The crime of filming repression in Palestine
18 Dec 2004 15:34 GMTKelly Minio-Paluello (23), a community activist from the USA and a member of Britain's National Union of Journalists, was brutally arrested by Israeli Border Policemen while filming a peaceful demonstration on Tuesday outside Ramallah, in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. She is currently being held in Hadera Detention Centre awaiting deportation. She has not been told why she was arrested or when she will be deported or informed of her rights.
Earlier this year, Kelly and her partner Mika produced a film documenting life in Balata refugee camp. When Kelly was arrested they had gone back to Balata to train Palestinians in the use of video equipment, to allow them to document their own experiences.
Kelly's arrest while filming the beating of a Palestinian by Israeli police comes only weeks after Palestian Authority presidential candidate Mustafa Barghouti was beaten by Israeli troops at one of the 703 Israeli checkpoints on Palestinian territory. [Text | Audio | Video]
[Previous Indymedia coverage by Kelly and Mika:
Cambridge IMC: [1] | [2] | [3] | [4] | [5] | several reports on the invasion of Nablus in late 2003 [1] | [2] | [3] Madison IMC [1 | 2] Notes From Palestine | Balata Refugee Camp | Audio interview with Kelly in prison (mp3) | Indymedia UK coverage demonstration in Bil’in | Film: The sun doesn't shine in the Camp, also available from IMC Cambridge ]
This story needs to be fixed
Frustrated Reader 18.Dec.2004 16:36
There are many broken links in this story.
Done
IMC Cambridge 18.Dec.2004 17:11
Sorry about that, they are fixed now.
One Tin Soldier
Groovy 21.Dec.2004 00:24
Do you remember that old movie Billy Jack about that ex- Green Beret who's drinking a coffee and sees this gap toothed red neck harassing an activist girl so he throws him through a plate glass window. Well it's a kind of a phony and manipulative movie, although the sound track is great. And that's what's missing in today's activist culture, music. There's no beautiful Joan Baez to stir the souls of the masses into sympathy with the activists. Some guy in dred locks aint gonna do it.
Husband and Wife
Traditionalist 21.Dec.2004 01:38
Why do you have to use the sanitized generic word "partner" instead of what you mean which is to say "husband". Are you some kind of FBI peculiarity trying to discredit your opponents.
How Dare the Jews SHoot Back!
How Dare the Jews SHoot Back! 21.Dec.2004 19:48
How Dare the Jews SHoot Back!
Eh?
Hayrr 25.Dec.2004 20:26
How dare Jews "shoot back"?
Didn't read the article, eh?
Why are all "liberals" Jew-haters?
anonymous 26.Dec.2004 10:27
What is "palestine", anyway? Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) has ALWAYS been disputed territory.
Why are there 703 checkpoints on "palestinian" territory?
Why did the "palestinians" suddenly find their nationalist "aspirations" AFTER the 6 day war? Why weren't they demonstrating against and killing the violent "oppressors" (the Jordanians) until then?
Why was the PLO (the "palestinian" Liberation Organization) founded in 1964, 3 years before the Israeli "occupation"? What were they trying to "liberate", then?
Stuff your hatred of Jews, all of you.
Simple Really
Czolgosz 27.Dec.2004 21:46
What is "palestine", anyway? Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) has ALWAYS been disputed territory.
The West Bank became disputed territory when Zionist fanatics decided to steal it from the indigenous people. There were not always Zionist fanatics, so it cannot have "always" been disputed territory.
Why are there 703 checkpoints on "palestinian" territory?
Because Palestine is occupied and the checkpoints are a necessary part of the coercive apparatus of occupation.
Why did the "palestinians" suddenly find their nationalist "aspirations" AFTER the 6 day war? Why weren't they demonstrating against and killing the violent "oppressors" (the Jordanians) until then?
Because the Jordanians didn't expropriate their land, repress them, or economically blockade them to the point where emigration offered the only chance of survival.
Why was the PLO (the "palestinian" Liberation Organization) founded in 1964, 3 years before the Israeli "occupation"? What were they trying to "liberate", then?
Palestine. Which was also Palestine before 1967.
Stuff your hatred of Jews, all of you.
I don't approve of colonialism and racism, whether it's practised by Jews or gentiles. Despite the fact that it was colonized by refugees, Israel is still a colonial state, and practices discrimination and repression against the non-Jewish people of Palestine, whether in the occupied territories or within the slightly-less-recently-occupied 1948 borders. As long as the law makes distinctions between Jews and non-Jews, Israel is no different than apartheid-era South Africa or the French occupation of Algeria. Similarly, states that elevate one nationality or religion over others do not meet minimal standards of human decency. Even if there is something resembling democracy for the "approved" group, the foundation of such a state is unjust. And yes, this applies equally to other states as well-- for example, so-called "Islamic republics" and those former Soviet states which now discriminate against their ethnic minorities. I object to Israel more vocally because they receive a disproportionate amount of aid from the US and because Israel continues to hypocritically claim that they embody Western democratic ideals while simultaneously practicing ethnic cleansing. But the only solution that won't breed further injustice is for Palestine to become a secular democratic state with equal rights (including the right of return) for Palestinian Arabs and Jews. Anyway, the most militant Zionists seem to come from the US, so they can always return there.
Progressive Movement hijacked
Tired of the lies 20.Jan.2005 22:30
It is tragic that the Progressive Movement has chosen to taint itself with such blatant Jew Hatred. It is amazing that the myth spouted by the Palestinians have esentially hijacked attention away from both historic reality and more worthy causes. Many Progressives are quite put off by this tranparent racism.
After the Six Day War, the Arab League diplomats are quoted as having said words to the effect that it would be a tremendous propaganda vicotory for the "Pan Arab Nation" if they could convince the world to call Judea and Samaria,"Occupied Territories". "Palestinians" were considered,and considered themselves "Arabs" and part of the greater Arab nation until it was determined to be expedient to cast them as the underdogs as part of the ongong propaganda battle in the efforts to destroy Israel. It is rather obvious that the "indigeneous" inhabitants of Judea are Jews, and the ancestral home of the Arab people,Arabia. Ever note the absence of Arabs in say, the Gospels? Even the Arab histories note the Arab armies conquering Isreal after Mohhamed. The ancestors of the modern Palestinians came in after 1830,at earliest. Don't allow Big Oil money funded Arab propaganda to buy your opinions! Read!
Lots of questions,no answers
looking for logic 20.Jan.2005 22:46
Didn't the "occupation" end in 1993 when authority was transferred to the Palestinian civil authorities under Oslo? Aren't the check points (much like the ones for today's innauguration in Washington D.C.) to stop suicide bombers and save civilian lives? Aren't Jewish lives more important than Arab inconvenience? Isn't it true that the Palestinians receive more foriegn aid (U.S., E.U. Japan and the Arab Oil Nations)per capita than any other group in the world? Aren't the Palestinians the only people that claim hereditary refugee status and have their own UN agency just to tend to them? Isn't it really the case that the worst enemy of the Arab people are the Arab Leaders?
targeting the poor
Help is needed 21.Jan.2005 19:40
Why aren't Internaional Progressives trying to stop the suicide bombing of Israeli civilians? The folks being blown up on busses in Israeli are typically of all ethnic backgrounds (has anyone thought about the number of Arabs blown up by suicide bombers??) as they are just people that can't afford a car. Really the terrorists are targeting the poor, women and children. Help is needed to stop this senseless violence against the poor.
some responses to previous comments
author of comment 23.Jan.2005 23:29
"Why aren't Internaional Progressives trying to stop the suicide bombing of Israeli civilians?"
I believe International Progressives ARE trying to stop the suicide bombing of Israeli civilians, at the same time that they're trying to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes... These activists that you demonize as anti-semitic typically consider the occupation to be the root cause of most of the violence against Israel perpetrated by Palestinians. You can argue against this belief if you like, but it is the belief of many, probably most, international activists who work for Palestinian independence. These people are not working in solidarity with Palestinians out of hatred for Israelis or for Jews, or hatred of anyone. They are trying to end the violence in the region, violence on all sides, in the way they consider best.
As far as whether the occupation ended in 1993... no. Only particular areas, usually small and not-contiguous areas, of the territories were actually transferred to the PA. Furthermore, during this intifada, most of the population centers that were first transferred during the Oslo process were reoccupied. You can argue the reasons for this reoccupation, but you cannot argue its occurence. The checkpoints are far more than just a simple "inconvenience" to the Palestinian people who must live with them. Many people are unable to work to sustain themselves and their families; this doesn't inconveniece someone's life, it threatens it.
I am not sure what groups the Palestinians do and do not recieve more aid than, but most readers of this comment board will probably know that most of that money is squandered by corrupt PA officials. Please do not try to blame the average people for the crimes of their authorities. The UN agency for the Palestinians was meant to be short term, but other UN agencies are now unavailable to the Palestinians b/c these other agencies are only available to groups not already receiving UN assistance, making the continuation of the original fund necessary.
Inverted logic
Responding 24.Jan.2005 20:22
Fascinating response but so inverted. To start, there was plenty of Arab terrorism well before any "occupation". After the 6 day war, When Israel tried to return the West Bank and Gaza, the Arab League response were "the three no's of Khartoum". The "occupation" isn't the root cause of terrorism, its just the excuse of the moment. The entire goal of Oslo was, following a series of confidence building steps, to lead to the creation of a Palestinian State. Although Israel took great measures, including,as you mentioned, ceding authority over the population center of the West Bank, the Palestinian half of the equation simply never occurred. You concede that the leadership of the Palestinians is corrupt. What do you suppose would happen if Israel were to withdraw from a piece of terrritory? Well, then the exact same corrupt Palestinian leadership would be in charge of more to corrupt. Since Oslo, a well thought out plan didn't accompish the goal of a Palestinian state why would anyone imagine that simple withdrawl would lead to anything other than a greater base for further terror and corruption? Let see what happens with the unilaeral withdrawl from Gaza by Israel. Any bets on more rocket attacks? If the Palestinians were unilaterally stop all attacks and foreswear violence, want to bet Israel would be there in a minute trying to re-start the Peace Procces? Maybe the Internationals' efforts would be better spent trying to actually promote peace from the Arab side rather than trying to shield them from the consequences of their choices.
Responding
Looking for some logic 24.Jan.2005 22:38
Thank you for you response. However, I disagree. Were the Palestinians in fact motivated by nationalism alone, then there is no reasonable explanation for their passing up the opportunity to have a state in '37, '39,'47, and '93. Since it is well understood that the Palestinian leadership is terribly corrupt and exploitative of its aown people, otften acting agasint their best interests. why would anyone think that an Israeli withdrawl would do more than provide an expanded base for further corruption and violence? Part of the idea behind Oslo was that when Israel withdrew in '93, that the Palestinian authority would also take incremental confidence building steps withthe goal being an eventual state. As the Palestinian authority took none of the agreed to steps, and then rejected statehood under Clinton,its obvious that statehood is not the goal. It is the pursuit of violence which acts AGAINST the interest in statehood. If the Palestinians were too stop and foreswear violence, I bet the Israelis would be ready to re start peace talks. By protecting Palestinian terrorits from the consequences of their own choices, the Internationals are merely sending the wrong message about the use of violence thus prolonging the conflict. As to the bugaboo of "non contingous", may I remind you that neither Alaska nor Hawaill are contigous with the contintental U.S.?