Angry White Kid

Footage from Open Shuhada Street Protest

Some of my footage from February 24, 2012, when thousands of Palestinians, joined by solidarity activists, gathered in Al Khalil (Hebron) in occupied Palestine for the 3rd Annual Global Day of Action to Open Shuhada Street. The central road in the heart of the Old City of Al Khalil, Shuhada Street has been closed to Palestinians since 1994, when Brooklyn-born Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein massacred 29 Palestinians while they were praying at Ibrahimi Mosque on February 25, 1994.

Israeli Occupation Forces attacked the peaceful marchers with tear gas (including high-velocity rounds), concussion grenades, pepper spray, LRADs, and chemical water cannons (skunk spray). Six demonstrators were arrested and more than 80 were injured.

Footage from protest at Ofer prison for Khader Adnan

My footage from the Wednesday, February 15, 2012 National Day of Protest for Khader Adnan at Israel's Ofer Military Prison near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. As of Feb. 15, Adnan, a Palestinian political prisoner, had been on hunger strike for sixty days. He is on hunger strike to protest his torture at the hands of his jailers and Israel's practice of administrative detention, where detainees can be held for up to six months without charge and without being allowed to see the evidence against them. After six months, the administration detention order can be renewed indefinitely.

At Wednesday's demonstration, Israeli forces indiscriminately fired concussion grenades, tear gas, plastic-coated metal bullets, chemically-treated water cannons and live ammunition at the hundreds of Palestinians gathered to protest. Some demonstrators responded by building barricades and throwing rocks. More than 20 demonstrators were injured.

Statement from the Communal Autonomous Council of San Juan Copala on the Caravan and Negotiations

While many events have occurred since this statement was issued, I've translated and posted it as it offers helpful insight as to the "official" stance of the Copala displaced regarding the caravan and negotiations. For more info on recent events, see this article on El Enemigo Común.

Statement from the Communal Autonomous Council of San Juan Copala on the Caravan and Negotiations
February 3, 2012
[Spanish original]
Translated by Scott Campbell

TO THE MEDIA
TO THE OTHER CAMPAIGN
TO THE PEOPLES OF OAXACA AND MEXICO
TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS BODIES

Sisters, brothers, painful is the path of return to our village from which we were displaced by the rancor and hate of those who from afar send the owners of power to our region, but we know well that reconciliation can and should come to our lands. More than 500 years of resisting exploitation, repression and misery have given the indigenous of this country the wisdom necessary to resolve their problems through the word. It is because of this that the displaced communicate to those who have accompanied us that we are doing everything in our power to put into action the Triqui word. We are sure that this will help to solve our differences, that it will ensure peace always exists in our region, but we want to state very clearly that we are not asking for impunity for anyone, those who commit crimes  by following the orders of the powerful should and have to pay, as our lands have been dyed with blood spilled by indigenous who have exchanged their dignity for a few coins or for promises of positions of power (in the state congress, for example) but we will speak of these individuals another time in a more detailed manner and we will do it with names and evidence.

Today we merely want to address you to tell you that we are doing everything in our power to find the path to peace through the word and we want to ask for your fraternal solidarity, which you have always shown us, so that today more than ever, the flower of the word does not die.

From Occupy Oakland to Occupied Palestine

Check out the full article at the Occupied Oakland Tribune.

An abridged version of the following article appeared in the print edition (issue 3) of the Occupied Oakland Tribune.

by Scott Campbell

Sitting in solitary in Glenn Dyre jail after being arrested during the first raid on the Occupy Oakland camp at Oscar Grant Plaza, I had no idea what was playing out on the streets just blocks away. Not until getting out the following day did I see footage of the massive police violence that was unleashed on the evening of October 25.

As someone who has worked in solidarity with Palestinians for years, that footage reminded me of scenes that play out frequently in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Villages there whose land is being taken for the construction of Israel’s illegal separation wall hold weekly nonviolent protests against their continued dispossession. As happened on October 25 in Oakland, these peaceful rallies are met with tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets from Israeli forces. Often live ammunition is deployed and since 2004, 22 Palestinians, almost half children, have been killed by Israeli forces while protesting against the usurpation of their lands and livelihoods.