Maltese national Bianca Zammit has just entered the besieged Gaza Strip with international peace group Code Pink to help in the reconstruction efforts and put pressure to lift the blockade. She was interviewed by Karl Schembri in Ramallah shortly before she left
Sitting in front of bulldozers as they try demolishing houses, facing armed soldiers during late night incursions and accompanying Palestinian farmers as they harvest their land under fire, Bianca Zammit has stood up to some of Israel’s most oppressive measures in the West Bank over the last three months.
Despite her tiny stature and subdued voice, the determination of this 27-year-old woman is unshakeable even in front of deadly machine guns and armoured vehicles on their daily transgressions in the occupied territories.
When she joined the International Women’s Peace Service as a volunteer last February, she was aware of the conflict that has denied Palestinians the right to their land for the last 61 years. But it was only after witnessing the daily hardships of normal Palestinians the she realised the full force of the occupation. Such as children having to navigate around tanks and checkpoints to go to school, and workers trying to figure out how to get to their workplace under curfew.
“You can read a lot about what’s happening here, but you have to come to witness what the occupation means,” she says. “It’s extremely difficult to understand what the everyday reality is unless you witness it firsthand. I used to think I understood the reality here, but then I realised my understanding was only intellectual, not on a human level. I can explain to you the situation but you’ll never know what it means to have some 10 soldiers, 18-year-olds, their faces camouflaged as if they were in Vietnam, entering your house at 2am. You might grasp the details of what I’m telling you, but not the suffering, the pure fear Palestinians go through everyday.”
For three months, she lived with Palestinian families threatened by eviction orders and impending house demolitions, giving her support and solidarity by the fact of being with them, and keeping a diary chronicling all the details that she witnessed.
“The work I was engaged in is mainly about solidarity. We work in the places where injustices are happening, staying with the families, and face the injustices with them. And we don’t want these injustices to be forgotten, so we document them, we take photos and speak to families.”
In Sheikh Jerrah, East Jerusalem, she slept for three weeks with a family under threat of having its house demolished.
“Every night, we would expect soldiers to come, because they always turn up at around 2am. The families are going through huge psychological problems and stress. Their distress is unthinkable – they have to be in their houses every minute of the day just in case soldiers turn up to evict them.”
In Qalqilya, where an Israeli court approved the building of a wall on Palestinian land separating villages, Bianca sat with locals in font of a bulldozer as armed settlers violently manhandled them and soldiers arrested some of the activists, including Israelis.
Zammit has no delusions about her contribution. She knows that peace activists won’t stop Israel’s military power.
“The impact (of our work) varies, but the first priority is our message of solidarity. Our mere presence with these people means a lot to most of them, who are totally isolated. We show them they are not forgotten. Of course it’s very difficult, because when you are faced with such injustice you feel you have to do something and in reality most of the time you can really do nothing.
“At times our presence makes a difference when settlers and soldiers notice us, especially in the olive harvest, to the point that we could harvest the fields for like eight hours at a stretch.”
On the other hand, during protests against the separation wall, Israeli soldiers do not really distinguish who they are shooting at. Israeli and American activists have been shot at just like Palestinians, some of them in near-fatal incidents.
Bianca herself was not spared the brutality.
“There were incursions in which they forced us into homes and sealed us inside. We’ve resisted curfews with families, by just standing outside the house. We were beaten up aggressively because of that.”
The Israeli media continuously portrays activists like Bianca as violent criminals who should be deported, despite their strict adherence to nonviolence. More and more Israelis are calling for activists’ groups to be outlawed, while the few Israelis protesting against the occupation are being arrested and interrogated for their “unpatriotic” behaviour.
“International activists and organisations are always nonviolent, but we support Palestinian resistance. Violence can mean different things to different people. Throwing a stone at an army jeep is not violence in my opinion. I won’t do that, and they don’t even ask us to. I’m only here to support their resistance. This is not our conflict, we are here in solidarity with their cause. Their resistance is largely nonviolent, but they are surrounded by violence all the time so we shouldn’t be surprised by anything. Luckily they have a great community spirit and support each other a lot.”
Despite being tested to the maximum, even Palestinians realise, however, that culture is one of the best forms of resistance.
“The second intifada was violent, military to a certain extent. Most of the people believe that if there is going to be a third intifada it will be a cultural one, one based on the resources they have, promoting products made in Palestine and boycotting Israeli products. Palestinians are increasingly looking at these venues for resistance,” Bianca says.
“There are several strategies, but the most effective one is the boycott, not just of Israeli products but also of Israelis. For example there’s an Israeli dance troupe that was touring the US during the war on Gaza. They didn’t say one word against the injustices on the people of Gaza, so they were accomplices and part of the injustice. There is no middle road. You’re either against injustice or else you’re accepting it.”
Karl Schembri is a correspondent for Ramattan News Agency in the West Bank and Gaza
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