Written by a Ta’ayush activist about the events in Sheikh Jarrah last week.

Friday February 24 in Sheikh Jarrah

Even in the rain and cold, the residents of Sheikh Jarrah and their supporters won’t give up. I arrived in Sheikh Jarrah at 10 am, equipped with hummus and 4 layers of clothing, leaping over puddles in a failed attempt to keep my socks dry. I quicken my pace turning off of Nablus Road, glancing up at the occupied Hanoun home and continuing down the left fork towards the Ghawi and El-Kurd houses.

Empty. Deserted. No police, no settlers, no tent even. It reminds me of the times, it must be half a year ago by now, before the evictions, before the tents (except for Umm Kamel’s), before the gatherings on the sidewalk instead of in the houses, the protests, arrests, violence, the pray-offs, the new ‘neighbors’. They were tense times, but hopeful ones. Mostly international but also many Israeli activists committing themselves to be handcuffed to the gates of the houses in case of eviction, others to shield them from the police’s inevitable blows. This situation, with an eviction constantly possible, stood over the Ghawi and Hanoun families for months. Both moved their furniture out so as not to lose it to the eviction (as had happened to the Hanouns during their first eviction several years ago). It’s unclear which situation was tougher on them, this one or that one.

Back to February 2010, and once again there is no tent. What’s happened to it? I’ve been out of town for several weeks, but I’d become accustomed to the blue tent with the bearded Sheikh Nasser al Ghawi, several playing children, several cigarette smoking middle-aged Palestinians and an inviting fire. Surely torn down by the police for the umpteenth time. Later I find out the police in recent weeks have been tearing it down every morning at nine o’clock. For a while, Nasser would take it down every morning. Then they would arrive at all times of day and night and take it down. He gave up and moved into the tent in the El-Kurd house courtyard. I walk in there, leaping over a particularly vibrant flow of water down towards the olive grove at the end of the street. Peeking into the tent, I spot two sleeping international activists. Sitting in the tent, I can’t help but notice how uncomfortable is the settler knocking on the front door to the occupied section of the El-Kurd house. He calls frantically on his phone, knocks every 5 seconds, peeks through the window. “What do you know, they aren’t home. They’ve been evicted already, in case you hadn’t heard,” I can’t help but mutter.
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Let us not forget what Sheikh Jarrah is all about on this weekly day of protest. Sheikh Jarrah is about the families that live on the streets because of Israeli actions to take over their homes in favor of extremist settlers, backed by American money, that want to derail any possibility for peaceful reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians. Sheikh Jarrah is about Palestinians.

Yet, over the past months, Sheikh Jarrah has become a symbol of the (failing) Israeli democractic system. The growing police repression, the crackdown on leftist views, the double standards that plague Israeli society and the breakdown of communication between Israelis courts and police are all on full display in Sheikh Jarrah. Because of the waves of arrests and clearly misguided treatment of Israeli protesters at the hands of the Israeli police, the objectives of the Sheikh Jarrah protest have changed. The media has entered the picture, deciding to document the treatment of Israelis in Sheikh Jarrah. Last week, high profile public figures like Yossi Sarid joined the protest. Did he meet with the Palestinian families that are homeless? Did they write articles about the situation that these Palestinians are facing? The answer is not that clear. He wrote about Israelis. He wrote about Israeli democracy and about the state conduct regarding Israelis. This is an important issue in Israeli society and I am personally happy that the debate has reached such high levels in the media discourse. But I am scared that we have lost sight of the big picture in Sheikh Jarrah. We need to reformulate our approach in order to place the emphasis on the Palestinian narrative of this story. If in the process, the weakness of Israeli democracy is shown, then that is great. But this cannot be the main focus of the protest.

Every week, when Israeli citizens go out and express non-violent opposition to Israeli policies, whether in Sheikh Jarrah, the South Hebron Hills or Bil’in, the Israeli government should be privately thanking them. This is the only positive PR to come out of Israel from inside Israel. Every week that Israelis give up their weekend to sit in jail cells in order to make a point abouable to expose the double standard regarding how the rule of law is applied and the discriminatory, repressive, aggressive policies.

It is these Israelis who are taking responsibility for their country’s actions; these Israelis who are shaping future relations in the region between Israelis and Palestinians; these Israelis who demonstrate the true meaning of what it means to take active part in their future. Because of this we need to make sure that the Palestinian perspective and narrative is on center stage in Sheikh Jarrah and not necessarily the problematic of (failing) Israeli democracy. It is crucial that we do not get caught up in the media games and lose sight of the big picture in Sheikh Jarrah.

The Israeli Foreign Service should be thanking each and every protester in Sheikh Jarrah. The international media is now carrying stories about Israelis that want an end to separation and racism. Israelis that will face police brutality and go to jail if necessary. This is a face of Israel that needs to be seen and thanks to the dedication of the direct action peace camp in Israel, the message is getting across. Forget about field hospitals in Haiti, images from Sheikh Jarrah, Bil’in, Nil’in and Nebi Salah of Israeli battling the occupation head on with non violence are the best thing for the state.

A week after the arrest of high profile non violent protesters in the weekly Sheikh Jarrah protest, the remnants of the Israeli left joined the Friday afternoon display of direct action. Amongst the protesters on Friday were leftist leaders such as Hadash chairman MK Mohammed Barakeh, former Meretz chairman Yossi Sarid and former MK Avraham Burg.
Below is a video of the event from Yisrael Putermam, who is doing excellent work documenting the weekly events of direct action protest throughout Israel and the West Bank.

Below is a report about the events in Sheikh Jarrah last Friday. It is written by an activist and captures some of the intense emotion that binds the Israeli direct action left. In such a long battle, I love the moments when the left energizes and rekindles the passion necessary to keep fighting. Over the past two months, Sheikh Jarrah has provided the backdrop for this spark of renewed passion. While the battle of Sheikh Jarrah might be lost in reality, the spark of passion is important to sustain us for the other battles throughout Israel and Palestine:

To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget.
- Arundhati Roy

On Friday, January 16, members of Anarchists Against the Wall were part of organizing a vigil at the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah commemorating the continued theft of Palestinian houses by settlers. The gathering was not approved by the Jerusalem police, arguing that they approved already in the same week a live music performance, and that there is no need for a demonstration also.

Understanding the obvious stupidity of that logic, activists gathered outside of the street where settlers stole Palestinian houses with the approval of the Israeli courts. The entrance to the street itself was blocked by the Israeli military and police under the pretext that leftist activists walking into the street will be dangerous for the public safety. Those who met at an earlier point were surrounded by police and soldiers, who demand to see their ID’s and ordering some to appear for an investigation in the following week. They were not allowed to walk in a group, only in pairs, and were followed until the very point of arriving to the neighborhood.

Realizing that they will not be allowed to join their Palestinian friends who have been sleeping in the street since being evicted from their houses, activists gathered at a distant location, holding signs and chanting.

Arrest of Bashar Abu Rahma