Activist Claims Israel Condones Apartheid But Objects to World’s Criticism

“THE ISRAELI POINT of view is it’s okay to practice apartheid, but it’s not okay for the world to know they’re doing it.” So said Daphne Banai, Tel Aviv coordinator of Machsom (“checkpoint”) Watch, who was in Los Angeles on a speaking tour with Palestinian human rights attorney Taghrid Shbita.

More than 70 people heard the two activists speak Feb. 24 at the Islamic Center of Southern California. Banai explained that more than 400 Jewish women volunteers alternate twice daily to monitor Israeli troops’ conduct toward Palestinians at 70 checkpoints in the West Bank.

Shbita, who is a Palestinian citizen of Israel, explained that in 1948 her husband’s family lived in the village of Miske, which once covered about 12 acres. Warned to flee the Israeli militias, they took refuge in Tira, where they live today.

“The people wanted to return to their homes in Miske and they applied often to the authorities for permission to go back,” Shbita said. “So in 1952, in an effort to finish these aspirations once and for all, the government destroyed all structures in Miske. All that remains is two walls of a mosque and two rooms of a school.”

Nonetheless, Shbita said, villagers return to the deserted site and point out to their grandchildren where their homes and shops stood. Now her son and daughters are reaching the age to marry, and there is no place for them to live. “Why not return to Miske?” her son asks.

“This question is what Israelis refer to as ‘demographic danger,”’ Shbita explained. “Jews have the right of return, but they are disturbed when Palestinians want to exercise this right.”

Banai grew up in a right-wing family, she said, which told her never to trust an Arab. Nonetheless she was curious, and attended a Bridge to Peace meeting.

“That meeting changed my life,” she recalled. “My whole outlook moved 180 degrees.”

Soon after, Banai made her first visit to Tira, where she met Shbita. They’ve been best friends for 25 years.

Banai told the Washington Report that for the past six years she has gone to major Israeli military checkpoints once or twice a week for a half-day shift, and all day when she goes to the Jordan Valley.

“I’ve been beaten and shot at by settlers, they even tried to set fire to my car, but once you’ve witnessed what’s going on, you can’t excuse it,” she said. “Of course I don’t need to do it, but I want to look at myself in the mirror and know I’m doing my best to end the occupation.

“You must keep in mind that most of the Machsom volunteers are not activists,” she added. “They come from the mainstream. Often when they come for the first time, they say they can’t volunteer on a regular basis, but when they witness the abuse, they become obsessed with stopping the injustice.”

Banai said her work isn’t limited to her physical presence at checkpoints. Palestinians know her and have her phone number. When they experience unreasonable situations at checkpoints, they call her. “We go into action and call checkpoint commanders,” she explained. “We also notify reporters, who call these same commanders and ask for explanations.”

During a Feb. 25 talk in a Santa Monica synagogue, Banai was asked if checkpoints didn’t prevent suicide bombers from entering Israel.

“It takes much longer, but those checkpoints can be circumvented by taking unpaved back roads,” she replied. “I’m sure a determined terrorist would not try to pass through a checkpoint.”

She proceeded to tell a story about a taxi driver who had driven her and other Machsom Watch women to a remote checkpoint. The Israeli soldiers were disturbed to see the Jewish monitors.

“They couldn’t apprehend us for just being there,” she noted, “so they took it out on the cab driver and arrested him. We objected and asked on what grounds they were taking him in. The soldier replied, ‘I don’t need a reason to arrest a Palestinian.’”

For more information, visit <www.machsomwatch.org> or <www.stoptorture.org.il/heb/>.