The Etzel Party

Just the first of the 60th year parties...

Last evening, an event celebrating "60 years to the liberation of Jaffa" was meant to credit the Etzel (the Irgun) with 1948 victories, and restore it to its rightful place in the national creation myth. A tour with testimonies of Etzel soldiers, a rally with speeches, all supposedly open to the public.

A coalition of some Jaffans and Tel Aviv lefties was organized to remind people of the 60,000 Jaffans expelled and of the state of un"liberated" Jaffa ever since.

The evening before the celebration, some have gone out to make beautiful graffiti along the route of the Etzel tour (an account in Hebrew of the night arrests).
During the event itself we have organized alternative tours, with some other testimonies, and an alternative rally in front of the Etzel rally (news stories in Hebrew of the demonstration with pics of the arrests).

Looking at my pictures from that night, the story is all about water and discipline.

Some are from my walk down on the beach to meet with the demonstration near the Etzel museum...
Beautiful beach day, Passover, hundreds of families, Palestinians and Orthodox Jews on vacation, bathing and eating and playing in the last rays of the sun...



When I reached the Etzel museum (which is of course a half-ruined Palestinian house) the place is already surrounded by police expecting us. Some demonstrators are trying to hold on to a hill across from the main event, whilc the police is pushing them back to a "cage" prepared in advance for us...
(60 years that Jaffa has no Cinema...)

Reuven Aberjil, formerly of the Israeli Black Panthers, recounting for us events from the occupation of Jaffa, including Etzel terrorist attacks on Palestinian civilians...

Pushing us back and forth, using their usual violence, the police is trying to prevent us from destablizing the Zionist narrative.

One policeman pushed me back and back and back and when I stood fast, he exclaimed: you are attacking a policeman! it was all a little funny... and this is when Aberjil, wisely, advised us all to sit down...

Plainclothes undercover policemen were wearing "queer-anarchist" drag... Three are arrested for no evident cause... One of then, S, is being pushed by them into an unmarked car, demanding to see their ID...
Later that night she was released with all the other arrestees, with no real charges...
... but not before two more of us were arrested outside the police station, where we were waiting for our friends' release... the cause was "not taking seriously police officers who take themselves too seriously" or something like that...

Altogether, a beautiful beach day, many curious people living and enjoying it together, very anxious police and some bruised demonstrators.