For Israeli activist Ronnie Barkan, joining the nonviolent Palestinian struggle is the least he could do as a human being
For the vast majority of Israelis, the controversial wall segregating Palestinians is both a physical security barrier and a convenient psychological shield from the gritty realities of the occupation. For Ronnie Barkan, the only way to remain a human being is to cross it. The 32-year-old from Tel Aviv is one of the few Israelis who are actively engaged with Palestinians in the struggle against the occupation.
Every Friday, he joins them with his comrades of Anarchists Against the Wall in their nonviolent protests in Bil’in and other villages that are being cut off from the rest of the West Bank through Israel’s so-called “security fence” that is effectively robbing them of their land.
Less than two weeks ago, he was right next to 31-year-old Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahma when he was killed by a tear gas canister shot at his chest by an Israeli soldier.
“I held him in my hands in the last minutes of his life,” he says about Bassem. “He embodied the spirit of the nonviolent struggle. He would never pick up a stone. Up until the very last minute of his life, he was engaging with the soldiers and talking to them about what we are doing here. He tried to tell them ‘calm down, don’t shoot, this is a nonviolent demonstration’. And as he was saying this they shot at him.”
Since 2003, Barkan’s group has been protesting alongside Palestinians in front of bulldozers and armed soldiers, and inside Israel itself to “bring the occupation to Tel Aviv”. But he harbours no hope of change from Israeli society. His own friends, he says, cannot understand him.
“I would say that Israeli society is very brainwashed, and the vast majority of Israelis think all Palestinians are terrorists, that it is dangerous to come to the West Bank,” he says. “I keep responding that it is dangerous because there are Israeli soldiers here. When I go into the West Bank, and sometimes I come here on my scooter so I’m totally exposed, the people I’m afraid of are only the Israeli soldiers, who are armed and dangerous, very dangerous actually.”
Confronted with the images and video footage of what is happening here, he says many Israelis remain in denial.
“But some people are genuinely shocked by what they see,” he adds, “because there is no explanation other than Israel is a fascist, terrorist state.”
Consistent with his views, Barkan refused to serve in the army as required of every Israeli citizen.
“I think this is one of the best decisions I ever took in my life,” he says. “I stand 100% behind such a decision between humanity and nationalism and I choose to be first and foremost a human being before anything else.”
Israelis, he says, have to “insist on being human beings in all cases” by refusing to do military service. They also have to reach out to grassroots organisations abroad to put pressure on Israel through nonviolent means – particularly boycotts, sanctions and divestment.
“I’m talking about an absolute boycott – economic, cultural, academic and in sports... every form of boycott and sanctions are absolutely essential until Israel gets to abide by international law and basic human rights,” he says. “There is an Israeli group that is in the making and we will go public soon and we will wholeheartedly endorse the Palestinian society’s boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign.”
For Israelis, crossing over to the West Bank is illegal, and Barkan and his colleagues have been arrested countless times.
“But what I care about is international law rather than Israeli law,” he says defiantly. “You know this is what the Israeli authorities are most afraid of, that Israelis would cross the barrier, both the physical one and the mental one, and they put a lot of pressure to prevent it.
Initially, crossing the barrier wasn’t even easy for himself, as Palestinians were apprehensive.
“A lot of people in the village were a bit afraid, they were questioning what the Israelis are doing here. But throughout the West Bank – unfortunately I didn’t get to go to Gaza because Israel doesn’t allow me to go there – wherever I go people realise very easily that I am with them, not against them, and I’m welcomed wherever I go and it’s a nice feeling. This is a joint struggle. Palestinians treat us as equals, as partners, and this is very important.”
To the question of whether he is willing to sacrifice his life for his ideals, Barkan acknowledges the risks involved.
“I don’t think that anyone knowingly goes to the demonstrations that they are going to be severely injured or killed, God forbid, but it is always a possibility. But I think this is the least I can do as a human being, even more so as a privileged Israeli in this situation.
“Some of things that I do on a daily or weekly basis, if I was a Palestinian I would surely be dead by now, because the Israeli armed forces do react differently if it’s a Palestinian or an international or an Israeli in front of them. I’m sure that some things that I do would have been very dangerous to do if I were a Palestinian. Such as crossing a checkpoint when I’m not allowed to, or standing in front of a soldier aiming a rifle at me or a person close by, shouting at him.”
Ronnie Barkan and his friends will not stop the occupation, but adding Israeli faces to the side of the occupied drives the message home that despite the semblance of normality for the majority, it is not business as usual.
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The 32-year-old from Tel Aviv is one of the few Israelis who are actively engaged with Palestinians in the struggle against the occupation.
