CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE FOR

THE 21ST CENTURY:

How and why a man youve never heard of
is faithfully continuing the tenets of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. in Palestine

Every Friday for the past ten or so years, the citizens of Bilin, the small desert town
located roughly twenty miles from Jerusalem, have been nonviolently protesting the
construction of a wall. No, these town folks are not against modern civilization or anything
like that. They demonstrate to save their culture from being annexed into Israel by a wall
that at times reaches twenty-five feet (the Berlin Wall averaged a height of 11.8 feet).
Mohammed Khatib is one of the leaders of this local effort. A member of the Popular
Committee Against the Wall, he has been beaten and arrested, traveled the world speaking
about atrocities and violations of international law (the Fourth Geneva Convention) and
inspired countless individuals. Like Martin Luther King, Jr., he is a man of both principle and
action.
MLK would be relieved to know his tenets of moral authority over immoral actors still
stand today. MLK may or may not be surprised that one of the many places in which it
resides is in the West Bank of Palestine.
At one time, if one were to Google Bilin, the top result would produce an image of
Mohammed Khatib, in his familiar, starched white polo, standing inches from a heavily armed
Israeli soldier clad in riot-type gear, helmet and fatigues. Yet Mohammed is not cowering
from this symbol of Israeli aggression, he is hovering, confidently, face to face, his right
index finger erect and sternly acting as his only weapon to instruct this fresh-faced Israeli.
Mohammed speaks several languages, Arabic, English and Hebrew being some of them,
and it is in the latter that he is undoubtedly challenging this boy-soldier. Mohammed, like
MLK and others marching down a street, and like the song of a tree standing by the water,
will not be moved.
But what drives him to nonviolence? What makes him different from the Palestinian
boys and men who take up arms to join Hamas or some other violent outfit? Whatever drove
MLK and kept him from enlisting with the Black Panthers, I suppose. I see nothing wrong
with those who choose to defend themselves from oppressors, by any means necessary as
El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X) said. But Mohammed is all the more inspiring to me and
others for taking the road less traveled, indeed the road hastily turning back into wilderness.
The first time I met Mohammed was in the late summer of 2005. I was staying in
what is called the international apartment in Bilin, where people from Sweden, Australia,
Canada, and other countries congregate to stand with Mohammed and his neighbors. In my
case, I was there in an effort to counteract U.S. funding of Israels apartheid-like policies. I
had just arrived in Palestine a week before and the whole experience was obviously a culture
shock. Adjusting to the varied way of life: the souks, the sheiks and the lack of Starbucks, I
was acquainting myself as one of the only blonde hair, blue-eyed white guys within hundreds
of miles. Ever since I was a teenager
Ive liked to stand out in a crowd,

but this was a little blatant even for me. And when I thought I was only going to be taken to
a situation even more foreign, more awkward, we went to meet Mohammed at his home,
where we found him speaking the universal language of creativity.
He was painting placards and building a striking yellow bulldozer from cardboard for
the afternoon's civil disobedience, while his two little curly-haired girls ran amongst paint
cans and street puppets. The bulldozer said in fat black letters, SHARON, the name of Israels
then Prime Minister.
Mohammed gave us a demonstration, dressing himself in the replica of the
Caterpillar-made dozer as if it was a Halloween costume, pretending to plow over ancient
growth Olive trees and indigenous villages. All the while he was smiling and when finished he
introduced himself to me and the other new recruits.
This was the morning I met Mohammed. But the reason I find him so inspiring still
today, the impetus for this portrait of him was what I witnessed in the afternoon. Like the
aforementioned picture of him and the soldier, this afternoon was punctuated by escalations
between trigger-happy Israeli soldiers and unarmed Palestinian citizens. International
activists marched side by side with Palestinians, as Whites and African Americans did during
Civil Rights marches in the South.
Times are different yet shockingly similar. Where the oppressors in the South wielded
water cannons, guns, batons, etc., Israels occupying forces (IOF) brandish rubber bullets,
tear gas, and live ammo and are not afraid to use any. This is why each verbal confrontation
that afternoon from Mohammed and his countrymen, protecting their homes and families,
became all the more volatile. One could never predict whether the (usually) teenage boy
beneath the Israeli soldier's uniform was a humanitarian serving his time or a ruffian seeking
a target for the death of a loved one.
When he wasnt taking nonviolent direct action, that is, constructing cardboard
bulldozers, gargantuan fabric snakes, dressing up with others in large white shrouds or
wearing a fake noose and national flag and attaching himself to Israels so-called separation
fence, he spent much time contacting the media about his direct actions. Direct action is a
term that is similar to Civil Disobedience, but seems to broaden the possibilities of the
activist's chance for arrest and media attention. Social media and technology are influential
mechanisms that MLK, and even South Africans in their more recent Apartheid struggle of
the 80s and 90s, were not entirely privileged with. Mohammed told me how he believes
adamantly in the liberating power of showing his peoples struggle to the entire world
minutes after an action takes place. He believes it will strengthen their cause and bring forth
an international shift in policy.
Being a handsome man of about forty: maintaining boyish good looks, as if some
parts of him never want to age or face the corruption of time, partnered with dimpled
cheeks, peppered grey hair, and eyes which are the heavy color of his beloved national fruit,
the olive, he naturally makes an attractive subject for the media spotlight. In an interview
with an AP reporter he had this to say to the people of the world, his audience: The
economic situation of the Palestinian is very bad. It is very bad by the wall...it is killing any
opportunity for the Palestinian to pass to the United States (or Israel) and to live... And for
what? The wall, a.k.a. separation fence, a.k.a. security wall, is made of various materials at
various locations. Sometimes it is a metal-wire fence, other times it is a concrete barrier.
It was built under the auspices of keeping terrorists out of Israel, however it also keeps
families from seeing each other, workers from reaching their jobs, the sick or pregnant from
reaching hospitals and the religious from reaching their places of worship in Jerusalem,
Bethlehem or surrounding areas.
As his comments above imply, Mohammed is an incredibly smart and sincere man.
Though he may not speak the English language as a Brit or American might, he considers his
words and seems, no matter what, to be able to express himself faithfully. As if the
vocabulary he needs always arrives because he has become some sort of conduit not only for

the struggle of his people, but of all people, his message has been heard before in various
leaders - King, Huerta, Suu Kyi, Mandela, Gandhi, Thoreau and each time he pauses in
between sentences it is as if they are speaking to him, edging him toward victory.

Not only can his words keep a camera busy, but so can his deeds. In January of 2008 a
caravan of Israelis were planning a settlement in Bilin. As mentioned before, this is illegal
because according to international law an occupying country cannot create settlements on
occupied land. Mohammed and one of his comrades knew this. To demonstrate their
knowledge and faith in international law/intervention the two men situated themselves
beneath the crane and caravan of would be settlers. The Palestinian men screamed to the
driver that the crane would have to lay it down on top of them because they weren't moving.
Some of the settlers agreed, until they noticed another Palestinian videotaping the entire
incident. The cameraman and his equipment were beaten (though his footage was incredibly
salvaged) and each of the protesting men then alternated between staying underneath the
caravan and being pulled out and beaten by some 50 aggressive Israelis. Other Palestinians
tried to help but the soldiers watching on the sidelines forbid them. And as if this wasnt
enough, when Mohammed and his partner had been pulverized so brutally that they would
later have to be rushed to hospitals because of their critical conditions, the two men crawled,
desperately, unimaginably pain-stricken, behind the crane itself so that it could not be
removed and so police and video cameras could capture the entire scene accurately.
Mohammed had to have been satisfied with the result. There is a grossly disturbing
image of him at the hospital posted on various international news websites; he looks like hes
dead, and the caravan left the next morning.
When I last saw Mohammed he was doing a tour with a prominent headmistress from
a West Bank school. It was February and believe it or not their first winter in Wisconsin.
When I saw him, coming out of my friends car, wearing a smart wool overcoat and tweed
Irish cap, I instantly became reminded of the magic we have as humans, that ability to live
through so much oppression but still know how to dress sharp. I reintroduced myself, since it
had been a couple years since we last met, and welcomed them into our home, offering them
shai (tea) as they and their neighbors had customarily done for me a hundred times.
Mohammed and the headmistress were going to speak at Bucketworks, a local Milwaukee
venue, in the evening and so we got to know each other until then and took care of any other
necessaries. Feryal, the headmistress, changed her clothes and freshened up. Mohammed
unfurled his hookah and smoked some shisha, a ritual of his, releasing an aroma that invited
our living room into his world, his culture, his people, their struggle, a dense stream of
tobacco and nostalgia.
We made it to the venue and the two speakers prepared themselves with bottled water
and powerpoint previews. My wife, my mother-in-law, Feryal, and a friend chatted while
Mohammed came over to talk to me in the back of the room. We reminisced somewhat and I
tried to keep myself together and make it seem like I invite such prominent activists as
himself all the time, no big deal. Then he asked me an unusual question. Eric, what is
the...steadfast? Steadfast...? I uselessly repeated, trying to buy time while I thought of a

decent answer. Steadfast, its kind of like enduring... sure...staying together...something

like that kinda. I did not have his way with words, but the question refreshed me. He, this
man I admire, respect, look up to in so many ways, wants to ask ME a question? This man,
who believes so profoundly in his cause, that he is willing to travel outside of his home, his
country and familiar grounds to hopefully spark empathy and action from people in
Milwaukee, WI, in the coldest month of the year, in a run-down artsy theatre, away from his
adorable daughters I met, away from his rooftop view of the glowing desert and olive groves,
a man of principle and action, and still he is disarmingly humble.
That night after the great success of the speaking engagement we went to the Middle
Eastern restaurant, Casablanca. Local Palestinians I had never met before invited us and
graciously picked up the bill. Mohammed, I could see, seemed to be enjoying himself. Of
course, the sensual belly dancer that was only a few inches away half the night helped, but I
think he was able to feel like he was welcomed, as he and so many others had done for me.
Thousands of miles away in the Midwest, New York, Europe, Australia, and slowly all the
world over, his mission, his towns purpose, was affecting people, in part because of the
wonders of media and technology, but also by the same stratagem the Civil Rights and South
Africas Anti-Apartheid Movements embraced, the never-to-be-discounted, wonders of
nonviolence and solidarity.
Sources/More Info:
Berlin Wall, Israel's Wall:
http://www.adc.org/index.php?id=2085
Israel/Palestine Intl Law: http://stopthewall.org/news/newinternlaw.shtml
Education: http://ifamericansknew.org/
http://www.palsolidarity.org/