Israeli who protects Palestinians from IDF's bullets speaks here

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Jewish Bulletin of Northern California

Israeli who protects Palestinians from IDF's bullets speaks here

By ALEXANDRA J. WALL

Bulletin Staff

The young woman was wearing a black-and-white kaffiyeh fashioned into
a hijab, which Muslim women wear to cover their hair. But her clunky
combat boots gave her away.

She was Jewish.

Liad Kantorowicz, a 23-year-old Israeli-American, dressed that way
deliberately, to challenge her audience's assumptions about identity.

While a few Israelis have begun sporting kaffiyehs to show their
solidarity with the Palestinians, she said, most usually drape it
around their shoulders. By putting it on her head, she said, "It's
very easy to assume that I'm Palestinian." Although she had not worn
it like that until that night, "I really like to use that to
challenge people's notions of what they're looking at."

Kantorowicz spoke recently in front of a sympathetic Berkeley
audience at La Peña Cultural Center. She appeared with Tyson Smith,
who shot "Non-Violence in Action: Resisting the Occupation," a
15-minute film about both Israelis and internationals who conducted
acts of nonviolent protest against the Israeli military in the West
Bank this summer. They were here to raise awareness about their
actions, and several times, Kantorowicz tried to recruit audience
members to join her in acts of civil disobedience.

Born in Israel, she moved with her family to the United States when she
was 11.

Like many of his contemporaries, Kantorowicz's father fought in most
of Israel's wars. But when faced with the prospect of serving reserve
duty in the West Bank during the first intifada, he decided he could
not fight against a largely civilian population, and took his family
to Seattle.

While Kantorowicz was obviously influenced by her father's political
views, she said, "I always knew I'd come back. I can't escape my
being Israeli and it means a lot to me."

So she returned last year, not coincidentally, around the same time
the second intifada began. But her 12 years in the States made her
different from most of her Israeli contemporaries. Kantorowicz now
lives in Jaffa, an Arab neighborhood adjoining Tel Aviv. A
Palestinian flag is sewn on her backpack.

And because of that symbol, she said, she often feels safer in the
West Bank than in Israel, as she's been attacked by Jews several
times.

"In the occupied territories, I feel much more comfortable, because
there I know where the violence is coming from and I know what to
anticipate. But walking on a street in Tel Aviv -- a city that's
living in a bubble so sheltered from what's happening around it --
it's been really shocking."

When she first moved back to Israel, Kantorowicz said she was
genuinely surprised to find that the prevailing Israeli attitude is
that they are the ones being victimized. The belief is that
"Palestinian people victimize [Israelis], and they get what they
deserve."

Kantorowicz said she feels the opposite is true. And quickly, she
found herself venturing into the West Bank, a place few Israelis go,
especially now.

Part of a handful of activists called Local 48: Israeli-Palestinian
Solidarity, (48 stands for 1948, the year Israel became a state),
Kantorowicz has been spending much of her time lately in the West
Bank, organizing protests in the villages of Hares and Al-Khader.

The organizers of these actions can mainly be counted on one hand;
Rabbi Arik Ascherman, who used to live in Berkeley and led Richmond's
Temple Beth Hillel, is another. They are all from North America
originally, or at least, have spent significant time there.

Kantorowicz explained it this way: Unlike Jews who come to Israel
from places like the former Soviet Union, those from North America
take a substantial cut in their standard of living to make aliyah.
"Those from North America are doing it purely for ideological
reasons," she said. "And because of that, there aren't too many who
come from there who are neutral. They are either radical left or
settlers."

Kantorowicz has set up convoys of food for the Palestinians and torn
down roadblocks established by the Israel Defense Force. She has also
organized demonstrations in which internationals and Israelis block
the roads so the Israeli army can't pass. In one scene of Smith's
film, she is shown being dragged off the road.

Her most important work though, she said, is simply being there, as
she can ensure the safety of Palestinians just with her presence. "If
I just stand next to a Palestinian, he is no longer a target," she
said. "And the IDF won't shoot because they know it will give them
such a bad name if they shoot an Israeli or other international."

Furthermore, the IDF will not take certain actions if there are
outside observers to watch them, she said.

Kantorowicz said she lives in "extreme poverty," spending most of her
time on this kind of work.

She was one of the organizers of the "Human Shield Project" in the
Arab Christian village of Beit Jala, which brought internationals to
live in Palestinian homes to prevent the IDF from shelling them.
Although Kantorowicz hopes to further her education in Israel, she
doesn't want a regular job for now.

"If I can put my body on the line and afford the Palestinians to
conduct a life that is normal, and prevent grave atrocities from
happening, why would I go and hold a job that anybody else can do?"
she asked.

While Kantorowicz says things like "Israel is an apartheid state,"
what propels her activism is a strong sense of obligation to make the
country she calls her own a place she can also be proud of.

"If I have the ability to do something about it, I can't turn my back
on it. I see it as my obligation. Some of what I'm working for is
making Israel a state that is acceptable and enjoyable for my parents
to live in, so that it's not something they can feel so disenchanted
about."