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5763: Articles posted from September 2002-September 2003
Get the real situation in Israel every day.
Protest Happening in Tel-Aviv
By Gila Svirsky
27 December 2002
Things are so terrible here, one could weep. Or sit home and do nothing.
Or move to Tel-Aviv and get lost in the café crowd – galleries, gourmet
food, and a political party called ‘Green Leaf’ pushing for the legalization
of marijuana. Now that’s one way to cope with reality.
So, we decided to bring reality into the heart of affluent, artsy Tel-Aviv,
and to do it on their terms – using music, art, cinema, and street theater,
all set into a mass Women (and Men) in Black vigil.
We were about 1,500 people from all over Israel as well as Europe and North
America, most of us dressed in black and spread out on the five corners of
one of the busiest intersections of Tel-Aviv. Our twin slogans – ‘End the
Occupation’ and ‘No to Racism’ – called out from every direction: white
lettering on black smocks, black umbrellas, black banners, and the
traditional black ‘hands’ of Women in Black. (Thank you, Dita, for those
great graphic items.)
The day was meant to convey a serious message, but the sudden bright, hot
sun after a week of cold winter rains, our own need for respite from the
horror, and the Tel-Aviv escapist state-of-mind all seemed to get the better
of us, turning a protest demonstration into a protest happening, with action
every few meters:
***Two drummers, doing Middle Eastern rhythms;
***“Five “Angry Old Ladies” singing subversive political lyrics they had
written to nursery rhymes and Zionist foot-stompers;
***A group from Portugal doing much loved peace songs with guitars and
hand-clapping;
***Black Laundry: Lesbians and Homosexuals Against the Occupation with an
art installation that defies simple description;
***Crates of olives and olive oil, packed into empty soda bottles, sold by
peace activists that had helped in the harvest (ah, they taste best when you
have picked them yourselves…)
***To counter the racist ‘Transfer = Security’ stickers that have sprouted
all over the country, there were ‘Transfer = War Crime’ stickers, on the
background of the yellow Jewish star that had been used by the Nazis during
the Holocaust.
***The Fifth Mother Movement (carrying on the tradition of the Four Mothers
Movement that got us out of Lebanon) sold shirts saying ‘War is not my
language’.
But best of all was the public screening of the film ‘Jenin, Jenin’
[director Mohammed Bakri], an account of the actions of the Israeli army
this spring in the West Bank town of Jenin. The film had been banned by the
Israeli censors, but showing in private homes and offices around Israel.
We – the Coalition of Women for Peace – decided to rent equipment and defy
the censor, showing it on a big screen we set up in plain view of everyone.
The police knew of the plan and approached Yoni Lerman, one of the main
organizers, to tell her that the Chief of Police gave strict orders that the
film must not be shown. No way, said Yoni, we’re showing it, and gave
orders to run the projector. The police couldn’t stand it. They went up to
the man who rented us the equipment and was operating it, and told him to
turn off the projector or they would smash it. He turned it off. That was
too much for Debby Lerman, another organizer, who also happens to be Yoni’s
mom. Debby pulled out her checkbook, put her signature onto one of them,
and handed it to the video equipment owner. “Hold onto that check,” said
Debby, “and if the police smash your equipment, write in the amount that it’
s worth. Now turn it on.” He still hesitated, but pointed to the button.
“You turn it on,” he said, which Debby gladly did. The crowd gathered in
great numbers and the film ran for over an hour, no equipment smashed, with
the TV news this evening reporting, “The film ‘Jenin, Jenin’, banned in
Israel by the censor, was shown on a giant screen in the heart of Tel-Aviv
this afternoon,” followed by an interview with Yoni who simply explained
that one should not hide the truth. Well done, Yoni.
Special guests at the event: beloved Knesset Member Tamar Gozansky, now
retiring; dear Luisa Morgantini, “our” member of the European Parliament;
local and international peace activists Shulamit Aloni, Simone Susskind, Uri
Avnery, Dan Almagor, and others.
Many local and international media also came, thanks to ‘Jenin, Jenin’, and
half the people there seemed to be making videos of the other half. But for
some very nice stills done by Mely Lerman (yes, Yoni’s dad), click onto
www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org. I’ll also insert here one of Jane Fonda +
Eve Ensler at last week’s very rainy vigil of Jerusalem Women in Black.
That’s it. Special thanks to the many of you in Europe and North America
who held your own vigils in solidarity with ours – some in great gobs of
snow, we hear. By the way, exactly one hour after our own event ended in
dazzling sunny weather, the sky opened up and poured down buckets of rain.
Well, in some ways, it was more a protest carnival than a march of mourning,
like last December. Did we get through to the Tel-Aviv crowd? Maybe. And
maybe they got through to us a little bit, too.
Shalom / Salaam from Jerusalem,
Gila Svirsky
Coalition of Women for Peace Bat Shalom;
The Fifth Mother (formerly Four Mothers Movement);
Machsom-Watch; NELED; New Profile; Noga; TANDI; WILPF; and Women in Black
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