Between the lines

Rudi Friedrich & Ghassan Andoni

It is January 2004, the sun is shining and it feels like a warm day in Jerusalem. We are starting our journey early in the morning, to meet up with Ghassan Andoni from the Palestinian Centre For Rapprochement Between People, based in Beit Sahour. He has invited us to come to Bir Zeit, a Palestinian University close to Ramal-lah, where he is a professor of physics.
Ramallah is not far away fromJerusalem, just 20 kilometres. The town is located in the occupied territories andcan only be reached by crossing Israeli checkpoints or by taking long round-about country roads and lanes.
Every few hundred meters, our taxidriver asks how long the queue is at the checkpoint ahead. But we are in luck. Wecross without any problems and on the other side see a line, a kilometre long, ofcars, trucks, people, who are waiting to travel in the opposite direction - from theoccupied territories to Jerusalem.
At Bir Zeit University we are greetedby yet another checkpoint, though this time staffed by Palestinian guards. Afterseveral phone calls we are able to pass through. Finally we are sitting with Ghas-san Andoni in the university cafeteria.

What can we offer?

We have come to know the Rapprochement Centre as one of few organisations,who employ nonviolent methods against the occupation. For those of us comingfrom abroad, although we have been warned, the situation strikes us as strangeand leaves a bad taste: we make use of their time and energy, but what can weactually offer this organisation?
The experiences of Palestinian groups are reflected in Andoni's first comment,"We don't need people making proposals from abroad about how we should organiseresistance. In a way, this is like colonialism. The Palestinian people can onlyaccept those who are engaged in the resistance themselves and those who supportapproaches already existent in the society."

Broad, nv, civil disobedience

Again and again, the Israeli army destroys houses in the occupied territories, as wellas in cities that have autonomous, selfgoverning status under the PalestinianAuthority as provided by the Oslo agreement. Although rarely successful, theInternational Solidarity Movement (ISM), which is supported by the RapprochementCentre, tries to prevent this destruction.
    Ghassan Andoni says that this [ISM] isone of the few ways in which support from outside can be accepted. After somany years of conflict the populace has a large amount of mistrust. They need tofeel: here are people who are putting themselves on the line for us.He believes that it is only with this method that a strategy that would bringabout a different focus for the intifada could emerge. "Only when we succeed inintegrating as many people as possible will we be able to have a discussion aboutthe strategy of the intifada and a clear counterweight to the policy of self-suicideattacks." In the end, these militant groups are comprised of only a few thou-sand people. "With a broad movement we can counter them and bring about politi-cal change."
    However, time and again the limita-tions of nonviolent action are reached. The Israeli military seldom restrains itselffrom destroying houses or repeatedly entering autonomous areas and groupslike Hamas are not prevented from carrying out their violent actions. In spite ofthis, Ghassan Andoni argues that the decisive point is that only with this kindof nonviolent action, can a broader movement be created. "The Israeli Armyknows this as well. It is taking severe action against several of the civil disobe-dience leaders."
    We asked whether Ghassan thoughtIsraelis conscientious objectors could bring about changes in Israeli policy: "Iappreciate their attempts," he answered, "but you have to understand that thismovement is very small and marginalised. They have hardly any influence inthe mainstream of Israeli society, because they are dismissed as leftist lunatics." PerspectivesMeanwhile the separation wall continues to go up, virtually unchecked. In East-Jerusalem the eight-meter high wall divides Palestinian neighbourhoods. Afence equipped with trenches to repulse tanks, cameras and a special road for mili-tary patrols, is splitting the West Bank. It meanders between Israeli settlementsand Palestinian villages.
    Ghassan Andoni expects that theIsraeli government will have their way with the construction of the wall. Theconsequence of this construction will be the total isolation of the Palestinian areas,because there won't be any way of reaching the other side of the fence/wall with-out passing through military checkpoints.

Breaking isolation

We rode back to Jerusalem. The taxi driver found out that, this time, the mostfavourable route was to bypass the Kalandia-Checkpoint and take a long wayaround. After 30km on country roads that led us around the outskirts of Jerusalem,we came to a small checkpoint east of the city. We crossed there without any prob-lems. But what will it be like if the fence/wall is constructed? Will it meanthe abrupt end of an international presence in the occupied territories? Lookingat in this light the PCR's media project takes on a new dimension: it will be nec-essary in breaking the isolation in the future, too.

Rudi Friedrich works for Connection eV, a German association to support conscientious objectors and deserters internationally.
Connection eV, Gerberstr, D-63065 Offenbach, Germany (+49 69 8237 5534; fax 8237 5535; email office@Connection-eV.de; http://www.Connection-eV.de )
Palestinian Centre for Reapprochment (http://www.rapprochement.org/ , email: info@rapprochement.org).