I do not typically believe in the saying that what needs to happen, happens. Cruelty, for example, does not need to happen, yet there is tangible proof in our country of its prevalence. The path of good intentions, however, is full of obstacles. In nature, what should happen does not always actually happen. Those that struggle may still be outdone in the end, even if they put up a good fight. This week, four years after the High Court of Justice ruled that the current separation fence route was illegal, work finally began to dismantle it. 1,500 days struggling against injustice, 200 Fridays of stormy demonstrations, tear gas, severe clashes and even death for a struggle whose impending end should have been obvious to everyone. Days passed and the land lay fallow; a discordant melody reverberated and even the High Court decision was delayed and then further delayed. The new, corrected fence route still left approximately 335 acres of agricultural land occupied. The struggle will continue and will, of course, eventually return the land to its rightful owners on some distant day of reckoning. Most of the lands in Bil'in have already been emancipated, as will also happen with most of the occupied territories. The process has already ripened and even rotted, public opinion is ready and waiting and the world is watching expectantly. When we come back from summer vacation, the United Nations will recognize a Palestinian state and Israel will be forced, against its will, to re-enter negotiations in the most uncomfortable conditions to date. One doesnt need to consult a crystal ball to see the impending future. It is not a maybe or a possibly; it is what will happen. Any further deferral or dawdling will be a danger to the lives of both Israeli citizens and soldiers. The math is simple: if the changes to the fences route in Bil'in had begun immediately after the High Court ruled, siblings Bassam and Jawahar Abu Rahmah would still be alive. It will be the same with the bigger picture: the occupation will end, one way or another, with or without us. It will either happen the easy way or the hard way, the latter threatening the very existence of the state of Israel. For the leaders of the struggle in Bil'in, there was no option to forfeit their lands for the powers that be to deal with; they do not have the liberty to wait idly by while their lands benefit the comforts of the army and Israeli society. The consequences would, of course, be continued occupation and stolen lands. Col. Saar Tzur, Benjamin Brigade Commander, attempted to discredit the protestors saying, protests here will continue because there is a lot of money involved. I do not want to rely on history to take account for those who cooperated with the occupation machine, but I must remind everyone that it is Tzur himself who is actually earning his income from the occupation.
