WEBVTT - What Happens When A US Volunteer Is Shot by the IDF? 0:00:01.760 --> 0:00:05.120 All the media. 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:08.160 Hi everyone, and welcome to it could happen here. It's 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:12.400 me James today and I'm joined by Sharene and also Almado, 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:15.960 who was a volunteer, was father a non violent Protector's 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:18.440 Presence volunteer in Palestine. How are you doing today? 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:18.960 I'm good. 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:21.400 Thank you, Yeah, thanks so much for being here. 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:24.639 Yeah, yeah, we appreciate it. So we met through a 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:27.920 mutual friend who is also a volunteer with you. And 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:32.159 the reason that that Frank contacted me was that unfortunately 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:37.280 the IDF shot you. And that's obviously a pretty shitty situation. 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:42.440 And would you be okay with just beginning by recounting 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:45.080 the incident. I don't know if that's something you're okay 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:50.199 going back to, just because I think the fucking wantonness 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:53.840 of the violence, it is so stark that I think 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:55.000 it might help people to hear it. 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:55.840 Yeah. 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:01.920 So I volunteered with FAZA and we go to a 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:05.880 demonstration in Beta every Friday. The aim is to go 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:09.920 back to their land that was stolen from them. I 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:14.760 think there's a settlement called Avatar Avtar on the Palestinian land, 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:17.800 and their aim is just to go back to it 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:19.240 and plant the Palasini your flag. 0:01:19.880 --> 0:01:23.080 So we get there and they're. 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:27.160 Doing Juma prayer and then after Juama prayer is when 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.520 they start chanting, so like not even it was like 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:33.160 between five to ten minutes when they started shooting tear 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:35.640 gas at us. You're in the prey after the prayer, 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.920 after the prayer, yeah, So the prayer went without an incident, 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:43.120 and then afterwards was when they shot tear gas at us, 0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:47.560 multiple tear gas canisters, and then once they started firing 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:51.240 live rounds. We hid behind a concrete wall. Tear gas 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:54.559 still being shot at us, and then live rounds as well. 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:57.280 You could see the dust coming off of the concrete 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:01.600 walls as they shot. And then once it seemed like 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:06.040 they were coming down from the tower, I think Palestines 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.240 were running because they thought they were coming. So we 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:12.399 ran and we went over a concrete wall. We ran 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:16.120 for I don't even know how long, but once we 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.840 got to a clearing and they thought it was safe, 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:25.560 we regrouped with everyone. So the road going up to 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:29.359 where we were, there were Palestinians still running down. There's 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.440 Palestinie is running to the right, and we just waited 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.600 maybe thirty seconds, and then someone told us to go, 0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:38.560 so we ran with them and then we got to 0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:42.639 rest for like five minutes at a quick smoke coffee. 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:46.600 Some people had teeth. But then some palestines were moving 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:50.120 towards the street to our right, so we followed them 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.959 a couple of us and some of them stayed. And 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:56.560 as we were approaching there, this was the road that 0:02:56.600 --> 0:02:59.560 went straight up to the watchtower we saw them on before, 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:03.040 so there was still some tear guys shot at us 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:06.200 and some live rounds as well, but we saw them 0:03:06.280 --> 0:03:11.200 actually coming down from the tower this time, and before 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:15.400 you know they even drove down, there was palestines to 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.480 our left that were running. So whenever we see them running, 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:23.040 we know that it's a threat they think may be fatal, 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:27.639 so we're running. We actually could run to the Ali 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:31.440 grows behind us. And as we were running, just making 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:35.680 sure all my comrades were good, I hear a loud 0:03:35.720 --> 0:03:38.040 bang and then I feel a pain in my leg. 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:40.680 I thought it was like a tear gas canister that 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.720 hit my leg because it just felt like a blunt force. 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:49.280 But I've never felt that pain before. And one of 0:03:49.320 --> 0:03:52.520 my comrades were helping me up while I was still 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:55.400 running and limping, and then finally once we got to 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.680 a clearing, that's when all the Palestins ran to me 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:01.240 and carried me away to the pickup truck, which then 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:05.960 went to the health clinic or the emergency clinic in Beta. 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:10.880 And then after that the army trucks blocked our way 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:13.720 while I was in the ambulance when I was transferred, 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:16.720 and then there was two checkpoints afterwards, and the two 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:20.760 checkpoints they demanded to see who was inside, which delayed 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:25.600 my care further, and then finally getting to Rafidia Hospital, 0:04:26.360 --> 0:04:28.279 Jesus swept fucking hell. 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:32.640 Classic of them to block the ambulance so many times. 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:35.920 It's yeah, yeah, yeah, and I'm rerealty glad that it 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.800 wasn't like an archeriobled or something when that time would 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:40.960 have been a life and death. Yeah, in those minutes, right. 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:41.760 It's a really good point. 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:42.039 Yeah. 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:43.719 I was smiling because I was like, I don't know 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:45.680 what just happened to me, but I'm hope, I hope, 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:49.360 I'm okay, and also I know I'm here for Palestine, 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.520 so you know, yeah, I kept smiling, but I didn't 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:54.799 know what was happening. And thankfully it was no artery 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:56.400 or bone, so I was very late. 0:04:56.839 --> 0:04:59.560 Yeah, and do you know what right for you shows 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.920 clinic they sometimes use like smaller calibers for crowd control. 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:07.200 Yeah. From what I heard was I'm sixteen American nail. 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:11.280 Yeah. So yeah, they're just really game for it. Un believable. 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.160 I'm glad you're okay. I like, just we spoke about 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.360 this before, but just so listeners, like, you're healing up, 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:19.200 you feel like you're on the path to at least 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:20.120 physical recovery. 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:24.440 Yeah, absolutely, Like, uh, So, I got shot and one 0:05:24.480 --> 0:05:27.919 week later I went from wheelchair, the crutches, the cane. 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:31.320 I'm still on the cane, but I can move around 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:35.240 pretty well like indoors. Like when I'm outside, I have 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:38.040 to use the cane because of my leg buckles and 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:41.000 the hole in the front baxit wound is still healing. 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:44.239 It's not fully closed yet, but a lot better. 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:45.760 Did the bullet go straight through? 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:50.080 Yeah, I went straight through, no fragments. I believe they 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:52.600 had to do surgery to stitch me up, but also 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.760 to take the dead tissue out. And I think they 0:05:55.760 --> 0:05:57.440 had to put together some muscles as well. 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:02.279 Yeah, Jesus, Like, I want to talk about a couple 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:05.320 of things regarding this. First of all, I think, like, 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:09.359 are you a US citizen? Yeah, yeah, so like a 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:14.000 foreign military shot a US citizen right as you're a 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:17.840 no senator, representative, any of these people who are supposed 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:19.840 to give a single fuck about this like reached out 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:20.279 to you. 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:23.560 New so it was just the embassy. 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.839 The embassy didn't contact us, maybe the same day I 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.160 was shot just a little bit later, but no representatives 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.000 here in the United States have reached out to me. 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:35.360 Yeah, it's pretty reprehensible. Yeah, do you want to give 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.520 people a representive? Who those might be is I don't 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:39.560 want to like dox you and where you live, but. 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:40.440 I'm in Jersey City. 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:44.600 There is a vacancy actually for one of the representatives, 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:48.520 so that is one reason why. But the other ones, yeah, 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:52.680 Jersey senators, local politicians, nobody has reached out. 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:56.880 Yeah, nobody's reached out. Yeah, And I think, like we 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.080 said this again before, but it's not that your leg 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.640 is more important than someone's child's life in Gaza, right, 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:04.760 Like that's I don't want to imply that for a second, 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.359 but like you know, the system of states as it 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:09.400 is today works in a certain way, and in theory, 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:12.480 those people should care about you, and like, I think 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:15.440 it really gets us to something else I wanted to 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:20.280 talk about, which is that like the existence of Palestine, 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.440 like as as it is today and as it wishes 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:26.760 to be in the future, much like you know other 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:31.400 places I've worked in Kurdistan, in the liberated parts of Myanmar, 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:34.840 is a threat to the system of states and governments 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:39.440 as it exists today. And like at some point you 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:43.120 decided that the government and right into your senator or 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:48.960 whatever tweeting people do wasn't enough or wasn't going to work, 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:51.680 and you decided that, like you wanted to put your 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:53.800 body in between the people trying to kill the people 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:55.960 and the people trying to survive. So can you talk 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:58.520 us through that journey? Like have you always been invested 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.880 in the Palacean Coles? Is it something that you became 0:08:01.920 --> 0:08:03.080 aware of at some point. 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:03.960 Yeah. 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.280 So I'm part of the Philippine Movement on a Baion, 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:12.400 part of Bayon and the National Democratic Movement in the Philippines. 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:17.320 So through them I was in contact and collaboration with 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:21.960 Palestinians and that's when I started to understand Palestinian struggle. 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:24.680 And actually I was at the protest. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:27.600 In New York recently, and it came full circle because 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:34.400 Nerdane within our lifetime stated that she actually started it 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:38.960 because of the National Democratic Movement and our work together 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:43.680 and our studies. So because I also saw Palestinian standing 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:47.720 for the liberation of the Philippines, we always had that 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:51.040 connection or I had that connection with Palestinians, and it 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:56.400 grew over time, and the escalation of October seventh really 0:08:57.080 --> 0:09:02.240 had me just disregulated because I'm a teacher in Jersey 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:06.240 and for the first few months it was so hard 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:08.400 for me to teach. It was like I was just 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:12.880 going on autopilot because how could we, you know, just 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:16.160 go on with our daily lives seeing this these atrocities 0:09:16.160 --> 0:09:20.319 happening every day. And once it was the end of 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.600 the year, it was hot smoking cigarette, I put my 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:27.160 CAFA on the gate outside of our school and then 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:28.960 I came out because I had to bring the snacks 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:30.760 in for my students for the last week of school 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:33.160 and it was gone, so I had to buy another one. 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:36.640 And when I did, it came with a really beautiful 0:09:36.720 --> 0:09:41.160 handwritten postcard from Palestine and it was just talking about 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:45.040 thank you for supporting us through these difficult times. And 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:47.560 then it's had invitation to visit, So that was what 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:51.120 prompted me to like research and ask other friends in 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:54.160 the movement, and then they told me about FASA, and 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:57.839 then I took the orientation and training and I went 0:09:57.880 --> 0:09:59.559 over during my summer break. 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:03.360 Yeah, it's real. To ease your summer, we'll just stop 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:18.239 for some advertisements here and then come back. We are back. Unfortunately, 0:10:18.320 --> 0:10:22.400 you've had toism some advert so hopefully you've skipped them. 0:10:22.679 --> 0:10:26.000 So I wanted to ask about like that journey, the 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:28.920 journey to Palestine. Now, I imagine it's very difficult, and like, 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:31.160 how did it feel. I guess like this is a 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:33.560 cause you've been invested in for some time, right, and 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:36.360 then you've seen these horrific things, and then suddenly you're 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:39.480 on the ground, like was to be in solidarity with people, 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.600 like I know my experience at the border has been that, Like, 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:45.840 I would much rather be like in it, even if 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:49.440 it's terrible, than at home seeing pictures of it. I 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:50.480 wonder how it was for you. 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.840 Yeah, for me, I've always just wanted to visit Palestine 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:56.720 and I want to be insolidated with the Palestinean people 0:10:57.280 --> 0:11:00.520 as a Filipino American I've seen Palestine. Is there the 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:04.120 support of Filipinos. I've been there in the streets with them, 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.520 you know, when they supported Americans, the black Americans, you know, 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.800 against police brutality. So it just felt like a duty 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:16.959 as an organizer, as a revolutionary to you know, show 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:20.760 the same solidarity back as well as knowing that I'll 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:24.319 be in a beautiful place with beautiful people under horrible circumstances. 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:30.120 Yeah, I wish more people. And it's not just Palestine, right, 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:31.920 we have these revolutions that we talk about in these 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:34.680 causes that we talk about, like, and I understand it's 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.679 not always easy. People have commitments financial and interpersonal, and 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.400 but like, if you can go, you should go. Do 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:45.680 you feel like your solidarity grew because you experienced solidarity 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.360 in return? Right, like somebody ran towards gunfire to pick 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:50.440 you up at some point? Do you feel like a 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:54.000 more profound sense of solidarity after that experience, having also 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:55.920 experienced like setle colonial violence. 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:57.319 I guess absolutely. 0:11:57.440 --> 0:12:01.200 It's like you know, before I'm talking about it, we 0:12:01.280 --> 0:12:04.360 talk about in circles, and I did have the privilege 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:06.520 to be able to go, you know, not a lot 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:11.960 of people have the financial ability mental ability, physical capabilities. 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:16.440 So I'm looking on that end as well. But if 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:20.599 one is willing and able in all those different aspects, 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.880 they should go if they can, especially during all of 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:27.600 the harvest right now, which is an escalation of settler 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:32.040 violence that we've seen recently and even the Israeli army. 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:33.520 So I get updates. 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:36.360 From Kuspa right now and I just see everything that's 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.040 happening still, and I know all of harvest is a 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:43.200 huge economic thing for the Palestinians. So yeah, it would 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:45.679 be great for anyone that's able to go. 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:50.000 Yeah, leading up to you getting shot and maybe after, 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:53.880 can you describe maybe what the environment was like like 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.720 on the ground, how people were living your experiences with 0:12:57.760 --> 0:12:59.640 the idea of me before that, Like, can you just 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.200 walk through what that was like on the ground. 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:03.120 Yeah. 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:08.240 So my first day there, I was in Kustra and 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.280 we were just getting the money that we need. We 0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:14.720 got some groceries I believe I had. I only had 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:18.040 like two pairs of clothes I packed leg and then 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:22.679 we had dinner with the Palestinia family, very beautiful collective dinner. 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:27.480 And when you have lunch or dinner there, you know, 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.560 it's not like a quick thirty minutes and you're gone. 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:33.120 You're there for like three hours. 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:36.640 Even if we have different language barriers, it's just very 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:38.520 beautiful culture and people. 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:40.640 And then I get shot the second day. 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:46.080 The second day, god, I know, yeah, yeah, so, uh 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.320 second full day, and so I think I was the 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:51.320 first person shot at a demonstration there. 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:56.240 So people were ready for I guess the usual tear 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:58.559 gas and live rounds, but I don't think anyone is 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:03.360 expecting anyone to get shot there, including me. But yeah, 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:07.320 so I was healing in the hospital, I heard the 0:14:07.880 --> 0:14:11.920 Israeli army came into Kusra, and you know, we had 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.520 the amount of people we had on the ground, and 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:16.559 one person had to kind of stay around me. So 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:19.920 I was scared and feared for my people over there. 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.720 And then another day goes by, the next day after that, 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:28.520 I'm back in town, and then there was reports of 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:32.640 a settler that was killed. And then we heard that 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:36.280 all the settlements there was a call to attack Cusra. 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.440 So right when I get back, we're already on Hylert. 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:43.480 We're watching making sure nothing was happening. Thankfully, nothing did 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:48.120 happen that day. But then, yeah, it happens like every 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:51.560 other day where either the Israeli army comes in or 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:56.000 settler's attack. In Kusra, we also tried to open the 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:59.120 gate between the town because the Israeli Army put a 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.240 gate between the tw so people can't travel with you know, 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:06.440 within the town, and we tried opening it, but they 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:10.760 have the key, and a peaceful demonstration turned into the 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:17.360 IDF or the IOF coming with like twelve soldiers intimidating folks, 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:23.280 loading up some kind of automatic weapon, pointing tear gas 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:27.560 at us. A few days after that, they came into 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:32.360 town at night shot up the town. A few days 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:38.400 after that, Israeli army was guarding settlers really close to town, 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:39.800 were actually in town. 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:41.880 And then a. 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:43.960 Couple of days after that too, I think one of 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.800 the last days I was there, they raided the town. 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:52.960 They shot like twelve tear gas canisters like two to 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:57.280 three like flash bangs, and then like three live rounds, 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:00.600 and they shot a boy in the back. Thankfully he's 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:05.560 also okay. And then after I left, sellers attacked international 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:11.600 volunteers US citizens as well with rocks, and DIOEFT shot 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.800 like five other Palestinians as well. So it's just continual violence, 0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:18.000 you know what. I faced that one day is what 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:18.920 they face every day? 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:21.760 Yeah, yeah, yeah, and like they go and get to 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:26.239 go home like it it's at home. Can you explain 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:29.040 for people who aren't familiar, right, I think a lot 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:32.120 of people have come into solidarity with Palestine in the 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:36.280 last eleven months, which is fine. You don't have to 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:39.000 know like textbooks of history to be like genocide is bad. 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:40.120 Yeah. 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.040 So, like you're in the West Bank, right, can you 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:46.880 explain where that lies in relation to Gaza and what 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:51.240 is happening in the West Bank, especially right now in 0:16:51.280 --> 0:16:55.080 the last few days and weeks. That is extremely concerning 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:56.720 and I don't know how to fred it, like terrible. 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:57.600 Yeah. 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:02.560 So the decimation of Gaza on Israel's end is a 0:17:02.600 --> 0:17:07.160 response to October seventh escalation, even though October seventh was 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:13.560 a response to, however, many decades of oppression that they've faced. 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:16.639 So Gaza is being decimated. 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:20.840 But Israel wants more land, the greater Israel that they've 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:25.240 been advertising. Settlers want to move into Gaza. Settlers want 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:28.600 to continue to move into West Bank, the West Bank. 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:35.120 Also from reports, Israel gave authority or something of being 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.639 able to get more land, which is Palestinian land, So 0:17:38.800 --> 0:17:41.080 what kind of authority do they have over that all 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:44.560 the legal settlements, But they're trying to just take all 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:47.000 the land that they can get, whether it's in Gaza, 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:50.280 whether it's in West Bank. So they're obviously connected because 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:54.520 it is Palestine. But now they're just going into the 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:58.479 West Bank because there's further resistance now as well. And 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:01.640 there has always been just a lot more quiet than 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:06.199 a Gaza at the moment because I guess of the 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:09.960 government that's over them, Palestinian authority. But yeah, it's all 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:14.199 connected and they want to just squash any kind of 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.200 resistance there is, whether it's in the West Bank and Gaza, 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.560 as well as just trying to take as much land 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:28.160 as possible before international intervention happens, which we haven't seen 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:33.600 because the US continues to supply weapons and arms to Israel. 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.679 Yeah, apparently what happened to you even going to stop that? 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:39.600 Like nothing else is i'd know what is just for 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:41.680 people who aren't familiar the West Banks so much larger 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:46.240 geographical area. Bank refers to the Jordan River, right set. 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.280 Colonialism is a term that people are familiar with, right like, 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:51.040 and it happens, it's not I'm not saying it doesn't 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:53.680 happen in America because it still happens every day. Like there, 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:56.520 It's a process that we continue to create. It's not 0:18:56.560 --> 0:19:00.439 one that stops in nineteenth century, right, and by that, 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:03.560 but like where you were is the bleeding age of 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:06.119 settle colonialism. Right. It's a family being kicked out of 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.600 their house, it's people not being allowed to go back 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:11.399 to their homes. Do you have a sense of like 0:19:11.480 --> 0:19:16.200 what does that look like? Because it's incredibly violent, right, 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:23.080 and incredibly inhumane. No reasonable person would think that like, oh, yeah, 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:26.760 this seems normal and cool. Can you explain, like perhaps 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:29.000 how that would appear for one family or for the 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:30.360 farm or the village. 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.399 So in Kusra, there has been a good amount of 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:38.040 resistance even before October seventh, from the leaders there and 0:19:38.160 --> 0:19:43.359 the community. But even with that, three months before it 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:46.199 looked like settlers coming into town, a whole wave of 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:48.080 them burning eleven houses. 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:51.480 I believe it was cars. 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:57.159 Attacking people, with Israeli army there not stopping anything. I 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:01.960 believe it was Msvaryata where other activists are, where they 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:05.960 literally come to the land say this is ours, try 0:20:06.000 --> 0:20:11.240 to destroy infrastructure like water wells. They come in and 0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:14.760 literally say God told me this is my land, and 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:19.480 I'm here, and try to settle there. There's I guess 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:23.640 I saw a place where the Israeli occupation forces would 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:28.919 guard around a mosque, not for the Muslims there, but 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:33.520 for settlers to come in and pretty much making a 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:37.840 synagogue for however long. It looks like someone coming in 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:43.080 and claiming that your home is theirs and destroying any 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:45.760 infrastructure so you don't come back, whether it's the home, 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.760 the streets, water, whatever it is. 0:20:49.560 --> 0:20:59.960 Yeah. 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:02.840 I keep thinking about, like one, how much it didn't 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:06.120 matter that you were American. But I keep thinking about 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:09.560 Rachel Corey and how maybe that was the most like 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:15.600 egregious recent example I can think of of an American citizen. 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:18.560 I think she was twenty three when she died, got 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:22.159 run over by a fucking bulldozer from the iof nothing happened. 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:24.560 Her parents are still trying to remind the world what happened, 0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:28.280 like year after year. Yeah, and so it's not surprising 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:29.960 to me that no one reached out to you and 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:32.680 that there is no outrage. But it's just really frustrating 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:36.760 that it really doesn't matter, like it you could have 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:39.520 like you could have lost your life and no one 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:41.639 would have bad an eye in the government. Like it 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:45.520 really really just makes my blood boil because it's I 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:49.199 don't know, that's what I've been thinking about for a 0:21:49.240 --> 0:21:51.560 tiny bit. It just reminded me of that and how 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:55.320 there's no protection being American when you're on the ground 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:56.360 in Palestine at all. 0:21:56.880 --> 0:22:03.199 Yeah, when we're there, our power comes from having a 0:22:03.280 --> 0:22:07.720 passport somewhere else and our phone. Right, that's why we 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:10.680 go there to volunteer to create a buffer between the 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:16.080 Israeli Army, settlers and the Palestinians. And it shows their 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:20.040 complete disregard the caveat there is that they said it 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:22.680 was a mistake, which they went straight through my leg, 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:25.880 So I don't know what kind of mistake goes straight 0:22:25.920 --> 0:22:30.320 through my leg. But also someone was arrested and heard 0:22:30.400 --> 0:22:33.720 that they thought I was Palestinian, So it just shows 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:38.080 even more so the complete disregard for Palestinian life, whether 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:40.639 they thought I was or not, that they would just 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:46.639 shoot me. And yes, there was two US citizens that 0:22:46.720 --> 0:22:50.560 were recently attacked by settlers and the IOF did not 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:55.120 do anything, you know, only a little bit after they said, 0:22:55.280 --> 0:22:58.720 you know, stop throwing rocks, but the damage is done. Yeah, 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:03.600 our government has complete disregard for Palestinian lives because there 0:23:03.680 --> 0:23:06.560 was also a lot of Palestinian Americans that have been 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:12.359 bad and our lives are my life or others that 0:23:12.400 --> 0:23:17.600 are just American with another nationality have you know, I 0:23:17.640 --> 0:23:20.760 guess a little bit more value in their eyes. But 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:25.600 because they don't want outrage, international outrage. But yeah, our 0:23:25.640 --> 0:23:29.760 government haven't reached out to me, which showcases that they 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:34.080 don't care about US citizens that support Palestine. Even Biden 0:23:34.200 --> 0:23:37.280 said that, you know, if a US citizen got hurt, 0:23:37.560 --> 0:23:40.199