FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
This Friday the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine will celebrate its 38th anniversary in the village of Bil’in. Speeches will be held in the village after midday prayers before the march to the Apartheid Wall, which has annexed over 60% of the village’s land for the settlement of Mod’in Elit and its ongoing expansion. Two months ago the Fateh party held its 42nd anniversary celebration at the weekly Bil’in protest.
This week’s demo comes at a critical time for the village. A few days ago an Israeli Planning Council legalized the largest-ever settlement construction project in the West Bank, which is illegal even according to Israeli law.
The villagers of Bil’in filed an appeal with the Israeli High Court and a decision is expected imminently. According to their lawyer Michael Sfard, “the takeover of the lands was carried out by a conspiracy involving private developers and Israeli authorities. Thus, criminal companies that stole private Palestinian lands won the protection of the fence – which was intended as a means of security and became a tool for annexation – as well as backing from the planning authorities, whose approval laundered the offenses.”