Dennis Fox’s Weblog

I’m writing this on my way home. It’s more than two weeks since I left Minneapolis, following the mis-named Dialogue on the Wall, for what’s becoming my annual visit to British Columbia’s Denman Island. Last week, anarchist writer and activist Ron Sakolsky interviewed me on his weekly Tree Frog Radio show, mostly about Israel’s Anarchists Against the Wall. Last Wednesday I gave a slideshow and presentation to a group of interested islanders, mostly about the weekly Bil’in protests.

By coincidence, on Tuesday and Wednesday Israel’s Supreme Court issued two decisions about the Separation Wall’s route through Bil’in’s land. The first decision — to re-route the barrier slightly and make it easier for villagers to reach their land — is being celebrated by villagers as a victory, and in many ways it is. The second decision, though — to allow Israeli settlers to remain in buildings the court had already declared illegally constructed — seems to me more typical of Israeli policy. I’ll be surprised if the first decision is fully implemented; in any case, the barrier’s incursion into the West Bank to take in Modiin Ilit and related settlements remains undisturbed.

Israel/Palestine also came up at this weekend’s Anarchist Bookfair in Victoria. Talk of occupation seemed especially natural in connection with Vancouver Island’s own indigenous occupied nations. Local anarchists took close to a hundred visiting anarchists on an anti-colonial walking tour of downtown Victoria. It was a fascinating, and heart-breaking, look at the continuing consequences of occupation in this very British-toned city.

In talking about Anarchists Against the Wall, I noted two things in particular. One was the group’s sensitivity to the needs of the Bil’in village organizers and residents who invite them to participate in the weekly protests. The other was the refreshing lack of ambivalence about Israel’s oppressive policies. Many Israelis I met during my recent visits — students, professors, friends, taxi drivers, many others, mostly on the liberal-to-left Zionist mainstream –  were fully aware of Israel’s failure to live up to its democratic pretensions but seemed incapable of moving further. Anarchists Against the Wall, on the other hand, freed of allegiance to state or religion, had a clearer awareness that injustice is something to try to eradicate rather than endure. I liked that.

The anarchists I met at the Victoria bookfair also departed in many ways from the public image of anarchy as violent chaos. Sure, there’s plenty of young tattooed people wearing black. But It’s worth getting past the image to learn what anarchists have to say about a issues central to life in society. Or at least read some of the immensely diverse literature an anarchist bookfair, or online bookseller, displays.

More another time. My plane is about to board. Time to go..

This entry was posted on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 12:58 pm and is filed under Anarchism, Israel/Palestine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.