tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post6863117188254466264..comments2024-03-26T09:18:23.968+02:00Comments on Life on Bir Zeit Campus: Throwing RocksAraBiathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06602849148784807820noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-53655036750944898352011-08-16T01:18:27.163+03:002011-08-16T01:18:27.163+03:00thanks Mohammed! x
Vicky i think more than one ty...thanks Mohammed! x<br /><br />Vicky i think more than one type of resistance is needed against this out of control apartheid state. BDS of course, but other forms of pacifism..i'm not too sure about. Rock throwing is deeply embedded in palestinian history and culture. Unfortunately like you said western media will pounce upon that as justification for the israeli army's actions, forgetting than an occupied people have the right to resist in any way. When others realize that we have another fight on our hands, the media war, then people will start to advocate for another creative homegrown resistance without needing to fit into the "non-violent" narrative of the west.Linahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11483827717434904594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-53136387305567630252011-08-15T20:30:26.173+03:002011-08-15T20:30:26.173+03:00I am student of the University of Latvia and next ...I am student of the University of Latvia and next semester within exchange program of Erasmus Mundus I am going to spend in Nablus (An-Najah National University) therefore I am trying to get as much information as possible about the place I am going to. Also I am part of country that has suffered injustice and occupation a lot in its history. It is also country that has participated in Baltic Way and singing revolution. Those are the reasons why I felt need to express my own opinion and hopefully continue the discussion.<br />I understand that everything in such situations is complicated. I also believe that when there is conflict there usually is no one truth. Nothing is only black or white. <br />Of course after getting familiar with the situation, history and culture I see the injustice in Palestine but still I am one of those who believe that throwing rocks is not justifiable form of protest even in such situation. Why? Because for me it seems that it's not leading anywhere. I understand your point of view, it is logic, but also I believe that approach - They'll stop, we'll stop leads nowhere. <br />What I am trying to point out is that - is this action (throwing rocks) achieving its goal? Is it the most appropriate form of protest in this situation?<br />I think it's the most important questions. Do people get the message sent by this action? I believe some people get it, some not. To some people the message sent by this action is reason to justify actions by Israel, to some people in Western world it is sending message of violence from both sides. Only difference to them is the available "toys", equipment.<br />Therefore question rises - To whom the message by this action is sent? Is it for Palestinians themselves? Is it for Israel? Or is it for the rest of the World? Because if it is sent to others then the message is not being understood as Palestinians want it. It means that either world or the message has to change. What is the best solution?ILgvarshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03075209498731804931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-2752395297151070602011-08-15T17:40:41.572+03:002011-08-15T17:40:41.572+03:00brilliant Linah. Mohammed Hanifbrilliant Linah. Mohammed HanifAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-62423500639611049862011-08-10T17:34:37.616+03:002011-08-10T17:34:37.616+03:00Well, it's just as well I'm not into rock-...Well, it's just as well I'm not into rock-throwing. I have dyspraxia and I would never manage to hit a tank, let alone a jeep. :P<br /><br />You make some thought-provoking points, and I both agree and disagree with what you write. I have noticed that politicians and media pundits from Western countries tend to try and impose a particular form of 'resistance' on Palestinians (if it can be called resistance at all) and then frown on Palestinians in a disapproving and paternalistic way if they aren't willing to let themselves be shoehorned into this mould. Then a disturbing scenario arises that would be funny if only it weren't so twisted: journalists devoting whole columns to a discussion of whether the man with the assault rifle was justified in opening fire (after all, he was facing a man with a stone! Stones can be lethal, don't you know!). Any Western media discussion of 'non-violence' typically centres around Palestinian civilians and their stones, or Hamas and their Qassam rockets, and never on Israel and its tanks and armoured personnel carriers and Apache helicopters and the rest of its formidable military arsenal. Even commentators who are sympathetic to the quest for justice in Palestine seem to get sucked into the debate over whether those naughty children weren't asking to get tear-gassed, throwing stones at the poor army like that.<br /><br />This isn't genuine non-violence/pacifism that they are advocating. You can't use stones to legitimise IDF behaviour if you really believe in non-violence. For that matter, you can't support any kind of violence at all. When UK Foreign Secretary William Hague visited Bi'lin and made his speech about non-violence, I remembered his own support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and how strongly he voted for the replacement of Trident. What he was preaching to the Palestinians was passivity, not pacifism. He and all the other Western politicians who talk to Palestinians about 'non-violence' don't even know the meaning of the term. It's meant to be a philosophy that governs your whole life, right down to how you treat the shopkeeper and the annoying colleague at work, not something you can just impose on other people (while you fund and arm their oppressors).<br /><br />It's worth noting that Western organisations with a genuine history of pure pacifism (the Quakers, for example) are also the most likely to be supportive of the Palestinian cause. The Quakers are officially in support of BDS now, and they co-ordinate EAPPI. EAPPI is pacifist to the core, but it makes a significant contribution to the resistance - the villagers of Yanoun have said that EAPPI is the only reason they were able to come back to the village after they were driven out by the settlers of Itamar. Now they live in the village, always with an EAPPI team present, and simply their presence on that land is an act of resistance.<br /><br />While it is not my place to tell Palestinians how to resist, and I'm not going to look down on anyone for throwing rocks, I do think it's important to recognise that genuine pacifism can be powerful and is not to be confused with the sort of passivity that is advocated by certain Western politicians.Vickyhttp://www.bethlehemblogger.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-75768315681966392212011-08-10T09:39:19.597+03:002011-08-10T09:39:19.597+03:00With the rocks of your land, you just express your...With the rocks of your land, you just express your objection to the occupation and its criminal practices.<br />Your existence on your land is what makes the criminals angry. Hence, they arrest and beat civilians for chanting or documenting.<br /><br />By the way, can you write about the chants of the demonstration? An article about that could inspire me to write some good chants.<br /><br />Please stay strong and careful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8310632392510092264.post-5735488265684019632011-08-04T23:50:11.812+03:002011-08-04T23:50:11.812+03:00Thanks for the insight. I recently watched "B...Thanks for the insight. I recently watched "Budrus" and the organizer of their protests also condemned rock throwing as you had before Nabi Saleh and the Israeli activist did in Nabi Saleh. I thought that this was the new standard for Palestinian protests, but apparently I was mistaken. Clearly rock-throwing is part of the Palestinian narrative and trying to cleanse ourselves from it is denying an important part of our struggle, both the history that it makes reference to and the symbol it serves of the inequality between us and our occupiers.48Refugeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15314297561691800782noreply@blogger.com