In what was probably the most naive statement pronounced by a famous humanitarian, U2’s lead singer, Bono, in a NYT article he expressed hope that the Palestinians will eventually find “their Gandhi, their King, or their Aung San Suu Kyi.” His blindness to the reality of Palestinian non-violent protest, which has been going on for years, has apparently led him to remain quiet about the plight of the Palestinian people.
In response, Phillip Weiss asked: “Why hasn’t Bono heard the names of Jamal Juma’, Mohammad Othman, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, and other Palestinians who have been jailed for their resistance to modern apartheid, their efforts to stop the Wall being built on their land, their promotion of nonviolent tactics of boycott and divestment?”
Videos are from the Bi’lin Village site of the latest weekly protest, dedicated to Abdallah Abu Rahmah:
The people of Bil’in dedicated the weekly demonstration in the village to Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee, who is kept in jail despite having served his one-year sentence in full. One protester was injured.
Dozens of Israeli and international supporters joined the demonstration in Bil’in this week, which was dedicated to Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the local grassroots organizer jailed for his part n the village’s campaign. The protesters condemned his continued detention and the fact that he is still in jail despite having finished serving his sentence. People waved Palestinian flags and pictures of Abu Rahmah, and chanted slogans condemning the Occupation, settlements, the repression of the struggle and the jailing of Palestinian activists….
An hour into the demonstration, most demonstrators had already started to retreat back to the village, which apparently did not seem like reason enough for the soldiers to keep barraging the village with tear-gas, and eventually even invaded the village for a short while. An eighteen year-old was injured by a rubber-coated bullet that hit him in the hip.
Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a school teacher, who was convicted by a military court over a year ago for incitement (leading non-violent protests in Bi’lin), remains in prison in spite of completing his sentence.
So to Bono we can say, here’s your Gandhi. Now how about your appeal to have him released from prison?