Monday, November 14, 2011



The soldiers are so young.

I'm pretty sure this is a Nabi Saleh demonstration from this summer. I've been meaning to go one Friday, but I usually just go to Bil'in because I have friends there. The Israeli activists I met in Bil'in told me if I want to go to Nabi Saleh, to designate the whole day-it can take hours, and it's more intense. But still "just a game of cat-and-mouse." There, the soldiers don't hide behind a wall, like in Bil'in, they usually come face-to-face with the activists. That happened in Qalandia and Beitin last Christmas. They really do pull your hair and charge at you and throw you around. This isn't an anomaly. I'm ashamed for them, I really am.

And they're doing it to prevent the villagers from accessing their natural springs that were taken over by settlers. Someday reality is going to sink in for these soldiers, and it's not going to be pretty.

You can't dehumanize others without losing your own humanity.
Restiamo humani.
Stay human.