Why does the media persist in describing people who criticize the occupation as anti-Israel? Ending the occupation is a pro-Israel position. Indeed, Israel will never achieve peace, security, integrity, and international credibility without ending it. Those who persist in supporting policies that abuse and humiliate Palestinians are the true enemies of Israel.

So Israel harasses and humiliates poor Palestinians for no reason, and if only Israel were acting nicer, we would have peace and security. Can you do a favor to yourself and exercise your brain a bit to analyze the actual facts and the complexity of this situation, instead of regurgitating the same worn-out slogans?

The checkpoints preceded the terror by 20-years. The first intifada broke out in 1987/88, 20-years after the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza (Judea/Samaria & Gush Katif) had begun. In fact the first intifada was a popular insurrection against the checkpoints and military occupation. To say that the checkpoints are there to prevent terror is to distort the historical chronology. I too served at checkpoints. And, yes sometimes nothing happened. And sometimes you had to look at your feet in shame at the abuse and violence. I disagree with this girls theatrical display of protest but I commend her for her courage to stand by her principles. Sadly, the state of affairs in our beleaguered society is such that we all just attack each other without showing any respect or admiration for our political rivals. It will all lead to civil war in the end; especially now that the Referenda Law has been passed.

The truth is, if there was no on going Arab /Muslim initiated wars & terror against Israel and Jews, then those check points would have been more relaxed, if in place at all. Israelis & Jews, stop defaming and hurting Israel.

No reason why Israeli soldiers can't behave in a humane way at checkpoint. Fact is, humiliating and abusing innocent palestinians does not make Israel more secure.

I normally don't associate with Jewish people, mostly as a matter of religious principle, but Maya Wind is one who must be praised as an enlightened Jew, and were I to meet her somehow, I would consider it an honor. Keep up the good work, Maya. Jesus love you!

with Yarmulkas, not being allowed to live in arab towns or face certain death? Why do you remain ignorant of your own history. Was your fathert that much of an a-hole? 10s of thousands of Jews and Druze murdered or injured by "palestinians" and thats why we have security checkpoints. would you be happy if the checkpoints went down and more died?

and yarmulkas and books and fake blood spattered toys in a 30 meter radius and show a checkpoint that has been torn down. That should equally "steal the show"

I am pro-Israel and against the Occupation. However its very easy to say the Occupation is wrong, and checkpoints are humiliating. It is another to come up with a solution. Gaza's unilateral withdrawal and removal of settlements was an utter failure. It is malicious and disingenuois spouting how evil Israel is all the time by maintaining the Occupation, without also acknowledging that ending it is hugely problemmatic, and in no short measure because of the behaviour of the Palestinian leadership which makes it more difficult for Israel to withdraw..

Maybe it's time for a student to dress up as a mock suicide bomber and show the audience why the checkpoints were put up in the first place.

She is a good kid from a rich family! She is not meant to spend time in the same tent with a common riffraff and when she refused to risk her life and limb in a company of poor and uneducated yokels, she was thrown to jail like a common Yossi Sixpack! No wonder she is upset at Israel and wants to avenge the dishonour inflicted upon her! It is about time Israeli government realises that rich folk deserves their own laws.

... wishing to attend school or take an exam in an Israeli university.... Um, why should a "Palestinian" student be attending an Israeli university?

You erroneously equate "terror" with "intifada." There has been terror from the Muslims in Eretz Israel since Muslims have been there. This is what Muslims do. The main problem in your society is that your elites really, really hate Jews that they cannot control, i.e., the settlers. Indeed, civil war is ongoing, but it is mainly onesided.

Apparently, you really get around in cyberspace.

rich and poor. We had the owners of businesses show up for their month of reserve duty as well as the unemployed. This maya is just a sick person and a self hater who should have done serious jail time like all draft dodgers should do. They should sit in prison for years not months. They should become second class citizens.

She plays a make-believe soldier, at a make-believe checkpoint and pretends to abuse a make-believe Palestinian. In her theatrical production all Israeli soldiers are bad and all Palestinians are good. Perhaps she should try something more challenging and far messier: reality.

unhappy leftist list entitled the S H I T self-hating leftist. join the ranks!!

and expenses.

in fact there was widespread hugging and kissing prior to 1947 too.

I have spent a year living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. During that time a number of my Israeli Jewish friends came to visit and stay with me in Palestinian villages and towns, including Ramallah. They were all treated with respect and kindness by all of my Palestinian friends. They walked around freely, were not attacked and did not "face certain death". I was also fortunate to work with on numerous occassions in West Bank towns and villages with the Israeli group, Rabbis for Human Rights, as well as many other Jews from America and elsewhere. Most members of Rabbis for Human Rights wore a yarmulka. They had absolutely no problems at all and were treated with respect, dignity and as honoured guests by the Palestinians. The only threats of violence they faced came from their fellow Jews - ie. Jewish settlers living in the illegal Jewish colonies in the Occupied West Bank - who often attempted to beat and attack them. The checkpoints have nothing to do with security. If they did they would simply be simply set up on the GreenLine. Instead they are set up between Palestinian villages in order to make the life of Palestinians hell. Its clear from Jae's placing of the word Palestinian in inverted commas that he/she holds a racist attitude towards Palestinians and is more interested in repeating racist Zionist myths than actually engaging with reality.

I agree with you. This is a great example of our lack of PR. In the face of their drama, a good response would have been to have students laying on the ground covered in fake blood with strew fake ody parts along the way.

I was there and I am good friends with the kid who appears in the youtube video with the camcorder about 40 seconds in. He lives on my floor. Here is the recording from his camcorder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D2Ez0089n0

that give me faith.I love good honest people .Ms Wind you are a true child of Israel and your like will save Israel from the from the rightest wrongests who will destroy Israel through greed and lack of humanity.I bow before you good lady, its so good to see a real Jew,an Israeli hero.

Stay strong. Love, Mahaliyah

she and her fellow classmates did something a bit more lively? Oh wait, that would probably result in her arrest. You emphasize the word: "reality" in your argument about Maya and her classmates ignorance. Reality is quite complex is it not? You blame these students of ignorance, and yet you know nothing about their complex "realities". The good/bad binary you use to justify your claim of their naivety, simply does not suffice and is actually an expression of naivety in itself. Perhaps, it would be more helpful for us to think a bit beyond such simplistic interpretations of what is being articulated here in this demonstration? No people is completely bad or good. Duh. Such conclusions are often rooted in illogical thinking--often emerging as a result of great fear. While it is illogical to claim that there are groups of people that are entirely good or bad, it is logical to argue that there are such things as completely bad institutional policies. Many policies we see in effect, that take form at the site of the checkpoint--for example--are policies that reflect a growing fascism in society. Such policies are not only compliant with, but faciliate many unjustified actions that dehumanize people through physical and mental violations. The fear is incredibly complex. What would scare me most, would be if there were no demonstrations like this. Maya, and her classmates are using the tools they have, as effectively as they can with respect to the distanced location in which they demonstrate. Demonstrating demands conversation where there is institutional silence. Your limiting deconstruction of this demonstration, is an indication that you are not yet ready to engage in the complex conversations that are necessary to have if you actually want to get any closer to understanding your "reality".

...really i am very intrested to know who is paying her tuition, and expenses...