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01-May-2004

Non-violent women's march attacked by Israeli military

by: Gila Svirsky

Middle East: One of the latest protests against the wall being built in the Occupied
Territories was organised by Molly Malekar, who unfortunately had to be taken to Sha'arei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem on 25 April after being assaulted by the Israeli military.

This is her eyewitness account:

"We were a group of 60, only women, representing Israeli, Palestinian, and International equally. We gathered at Bidu to protest its construction in this village. Quietly marching and carrying signs, we walked toward the area where soldiers were guarding the construction of the fence. But we had to stop about 10 meters (30 feet) from them, because the soldiers turned to point their rifles directly at us. I called out to them in Hebrew, "Don't shoot, we're not armed, this is a non-violent demonstration." The result of which was an onslaught of teargas and stun grenades that fell all around us. The grenades fell right at our feet and we were choking, unable to breathe. Most of the group had to disperse and run back. Then, the soldiers charged us and started manhandling some of us, while those who they were able to grab hold of were then arrested.
Sadly, at this point, there was no demonstration to speak of as everyone had run for cover.

Most of the women had run back, trying to recover from the tear gas, but I remained as I wanted to talk to the soldiers to prevent the arrest of the four women that they grabbed. To my shock, four horses charged, mounted by border police. I started to run away, but one of them ridden by a young woman soldier caught up with me and struck me on my head with a baton.
I fell, and then a second mounted soldier charged toward me and I felt more blows on my head and back."

Molly is the director of Bat Shalom, the women's peace organisation that forms the Israeli side of The Jerusalem Link: A Women's Joint Venture for
Peace (the Palestinian side is called the Jerusalem Center for Women).
I reached her on a cell phone, as she went to hospital to find out how she feels and she responded, "A horrible headache, my ears hurt, and aching from the blows. But let's think about how to wake people up to what is happening out there. We have to wake people up."

Source: Coalition of Women for Peace