Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Palestine occupation tourism

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/20/palestine-israel-protest-tourism
Palestine's occupation tourism
Palestinian protesters are often joined by international tourists who 
see their struggle as an entertaining spectacle
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     * Seth Freedman
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           o Seth Freedman
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guardian.co.uk
, Wednesday 20 January 2010 10.00 GMT
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On any given Friday in Bil'in, the local Palestinian protesters are 
joined by scores of Israeli and international activists, who march 
determinedly alongside the villagers en route to the separation wall. 
Everyone knows what to expect once they reach the phalanx of soldiers 
waiting for them on the other side of the barrier: namely, blood, sweat 
and teargas, and an hour of each side baiting the other before the crowd 
is dispersed and hostilities cease for another week.
While the cause of the Bil'in residents is entirely worthy, the tactics 
employed during the protests are far more questionable. Every week 
without fail, rocks and other projectiles are hurled towards the 
soldiers by mask-clad youths, known as shabab, while not a finger is 
lifted by their fellow demonstrators to stop them. Despite billing the 
march as "nonviolent resistance", the organisers do nothing to ensure 
the event lives up to such criteria, and by taking no action hand to the 
army on a plate the perfect excuse to fight fire with fire.
Many of the international activists come to the protest in the hope that 
their presence will make the troops think twice before using violent 
measures against the Palestinians, under the assumption that foreign 
witnesses are worth their weight in gold to those taking on the might of 
the Israel Defence Forces. Groups such as International Solidarity 
Movementattempt to absolve themselves of any responsibility for the 
aggression emanating from the Palestinian side, declaring that since the 
resistance is "Palestinian-led", they are not going to tell the locals 
what they can and can't do in the name of fighting the occupation.
At the same time, many of the internationals present are first-timers in 
the region, and – rather than coming armed with a nuanced understanding 
of the intricacies of the conflict – simply wander into the West Bank 
war zone as though day-trippers taking in the sights of central London. 
Such a phenomenon was the subject of a feature in this weekend's 
Haaretz, in which the full extent of "occupation tourism" was mapped out 
in all its dubious glory.
One Italian photography student described his trip to Bil'in as being 
"like a vacation"; another had no idea whether he was standing on the 
Israeli or Palestinian side of the separation wall. Dr Roy Wagner, an 
Israeli activist who regularly attends the Bil'in protest in support of 
the villagers, was disparaging about many of those standing alongside him:
     There are those who spend weeks and months in the village and take 
the political issue seriously, and there are others who, as part of 
their trip to Israel and Palestine, drop in at Bil'in to see what's 
happening... It can also generate antagonism if you feel committed to 
the struggle and find yourself surrounded by tourists.
Despite his reservations, he stated he would rather such tourists did 
continue to show up at Bil'in, since they would hopefully leave "more 
committed to the struggle, and that's what's important". However, given 
the highly sensitive nature of the anti-wall rallies, as well as the 
equally high risk of injury to all those within range of the army's 
artillery, it seems irresponsible to encourage such visitors to the site 
without them having undergone full and proper preparatory training 
beforehand.
The media are provided unfettered access to Bil'in, and have been 
disseminating footage and reports from the area ever since the protests 
began in 2005. Likewise, those activists and NGO workers who have been 
operating in the region for years can be relied upon to update the 
watching world on the state of play in the village without there being a 
need for sightseers to treat the march as simply another box to tick on 
their "been-there, done-that" list of West Bank attractions.
For all the talk of solidarity with the Palestinians and support for 
their struggle, the true level of commitment would come to light if 
potential marchers were required by the activist groups to spend a 
significant amount of time working for the cause behind the scenes 
before being allowed to attend the demonstration. For all that Bil'in 
provides far juicier war stories and YouTube clips than sitting behind a 
desk in Ramallah providing logistical help to the resistance, questions 
must be asked of those marchers for whom simply attending protests is 
the sum total of their work in the region.
At the same time, those who come to the protests with the sole intention 
of seeing the violence for themselves, rather than as part of a wider 
effort to assist the Palestinians in their quest for freedom, should be 
discouraged from treating the region as a safari park. Occupation 
tourism does no favours for the serious and committed activists on 
either side of the separation wall, and only reinforces the perception 
that for far too many observers, the conflict is merely an entertaining 
spectacle, rather than a decades-old matter of life and death.

 Israeli or Palestinian side of the separation wall.
Ma ci faccciamo sempre riconoscere, porco qui, porco la!
PP

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direi che siamo un ottimo segnalatore di mancato pericolo. Se ci sono
italiani di mezzo (tipo quella nera che andava da Costanzo a dire che
Israele ha messo le camere a gas a Gaza, la conosci?) la situazione è
disperata ma non seria...