Michigan Peace team responds to Israeli incursion

Date: 1 July 2006

In a message dated 7/1/06 9:28:09 AM, michiganpeaceteam@comcast.net writes:

<< PEACE TEAM RESPONDS TO VIOLENT INCURSION OF BI’LIN
Michigan Peace Team has a six person peace team in the West Bank this summer to work with Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals in the nonviolent movement to end the occupation.

The team is made up of women and men from Detroit and Lansing and range in age from 27 to 67 years old.

Both Palestinians and Jewish Israelis have invited MPT to work with them. This is a critical time, as the presence of internationals is needed to help deter further violence. You have probably seen in the news that the Israeli military has invaded Gaza and other towns in West Bank.

We are very proud of the work that our team has done in the last 24 hours. They were in the village of Bi’lin, known for its nonviolent resistance to the illegal wall Israel is building on their land. The people of Bi’lin have been demonstrating against the wall every Friday for more than 2 years, despite being shot at with ‘rubber’ bullets, live ammunition, tear gas, and sound bombs.

The Israeli army led a violent incursion into Bi’lin yesterday. Our team responded immediately to the gunshots, flares, and what sounded like a bombing (still trying to get confirmation).

They accompanied Bi’lin families that were potential targets of the military; joined the Popular Committee Against the Wall in the streets; and provided protective accompaniment to high profile Palestinian activists. They were met with sound bombs, rubber bullets, and tear gas but there were no major injuries.

The team is safe and the incursion ended this morning. Two or three men were seized by the Israeli military. One of the men they were looking for could not be found so they took his brother hostage and dragged him through the streets, offering him in return for his brother. Eventually they let him go. Our team witnessed the arrest of one Palestinian, who was blindfold but not further mistreated from what they could monitor.

More news to come…

The goals of the summer peace team:

watch checkpoints to deter human rights abuses;

help stop illegal home demolitions which devastate families and

villages when Israeli bulldozers come at any time day or night;

join other internationals to serve as mediators and interveners

in times of crisis;

document human rights violations that occur in refugee camps,

villages, etc.;

assist local people who organize nonviolent conflict resolution

workshops;

assist with the educational programs for Israeli and Palestinian

children;

and of course, experience and learn from the people so that we

can bring home firsthand understandings of the conflict.

Although hundreds of peace & human rights activists have been deported from Israel, MPT is one of the few NGOs in the world who has been able to get every team member into the occupied territories.

Our team was delayed in reaching their home base in Jerusalem the first day because they arrived on the day of one of the largest traffic jams in Israeli history. Why? The rock band Pink Floyd, which performed in the peace village of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salaam to make a statement against the occupation. Pink Floyd has a hit album called “The Wall”. After discussions with Palestinian peace activists and Israeli refusinks (soldiers who refuse to serve b/c of the illegal occupation), the band participated in an act of civil resistance and graffitied the illegal wall being built by Israel.

They spraypainted it with quotes from their song “no thought control” & “tear down the wall”.

Read about Pink Floyd’s actions:
electronicintifada.net/v2/article4831.shtml

If you are interested in reading reports from the team about their work,
check out www.michiganpeaceteam.org

MPT will be sending out reports from our team on this listserve as well
(about twice a week).

Upon return from the Palestine/Israel, peace team members are willing to
speak to your organization about the work of Palestinian, Israeli, and
international peacemakers. Please contact the MPT office to set up a speaking engagement
for your organization.

—
“Michigan Peace Team is a nonprofit organization that pursues peace through
active nonviolence in places of conflict.”

517-484-3178
www.michiganpeaceteam.org

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