Sunday 11th July 2010 - day 3 of youth trip to Israel and Palestine

Today was spent in and around Bethlehem, in the Westbank, in the company of Mahmoud Zwahre, major of the village Al-Ma'sara, and one of the leading figures in the growing popular movement for non-violent resistance against the wall and settlements.  

We visited the area together with Mahmoud and were introduced in the incredible world of collaborative non-violent actions developed first by two Palestinian villages, and now by 16.  It is a small but rapidly growing movement of Palestinians who believe that there are non-violent ways to oppose the occupation, the wall and the settlements.  

Exceptional is that they develop their actions in collaboration with people from outside (internationals) as well as with Israelis (jewish and palestinian) who come to the villages, participate in demonstrations of different kinds, and even stay in the villages to develop strong relationships.  

Our group was immensely impressed by this courageous and so constructive movement, taking dialogue and collaborative actions on board as essential elements of their political activities, whether it is liked or not.  

On 29th and 30th November, we will have Mahmoud Zwahre and his colleague from the village of Bil'in, Mohammed Al Khatib, as our guests in our programme in Antwerp.  To find out more about this movement, you can visit their website: http://www.popularstruggle.org.

This evening, like all other evenings, our group is staying with families, this time in the Palestinian village of Al-Ma'sara near Bethlehem.  The evening is beautiful and fresh, after a very hot day.  

© by Activestills.org: a picture of a manifestation organised at Al-Ma'sara village, on which one sees Shministim Yuval Auron Yarlicht, who came to Antwerp this year as part of 3rdParty's programme there