| From Bolinas to Israel, activism in the genes |
[Aug. 12th, 2004|09:00 am] |
By Jim Kravets
Point Reyes Light,
August 12, 2004
In his adaptive posture, crouched, Philip D’Onofrio, advanced slowly between a group of stone-wielding Palestinian boys and a line of impassive Israeli tanks. The boys launched a barrage of stones at the tanks which, in response, swept their gun turrets menacingly at the boys.
Israeli soldiers ordered D’Onofrio to stay where he was as bursts of gunfire erupted 50 meters away. Amidst a hail of shattered glass, he darted for questionable safety at the side of a building.
As Apache helicopter gunships passed low overhead, a Palestinian family approached D’Onofrio where he was crouched beneath a sheet metal awning to escape a hail of shattered glass. They brought him coffee and thanked him for being there, thanked him for coming. "It’s surreal" D’Onofrio wrote in an email. "Welcome to occupation."
Father a prominent sculptor
D’Onofrio, 37, is the son of Bolinas resident and prominent wood sculptor Tom D’Onofrio, who is also a Methodist minister. Philip is in the West Bank city of Jenin with the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian activist group which recruits international volunteers to non-violently protest the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories as well as the construction of Israel’s controversial West Bank "security barrier."
A Jenin refuge camp in 2002 was the site of an Israeli attack which resulted in the deaths of 52 Palestinians, half of which were civilians, according to a UN report.
D’Onofrio and other International Solidarity Movement volunteers engage in non-violent disruption, acting ostensibly as human shields and witnesses. D’Onofrio calls it "accompaniment work ... monitoring checkpoints, sleeping with a family who is a potential target of the settlers, observing and participating in peaceful rallies and marches, riding in ambulances to negotiate with the Israeli police and military so the ambulance may actually be able to reach a hospital."
Palestinians’ limited rights
Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have lived under Israeli control since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Unlike Arabs born in the state of Israel, those living in the West Bank and Gaza are not Israeli citizens and their rights and movements are restricted.
According to D’Onofrio, his main job is to observe and report back. "I know I cannot go [to the Middle East] and change everything," he wrote in an April 19 farewell letter to family and friends, "but what I can do is help educate my communities about what is truly taking place. In order to do that, I must go and experience Palestine firsthand."
From activist family
D’Onofrio’s activist tendencies are in his blood, said his father Tom last week. Philip was born in Berkeley in 1967, "essentially on Ashby and Telegraph," said Tom. The day after Philip’s birth, Tom was arrested during a civil protest and spent the day in Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail. Tom was then a student at the Berkeley Graduate Theological Union and a member of the Ministers of Peace activist group.
Tom came to activism abruptly. "In October 1966, within two hours of arriving in Berkeley, I saw naked people, went to a sit-in on campus, and was beaten by cops. I immediately went home, took off my three-piece Brooks Brothers suit and went down to sign up with SDS [Students for a Democratic Society]."
He was granted a minister’s deferment to the draft but, he said, "I gave it up to became a conscientious objector, just to make a point."
Tom, originally from upstate New York, first visited Bolinas in 1966 and moved there permanently in 1968. "In Berkeley," he said, "all I heard was just more rhetoric from anarchists. Their criticisms were right on target, but their solutions stunk. This just frustrated me."
Father & crafts guild
He became a woodcarver and in 1972 helped found the Bolinas Crafts Guild, an apprenticeship woodcarving program.
"My radicalism led to concrete programs," he said. "If you’re going to change the society, the way is through the individual. If people are working at a job that is meaningful, they’ll be happy. If you have enough people working in their passion, it contributes to the community.
"For me, this was how I could use my own activism against all the things I couldn’t possibly change. I got arrested and beat up as Minister for Peace and what good did that do? But the Guild was a way I could make a change, and it worked."
The Bolinas Crafts Guild now has more than 100 members. Their works are represented in major museum collections such as the Smithsonian Institute, the de Young Museum of San Francisco, and the New York Museum of Modern Art. One of Tom’s pieces, The Lord of The Bulls, is a feature on the floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange. Another carving, a rosewood dragon table, was originally sculpted for Grace Slick and Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane.
Son is Army vet
Tom’s son’s route to activism was less abrupt than his father’s but, if possible, even more surprising. Philip grew up in Maine with his mother. He briefly owned a commercial fishing business there but sold it in 1991, at the age of 23, to join the US Army. "I was in a tough spot in my life, and the Army seemed like an easy way out," he said.
He spent two years in California’s Fort Irwin during the Gulf War and never saw combat. During this period, he said, "I started to question all I knew," which included, evidently, America’s role in world politics and, by extension, his own.
Upon his discharge from the military, he returned to Bolinas in 1992 to help his father rebuild after a disastrous fire destroyed Tom’s studio and half his home. "It was a great opportunity for me to continue my quest for my truth and be around many new people with such different perspectives than those I grew up around," Philip said.
Philip saved his money and traveled to Southeast Asia for six months. The change upon his return was unmistakable. "He came home wearing a ‘Free Tibet’ t-shirt," his father said. "I wasn’t surprised. I’d been waiting for this day a long time. The name ‘D’Onofrio’ roughly translates to ‘defender of peace.’"
School of the Americas
Activism was now firmly a part of Philip’s life. In 2002, Philip went to Fort Benning, Georgia, to protest the School of the Americas, a US training center for foreign military operatives, winding up with a three-month sentence in federal prison for trespassing on federal property – a result Philip expected.
"When the judge threw him in jail," said Tom, "he didn’t know it but he was doing him a favor." The experience solidified Philip’s beliefs. "It was a life-changing experience to walk my truth in the face of adversity, to stand up to an oppressive system and accept all that the system threw my way."
A need to relay the truth
Soon thereafter, Philip joined the International Solidarity Movement. "I don’t know all the issues at hand in the Middle East," he said before he left for Israel this June, "but I do know that people are living in fear on both sides of the wall and that the region is a tinder box...The only way for our communities to know the truth is if people like myself go and seek the truth and then bring it home...
"I cannot expect others to do something when I do nothing, so I must go and see firsthand what is happening in my name."
The International Solidarity Movement received media attention in March 2003 when volunteer Rachel Corrie of Olympia Wash., was killed by an Israeli bulldozer while she was protesting the destruction of Palestinian houses in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Other International Solidarity Movement fatalities have followed.
Tom Hurndall, a 22-year-old British student, was shot and killed by the Israeli army in 2003. Another International Solidarity Movement volunteer, Brian Avery, a 24-year-old from New Mexico was shot in the face in 2003 but survived.
Protesting ‘security wall’
In the Gaza town of Azzawiya, Philip and his "affinity group" of International Solidarity Movement volunteers accompanied Palestinians protesting the construction of the "security wall." When 300 protesters marched towards a phalanx of Israeli soldiers, tensions soared, and the international volunteers stepped between the Palestinians and the heavily armed soldiers, attempting to avert almost-certain violence.
The soldiers responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and head butts. Live rounds flew overhead. With the media taping, the international volunteers stood their ground, and this time a more catastrophic outcome was averted.
In such a volatile situation, does Philip ever consider the benefit of his participation in the context of a millennia-old conflict which could conceivable continue for another 100+ years?
Doesn’t overrate his effect
"I have no misconception that I am going to make a tangible change, that I will actually see with my two eyes here," he told The Light. "Yet I know that my presence does make a difference. So if I die tomorrow here it is not in vain and I have no regrets.
"Any time a person makes a stand for truth and justice, for humanity against the powers at be, it is not in vain. If we take no risks, raise no voice, and patiently wait, we will never see a change, and we will wait in vain."
Motivation
To what extent is political activism for its stated cause and how much of it is for the activists’ personal development – their needing to feel engaged, vital and involved or simply to have an outlet for youthful fervor?
"Activists act," his father Tom answered, "and as you act, your mind plays catchup and tries to bring some rationale to why you’re doing it. For Philip now, it’s about the injustice. He can’t look at himself in the mirror without thinking of people getting shot, and he decides he needs to go stop it."
"For me," he said, "I can now see that I was just putting myself into situations that would test myself. In putting myself under stress, I learned about myself. In so doing, I learned about others. If [Philip] lives through this, he’ll develop an evolved sense of his own activism."
Philip will leave the Middle East and return to Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 15. There he will resume studying at a community college with the objective of eventually becoming a nurse. However, Philip’s main goal, he said, will be to give presentations about his experiences in the International Solidarity Movement and his three months in federal prison. |
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| Another Day and Another Murder |
[Jul. 19th, 2004|02:40 am] |
Yesterday evening (7/19) the soldiers came, and again they murdered an unarmed boy.
At about 6:30 I received word that the military was in Balata camp. My affinity group and I went to the scene and met up with another affinity group. All together we where about 10 internationals. We broke up into 3 groups to observe the military and the boys throwing rocks. We soon learned the the military was occupying a house with at least 7 soldiers. There where 3 jeeps present driving around in the immediate area enticing the boys to throw rocks. Several times the jeeps would draw the boys out by sitting and letting the boys mass around the jeeps throwing rocks. It was truly amazing to see about 100 boy in the street standing only about 5 meters from the jeeps, heaving large rocks at the vehicle. From the loudspeaker of the jeep came taunts like "Balata boys can't you throw harder" or "Where is Randzy" (the Hamas leader assassinated in April). The jeeps came and went, over and over and the boys came out to confront and then ran for fear of being shot. It was an obvious ploy of the military to draw the boys out. I kept reminding my group about the occupied house that overlooked the scene. This went on and on for about an hour and a half and dusk settled over the town. Soon Shots rang out and I ducked into a house. After about 10 seconds and about 12, I slowly left the "safety" of the house and entered a desolate street. I was hyper aware of the situation and moved to an ally where the rest of my team was taking cover. Then we heard the ambulance coming and Palestinians began to run through the allies. My group and I moved swiftly towards the cemetery where A man was executed by the military 2 days ago and a boy shot in the eye the day before that. The ambulance was at the entrance to the cemetery as was a crowd of yelling Palestinians. As I arrived the crowd seemed to part for me, and I was being pushed and screamed at to go into the cemetery. I knew that one of our groups was positioned in the cemetery and I say two young men lying on the ground about 5 meters away. But where are the soldiers I thought as the air was filled with screams and pleas. I took cover next to the two men and soon saw that they where Palestinians doing the same. About 100 meters away I spotted the medics moving across the cemetery with their hands held high so I slowly began to move towards them with my hands in the air shouting unarmed international. With in 30 meters I spotted him lying in a pool of blood. I went to the lifeless body of 17 year old Hausama Abu Zaitun. A young Palestinian man arrived as I searched for a breath and pulse. The man screamed in horror and grief and within seconds a few Palestinians and several internationals came. They scooped the corpse up and headed towards the waiting ambulance in a wail of screams.
Husama was shot 4 times. Once in the chest, once in the hip, once in the arm and once in the leg. He was completely unarmed and about 150 meters from the jeeps that where out of sight from where he lay. He was about 250 meters from the occupied house that had a clear view of him. It seems obvious that he was shot from a sniper from the house. Again I will state that he was unarmed! And he is the 3 young, UNARMED man to be shot in this cemetery in 4 days. There have been no fighters active, all of the shooting has come from the Israeli army who has entered the camp uninvited.
Today I will attend another Martyr funeral for yet another young man. Death is but a breath away for the Palestinians. The decision about whether they live or die is completely in the hands of a 18 year old, indoctrinated Israeli young man who hates them, and is under significant stress. yet the Palestinians are called the terrorists, people who do not value life. I will tell you from experience that the Palestinians cry over the loss of a loved one just as you and I would, they want to live in safety just as we. The Palestinians are just as human as we!
I beg you all to inform everyone about the true situation here in Palestine. If you have any media contacts please use them for the benefit of humanity. If you have media contact that would be interested in interviewing me here live from Palestine please pass along my email address. We must bring the truth to the attention of our communities!
In Solidarity,
Phil. |
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| International witnesses - Israeli soldiers murder unarmed Palestinian. 7/11 |
[Jul. 17th, 2004|12:38 pm] |
Today at about 4 pm the Israeli army entered Balata refugee camp in Nablus with 5 jeeps. One international volunteer (Henrik Larson from Sweden) with the ISM was working with a Red Cresent ambulance and was dispatched to the scene as usual when ever there is an incursion. Young boys greeted the jeeps with stones. At 7:20 pm shots rung out and a report came to the ambulance that a boy was shot. When the team arrived they found a boy shot in the hand by live ammunition. They where then told that another was wounded about 30 meters away. Henrik rushed towards the other wounded boy, when the boy came into sight more shots rung out into the body of the unarmed wounded boy. Henrik shouted for the soldiers to stop shooting but to no avail. Henrik estimates that the first shot was from about 15 meters out of the jeep, then the rest came from about 3 meters away as two soldiers exited the jeep and ran up to their victim. The man, 20 year old Yasser Tantawi was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital, suffering from atleast 10 gun shot wounds throughout his body.
Yasser's brother was killed last April by Israeli soldiers. There have been an estimated 25 to 30 people killed in Balata and Nablus in the last month by Israeli soldiers.
I arrived on the scene about 5 minutes after the shooting and the soldiers stayed in the area until about 8:30 taunting and harassing the Palestinians. No fighters engaged in a fight before, during or after the murder. The only shooting was by the Israeli army.
The boy who was shot in the eye by a rubber bullet yesterday is in a hospital in Jerusalem and will loose his vision in that eye. |
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| Back In Nablus 7/17 |
[Jul. 17th, 2004|04:53 am] |
Hello everyone,
Everything continues to go well for me but I am sorry to say that, that is not so for the Palestinians. The longer that I am here the more that I realize the hopelessness that exists here in the Palestinian society. The weight of occupation is heavy, every day there are many incursions into cities and villages throughout the West Bank and every day Palestinian families are broken up by assassinations, incarcerations, checkpoints and walls. Take Abu Ali's family as an example; they are still separated from their daughter and are unsure of her condition. She was able to call home and mentioned the prison she was in at that time and said that she was ok. But she also said that the soldiers where next to her monitoring the call. The truth is that she has most likely been emotionally and mentally tortured if not physically. It is standard operating procedure of the Israeli military to force a confession out of its prisoners. The Ali family probably won't see their daughter until the time of her quick trial if she even receives a trial and if she is lucky she will be able to meet her lawyer before trial and may even get to spend 5 minutes with him. When I last visited Abu at his store two days ago he was all but in tears; not expressing a rage that one may expect but a sense of helplessness, knowing that everything is in the hands of the Israeli government and that there was nothing he can do but wait. Every day the Palestinians wait, wait for members of their families, wait at check points, wait for employment, wait for the military to come, but most importantly they wait for peace. A peace that is some what out of their hands and in the hand of the occupier and another nation called America.
Two day ago I left Jenin and came here to Nablus because the military has been more active in this region. What should only take 45 minutes by taxi took about 4 hours due to check points. I had to wait and pass through 4 check points before arriving at the outskirts of Nablus at yet another check point. Knowing that Nablus is off limits to international I once again hiked over the mountains and into the city. It was a beautiful hike but the thoughts of soldiers in the woods remained on my mind until I was safe in Nablus. I met some friends and was informed about the situation at the check points in the area so we went to do some checkpoint monitoring. When we arrived at Beit Fuik check point at 5:30 the situation was tense. there where several hundred dehydrated Palestinians waiting to pass, and baking under the sun and the 100 degree temp. and the soldiers where just standing around. Soon the Palestinians began to walk across the fields around the check point and the soldiers knew that they had lost control so they began to let Palestinians through the check point in order to regain the control. No vehicles where allowed to pass. We received a call the Huwara check point had become violent and the soldiers where shooting teargas so we grabbed a taxi and headed for the Huwara check point. On the way we came across a pair of Israeli soldiers who had stopped an old man and a young boy. The soldiers where yelling at the old man and then one soldier drew his fist back as if to hit the old man. The soldier threatened to punch several times then turned around and began to walk back to his jeep. Then all of a sudden, the soldier whirled around raised his gun and ran up to the old man putting his gun to the old mans head. After holding his gun to the old mans head for several seconds the soldier turned around got in his jeep and drove off. At Huwara check point there where about 500 Palestinians waiting in the sun to pass. The soldiers where aggressive, pushing Palestinians and Internationals around. One International was punched, knocked to the ground and kicked. He sustained no major injuries but was shaken up and returned to our flat. We tried to document and negotiate to get Palestinians through. Two of our affinity group members were arrested for taking pictures. At about 10 pm the soldiers began to pick up the pace and allow Palestinians to pass. My affinity group remained on site until about 1:30 trying to negotiate the release of our friends and the detained Palestinians but it produced nothing. All of the Palestinians where eventually released but out two International friends where taken away. In three days at least 4 Internationals where arrested and at least 3 beaten up. All of the Internationals have been released two of them signed papers stating that they wouldn't visit the West Bank for 45 days.
Yesterday the soldiers came to the Balata Refugee camp in three jeeps. Of course they where greeted by young boys throwing rocks and of course the soldiers responded with teargas and bullets. At least yesterday the bullets where "rubber" (they are Teflon coated steel) but still one young man was taken to the hospital when a soldier shot him in the eye. I don't know what his status is today. There was little for us to do but stand and watch as an international presence and escort women and children (the ones not throwing rocks) across the street. The soldiers stayed in their Jeeps and parked at the end of the camp for several hours. When ever the young boys throwing rocks would begin to loose interest the soldiers would throw a sound bomb or shoot some teargas to get the boys stirred up. It was obvious harassment and may not sound like all that big of a deal but one must remember that there have been many arrests and assassinations lately so the people are afraid and are always waiting for the next invasion.
Imagine for one minute that you are a Palestinian and your child is walking out the door to try to go to school and you are wondering if your child will return home this afternoon or ever again. Your child is out and there is machine gun fire and ambulances sirens. You put your child to bed at night and wonder if this is the night the army will come to blow up your home. You go to by food and wonder when the next time you will be allowed to leave your home to purchase food. You are approaching a check point with a sniper tower and you can see a soldier tracking your every move through the sights of his rifle and you have to wonder if today is your day, the day that this particular soldier feels like squeezing the trigger. Imagine having all the pictures of all the men in your family on the wall but there are no men around because all the men in those pictures are either in prison or have been killed. Imagine living under occupation.
In Solidarity,
Phil. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 11th, 2004|05:59 am] |
From: "PHILIP DONOFRIO" <philipdonofrio@msn.com>
Date: Sun Jul 11, 2004 5:59:29 AM US/Pacific
To: progressivekayak@msn.com
Subject: Update from Jenin 7/11
Hello everyone,
The situation is relatively quiet here in Jenin especially during the days. At night the military still comes. Several nights ago I was woken abruptly at about 2 am to a loud explosion. Over the next several hours there where 3 more large explosions and a few smaller ones. Of course there was a bit of small arm fire. At one point there was a clash in the narrow street below our windows and we could hear the rounds striking the building in which we live. The next morning we learned that the military had entered the city and had been blowing up offices of political organizations such as Hamas in the Old City and the refugee camp. The exact number is unknown to us.
Friday night the military again entered Jenin, and as usual we knew nothing about it until the next morning. This time they came to Abu Ali's house and took his wife and 16 year old daughter giving no explanation except that they where following orders. Abu's wife was released the next morning but his daughter still remains missing. The family still (36 hours later) has no access to information about whether or not she is alive or dead let alone where she is, and if she will be released. I am sorry to say that this is not an uncommon story for the Palestinian families and often they wait a month to learn about the status of their loved ones. Often the detained are tortured and/or threatened until they admit to something they may have had nothing to do with. One common threat the Israeli government uses is to say that they will create photos (superimposed) of family members engaged in sexual acts and spread the photos throughout the West Bank. Does that tactic sound familiar?
Yesterday I went to a peaceful march to protest the wall. Just prior to the march we got word about the ruling the International court handed down, stating the Wall was illegal. No one believes that anything will change because so far Israel has turned its back to International law more times than we can count.
Today, as I am sure that you all know there was a bombing in the 48 (Israel) and of course the Palestinians are once again the "Terrorists" so the excuse for the Wall is alive and well. Maybe it was just a coincidence that the International court ruled against the Wall just yesterday and that this was not a suicide bombing as usual but a planted bomb. Who truly stands to benefit from this bombing? Surely not the Palestinians because the repercussions will be harsh. But then again life under occupation is harsh every day.
I ask that all Americans pressure our government to obey International law and end this occupation and the occupation of Iraq immediately. I beg you all not to wait for the election because nothing will change if we just wait and hope for another conservative. Kerry has stated that "what is good for Israel is good for America" and he has openly endorsed the Wall. Can we really expect him to change anything? I think not! If elected he will continue the war on the poor, but he may put a humane face on the war as Clinton did.
"Freedom is never given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed" MLK
In Solidarity,
Phil. |
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| Another day in Palestine |
[Jul. 5th, 2004|01:19 pm] |
Hello everyone,
Today at about noon I was in the internet cafe trying to get some emails off. I was reporting about how the Israeli army seems to be intensifying its actions around Jenin and that many of us feel as though something may happen any day. All of a sudden two young boys came in with a sense of urgency. I asked them what was going on and they said that the tanks were coming. I went outside and the story was confirmed by a taxi driver. The exact location of the tanks was lost in translation so I had the driver take me to the tanks. During the short drive I got contact with my affinity group and informed them of the situation. The taxi drooped me off on a lonely corner on the outskirts of the city center. I walked about 10 meters while talking to my affinity group on the phone when two tanks came into view about 50 meters away and the sound of two apache helicopter gun ships circling overhead was clear indication that the boys urgency was justified. I monitored the situation for about 15 minutes while my affinity group was mobilizing then I moved quickly to a rendezvous point. We were able to get in touch with a local Palestinian contact that requested that we meet him on the outskirts of the old city region of Jenin. We were in a large affinity group with 5 new members, grabbed a cab and went to meet our contact. At our meeting point it was obvious that the military had been there due to the large collection of rocks in the street from the Palestinian resistance (young boys throwing rocks at tanks and jeeps). Soon we were surrounded by young boys holding rocks. Then came a military jeep, greeted by a hail storm of rocks. The soldiers threw gas, sound bombs and smoke grenades at us. The Hummers and jeeps kept driving by and the scene repeated its self over and over. We moved down a block and were greeted by a tank swiveling its turret upon us to let us know who was in control. Several boys came and walked up to about 5 meters from the tank and pelted it with rocks. One stood in front and would pace slowly back and forth in about a 5 meter line and the tank would follow him with its main gun. We moved back to where the boys were being played by the soldiers. a Hummer came flying by and the boys again began to send a hail of stones the only problem is that this time we were in between the boys and the hummer. We clung to the side of a building in a single row with me being in the back where the rocks were coming from. Thank God for the sheet metal awning as glass shattered over our heads and rocks flew around us. believe it or not no one was hit and I couldn't help but laugh as it was happening because we were in more danger from the rocks than the soldiers that we fear most. We could hear steady gun fire coming from up ahead and word came down that one Palestinian fighter was dead and several wounded and the army wouldn't let us or the ambulances advance to help the wounded. Soon our local media contact gave us the word to follow him. We moved slowly towards a couple of hummers the boys were told to stop throwing stone so that we could pass with safety but still a couple continued to throw. We walked past the hummers and rounded a corner about 100 meters past the hummers. It was like we were in another world young children were in the streets and everything was quiet. Then gun fire erupted from all around. Nothing too close but within 50 meters. We moved towards some local reporters that we know when we were ordered to come no closer by soldiers in a hummer. We clung to a wall as the gun fire continued in violent burst. We crouched analyzing our situation and what we intended to accomplish when a family came with coffee and thanked us for being there. How surreal, to have machine gun fire so close and apache gun ships over head and drinking coffee. The soldiers knew exactly where we were so I felt as safe as one can feel in such a situation. We tried to advance but each time we were told to come no closer in Hebrew over a loud speaker. Then some hummers left and again we tried to advance but again were told to come no closer but this time they said it was because they were getting ready to blow a car. We retreated about 20 meters and waited for the explosion. About 30 minutes later there came a loud explosion and a plumb of smoke from about 70 meters away. Palestinians went rushing to the scene soon there came screams from women running through the smoke and the sound of pops and cracks from the burning car. I thought that there may be many injuries so I moved quickly towards the scene. I was met by a crowed carrying a dead fighter and then realized that the screams were wails of mourning. A crowed gathered by the house of the martyr as the car burned alongside. Women wailed with blood covered hands, blood from their loved ones. The martyr was Khalid al-Hawi and was assasinated by his home with his wife and children watching. Khalid was defending his loved ones as any of us would do and he paid the ultimate price leaving a widow and children to grow up to continue the fight. Will his children now be the future suicide bomber and "terrorist".
I have to wonder why the military blew up the car. Will they claim he was a suicide bomber? The explosion wasn't strong enough to make me believe that there were actually explosives in the car. Khalid was a fighter with the Al-Aqusa Martyrs Brigade. These fighters do not fight in the 48 (Israel), they keep there actions in the occupied territories but I sure that the spin doctors will spin a story to instill fear in our societies.
Welcome to occupation, one minute you think that the boredom will kill you then you are standing in fear as soldiers come with tanks and apache gunships.
While America sleeps quietly tonight the people of Palestine will weep for the loss of their sons, daughters, fathers, mothers and their land.
Peace Please,
Philip |
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| Happy 4th |
[Jul. 4th, 2004|09:02 am] |
Happy 4th of July!
While America was waking up to their Independence day the Palestinians where fighting for an end to their occupation. Today I celebrated my one year anniversary of my release from prison by participating in a peaceful demonstration outside of Salem Prison here in the occupied territories of Palestine. Many of the Palestinian and Israeli activist who intended to attend the protest where unable to attend due to check points and incursions into neighboring villages by the Israeli army.
At the protest there where about 30 Israeli and international activist and about 100 Palestinians. We took buses to a point about 400 meters outside of the prison and then marched about 200 meters until we where stopped by a roll of razor wire. Behind the wire stood about 30 armed Israeli army soldiers, just waiting for their orders to open fire. Due to the history of invasions, abductions, and assassinations the villagers where scared and did not want to confront the soldiers. We stood behind the roll of razor wire, chanting and listening to speeches for about 30 minutes and then peacefully walked to the buses to return home.
Hopefully today will be a confidence builder for the villagers so that they can confront the occupying force in the future with peaceful means. We returned to Jenin to learn that the Israeli army was on foot in the outskirts of the city firing at will. There are no reported injuries as of yet but many have been expecting an invasion of some sort in the future. Time will tell, there is nothing the Palestinians can do but sit and wait and hope that one day the occupation will end. As we all know when peaceful evolution is made impossible, violent revolution is made inevitable.
As Americans we must use our voice as small as it may be to demand that peaceful evolution is made possible for all, including us.
In Solidarity,
Phil |
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| Action Request - Freedom Summer Palestine 2004 |
[Jul. 1st, 2004|08:11 am] |
Freedom Summer Palestine 2004
July 4th Prisoners Action, Action Request
On July 4th, while America is celebrating it's independence we will be marching from various locations to military bases to demand the release of the over 8,000 Palestinian political prisoners being held in Israeli prisons. One also needs to understand that Palestine has become an open air prison. Every where I go there are check points, and signs of occupation. A Palestinian cannot just travel freely in his or her own country let alone leave. Take the city of Nablus as an example. Palestinian men from 16 to 30 are not allowed to enter or leave without special permission. This city is completely surrounded by check points and military bases. At almost any point one can look up and see Israeli sniper towers on the ridges around the city.
Most Palestinians separate Americans from our government. But today I met a man that spoke the truth; "The people of American and Europe are also responsible because they vote in their leaders and allow them to contribute to the occupation without holding them accountable."
I urge you all to take to the streets and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian and Israeli peace activists on July 4 rather than celebrating a hypocritical "Independence Day". Occupation any where is occupation every where.
For more information about this event and upcoming events please feel free to contact me any time via email or phone. 067 621 529
In Solidarity,
Phil, |
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| Protest against the wall in Faqua 6/26/04 |
[Jun. 26th, 2004|09:04 am] |
By Phil
Today about 15 ISM internationals peacefully marched in solidarity with approximately 150 Palestinian men, women and children in the village of Faqua. Our objective was to raise awareness to the oppressive nature of the wall which has already been completed in this region of Palestine.
The march began at 11 am at the boys school then snaked its way through the narrow streets of Faqua to a point in between the local cemetery and the wall. The significance of the location is that the villagers have been denied access to their local cemetery by the Israeli army even though it is about 50 meters away from the wall. The apartheid wall is also physically separating these villagers from approximately 1/3 of their land. At this location speeches were given by delegates from the local legislative council, the ISM and by a delegate from the Popular Committee Against the Wall. On the other side of the wall there were about 30 Israeli peace activists associated with the Golden Way who came in solidarity communicated with us via megaphones. This peaceful event was overshadowed by about 30 Israeli soldiers who stayed on the other side of the wall and did not use force but instead used intimidation tactics such as actively filming, photographing and zeroing in on us with their sniper rifles and machine guns. In spite of the oppressive nature of the Israeli army all of the protestors remained peaceful and returned home energized to continue the resistance to the occupation.
Nablus has been under seige and curfew sense Thursday and they are asking for international support to help distribute food and supplies as well as witness the atrocities that are taking place. A team of 5 left this afternoon but I am afraid that due to group dynamics it is a weak group and they lack experience of any sort except for one young lady. I doubt that they will get in but then again who knows, nothing goes as expected under occupation. Myself and one lady will try to sneak in tomorrow morning. The last leg of our journey may have to be on foot over a mountain. We have been able to get little information from the city of Nablus so I don't know if I will have internet access so don't worry if you don't hear from me for several days.
Peace,
Phil. |
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| Greetings from Jenin, Palestine June 21 + 22 |
[Jun. 21st, 2004|05:37 am] |
Greetings from Jenin, Palestine June 21 + 22
June 21
I finished my training and came to Jenin on Sat. This is most likely where I will spend most of the summer. Jenin is where the massacre in 2002 took place, leaving hundreds of Palestinians dead and over 480 homes completely destroyed. This city is proud of its long history of resistance to occupation and is considered to be the most militant city out side of Gaza. Everyone says that the situation here getting better but better must be kept in context. There are no tanks here now but instead the Israeli special forces come in every night after midnight to attack specific targets. The city seems calm during the day but at night you can hear machine gun fire.
Sunday I went to the village of AzZawyia with three other ISM volunteers. We were to meet other ISM affinity groups and support the village in its resistance to the wall. This was to be the villages 3rd march in the last week. Approx. 300 protestors gathered at the school to listen to speakers, then we marched. There were approx. 20 international and 10 Israeli activist in the march and several representatives for the local medias. As we marched about 6 of us internationals moved towards the front so that there was no mistaking that we were present. We were still way out of sight of the bulldozers working when we saw the Israeli Army waiting for us. When we got within about 100 meters of the soldiers they opened fire with lots of tear gas. This dispersed most of the crowd, but 3 of us internationals continued in solidarity with about 20 Palestinians. The tear gas kept coming. As we got to within about 20 meters sound bombs were thrown at us. The march now turned towards peaceful direct action as the Palestinians confronted the heavily armed soldiers with nonviolence. As an international it was my job to step in between the Palestinians and the soldiers when the soldiers began to use extreme violence. Our protection was our nonviolent international privilege and the media that was actively filming. The soldiers attacked us with subtle head buts and groin shots with their batons and gun buts. They were able to hit us low and keep it out of sight of the cameras. As the confrontation continued ambulances came and went. The army shot teargas and sound bombs under and around the ambulances, fired live ammunition over our heads and rubber bullets at the villagers who had retreated and were trying to advance back to the stalled march. The soldiers were in no mood for discussion but the Palestinians held their ground the best they could, pleading for an end to the occupation, freedom and peace for all. The direct confrontation lasted for several hours before the border police came to arrest internationals (The army cannot arrest internationals, but can detain us for the border police to arrest and deport). At this point the Palestinians asked us to leave asap so that we can come again. We retreated quickly towards the village and took refuge in a Palestinians home, as the police and army roamed the streets looking for internationals. I was very uncomfortable being in their home due to the possible repercussions to the family but they insisted and of course fed the dozen internationals that were in hiding in their home. After several hours of awesome hospitality my affinity group and I left to return to Jenin. Our 3 hour return trip was uneventful but we were the fortunate ones. At the end of the day 41 people were taken to the hospital for teargas inhalation and rubber bullet injuries and one international was arrested and the Catipillar D9 (American made) bulldozer continued to destroy Palestinian land and their olive trees in preparation for the wall. Soon the village will be separated from their land and trees. What is to be their source of income in the future? Will the occupying force abide by the 4th Geneva convention and take care of the needs of those that are being occupied? The poverty, destruction and oppression that defines the lives of Palestinians answers this question. On the positive note one ISM activist hid in a Palestinian home with several Israeli activists who were also hiding from the Israeli police. She told me about how everyone got along, laughing and eating together, debunking the theory that Israeli and Palestinians cannot get along let alone live together. This is proof that there is hope when we all stand in solidarity and realize that oppression anywhere is oppression everywhere. As one old Palestinian man told me "we resist not only for the freedom of Palestine but for freedom for the whole world, we want peace not only for Palestine but Peace for the whole world".
I have been welcomed with open arms here in Palestine and feel so privileged to stand here in solidarity with so many from all around the world. One day the occupation of Iraq and Palestine will end. It is up to those who survive to remember, and fight with nonviolence to insure that no such oppressive animal walks this earth again. It is our shortness of memory that has allowed our governments to recommit these inhumane brutalities that define much of our existence.
June 22
Today there is another protest in AzZawyia. Three members of my affinity group went but I stayed in Jenin (my heart is at the protest but the others said that they have heard too many of the stories and can't handle many more)to help a French lady interview Palestinian men who have been tortured in Israeli prisons. There is no shortage of stories and they all sound so similar. The special forces come in at night take the men hostage, putting a sack over their head and hog-tying them. They are then beaten to a bloody pulp and taken to the headquarters for interrogation / torture. Most Palestinian men have spent years in prison with no real trial. On July 4 we will have a march to the local military base / prison / check point. This will be emotional for me with July 4 being my release date from prison and of course it is our Independence day in America. There are over 1,000 men in prison from the Jenin district right now.
I just got word from my affinity group that they are on their way back and that the march never got close to the army but that 71 protestors were taken to the hospital mostly due to tear gas inhalation.
I'm being called so I have to go.
Thank you for all of your support.
Peace,
Phil. |
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| Greetings from Amman, Jordan |
[Jun. 13th, 2004|11:39 pm] |
Just a quick email to say hi and become more familiar with the computers. I arrived last night after about 26 hours of traveling. My butt is sore and I've got a bite of jetlag bug, so I haven't gotten much sleep in a while. I will be meeting Rick and Mary from AFSC for lunch. Thanks to their reference I am in a comfortable hotel where the CPT and Voices in the Wilderness usually stay when passing through. It is common knowledge that Bush is not liked at all but thanks to the presence of people like the CPT and Voices, Americans are well liked. This is further confirmation about why I am here. Just meeting people makes a difference. Tomorrow I will most likely cross into Palestine and will attend a training starting on Thurs. This work would not be possible was it not for all the generous donations. Thank you all.
Peace,
Phil. |
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| Hello fellow activists and visionaries of peace. |
[Apr. 19th, 2004|06:25 pm] |
Most of you don’t know me, so let me introduce my self. My name is Philip D'Onofrio and I live in Portland Oregon. I am planning on traveling to Palestine this summer to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) for 10 to 12 weeks.
It has taken 36 years of accumulated experiences to bring me to this point. I grew up in a small commercial fishing village in Maine and was a self employed commercial fisherman until the age of 23. It was only 13 years ago but it seems like a totally different life. In January of 1991 I sold my small business and enlisted in the U.S. Army. I was in a tough spot in life and the impending war seemed like an easy way out of my situation. I was lucky and did not have to go to the Gulf and served my two years in the Mojave Desert. The amazing thing is how I began to find myself while in the military and began to question all that I knew as “reality”. Upon my discharge I spent a year traveling, 6 months of which were spent in Nepal, India and Thailand solo backpacking. Now I was beginning to formulate my own opinions based on my personal experiences. Culture shock struck me not when I went to Asia, but when I returned home.
I spent the next several summers working as a first mate on a fishing vessel and the winters working with youth at risk in Maine. In 1996 I went to North Carolina to spend a summer working as a raft guide and white water kayak Instructor. That summer lasted four years and in the winters I continued working with youth at risk.
While in N.C. I met my future wife. We moved to Salem Oregon in Jan. 1999, and started to live the “American Dream”. We bought a very small house and tried to live inexpensively. Like most families, we both had jobs. I was working for the Bureau of Land Management in recreation (trying to promote low impact recreation). Working 40 plus hours per week, to barely pay the bills on a good month, furthered my questioning of the system. I began to read and educate myself about politics, started going to lectures and teach-ins and compared the information with my experiences. After my divorce in 2001 I became more involved with political activism, and started to help organize when possible.
November 2002 I went to Ft. Benning GA to protest the School of the Americas (SOA). This was my big leap into the unknown. I took part in a non-violent civil disobedience action that I knew would result in my arrest and lead to probable incarceration and subsequent loss of my career with the BLM (I was assistant manager at a recreation site with the probability of becoming manager within a year).
Coming to the decision was not spontaneous but rather well thought-out and took months. Two nights before the action I knew it was time to make my decision so I lay in bed thinking of all the reasons I would want to take part in C/D, the reasons were plentiful. Then I thought of the reasons not to take part, and the only reason I could come up with was the probable loss of my job / “career”. When put in that context it became obvious that I must speak my truth, let go of all attachments to outcomes and accept what ever happens.
86 of us participated in C/D by simply walking around the fence, and on to the base in front of a multitude of law enforcement personnel. There was no violence or destruction of property by any of the activists, but I wont go as far as to say that there was no violence perpetrated by law enforcement. We were all sentenced. I received a sentence of 3 months in federal prison and I was subsequently fired from my job. My time spent in prison was very productive and my voice was loud thanks to my support team. It was a life changing experience to walk my truth in the face of adversity, to stand up to an oppressive system and accept all that the system threw my way.
I got out of prison last summer and am now back in school working on prerequisites for nursing programs. School is going well but the call to Palestine has been strong. Lately the messages have been so clear and strong that I have decided to take the summer off from school and follow the calling. You may be wondering how I got from protesting the SOA to Palestine. When I protest the SOA I am protesting more than the program its self; I am speaking out against all that it stands for and the values that allow our society to create a program of that nature. The SOA is very connected to Palestine, as are most of the issues so interconnected. It has been my theory, as a SOA-Watch member, that it is important for me to be at all of the local actions including the actions that focus on domestic issues to help draw attention to the connections. I don’t know all the issues at hand in the Middle East, but I do know that people are living in fear on both sides of the wall and that the region is a tinder box. It is a very dividing issue right here in our communities, often during activism meetings I noticed that the Israel / Palestine issue was the white elephant sitting in the middle of the room. It seems obvious that in order to ever have a chance of peace we must seriously address the issues in the Middle East. My goal is to help facilitate that process. I know that I can’t go there and change everything, but what I can do is help educate my communities about what is truly taking place and in order to do that I must go and experience Palestine first hand.
The international community seems to have basically turned its back on the Palestinians. There are few people who will look at what is happening let alone go and see first hand. There are even fewer who have the desire, time and money to go. I have the desire, so I have created the time. I do not have the money but I have faith that since I have committed myself, the money will come. |
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| Dear Family and Friends |
[Apr. 19th, 2004|06:24 pm] |
April 19, 2004
Dear Family and Friends,
This last year has been quite the ride. Going to prison as a result of my participation in non-violent civil disobedience was an empowering and life changing event. The subsequent loss of my job opened the opportunity to go to school. Going to school has been stressful but invigorating and is leading me towards a nursing degree. Having my belongings stolen was not the highlight of my year to say the least. The loss was bad enough, but dealing with the insurance company was a disturbing experience that left me feeling more victimized than ever before, but it reminded me why I crossed the line at Ft. Benning, and why I must continue to speak out and not be intimidated by the system.
Many of you may have been thinking that Phil has been quiet lately. So here we go. I’ve decided to take the summer off from school and I am looking forward to returning to school this fall. As for the summer, I have decided to go to Israel / Palestine to do accompaniment work with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). This is not a spontaneous decision. I have been thinking about doing this type of work in either Columbia or Palestine for some time now. Lately the messages have been clear that this is something I must do.
I am using the term accompaniment work loosely. Exactly what I will be doing will depend greatly upon where I happen to be and what is needed. I may be monitoring checkpoints, sleeping with a family who is a potential target of the settlers, observing and participating in peaceful rallies and marches, ridding in ambulances to negotiate with the Israeli police and military so the ambulance may actually be able to reach a hospital. My main job will to report what I am witnessing, and to return home with an experience to share with our communities.
You may be wondering why I would want to go such a heated conflict zone. As I said earlier “maybe I’m just lucky”; well the truth is I am lucky. I am lucky to have been born white, American, male and into a wonderful loving family. This makes me privileged. Unfortunately many of these privileges come at the expense of others and I will never completely understand how much others have suffered so that I can be a privileged one. This probably reminds you of the letters I sent after my arrest and from prison. The issues and my reasoning remain the same as when I crossed the line at Ft. Benning. What is happening in Palestine is genocide. The international community has turned its head and refuses to report the truth let alone take action. The Palestinians are not the only ones who are suffering. The Israeli citizens are suffering as well. It’s a tinder box and everyone is living in fear. The only difference between the people in the Middle East and me, is that I got lucky and was born in America. It could just as easily be me in their situation. Our society has become a very isolationist society. People around the world question our values and we have little idea about what is really happening in the global community. We live in fear of loosing what we “have”. This is all perpetuated by main stream media. The only way for our communities to know the truth is if people like myself go and seek the truth and then bring it home. Just as when I crossed the line at Ft. Benning, I realize that I can change nothing. But we as an international community can change everything. I cannot expect others to do something when I do nothing, so I must go and see first hand what is happening in my name.
There are few people who would actually want to go to Palestine now. There are even fewer who have both the time and the money to go. I decided to make the time, and like most I don’t have the money, but I have faith that we can raise the money.*
Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Philip D’Onofrio |
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