Middle East Youth - Teenagers play key role in settler protests
NAME: MEAST YOUTH 130805Nx
TAPE: EF05/0716
IN_TIME: 10:11:40:18
DURATION: 00:03:54:03
SOURCES: APTN/ CH2
DATELINE: Various - Recent
RESTRICTIONS:
SHOTLIST
APTN
Maoz Yam hotel, Gush Katif Jewish settlement bloc - June 30, 2005
1. Soldiers dragging a teenage girl out of the hotel
2. Soldiers dragging teenage boy out of hotel
Jerusalem - June 30, 2005
3. Various youths sitting in middle of road blocking traffic
4. Police arresting teenage boy, boy shouting (in Hebrew): "A Jew should not expel a Jew"
5. Police firing water cannons on teenage youths blocking roads in Jerusalem
Near Re'im, southern Israel - August 4, 2005
6. Youth on the way to infiltrate settlement
7. Youth looking at map
8. Youth marching toward settlement
9. Youth being questioned by police
10. Police window
11. Identity card
12. UPSOUND: (Hebrew) Youth sitting in police bus with an orange ribbon Star of David saying: "They caught us here on the road, there are many ways to go in (into the settlements)."
Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif Jewish settlement bloc - August 10, 2005
13. Various youths who infiltrated into the settlement making sandwiches and eating
14. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Vox pop (would not identify himself):
"We don't come here because it is fun, we have far more fun things to do, but we come here because we believe in the ideal that this is what we have to do and with God's help we will prevent this decision, we really believe in it."
15. Youths sitting in Neve Dekalim centre
Jerusalem - May 16, 2005
16. Youth burning tyres and blocking traffic at main Jerusalem road
17. Settlers sitting on ground, chanting, in Hebrew, 'A Jew should not expel a Jew'
18. Girl resisting arrest kicking policeman being dragged away
19. Girl trying to escape of policeman grip
Channel 2
Tel Aviv, Israel - May 17, 2005
20. Dozens of settler youths coming out of police van being escorted to court
21. Parents of arrested youths waiting at court house
APTN
Gaza beach, Gaza Strip - June 8, 2005
22. Youth sitting on beach looking at sea
23. Surfer on Gaza sea
24. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Shlomit Ganz, from Gush Katif settlement:
"On what basis were they arrested? What did they do? Did they kill someone? Did they steal from anyone? It is a legitimate protest, a completely legitimate protest. They want to take their country away, the country which we put our hearts into, the country which we fought for, the country my grandparents came to, so they can make the desert bloom."
APTN
Kfar Maimon, southern Israel - July 18, 2005
25. Pan from young girls singing to soldiers blocking their way
STORYLINE
As the Israeli army and police force prepare to surround the Jewish settlements in Gaza and forcibly evict the residents, they know that most of the resistance will come from young boys and girls from the settler community.
This is not your everyday teenage angst - these adolescents had to mature very quickly.
During the time when their peers were studying for final exams in Israeli high schools, they were blocking roads, scuffling with police and evading military patrols in the dark while trying to infiltrate a closed military zone in the Gaza Strip.
Some ended up spending more than a few nights in cells.
The young activists spent their summer vacation at busy intersections and shopping malls trying to gather support in their fight to prevent the Israeli government from evacuating Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip.
Some are from the Gaza settlements but the majority have travelled from elsewhere in Israel drawn by strong beliefs which combine a powerful mix of religion and nationalism.
In most of the settler demonstrations it was the teenagers, and sometimes pre-teens, who took the lead.
They were willing to go to extremes frowned upon by their parents.
Israel's security forces who are in charge of the Gaza evacuation fear the most robust resistance will come from the younger protesters, who aren't willing to listen to any talk of compromise.
They have shown remarkable solidarity, refusing to give their names and addresses even after a week in a cell and continuing to misbehave in prison.
At least three juveniles have been placed under administrative detention, a draconian measure used by the state when it sees a threat to public safety.
These three are believed to have known about the plans of a young army deserter to murder Arab Israeli passengers on a bus in the north of the country earlier this month.
Some of these young activists are paying a price for their political involvement. Their studies have suffered to the point of failing to complete their high school diplomas.
Some were arrested during protests in which they blocked highways, others detained for crossing into Gaza illegally - offences for which they have acquired a criminal record.
But they all seem to agree that this is a price worth paying. In their eyes this cause justifies almost any means.
Shlomit Ganz from the Katif settlement says that she and her classmates have learned to look at things differently, and even develop their own black humour with regard to their friends getting arrested.
She believes the police have been heavy handed.
"On what basis were they arrested?" she asks. "What did they do? Did they kill someone? Did they steal form anyone? It is a legitimate protest, a completely legitimate protest."
Shlomit is convinced that her peers will not be deterred, but will continue their struggle until the very last moment.
In a few days the young protesters will come face to face with hundreds of 18-year old army recruits, teenagers just like them, perhaps neighbours or siblings, but obeying orders to evict the youths for whom the long summer vacation will come to an abrupt end.