The whole scene both days seemed absurd. Both sides were stimulating the violent response of the other side. It was a game of teenagers on both sides attacking those on the other side. Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams and journalists stood near the soldiers as the shooting continued for hours. Rocks, “rubber” bullets, and tear gas canisters littered the streets. There seemed to be little that we could do to stop the absurd game.
Throwing stones at soldiers is not a very creative response to oppression and does not accomplish much positive. The soldiers were acting even more irresponsibly and irrationally. The response of the soldiers only encouraged and emboldened the youth. The simple way to get the youth to stop throwing stones would have been for the soldiers to leave the area. Shooting at the stone throwers is hardly a way to peace. Even better would be to end the oppression and domination.
While the soldiers were shooting, other soldiers tried to keep Palestinians out of the area. A middle aged Palestinian woman started walking to the other side of the area, beyond the trouble spot. A soldier told her she could not cross the area and ordered her to turn back. Not only did the conservatively dressed Muslim woman not go back, she continued walking toward the other side of the intersection. The soldier tried to stop her, got in front of her, but the woman just walked around the soldier.
The poor soldier gave up, and the woman walked away. The actions of the woman left the soldier with his M-16 gun powerless. With internationals watching, he was not going to shoot the woman. The simple act of resistance by the woman was more powerful than the actions of either the soldiers or the stone-throwing youth.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumeniocal initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the world. To learn more about CPT's peacemaking work, please visit our website at http:\www.cpt.
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