International Solidarity Movement Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.
15 May 2009
Residents of Bil’in marched today after the Friday prayer in a protest joined by international and Israelis activists. Protesters carried Palestinian flags and posters of the martyr, Bassem Abu Rahmah, and also banners commemorating 61 years of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe). A 5 meter long key was carried as a symbol to the right of return which a lot o Palestinians still have keys of their original homes and land ownership documents.
Protesters marched towards the wall calling for the end of the occupation, and to stop construction of the Wall. What the Palestinians are facing by the Israeli occupation did not stop with one Nakba, but the aggression is still continuous especially the most recent offense on Gaza. Settlement building, home demolishing, and the ethic cleansing of the Palestinians in Jerusalem are all Nakbas.
The Israeli army had gathered in big numbers behind cement blocks and used razor wire to prevent the crowd from going through the gate. The army fired tear gas canisters to disturb the crowd, causing dozens to suffer gas inhalation and nine were shot with rubber coated steel bullets. The injured : Auda Aburahma and his brother Ahmad, Jameel Alkhatib and his brother Kamel, Jaber Aburahma, Baseem Yassen, Iyad Burnat, Hamdi Aburahma, and Mohammed Aburahma.
