Peace group kept from marching
By Susan Greene
Denver Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 26, 2001 - It was a bittersweet Christmas for Val Phillips.
The 33-year-old University of Colorado at Denver physics student spent the day
in Bethlehem, alongside hundreds of Palestinians and peace activists, trying to
make the 12-mile trip to Jerusalem.
But to no avail. Israeli soldiers stopped the candlelight processional at the
checkpoint just outside Bethlehem's city line.
"They don't let the Palestinians move. They give them no freedom. It's
incredibly frustrating," said Phillips, one of five Coloradans who traveled to
Israel on behalf of the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace.
Members - who include Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus - are
veterans in the peace movement who have demonstrated previously in Israel, in
Seattle against the World Trade Organization and for human rights in Central
America.
The Coloradans are among 50 Americans who have made the lastest Israel trip to
protest that nation's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. They're also taking
"direct actions," protesting what they see as Israeli recent suicide bombings.
On Christmas, they joined other international peaceniks who accompanied a group
of about 400 Bethlehem residents on the march toward Jerusalem, where many of
the Palestinians hadn't visited for years. As they walked, the protesters sang
Christmas carols and peace songs, such as "We Shall Overcome."
"It's Christmas. People should be able to celebrate the holidays where they
like," said Phillips, a Quaker and longtime peace activist who lived in the West
Bank from 1992 to 1994. "I was praying very hard that there wouldn't be
violence."
When the group reached the checkpoint, Phillips and two other marchers said
their leaders were shoved back by Israeli armed guards. Though frustrated by the
military's actions, she said she was inspired by the march itself.
"Maybe we didn't make it to Jerusalem," she said. "But there was a great sense
of unity, pride and strength in trying."