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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/20/palestine-israel-protest-tourism
Palestinian Protests Provide an Entertaining Spectacle for International Tourists
(Guardian-UK) Seth Freedman - On any given Friday in Bil'in in the West Bank, local Palestinian protesters are joined by scores of Israeli and international activists, who march determinedly to the separation barrier. Every week without fail, rocks and other projectiles are hurled towards the Israeli soldiers by mask-clad youths, while not a finger is lifted by their fellow demonstrators to stop them. Despite billing the march as "nonviolent resistance," the organizers do nothing to ensure the event lives up to such criteria. Groups such as the International Solidarity Movement absolve themselves of any responsibility for the aggression emanating from the Palestinian side, declaring that they are not going to tell the locals what they can and can't do. At the same time, many of the internationals present are first-timers in the region, and simply wander into the West Bank war zone as though day-trippers taking in the sights of central London. For far too many observers, the conflict is merely an entertaining spectacle.