22 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 metal shields to protect them from rubber bullets and bombs, labeled with a picture of the martyr Abu Rahma and also raised slogans condemning the Zionist occupation, chanting slogans demanding the expulsion of the occupation of the territory of their village and return the land seized from them.
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: Adeeb Aburahma Omar Hisham Nasser, and the mercy of the boy Ahmad Aburahma (15).
On the other hand, the demonstrators gave the soldiers balloons filled dung of animals in response to the military’s use of poison gas.
In the Bil’in weekly action today, there was a participation of 16 delegates from Quebec, Canada representing 14 civil society and political organizations.The delegation was organized by the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP) and included delegates from unions (CUPW, CUPE, FNEEQ), civil society organizations (FFQ, Artists for Peace, Alternatives) and Quebec Solidaire (political party) among others.
The delegation listened to a presentation from the Popular Committee against the Wall (Bil’in) about the history and developments of their just struggle against the Wall and later participated with 300 local, national, and international actives.Ehab Lotayef, a member of the delegation, said “we are shocked by the violence the IDF soldiers faced the demonstration with despite that it clearly did not threaten them or the wall in any way.” “Only when Israel will accept the humanity of the Palestinian people and their right to live in security and dignity will there ever be peace in this region”, he added.
While hailing the People’s Committee to resist the wall in Bil’in, the political support, material and moral by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, for the movement of peaceful resistance and to support the steadfastness of the citizens they are confident that the new government, headed by Dr. Salam Fayyad, will continue this approach and working to achieve, on this occasion, they demanded the ministries concerned with issues of territorial defense, especially the ministries of agriculture, public works and affairs of Jerusalem and all the other ministries to develop resilience and to support the cause of defending the land at the head of confirmation of the strategic priorities of the Palestinian Authority, as the face of the settlement is the highest priority.
On the other hand, called the Popular Committee for wall resistance and settlements in Bil’in the citizens to participate in the memorial service on behalf of the martyr Bassem Abu Rahma (elephant) on next Tuesday at five thirty in the evening, corresponding to 26/5/2009, in the courtyard of the school of Bil’in.