It takes a village

The iron resistance of one Palestinian hamlet to Israel's 'ring of steel' has caught the imagination of the world's media

By Seth Freedman
The Guardian

"After four days of curfew, the village of Nilin is not a pretty sight. Torched cars lie strewn on the sides of the road, bedroom windows sport gaping bullet holes, and debris is scattered the length and breadth of the town: evidence of the brutality meted out indiscriminately by the army against the locals.

As I followed the trail of destruction, the tales of woe grew ever darker and ever more indicting of the Israel Defence Force's cruelty. "Look what they did to me!" screamed an elderly grandmother, hoisting up her robes to display the raw wounds inflicted by soldiers who had thrown her against a stone wall during a raid. She began sobbing as she recounted the events of earlier in the week, utterly bewildered as to how she had come to be mistreated so.......

With the wall getting nearer to completion with every passing day, time is running out for the Palestinians to prevent themselves being permanently sealed inside their concrete cage. But in what little time remains, they can at least take some solace in the fact that they are by no means alone in their struggle. And that fact, if nothing else, strengthens their resolve to keep on with their fight, despite the crushing blows the IDF relentlessly rains down upon them."