Staging Resistance in Bil'in

Staging Resistance in Bil‘in The Performance of Violence in a Palestinian Village Rania Jawad

On 17 June 2011, young actors of the Freedom Theatre, based in the Jenin Refugee Camp, gathered together in the Palestinian village of Bil‘in as if in celebration.1 The rhythm of drums, horns, and traditional Palestinian dance set the scene. The actors staged a short sketch on the dirt road leading to the village’s agricultural fields. The moment the act ended and the actors began to step away, the stage area of their performance was hit by tear gas canisters. The rhyth mic sounds were replaced by an Israeli barrage of rubber bullets, tear gas, and sewage water; spectators came armed with hospital masks and cameras. The spectacle of celebration, perfor mance, and violence are all part of a protest campaign enacted weekly in Bil‘in since 2005. The ways in which art and politics are represented contributes to how they are under stood and practiced. By reading them together, or more specifically, by investigating the politics behind artistic stagings and framings of political actions, the role of spectatorship becomes key.

1. For a short video of the event, see www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDdtr_HQzFQ&feature=player_embedded (YouTube.com 2011).

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— 4 Bil‘in is an agricultural vil Bil‘in is an agricultural 2 on Bil‘in’s land, in effect cut on Bil‘in’s land, theatrical and discursive theatrical and — — 2010 Student Essay Contest. [email protected] Contest. Essay 2010 Student or “Apartheid Wall,” as it’s known Wall,” “Apartheid or — de facto annexing over 12 percent of the land in the West Bank and Jerusalem. West land in the de facto annexing over 12 percent of the —

Following the unilateral declaration of the Israeli state by Zionist leaders in May 1948 on the land of Palestine, Palestine, of land the on 1948 May in leaders Zionist by state Israeli the of declaration unilateral the Following countries Arab surrounding the from Israel separates It Line. Green the as to referred is Line Armistice 1949 the the of territories Palestinian the including (currently occupied militarily subsequently were that territories the and Heights). Golan Syrian the and Strip, Gaza and Bank West approximately (OCHA), Affairs Humanitarian of Coordination the for Office Nations United the to According length the twice than more be to is route intended the and 2010, July of as completed was Wall the of percent 62 Bank. West the and Israel between Line Green the of issued subsequently which Assembly, General UN the by endorsed was ruling Justice’s CourtInternational of The findings. its with comply to Israel on calling resolution a Located 12 kilometers west of the city of Ramallah and 4 kilometers outside of the Green west of the city of Ramallah and 4 kilometers Located 12 kilometers 2. 3. 4. ting the village in half in order to put Modi’in Illit on the Israeli side of the Wall. The Wall, Wall, The Wall. Illit on the Israeli side of the ting the village in half in order to put Modi’in is and in and around East Jerusalem, Bank, West which Israel began building in 2002 in the the path of the less than 20 percent following length, planned to extend over 700 kilometers in Green Line If, in addition to the Wall, we also take into account the settlements and their settler road infra we also Wall, in addition to the If, from gain the Israeli land confiscation policy will effectively prevent Palestinians structure, I will not Addameer 2009). and Wall Bank (see Stop the West ing access to 46 percent of the impact it however I should note that the devastating itself, Wall go into more detail about the and econ infrastructure, mobility, livelihood, its lands, has had on the Palestinian population, international organizations such as the International omy has been documented by numerous of Humanitarian the United Nations Office for the Coordination Committee of the Red Cross, which in its advisory ruling of July 2004 effec and the International Court of Justice, Affairs, within occupied Palestinian territory illegal (see Stop the construction Wall’s tively declared the International Court of Justice 2004). Addameer 2009; OCHA 2009; and Wall Rania Jawad is a PhD candidate in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York York at New Studies and Islamic Eastern candidate in the Department of Middle is a PhD Rania Jawad that focuses on the and performance dissertation is an exploration in Palestine of theatre Her University. inside and both of theatrical practices and the politics at play in staging Palestine and reading production This Palestine. at Birzeit teaches drama and literature University, currently space. She outside the theatre article was chosen as the runner-up for the TDR Figure 1. (facing page) Actors of The Freedom Theatre, based in the Jenin refugee camp, participate camp, a refugee in Jenin the in based Theatre, Freedom The of Actors page) (facing 1. Figure Paq/activestills.org) Anne by (Photo 2011. June 17 demonstration, Bil‘in

serve as underlying strategies in the villagers’ performance of resistance. As of resistance. the villagers’ performance strategies in both serve as underlying reveals how which Palestinian context, of resistance in the the politics by the strategies employed, warranted anti from the larger cannot be detached in terms of locality, more recently has been enacted such a politics of performance While navigating different audiences, national struggle. colonial, through the use of violent meth whether is one predicated on violence, in the public sphere in order to expose and counter dissent or the use of symbolic violence ods in order to suppress reveal is mobilized in different ways, becomes apparent is how spectatorship What oppression. and resistance. behind the performance of both violence ing the various politics line that demarcates the state of Israel), Line (the 1949 armistice A discourse of nonviolence and a highly visible theatricality have framed the Palestinian village the Palestinian village have framed a highly visible theatricality of nonviolence and A discourse two Analyzing lands. confiscation of their against the Israeli its residents’ struggle of Bil‘in and actions Bil‘in’s weekly protest ways of categorizing dominant lage spanning around 4,000 dunams (980 acres) with a population of approximately 1,800 resi 4,000 dunams (980 acres) with a population lage spanning around approximately Since the 1980s, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. according to dents, by Israel and confiscated land” “state agricultural land has been declared 55 percent of Bil‘in’s Israel began construc early 2005, In of the Modi’in Illit settlement bloc. for the construction tion on a separation wall Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03 October 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03October 2021

130 Rania Jawad Friday demonstrationsaredescribedas “one ofthelongest -running andbestorganizedpro and internationalmediaattention. Ina2009articleinthe NewYork Times, forinstance, Bil‘in’s onstrations, andtheirhighlydeliberatetheatricalstaging, whichitselfhascapturedbothlocal ble non-Palestinianpresencethatattimesdominatesthelocal intheirFridaydem What tendstomarkBil‘inincomparisonotheraffectedvillages isboththehighlyvisi Discursive Framings resistance totheoccupationthatisleftinoccupiedPalestinianterritories” (2009:12). of Bil‘inandotheraffectedPalestinianvillagesaredescribedas “one ofthefewformscivil Campaign and Addameer (thePrisonersSupportandHumanRights Association), theseactions 100 pageslong, jointlyissuedinJuly2009bythePalestinianGrassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall its protestcampaign, nowholdingpublicactiondemonstrationseveryFriday. Inareportover darity activists. while headedandmobilizedbylocalvillagers, arenowjoinedbyinternationalandIsraelisoli cies againstthePalestinianpopulationatlarge. Additionally, theactorsinvolvedinactions, Palestinian landandrightstoself-determination, ineffectprotestingIsrael’sdestructivepoli the demonstrationsagainst Wall arenearlyalwayslinkedtothelargerframeofdefending the actorsofthesecampaignstolocalizedPalestiniansphere. Inotherwords, thegoalsof however, isthatthelocalizationofresistancestrategieshasnotrestrictedeither goalsor politics ofresistancehavegivenwaytomorelocalizedforms(2008:7). What Iwanttonote, ety,” shewrites, “has contributedtothefragmentationofpoliticalaction,” wherebynation-level of Israel’sspatialorclosureregime(2008:7). “The spatialdismembermentofPalestiniansoci the emergenceof “more localmanifestationsofresistance, organizing, andactivism” asaresult Israeli “enclavization” ofPalestinianterritoryasthenewimposedstatusquo, Lisa Taraki notes of IsraelisettlementexpansionanddemolitionPalestinianhomes. Inanarticlediscussing ber ofvillagesandinareasEastJerusalem, suchasSilwanandSheikhJarrah, underthreat then, protestsincludingthestrategyofweeklyFridaydemonstrationscontinueinanum lages ofQalqiliyaandJenin, emergingalsoinJayyousandvillagestheSalfitdistrict. Since Bank specificallyagainstconstructionofthe Wall in2002and2003beganthenorthernvil residents areresistingIsraelistateactions. Spontaneousandorganizedprotestsinthe West with demolitionsorlandconfiscationbecomesapointofconfrontationwherelocalPalestinian supporting thepopularresistancestruggle. strong criticofthePalestinianNational Authority (PNA)anditsgoverninginstitutionsfornot towards obstructingfurtherimplementationofIsrael’scolonizationpolicies, butwasalsoa report alsonotesthatthepopularprotestmovementwas, fromitsbeginning, notonlydirected Against the Wall andSettlements. ing dailydirectactionsinprotestandformedwhatisnowcalledtheBil‘inPopularCommittee 6. 5. As evidencedingeneralacrosstheoccupiedPalestinianterritories, everyareathreatened In directresponsetotheillegalconfiscationoftheirlands, residentsofBil‘inbeganorganiz .org/news/1.shtml. For.org/news/1.shtml. information on Addameer, see www.addameer.org/addameer/about.html. Foring, in addition to personal interviews. information on the Stop the Wall campaign, see http://stopthewall and official governmental publications, nongovernmental research-based websites, journalistic and scholarly writ- The is a 108-page report research document that draws on a variety of sources to confirm its data, including UN walled-in ghettoes and enclaves” (2009:24). are efforts two sidescolonial ofconstruction the same coin, which leaves Palestinians dispossessed and living in settlement infrastructure,of the in addition to the construction Wall, “in recognition of the fact that the two by the Stop the Wall Campaign and Addameer, to focus on Israeli popular committees started settlement and Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (Stop the Wall). According to the 2009 report co-authored have been formed. Their actions are and sometimes coordinated supported by an umbrella organization, the In areas impacted by the Wall, popular committees comprised of activists from the affected communities 5 Morethansixyearslater, thePopularCommitteecontinues 6 The

Staging Resistance in Bil‘in 131 the soldiers are not named as hidden functionaries of the state but rather as —

In a similar fashion, the Bil‘in Popular Committee has appropriated the discourse of non the Bil‘in Popular In a similar fashion, Not only do international journalists and organizations such as the International Solidarity journalists and organizations such as Not only do international strategy is such appropriation and redirection of An underlying basis of Bil‘in’s resistance have practiced all sorts of oppression against know that you the people of Bil‘in, We, [...] sleep. you have let none of us [...] For several weeks now, us and against our rights. collective punishment on a civilian pop Intimidating children and sick people constitutes Why do you hide your faces? [...] Get These kinds of actions have a name: terror. ulation. depriv rid of the masks [...] you cannot hide the truth [...] that by raiding the village and (Bilin-village you are acting as terrorists. ing the entire village from sleep for weeks, .org 2009) individuals who knock down their doors at night. whether in pamphlets, information they distribute, In the violence to describe their struggle. nationals, whether individuals or organizations, categorize Bil‘in’s weekly demonstrations. The demonstrations. categorize Bil‘in’s weekly or organizations, whether individuals nationals, of protests against the violence directly positing the “operation,” of the words author’s choice The actions are this perspective. firmly locate “civil disobedience” and the suicide operation, to describe the resis supporters within the international community applauded for enabling of model “good” are packaged as the and the protests “nonviolent,” of tance under the rubric to spread. resistance that needs American Friends Service such as the and Christian-affiliated organizations Movement (ISM), but so do polit of Bil‘in’s resistance, nature “nonviolent” and encourage the praise Committee, former US President Jimmy Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, ical figures such as where mainstream media In our contemporary context Tutu. Archbishop Desmond and Carter, the focus on what is articulated cultures, “other” how we perceive and mediations dominate cul directs the spectator to read the even if implicitly, in Palestine ultimately, “nonviolent” as such situated historically in the Palestinian struggle, When ture as predominantly violent. other forms of Palestinian resistance against a discourse functions not only to delegitimize posit what is but also serves to endorse an ideological perspective that tends to Israeli policies, engaged in resistance acts and not on the actions described as violent on the side of individuals frame of why various resistance strategies are used is The larger and institutions of the state. where Egypt, Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo, can see this clearly in US President We elided. not states nearly exclusively reserved for individuals, his usage of violence and extremism was through violence and “resistance he said, violence,” “Palestinians must abandon or institutions. In an article questioning why (Whitehouse.gov 2009). killing is wrong and does not succeed” are celebrated as modern-day icons whereas King Jr. figures such as Ghandi and Martin Luther redirects Ramzy Baroud are kept underground, figures such as Malcolm X and Crazy Horse Following the call for Israel to embrace non-violence?” “where is the this discourse by asking, and the world the media “Would he writes, on Gaza, 2008–2009 massive and bloody onslaught had they endured such atrocities such as non-violence, community press the Israelis to embrace (2009). those witnessed in Gaza?” A leaflet printed in July 2009 by the Bil‘in the colonizer’s tools. or more specifically, the other, reads: for the Israeli soldiers, Wall Popular Committee and left near the redirects the categorization of terror and terrorist the Popular Committee In their language, thus reversing a dominant away from the Palestinian villagers and toward the Israeli soldiers, What they also do is redirect such common attendant sig discourse that is used against them. such as the mask and the individual actor as separate from “terrorist” nifiers of the Palestinian a state apparatus Palestinian conflict, [...turning] this once anonymous this once anonymous [...turning] conflict, the Israeli-Palestinian in the history of test operations that many supporters a model Palestinian civil disobedience, into a symbol of farming village This articula 2009). (Bronner prosper” like to see spread and cause would of the Palestinian of how most inter is representative of nonviolent resistance, within a discourse situated tion, Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03 October 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03October 2021

132 Rania Jawad his chest. (Photo by Friends of Freedom and Justice in yellow) was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in 2009 when a high-velocity tear gas projectile was fired at Figure 2. Residents of Bil‘in protesting Israeli confiscation of their lands in 2005. Bassem Rahme (center,Abu toward aninternationalaudience and notacorruptorimpotentleadership. The latterdescriptorislargelydirectedoutward fully armedIsraelisoldiers. of manythatarethrowneachFridayatthedemonstrators, andmanagestothrowitbackatthe cheer whenayoungunarmedPalestinianvillagersucceedsinpickingupteargascanister, one following ademonstrationbecauseitsucceededinits “nonviolence”; rather, participantsdo The appropriationofadiscoursenonviolenceisthusclearlystrategy. There isnoapplause (to freePalestinefromcolonialrule), thevillagers’eyesareintentlyfocusedonlargergoal. on the “nonviolent” tacticsandnotnecessarilyonthesignificationoflargerstruggleitself and ofitselfforthevillagers. While theemphasisfrominternationalcommunityisplaced attractive toaninternationalpalate. What iscategorizedas “nonviolent” isinnowayanend and second, becauseoftheconsciousanddeliberateincorporationsuchterminologyas ogy wasnothistoricallyusedateitherthelevelofleadershipormorepopularinPalestine; Committee’s useofadiscoursenonviolenceasanappropriation:first, becausesuchterminol pain ordeathtotheother, andincontrasttoarmedresistance. We canunderstandthePopular directed inwardtowardthePalestinianpopulation name theirstruggleas “popular” and “nonviolent.” The firstdescriptorwecansayislargely listserv announcementsandreports, orwhentheyspeaktothemediaindividualvisitors, they nent ofBil‘in’stheatricalstaging. Eachdemonstrationisintendedtobeuniqueinitsconfron canister, ormoresymbolic, suchasthemarkingofotherterrorist)isarecurringcompo The appropriationofthecolonizer’stoolssuppression(whetherliteral, suchastheteargas Theatrical Strategies — “nonviolent” asmorallysuperior, notintendedtocause — Bil‘in) — “popular” asrepresentativeofthe people Staging Resistance in Bil‘in 133 velocity velocity coated steel bullets, bullets, -coated steel The confrontation is a ritual played is a ritual The confrontation 7 Figure 3. Their faces covered against the tear gas, gas, tear the against covered faces Their 3. Figure participate activists solidarity a in foreign two One 2009. in Bil‘in in demonstration Friday to onion of pieces holds and goggles wears woman by burnthe (Photo gas. the of from herself protect RaniaJawad) uprooting the olive trees that have come to symbolize Palestine and its uprooting the olive trees that have come —

the spectacle of demonstrators not merely staging their protest but actively and effec not merely staging their protest the spectacle of demonstrators —

tear gas projectile was fired at his chest. On 31 December 2010, his sister Jawaher Abu Rahme was killed by tear tear by killed was Rahme Abu Jawaher sister his 2010, December 31 On chest. his at fired was projectile gas tear of number a and villagers Palestinian numerous addition, In respiratoryacute to leading inhalation gas failure. causing verysome demonstrations, protest seriously, Friday weekly the during injured been have activists foreign injuries. long-term On 17 April 2009, Bil‘in resident Bassem Abu Rahme was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers when a high- a when soldiers Israeli by killed and shot was Rahme Abu Bassem resident Bil‘in 2009, April 17 On In direct response to the first bulldozers arriving on their lands in February 2005, villagers arriving on their lands in February 2005, In direct response to the first bulldozers Groups of foreigners ranging from a Groups of foreigners 7.

and at times firing 0.22 caliber live ammunition at them. live ammunition at firing 0.22 caliber and at times tation with the Israeli army, and is often based on the strategy of making visible Israeli violence visible Israeli violence the strategy of making and is often based on the Israeli army, tation with con Friday demonstration version of the The typical a whole. population as on the Palestinian village to the the mosque in the from the midday prayer, following march, sists of a protest are met by Israeli they Wall, the demonstrators near As the distance of a few kilometers. a Wall, rubber bombs, sound gas canisters, high-velocity tear soldiers lobbing ism of the Israeli state. While such figures as While such figures ism of the Israeli state. UN officials and US President Obama are Vashem, Yad taken by Israeli state officials to the official Israeli memorial and educa and Sderot, tional center on the Holocaust, the the Israeli town north of the Gaza Strip, Bil‘in Popular Committee invites and encour wit ages internationals not only to physically but also confrontation, “spectacular” ness the to take part in the resistance performance. describes the strategy of the Friday dem head of the Bil‘in Popular Committee, Eyad Burnat, a media war: the people of Bil‘in are not only resisting onstrations largely within the context of but are involved in a media war he argues, on our lands, Wall the construction of the physical present (2009). past and of the Zionist narrative, against the dominant discourse and circulation strategies were distinct media front of the struggle, In order to equip themselves for the media contacts and with Committee members working intensively to develop international pursued, Bil‘in’s actions plays a vital role on this front. The theatricality of media coverage. uproot them declaring that the soldiers would have to chained themselves to their olive trees, along with the trees The history with the land would mean also physically uprooting the Palestinians themselves. the ethnic cleansing of the indig embodied a root Zionist tactic, in effect, simple symbolic act, vil action, In another enous Palestinian population starting in 1948 and continuing until today. imprisoning themselves as a visible manifestation lagers locked themselves inside an iron cage, territo and Israel’s closure regime is doing to all of the occupied Palestinian Wall of what the the soldiers to unchain them from the olive trees, In the same way that their action forced ries. tively documenting themselves and the sol tively documenting themselves and what has one side, on diers’ response, “spectacular violence” been described as the on the other response, of the Israeli soldiers’ Addameer 2009:5). and Wall (Stop the group to the Peace Basque nationalist music cyclists from around a group of 120 Cycle, Belgium choral group to a radical the world, have been invited to participate in the dem mimicking the political tour onstrations, out with such consistency and deliberation that one cannot but note the performance on both and deliberation that one cannot but out with such consistency sides Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03 October 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03October 2021

134 Rania Jawad (Photo by Friends of Freedom and Justice of Bil‘in, especially the olive trees, a source of livelihood for village residents. Figure 4. Tear gas thrown by Israeli soldiers at protestors destroys lands the fertile places (ordisplaces) Palestiniancommunitiesout ofsight, thestrategy ofabsentinghasbeen and ongoingtoday), orenacted byapolicyofseparationandenclavizationthatquite literally a continuousprocessofethnic cleansing (markedbythe1948Nakba, “catastrophe”inArabic, based onthephysicaldisplacement ofthePalestinianindigenouspopulation. Realized eitherby predicated ontheabsenceofany nativeinhabitantshasbeentranslatedintoIsraelistatepractice ticularly Western,audience. played asignificantroleinhowIsraelistatepolicieshavebeen readbyaninternational, andpar and surveillanceofPalestinianmovement. The theatrical machinerybehindsucharegimehas of Palestiniancommunities, thedestructionofagricultural landandlivelihood, andthecontrol a visiblemanifestationofthelargerregimeIsraelistateviolence, includingtheenclavization tion army, intendedasbothanimmediateandpotential threat. The constructionofthe Wall is understood asstrategic, makingvisiblethepowerandcontrol oftheIsraelistateandoccupa tims asexamples” (Stopthe Wall and Addameer 2009:5). The useofviolencecanthereforebe atic andpremeditated, [...]tacticallyintendedtocreate ahighlyvisiblespectacle, renderingvic state towardthePalestinianpopulationisdescribedin2009 reportonthe Wall as “system tics tosuppressdissentorbytherepresentationofviolenceitself. The violenceoftheIsraeli nized areperformedduringtheseactionsistiedtoviolence, whetherbytheuseofviolenttac dows. InadherencewithIsraeliconstructionstandards, theroomremainsstanding. in thesoldier’swordsandreturnedtobuildamoresolidstructurewithcementroofwin adhere toIsraeliconstructionstandards. The villagersquicklyrealizedtheunintendeddirective in the West Bankforitsconstruction, thesoldierarguedthatPalestinianoutpostdidnot settlement, whichatthattimehadnotobtainedapprovalfromtheIsraelimilitarygovernment gality ofthePalestinianoutpostwithoutalsoadmittingillegalityMattiyahuMizrah situated, theoutpostwasdestroyedwithinhoursbyIsraeliarmy. Unabletoarguetheille Constructed onthesideof Wall wheretheIsraelisettlementextensionMattiyahuMizrahis posts thatarebuiltpriortotheestablishmentofsettlementsonconfiscatedPalestinianlands. Popular Committeetermed “the firstPalestinianoutpost,” modeledonZionistandIsraeliout present, includingthoseresistingthe Wall aswelltheIsraelisoldiers. toward thatgoal. They havewrittenthescriptandstagedaction, directingalltheactors representation ofthevillagers’goal. The villagershave, ineffect, directedthesoldiers’actions The earlyZionistandlaterIsraeli discourseandimagingofthelandPalestinethatwas The waysinwhichboththepoliticsofcolonizingstateandresistancecolo Another actionthatmimickedIsraelicolonizationpolicieswasthebuildingofwhat — Bil‘in) Palestinian population, andasa systematic violenceagainstthe micro-version ofIsraelitactics manifests itselfliterallyasa Wall. Eachact, whilesymbolic, and destroythepolystyrene forced thesoldierstoteardown Wall, thevillagersindirectly at thefootofIsraeli-built Placing theconstructiondirectly words “Berlin 1989, Palestine?” demonstration, displayingthe Wall attheheadofFriday carried a12-meterpolystyrene fall oftheBerlin Wall, villagers ing the20thanniversaryof cage. Inarecentactionmark to releasethemfromtheprison this actionforcedthesoldiers Staging Resistance in Bil‘in 135

Bil‘in) — in effect, recasting colonial violence in effect, — Figure 5. Bil‘in protestors build a “Palestinian outpost” (foreground) to show show to (foreground) outpost” “Palestinian a build protestors Bil‘in 5. Figure the in citizens Palestinians and Jewish its toward standards double Israel’s Bil‘in’s on built settlement Israeli the is background the In Territories. Occupied Justice and Freedom of Friends by (Photo lands. What emerges is 8

Wall and concrete military jeeps, armed soldiers,

— Just as the Bil‘in villagers employ a strategy of recasting the Israeli occupation as violent, Just as the Bil‘in villagers employ a strategy of recasting the Israeli occupation as violent, .com/watch?v=AH02uc1vB4k&feature=player_embedded# and www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx and .com/watch?v=AH02uc1vB4k&feature=player_embedded# ?ID=214301. To view the original Cellcom commercial advertisement and a few parodies made in response, see www.youtube see response, in made fewadvertisementa and parodies view commercial Cellcom original the To In the summer of 2009, In the summer of 2009, 8. an improvised game of soccer where the armed occupation sol diers who are patrolling along in a military jeep Wall side the are transformed into a playful team of competitors enlivened The perfor by a game of sport. mance is complete with a musi cal soundtrack and an audience What is absent from view is not and male soldiers. of cheering spectators comprised of female itself in the Wall of the but the role Wall, other side of the on the “team” merely the Palestinian is what enables the lively soccer match to ensue, While its role in the commercial performance. as constructed in actuality Wall the role of the implying a friendly match between two sides, The colonial context of separation and displacement. by the Israeli state performs a violent act offering from a colonial signifier into a tool for sport, is transformed Wall falls away and the The commercial recasts the props of military occupa pleasure to both actors and spectators. tion into playful sport that is performed with the implicit willingness of the other side. into playful sport that is performed with the implicit willingness of the other side. has there Wall The Israel has used diverse media strategies to re-present its colonial violence. literally and fore become a site for staging the occupation for both Israelis and Palestinians, in villages such as Wall demonstrations against the the protest For Palestinians, symbolically. actors. Bil‘in have become an event symbolizing Palestinian resistance for a number of different

a commercial for the Israeli mobile company Cellcom was aired showing the response of a group of Israeli soldiers upon encountering a soccer ball kicked over a long stretch of the Wall. complimented by the marking of the Palestinian as “Other,” and specifically as violent “Other” “Other” as violent and specifically “Other,” of the Palestinian as by the marking complimented the pro It is significant that Pappe 2007). Abu-Lughod 2007; 1992; Sa’di and (see Said [1979] to the land of Palestine to Jews but also not merely in reference Palestinians is cess of Othering “form of symbolic as a collective body serves of the Palestinian Such marking and its history. and to keep it assign it to a place “in order both to of Craig Owens, to use the words violence,” describes (1990), from Erica Hunt borrowing Alcalay, Ammiel that as well as a process in place,” The process of Alcalay 1993:20). (Owens 1994:194; the human” “abbreviate as one that will order to dilute their impact on changing “in is employed Alcalay writes, categorizing people, human potential and agency in power [...] ultimately [...] diminish[ing] accepted structures of framing what gets seen and what Such strategies of representation and (1993:20). the world” of gets left out are mechanics directed not theatricality that are only outward to an international largely locally, but also audience, Israeli citi targeting the Jewish- zens of the state. Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03 October 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03October 2021

136 Rania Jawad val evidencedoesnotguaranteethatitwilleitherbereadasproof orbeacceptedasevidence court trialstocontradictIsraelichargesagainstprotestorsand villagers. However, sucharchi consider hisactionsunpatriotic. BydemonstratinginBil‘in, hesaid, hewasguardingIsraeli and freeexpression. OneJewish-Israeliactivist, echoingothers, commentsthathe “does not Israeli activists, however, caneasilyfallintotheroleofservingadiscourseIsraelidemocracy icies. Also targetedduringtheIsraelisoldiers’confrontationwithdemonstrators, Jewish- activists, thesevillagesbecomeplacestoexercisetheiractivismandcritiquestate’spol politics whereaPalestinianbodyisworthlessthannon-body. ForJewish-Israeli been documentedwheninternationalsarepresent, ineffect, offeringevidenceofIsrael’sracial the eventbutpresentinordertobeseen. A reducedlevelofviolenceagainsttheprotestorshas ical vision, aremarkersinthedemonstrationofaninternationalpresence, notonlywitnessing state. Foreignsolidarityactivists, whilenotahomogeneousgroupineithertheirintentorpolit ests, payinglipservicetoresistanceactionsyetpursuingnormalizingrelationswiththeIsraeli often critiquedforappropriatingtheperformanceofvillagerstheirownpersonalinter support fortheresistancebytheirphysicalpresenceatdemonstrations. These figuresare on thelandandPalestinianpopulationasawhole, Palestinianpoliticalfiguresdeclaretheir ists. While localvillagersareprotestingthedirectimpactontheirlivesandlargerviolence villagers, Palestinianpoliticalfigures, internationalsolidarityactivists, andJewish-Israeliactiv The performanceofresistanceatthesesitestakesondifferentmeaningswhenenactedbylocal 10. demonstration in Bil‘in in 2009. (Photo by Jawad) Rania Figure 6. An Press Associated following journalist a Friday in documentaryfilm. ogies suchas YouTube clipsandweeklyemailreports, andarchivedontheBil‘inwebsite lized bythevillagersaseachresistanceactionisself-documented, circulatedviamediatechnol 9. Carmeli Pollak titled For of many of Bil‘in’s a visual documentary film theatrical protestby actions, see the 2006 documentary Shai whose members were invited to join Bil‘in’s Friday demonstration in October 2009. .awalls.org). Another example is Shministim, an Israeli organization of teenagers who refuse in the army, to serve the Palestinian villages’ protests against the Wall, in Bil‘in’s whose members participate protest actions (www Of the more is the Israeli radical political participants group Anarchists Against the Wall, of a major supporter Bil‘in Habibti. 10 Additionally, videofootageandstillphotography serveasevidencein of solidarity. plicate anysinglerepresentation and internationalsinBil‘incom beliefs, Jewish-Israeliactivists Diverse intheirideological democracy” (inGuarnieri2009). Spectatorship isfurthermobi tion thatrituallytakesplace. tively” observetheconfronta outside fromwhichto “objec becomes politicized. There isno itself, butone’spresencethere tal elementoftheprotestaction onstration becomeafundamen the actofwitnessingdem Israeli soldiers. Notonlyhas pant andisseenassuchbythe on Anyone presentatthedem between participantandwitness. onstration blursanyfineline stration becomesapartici Being presentataBil‘indem 9

Staging Resistance in Bil‘in 137 The Israeli army, along with The Israeli army, 11 Figure 7. An art piece by Bil‘in resident Ibrahim Burnat Burnat Ibrahim resident Bil‘in art by piece An 7. Figure ([email protected]) constructed ammunition used of out by (Photo Bil‘in. in protestors at soldiers Israeli by fired Rania Jawad) canisters, canisters, -coated and any Friday are threatened with deportationwith arrest. or threatened are Friday any pm

and 8:00 and am

In March 2010 the Israeli army raided the village, declaring it (and Ni‘lin, another West Bank Palestinian village) village) Palestinian Bank West another Ni‘lin, (and it declaring village, the raided army Israeli the 2010 March In inter- all village, military the the in to posted According order months. militaryclosed a five next the for zone of hours the between Wall the and area residential its between land Bil‘in on found activists Israeli and national 8:00 the solidarity activists and press media, form part of the media machinery of Bil‘in, where the machinery of Bil‘in, form part of the media and press media, the solidarity activists who are armed with and press personnel solidarity activist, the the Bil‘in villager, Israeli soldier, Each documents in the actions. camera play a similar role as participants video recorder or still protest the grassroots public and the against Israeli policies to sup tactics by the state used For what press such resistance. is purposes such documentation a poli used or not used reveals of specta tics behind the form torship enacted. 11. and sound grenades, among and sound grenades, other forms of munitions), Burnat titles his art collection Re-staging Objects and Re-staging Objects and Spectatorship A central performance strat egy of Bil‘in’s Friday demon strations is thus making visible how the resistance to violence is continually met with vio In addition to the media lence. the pro archive that is created, duction of objects formed out of or as part of the demonstrations themselves is another element that underscores the relationship between the visual and the polit a resident Ibrahim Burnat, ical. has built a collection of Bil‘in, of artworks to visualize and doc ument this recurring dynamic. Constructed largely out of his collection of the ammunition Israeli soldiers fire at the Friday demonstrators (comprised of thousands of rubber live bullets, tear gas live bullets, whether protes in the demonstrations, has targeted participants Israel the accused. in favor of the resistance and archive of the villagers’ contributing to a visual for personnel, tors or media is not confrontations and archiving these of visually witnessing The strategy army’s response. of the Israeli occupation. the infrastructure also serves as part of the demonstrators; it limited to and physi of property, destruction travel restrictions, to arrest, villagers are subject Palestinian while international such resistance actions, participation in because of their visible cal violence penalized for their very presence in Bil‘in. and Israeli activists are Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03 October 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03October 2021

138 Rania Jawad trolled andcontained spaceoftheIsraeligallery, theobjectsareunarmed, thepurposeof their object andJewish-Israelisubject. Detached fromtheirproducersandhousedwithinthecon Palestinians fromtheobjectsin thegalleryspacecreatesanalternatedynamicofpowerbetween frontation, whilethatof the galleryvisitorisoneofvisualconsumption. The removalofthe of theJewish-Israeligalleryvisitor. The soldier’sencounter iswithinacontextofdirectcon static spaceofthe Tel Aviv gallerydisruptsanystabilityofmeaning. the temporalandspatialdisplacementfromprotestdemonstration onBil‘inlandtothe are toberead. While inbothcontextsthevalue of theobjectsispredicatedonthembeingseen, bition wherespectatorsareinvitedtoexaminethemfromasafe distanceframeshowtheobjects The stagingoftheseobjectswithinthewallsanartgallery andunderthetitleofanartexhi tioned inasimilarmanner, reconfiguringthepoliticalintoaesthetic, the Wall intoafence. stripped oftheirfunctional, symbolic, andpolitical meanings. The titleoftheexhibitionfunc tion oftheobjects, theobjectsthemselveswerealienated inthewhitecubespaceofgallery, the Wall. While asmallsidespacein thegalleryofferedavisualandwrittencontextualiza was broughtfromBil‘in, atheatricalpropthathadbeen usedduringthedemonstrationsagainst included rustedL-shapedpipes, alockedironcage, andalargeviper madeofcloth. Eachobject Oded Yedaya, openedina Tel Aviv artgallery(seeRoei2007). The sculpturalobjectsonshow how theyarereadandinterpreted. InMarch2006, anexhibitiontitledFence Art, curatedby cal strugglearerepresentedemphasizesnotonlytheintendedaimofitsproducers, butalso the distinctseparationbetweentheatreandresistanceaction. Howart, violence, andpoliti omy betweenthetwoinsamewaythatperformanceofBil‘in’sdemonstrationsdefies Bil‘in’s performances. of documentationIsrael’streatmentthePalestinians, areanothertheatricalelementin visual representationsofIsraeliviolenceandPalestinianresistance, whileservingasaform bol ofPalestinianlivelihoodandconnectiontothelandwithonemilitaryoccupation. Such native harvest. The shellsofteargascanistersweregathered, replacingtheoliveharvest’ssym season, villagers, unabletoaccesstheirlandpickolives, distributedsacksforanalter landscape. InoneFridaydemonstrationinBil‘inSeptember2009duringtheoliveharvest diers’ ammunitionfiredatthevillagedemonstratorsbecomesaconstantresidueon does nothaveanimmediateendbutremainsaconstantpresence, justastheshellsofsol ing conditionoftheNakbarepresentsforPalestinians. Israel’sviolenceagainstthePalestinians Burnat’s exhibitionofPalestinianheritagethusoffersonevisualarticulationwhattheongo that continuestobetangiblyfelt(seeSa’diand Abu-Lughod 2007;PappeSmith2007). and thelandeithermilitarilyoccupiedbyIsraelorplacedunderforeignjurisdiction, isalegacy Palestinian population(nearly800,000people)wasdispossessed, over500villagesdestroyed, forced toliveformorethan60years. directed towardthePalestiniannation, ineffectvisualizingtheheritagePalestinianshavebeen rial ofhisartwork, Burnat’srepresentationalimagerycomestosymbolizetheviolencethatis penetrable. Byusingtheverytoolsthatareintendedtofightandwoundhimasrawmate next toeachothersubtlymimicsthegrayconcreteslabsof Apartheid Wall, raisedhighyet that bothcircumscribesandprotectsthemap. The outerwallofteargascanisterslinedupright build insidePalestine, butinsteadisusedtodrawthemapitselfwhilealsoconstructingawall the picture. The ammunitionisnotusedtodemarcatethevariouswallsthatIsraelcontinues exhibition ofPalestinianheritageitself, theuseofammunitiontocreatemapcomplicates itself beenconfiguredasasymbolofPalestiniannationalresistancetocolonization, justasthe shells ofammunitionuniformlylitterthelandscape. While inscribingthemapofPalestinehas are surroundedbyanouterwalloflight-gray, emptyteargascanisters. Insidethemap, empty Occupation. OneartpieceshowsthemapofPalestineoutlinedwithrubber An ExhibitionofPalestinian Heritage: The Palestinian ExhibitionforDocumentingthe Crimesofthe The Israelisoldiers’encounter withtheseobjectsdiffersonanumberoflevelsfromthat The literaljuxtapositionofartandviolenceinBurnat’sexhibitionbreaksanystrictdichot The catastropheof1948, theNakbaforPalestinians, inwhichmorethanhalfofthe -coated bulletsthat Staging Resistance in Bil‘in 139

.php?id=868 and www.bdsmovement.net. www.bdsmovement.net. and .php?id=868 For more information on the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions, see www.pacbi.org/etemplate see sanctions, and divestment, boycott, for call the Palestinian on information more For The transformation and appropriation of Palestinian artifacts by discursive strategy or Israeli and appropriation of Palestinian artifacts The transformation is largely based on such a process of reassigning How spectatorship is mobilized in Bil‘in 12. political policy is a recurring phenomenon. The reclassification of Palestinian local industries The reclassification phenomenon. political policy is a recurring Palestinian property for Jewish for distribution and the appropriation of into Israeli products The Palestinian vil history. 1948 Nakba are two early examples in Israel’s citizens following the was employed to recast the remnants “an aesthetic veneer” where lage of Ein Houd is another primitive past of an anonymous, traces community into works of art, of the exiled Palestinian the Palestinian stone in its place, A colony of Jewish artists now stands (Slyomovics 1998:35). the Palestinian houses of their Stripping into the Israeli residences. architecture embedded a mobility highlighting not only Aviv, Tel of Bil‘in objects to owners echoes the transference to the but a space where the Jewish spectator gives meaning largely denied the Bil‘in villagers, gallery resonates with Burnat’s Aviv Tel of protest in the The restaging of Bil‘in objects objects. of Israeli Burnat describes the appropriation restaging of the Israeli army’s objects of attack. life out of instruments of death (in Jamjoum munitions into artwork as an ability to create thus challenges how meaning is ascribed to both The performance of Bil‘in’s resistance 2008). objects and practices. the 2009 report on At the end of how each is read and enacted. meaning to object and practice, of Bil‘in’s struggle to take responsibility in supporting is a call to various spectators Wall the to the Geneva signatories to the United Nations, Addressed Palestinian grassroots resistance. territo Palestinian and international NGOs working in the occupied Palestinian Conventions, connects the the report and local and international media, international solidarity groups, ries, Israel accountable for its violations of international role of spectatorship with the act of holding Not taking such responsibility is not Addameer 2009; Falk 2002). and Wall law (see Stop the thus contrib in maintaining the status quo, considered mere indifference but rather complicity The pres denial of Palestinian self-determination. uting to Israeli human rights violations and a particular while articulating Bil‘in’s demonstrations, ence of international solidarity activists in points to the at the same time resistance struggle, role for foreign nationals in the Palestinian The role of the interna support of Israeli policies. role of international complicity and direct based on a is therefore not ultimately according to the recommendations, tional community, and documentation of violations of international law, spectatorship defined by the witnessing governmental and eco actions in the fields of law, but rather on sustained and specific direct The performance of the Palestinian and grassroots activism. institutional, media, nomic politics, action. villagers resistance actions thus depends on a spectatorship that transforms itself into whether by participating in and putting The spectator’s role is to continue the performance, actions. into circulation documentation of the protest event or by performing other resistance from sustained pressure against elected represen ranging These can take a variety of forms, tatives and governmental bodies to targeted educational campaigns among local communities and sanctions (BDS) against divestment, to actively supporting the Palestinian call for boycott, Israel until it complies with its obligations under international law. production deactivated. Cloaked as abstract, sculptural forms within the white walls of the gal the white walls of the forms within sculptural as abstract, Cloaked deactivated. production to the Israeli according and, to provoke spectatorship the objects are intended lery space, ‘political art’” While potentially of “the notion around discussions (Roei 2007:18). curator, transfiguring protest actions, disengaged from Palestinian an audience otherwise attracting gallery assure and situate the functions to ultimately “political art” struggle into Bil‘in’s political judged according surveillance and objects are now under The a position of power. spectator in of resistance under the direc no longer a weapon in a performance to the spectator’s criteria, tion of Palestinian villagers. Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03 October 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03October 2021

140 Rania Jawad been madepossiblebyinternationalandinstitutionalbackingisbroughtbackintotheframe. accordance withsuchstrategies, thefactthatIsraelioppressionagainstPalestinianshasonly 13. forming theroles. Insuchaperformance, forinstance, howdotheIsraelisoldiersrespondto fort provokedbythevisualreferencingofsuchanatrocityisheightened becauseofthoseper the factthat “victim,” like “violence,” cannotbereadinanyoneway. Furthermore, thediscom read onlyasaresignificationoftheword “holocaust” mimicking Vilnai, butasalsopointingto Holocaust. InthespecificcontextofIsraelandPalestine, theprotestors’performancecannotbe remarked inFebruary2008thatthePalestiniansriskeda “shoah,” theHebrewwordusedfor here thevillagersembodiedwordsofMatan Vilnai, Israel’sDeputyDefenseMinister, who words ofthesoldierregardingIsraeliconstructionstandardsfor Bil‘in’sPalestinianoutpost, low cut-outsintheshapeofGazawithword “Gazan.” Justasthevillagers appropriatedthe wore clothesreminiscentofthosewornbyJewsinNaziconcentration camps, includingyel In January2009, duringtheviolentIsraelionslaughton Gaza, Bil‘invillagersandprotestors Role Reversals court, inadditiontoactionsIsraelicourtsandtheInternationalCourtofJustice’sruling. to Israelipolicies, suchasacurrentcaseagainsttwoCanadiancompaniesfiledin attributed toitssuccessfulmediaoutreach, whichhasenabledthepursuanceoflegalchallenges repression possible. A reasonforthemorerecentheightenedrepressionagainstBil‘inhasbeen been launchedinanumberofcountries, emphasizingtheinternationalrolethatmakesIsraeli national andmedianetworks. Targeted campaignsagainstthecompaniesbuilding Wall have balized formsofoppressionandresistance, Bil‘in’sprotestdemonstrationscapitalizeoninter within thechanginglandscapeofoppressionagainstthem. Within acontextofincreasinglyglo enclaves, insideandoutsidethelandofPalestine. been largelyreconfiguredintoahumanitarianstruggleofpeopledistributedovernumerous ically reducesthemapofPalestine. Thus, thePalestiniananticolonialliberationstrugglehas frame narrowsthediscourse, understanding, andreachofthePalestinianstruggle, asitphys West Bank, andconstructionofthe Wall (seeSmith2007;BeininandHajjarn.d.). Eachnew ized manifestationsofIsrael’spolicingregime, suchascheckpoints, settlementexpansioninthe orientated projectoflimitedautonomy(underthedictates1993Oslo Accords), tolocal Gaza stripin1967(reassigningPalestinetolessthan23percentofitspre-1948land), toastate- colonization andethniccleansingofPalestine, tothemilitaryoccupationof West Bankand struggle overtheyearshasbeenfacilitatedbyIsraelanditsallies, shiftingtheframefrom Palestinian Authority andtheirmediacampaigns. The gradualfocalizationofthePalestinian resistance. Suchmediaoutletsarenotlimitedtotheinternationalsphere, butareechoedbythe bol, occludingothersites, articulations, andstrategiesofbothIsraelioppressionPalestinian emphasis onBil‘inasasymbolofPalestinianresistancetendstoremainfocusedthesym acknowledges othervillagesandoppressionsagainstthePalestinianpeople, media lence impactingothervillagesandtheirstruggles. While Bil‘in’sresistancestrategyconsciously has beencritiquedforthemediaattentionitattracted, whichhasmarginalizedthevio addressed. Among thevillagesprotestingconstructionof Wall ontheirlands, Bil‘in ists, politicalfigures, localandinternationalorganizations, andvariousmedianetworksare intended asaformofpoliticalmobilization. LocalPalestinians, internationalandIsraeliactiv Palestinian strategiesofresistance, intheirvariousmanifestations, haveredefinedthemselves By notonlyrepresentingbutalsoperformingthestruggle, Bil‘in’sdemonstrationsare -and-independent-media/Press-Release-Bilin-announced-that-it-has-commenced-legal-proceedings-in-Canada. and Canadian domestic law. For more information on the case, see www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/press Green Mount International Inc. in the Quebec Superior in Montreal Court for violations of international law The villageof case against twoBil‘in Canadian has companies, filed a court Green Park International Inc. and 13 In

Staging Resistance in Bil‘in 141 While 14 destabilizing our notions Bil‘in) —

The “role reversal” described is not read as a direct or literal reversal of roles. The complexity of such a perfor such of complexity The roles. - of reversal literal or direct a as read not is described reversal” “role The the of genocide Nazi the how to limited not but including factors, of network a within analyzed be must mance been largely have Holocaust survivorsthe Nazi the of how project, Zionist the into incorporated been has Jews the to relation in survivors Israel in Holocaust of percentage the and discursively, and historically Israel by treated state. the of citizens Jewish of number total While such confrontations focus on the live event of the performance, its resonances direct its resonances event of the performance, While such confrontations focus on the live 14. Palestinian villagers playing the role of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust? At the same time, the same time, At the during the Nazi Holocaust? Palestinian villagers playing the role of Jews of the protestors’ recognition of the Nazi genocide performance can only be realized because an iron cage Unlike the symbolic releasing of Palestinian prisoners from of the Jews in Europe. reversal? how does one confront such a role Wall, or the destruction of the polystyrene such a strategy has been enacted more on the discursive level, wherein the Israeli regime and its wherein the Israeli the discursive level, such a strategy has been enacted more on the victims’ victims,” “the or Palestinians termed “victims-turned-oppressors” actors are termed reversal forces a different type of confrontation (see physical and visual embodiment of such a the dynamic Eyad Burnat describes these strategic performances as reversing Said [1979] 1992). the Here, Zionist and Israeli colonization practices. where Palestinians are made to respond to to respond to the Palestinian villagers’ actions (2009). Israeli soldiers must now figure out how what happened before to give reason and meaning to us to both before and after the event itself: and its atten and what are potential responses to the performance action such a performance, The protest actions of Bil‘in village highlight the roles of its various actors, dant significations. governmen from the Palestinian villagers and Israeli soldiers to the international community, is struc Wall The performance of their resistance against the and media networks. tal bodies, Whether or text. object, tured on destabilizing the dynamic of colonizer giving value to event, under by the appropriation of a discourse of nonviolence or the theatricality of protest actions of resistance is not about Bil‘in’s strategy the direction of the villagers, Figure 8. The Israeli army lobs tear gas at protestors in Bil‘in, a scene that recurs every Friday. (Photo by by (Photo Friday. everyrecurs that scene a Bil‘in, in army protestors at gas tear lobs Israeli The 8. Figure Justice and Freedom of Friends Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03 October 2021 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/DRAM_a_00127 by guest on 03October 2021

142 Rania Jawad infrastructure, andanongoingpolicyofethniccleansing. tion ofaclosureregimespatiallydismemberingtheviabilityanysocial, economic, orpolitical oppression ible notmerelytheoppressionofOther, butthemechanismsandpoliciesthatrealize strategy ofcategorizingBil‘in’sstruggleas “nonviolent,” andatheatricalstrategyofmakingvis of IsraeliviolenceagainstthePalestinians. The performanceisonepredicatedonadiscursive of whatartis, butratherdrawingattentiontoandquestioningourroleintheongoing Sa’di, Ahmad H., andLila Abu-Lughod, eds. 2007. Nakba:Palestine, 1948,. andtheClaimsofMemory New Roei, Noa. 2007. “Moulding Resistance: Aesthetics andPoliticsintheStruggleofBil‘in Against the Pollak, ShaiCarmeli. 2006. Bil‘inHabibti. 84min, DVD. Tel-Aviv: ClaudiusFilms. Pappe, Ilan. 2007. TheEthnicCleansingofPalestine. Oxford:Oneworld. Owens, Craig. 1994. “The MedusaEffect, or, The SpecularRuse.” InBeyond Recognition:Representation, OCHA (UnitedNationsOfficefortheCoordinationofHumanitarian Affairs). 2009. “Five Years After Jamjoum, Hazem. 2008. “Ramallah Commemoratesthe Ongoing Nakba.” TheElectronicIntifada, 28May. International CourtofJustice. 2004. “Legal ConsequencesoftheConstructiona Wall intheOccupied Hunt, Erica. 1990. “Notes foranOppositionalPoetics.” InThePolitics ofForm: Poetry andPublicPolicy, ed. Guarnieri, Mya. 2009. “Village aSymbolofResistance.” TheNational, 31October. www.thenational.ae/apps Falk, Richard. 2002. “Azmi Bishara, theRightofResistance, andthePalestinianOrdeal.” Journal ofPalestine Burnat, Ibrahim. 2009. Interview withtheauthor. Bil‘invillage, 30October. Burnat, Eyad. 2009. Interview withtheauthor. Bil‘invillage, 5November. Bronner, Ethan. 2009. “In Village, PalestiniansSeeModelfor Their Cause.” NewYork Times ,27 August. Bilin-village.org. 2009. “Demonstration Against theRaidsand Arrests ofPeopleintheMiddleNight Beinin, Joel, andLisaHajjar. n.d. “Primer onPalestine, Israelandthe Arab-Israeli Conflict.” MiddleEast Baroud, Ramzy. 2009. “Non-Violence inPalestine: Timing andIntentions.” The Palestine Chronicle,16April. Anarchists Against the Wall. n.d. www.awalls.org. (9May2010). Alcalay, Ammiel.1993. References York: ColumbiaUniversityPress. Resistance%20READER%20OPMAAK.pdf (9May2010). 2007. http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/m.g.bal/bestanden/Roei%20Noa%20paper%20Moulding%20 Wall.” PaperpresentedatEncuentroII, “Migratory Politics,” Amsterdam, Netherlands, 21September Power, andCulture, ed. ScottBrysonetal., 191–200. Berkeley:Universityof California Press. 2010). (9 May Barrier.” “Barriers andCheckpoints,” 10 August. http://ochaonline2.un.org/Default.aspx?tabid=8711 the InternationalCourtofJustice Advisory Opinion: A SummaryoftheHumanitarianImpact http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9571.shtml (9May2010). =6&case=131&k=5a (9May2010). Palestinian Territory.” 9July. www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?pr=71&code=mwp&p1=3&p2=4&p3 Charles Bernstein, 197–212. New York: RoofBooks. /pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091031/FOREIGN/710309771/1140 (9May2010). Studies www.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/world/middleeast/28bilin.html (9May2010). -andarrestsofpeopleinthemiddlenightBil (9May2010). in Bil‘in.” 23July. www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/testimonies/Demonstrationagainsttheraids 2010). (9 May Research andInformationProject. www.merip.org/palestine -israel_primer/tocpalisr www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=15024 (9May 2010). Minnesota Press. 31, 2:19–33. — land confiscation, theimprisonmentofthousandscivilians, theimplementa After Jews and Arabs: RemakingLevantine Culture. Minneapolis:Universityof -primer.html spectacle Staging Resistance in Bil‘in 143 : Israel’s suppression of the popular denied: Israel’s suppression of Resistance allowed allowed Jenin’s Freedom Theatre in Bil‘in.” Youtube.com, uploaded by uploaded Youtube.com, Theatre in Bil‘in.” Jenin’s Freedom — 37, 4:6–20. 37,

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