Tension

  There is tension all across the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Since the murders of the three Israeli teens and the Palestinian boy from East Jerusalem, incidents, protests and clashes are occurring daily in towns and cities across the region. There are reports of settlers and Israeli nationalists seeking out Palestinians, mass operations and arrests by the army, and Palestinians seeking out settlers and the army for confrontations.

  Last night the army entered Abu Dis once again. There were calls throughout the day from a car fitted with a loudspeaker, lamenting the continued occupation and organising a demonstration that evening at the wall. The army promptly responded.

  The university was raided and the security staff taken and locked up in a room while the army conducted their search. There were hundreds of Palestinians, mostly young men, all along the main road in Abu Dis. Stones were being thrown and fireworks aimed at the army who responded with rubber bullets. The locals had also blocked the roads going into the centre with rubbish skips to prevent the army from entering further. The army then moved off to enter the town through a different route and the protesters moved on to the local army base where they were met with more rubber bullets and tear gas.

  It seems that this is the only form of resistance that is available to many Palestinians. A form of resistance that many have grown up with under occupation, it’s become part of their psyche. This is such a normal part of resisting occupation that parents teach toddlers how to throw stones because it will be useful when they grow up.

   Yet Palestinians don’t live in glass houses, they live under collective punishment in a prison where most will never be able to leave. The prison is made of walls, checkpoints and army bases. Throwing stones to try and smash their way out of this prison is the only option many Palestinians see themselves having but the walls don’t seem to shatter and the cycle of violence continues. 

Local Palestinians blocking the main road into Abu Dis during army confrontation.