With all the other sad news, very little attention is being focused on a change in the Israeli/Palestinian confrontation. Non-violent resistance to the wall is growing. Of course, the non-violence is one sided. The Israeli army is killing and wounding non-violent protesters every day. This article covers the issue:
“In some of the events, the Palestinian demonstrators are bolstered by Israelis, ranging in number from a few individuals to dozens, mainly from the Anarchists Against the Wall group, and by international peace activists. When the latter take part, they also document the events on video. It’s clear, after watching hours of this footage, that the Palestinians may be reverting to the protest method of the first intifada, but the Israel Defense Forces is moving forward. Stun grenades and tear gas are often hurled at groups of elderly women or at high-school girls, and it is common to see civilians fleeing for their lives from rubber-coated steel bullets. In one case – the exception, as far as is known – soldiers used live fire against demonstrators, killing three residents of the village of Biddu, near Jerusalem; one of those killed was a boy of 11.”
Of course, since this article was written, there is hard evidence that Israeli soldiers used a 13 year old boy as a human shield at one of the protestes at Biddu.
I had the honor of speaking at an event where Ghassan Andoni, mentioned in the article, was the main speaker. On the way to dinner, Andoni explained to me the logic of non-violent resistance: “The way to end an occupation is to make the price too high for the occupier. But that price shouldn’t have to be in body bags.”