Occupation of those extra pieces of land), the Settlements in the West Bank and the whole "1984" mentality of "Security is Peace".

I think I need to get some of my friends to join this and spread it around, hopefully we'll get a large audience at Uni.

A new subject related to the above.

Every Wednesday there's a Happening on Campus, which I hadn't noticed was a regular thing, it just seemed that the Student Union *snort* arranged stalls and booths sponsored by various private companies on random days... it's quite nauseating. The Union *snort* isn't really interested in actually representing the student body (my faculty rep is such a bitcah I can't even describe how much she irritates me!) and "earns" money by getting these companies to participate in these Happenings.
There's not much to say, other than that the Union considers us consumers and not the actual people they exist for. That, and it's just a political jumping board for the Union Committee, which in and by itself is fine, but not when they use my fees to use it for their own benefit!

I had a point.

Oh, the Union has put the financial support they are meant to supply to the Student Coalition on hold, in an attempt to shut up any kind of critical or oppositional action that the Coalition has put forth.
Which is at once irritating and hypocritical.
They're meant to support any kind of student action or activity (so long as it isn't treason, and I'm sorry, criticism of Student leadership doesn't count as national treason!).

I hope the low key activity the Coalition has planned for the end of the month, won't be brought to a sudden halt because the Union has decided to go into cahoots with more "moderate" factions in the University activist population. Apparently the demo that the Coalition and the committee for Arab Students put on the 15th of May to commemorate the Nakba wasn't well received and a Zionist Student Coalition was formed based on the Coalitions organisation.

So here's to hoping the Union has a new Chair next year that isn't an ass and that the committee have an iota of integrity.

Who am I kidding, my cynicism gave me a big pinch when I wrote that sentence.

*Which is just a shorter way of saying "The Coalition of Students for Left Action and Students Against the Occupation".

Consider this the sequel entry to my previous one.

It was brought to my attention that my previous post was lacking.
Lacking in what?
Lacking in actual testimony. I hadn't thought of putting any of the things I'd read here, because I trusted in people's curiosity to go a read the testimonies soldiers.
Kind of silly of me, because I know very well that's it's easy to ignore the links offered and then you need to open the .PDF files and scroll down and actually be really interested in what these boys (and some girls) have to say.

So I give a few and like before, I urge you to go and read the rest in Hebrew if you can, and in English, which is available.


***
Testimony 5, Hebron
I remember the first time I was really screwed up in Hebron, opening some street corner
or house on one of my first patrols, you know you really are in shock. I was sure that
any moment now I’d be shot. So you stare at every window, turn every corner really
stressed out. Then you become indifferent. Yes. But in the beginning… I remember I
took a corner and my rifle was pointing at this little child. I had a really hard time with this
one. He burst out crying and ran away. Things like that. Or say I remember once, you
know the patrol moves in two lines, so these two children passed along in between, an
older and a younger brother. The older brother held the younger close and they hurried
along. This picture won’t leave me. Later, after becoming indifferent, I remember I took
a corner once and saw some Arab looking at me through the window. Then just like
that, I have no idea why I did this – I pointed my gun at him, and he closed the door
and ran. And I went – “Wow, I’m really losing it. Really.” That’s how we all felt, it was like
- feels like talking to a shrink now – but you just say, “man, I’ve really been screwed.”
You keep talking about burnout all the time, all this shit and stuff. But it’s a real horror.
You keep getting under their skin. At first you’re really scared, then you allow yourself
some humane feelings, and then you just don’t give a damn. It’s like that everywhere in
the Occupied Territories, but particularly so in Hebron.
After how long?
Next to nothing. Two weeks maybe.
***

***
Testimony 17, Hebron
Being a TIPH (Temporary International Presence at Hebron) observer is really a bad
scene. Here’s another classic example of having a shitty time in Hebron. TIPH regularly
get a ‘warm reception’. Whenever they come down from Abu Sneina (neighborhood),
they are target for a stone or two at their car. Extra-special.
By the settlers?
Sure. Simply for being TIPH.
And what do you do about it?
I can just repeat what I told one of them. I’ll do it in Hebrew. He goes: “Stones have
just now been thrown at me.”
Where do you meet him?
He shows up. Comes back to Gross (outpost). I go, “Yes, I know. That’s why I was
summoned here.” Then I tell him, “Listen, you know that these are kids under the
age of 14 so there’s nothing I can do.” And the, in these very words: “I know, I just
wanted you to realize that.” Like, he already knows and there’s nothing to do about
it, absolutely nothing.
So what are the procedures you’re given, genearlly, regarding the settlers?
Nothing. Ask my deputy company commander, who’s really dying to do something
about them, what the procedures really are…
… Any time TIPH or CPT (Christian Peacemaking Teams) activists approach me
– before we absolutely prohibited any leftist or such activists enter Avraham Avinu
settlers, once they went in there and I told them: “Do me a favor, don’t. I can’t be
responsible for what could happen to you in there.” The funniest incident was when
this group, I mean all of the CPT activists came through, twenty of them, and I was
commander at Gross and I go: “What are you doing here?” You can’t mistake them,
with their CPT and those awful red caps they have, so “What are you doing here?” and
they go, “Why, is there a problem?” I ask them, “Did you coordinate this with anyone?
Did you inform anyone you were walking around here?” A huge group, I mean you
can’t really hide such a thing.
I was really concerned about their safety.
Where were they walking, at the wholesale market?
No, just plainly no the ‘David Route’ which you know as Shuhada Street.
Are there any special instructions regarding the Bnei Avraham tour groups?
Bnei Avraham (a group of activists that conducts guided tours in Hebron) arrive, and
they are not supposed to enter anywhere in Avraham Avinu neighborhood settlement.
I’m dying to know how we got to the point where a Jew is not allowed to walk around
Jewish public space. For leftists…
There’s an instruction forbidding them to enter Avraham Avinu?
Yes. There’s an explicit instruction forbidding leftist activists and international
organizations from entering Beit Hadassah, Avraham Avinu and other such
settlements.
***

Cognitive dissonance can easily be described as the opposite of doublethink.
It can also easily describe what is happening today in this lovely blood soaked land o'mine.

A quick news recap to ease your jonseing for Israel-Palestinian updates.
Let us begin:

In case someone missed it, a few days ago there was a skirmish on the Gaza-Israel border at the fuel station of Nahal Oz. Gaza, as we know, is low on fuel for their basic needs and having gotten nowhere with Egypt concerning shifting the economic dependency from Israel to Egypt, like Hamas hinted at after the border breech in January Israel had planned on renewing fuel supply on Sunday, but got round to doing it today.
All hell broke loose and so far there are three dead soldiers and approx. nine dead Palestinians, though some have reported twelve.

At the same time Mr Blair, Former British PM and Current Quartet Ambassador has said: "It is true that the weight of the occupation is very heavy" (understatement of the effing century!) he urges foreign investment in Palestinian economy - because like everyone knows, there's no labour like cheap labour, especially cheap labour that has no freedom of movement, no other viable economy and no other prospects.
Can't wait to see the kind of investors that come to the West Bank.

And last but not least, let us hope that the Dove does indeed overcome the Hawk, or even makes a chirp in the background.
Yep J Street has finally been launched as a counter point to AIPAC. Though obviously it doesn't say that anywhere, but everybody knows it.

Check their nifty campaign video ( here. )

And in with all this going Israel is preparing to celebrate 60 years of independance with a budget so enormous 100 million NIS which is approx. 28 million US$.
Yeah.
For some reason I thought it was less despite having signed the petition against the hugeness of the budget.
It is also the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe in Arabic) which is commemorated on the 15th of May (Israel's Independence Day is celebrated according to the Hebrew Calendar on 5th of Iyar and changes over the 19 year cycle, the Gregorian date is the 14th of May).
Like me, not many are in the "Celebratory" mood.
I thankfully will be in South Africa over a portion of the month of May, hopefully I'll bypass the riots, violence and sheer insanity that will consume the country.

And thus I conclude this recap, hope your jones has lessened and that your head is not bleeding from it's repetitive meetings with the desk.