rticle below is the work of independent Israeli journalist Noam Sheizaf, who currently lives in Tel Aviv. He speaks here of his country anarchist activists
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A bunch of baseless accusations are leveled against the anarchists of Israel. They are a small group of citizens engaged in civil disobedience and non-violent protests against the occupation of Palestinian territories. Most of these accusations are lies. The fact is that anarchists are the only group in Israel, who is seriously involved in the struggle against the occupation
The Israeli right has learned a new word: “anarchists.” Miri Regev MP said about leading a protest [against the military intervention in Gaza] they were “anarchists who undermined the foundations of the state.” The journalist specializing in economics from Canal 10, Sharon Gal, said that the protesters were “a kind of anarchists.” Publications and comments on Facebook pages Info reflect similar sentiments. And all this has nothing free. The movement for social justice in Israel is driven by the middle class, and there has always been a lot more Israelis “normal” in the manifestations of professional revolutionaries
But talking about anarchists. Over the last two or three years, I have traveled with them many times to attend events in the West Bank and I have come to know many anarchists, especially members of the group “Anarchists against the wall.” It would be no exaggeration to say that my relationship with them has fundamentally changed my perception of politics
At first, I was horrified by the way in which anarchists mésestimaient events that were very important to me, as the parliamentary elections or demonstrations on Rabin Square (1). However, some time later, I began to understand the importance of their political activism. One aspect of this activism is politically think all our forms of life: what we eat, which we operate through our work, and how we oppress others. The other aspect is to engage in concrete political action and continuously. Their activism does not just mean events. Anarchists have changed the names of streets of Tel Aviv by street names in the city of Hebron busy. They issued stickers denouncing the violent actions of the settlers against Palestinians. And they returned to the Ambassador of the United States smoke packaging manufactured in the United States that the Israeli army used against protesters in the West Bank
These are symbolic actions, whose purpose is to raise citizens’ awareness of what is done in their name only twenty kilometers from Tel Aviv. The fact that Israeli Jews who make up this group are the only ones who are strongly opposed to the occupation – and not just complaints conversations bistro or in the pages of Haaretz – is unflattering to Israeli society
Anarchists are only a few dozen, but have a large influence. Thousands of Israelis have visited Bilin and (2) and saw the Israeli army for the first time from a Palestinian point of view, that is to say facing the barrel of a gun rather than the right side of relaxation (this is a changing mentality experience). The Army has changed the route of the separation wall in Bil’in after the demonstrations. Furthermore, these events have helped attract the attention of the entire population of the occupation
The struggle in Sheikh Jarrah (3) was born anarchist activism. Even the protesters for social justice have learned from them, and I am not referring here to broken windows of banks. Most of the charges against anarchists are lies. I attended dozens of events and I have never seen an anarchist throwing stones or attack a soldier or a policeman. Unlike the global anarchist movement, Israeli anarchists focus their activism on civil disobedience and non-violence: refusal to serve in the army, blocking roads, boycotts and voluntary detention. With these actions, they personally pay a high price
Although I disagree with them and their dogmatism does not please me, I am convinced that anarchists are the most important to Israel in recent decades left array. Many people there a few years ago against them cackling today provide their support. As written this week an activist on Facebook: “If there were many anarchists argue that the idiots of Parliament, there would be far fewer idiots in Parliament “
(1) This is usually on the square of Tel Aviv as the Israeli left organizes its meetings
(2) Small town in the West Bank where a non-violent struggle of several years, led by its Palestinian inhabitants supported by Israeli activists and other countries, has allowed them to recover confiscated land
(3) Area of Palestinian East Jerusalem
(Translated from Spanish by me. Footnotes text were added by me)
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