27 July 2010 | Popular Struggle
Dear friend,
At 1:30 in the morning on July 19th armed Israeli soldiers drove into our village, Bil’in, under the cover of the pitch black night, and raided the house of my friend and well known activist Wajeeh Burnat, who was featured in the documentary Bil’in Habibti. This time, the raid was conducted to take Ahmad, his 17 year-old son.
It is not often that we ask for such help, but we turn to you today asking for a donation, large or small, to help in securing his release.
Last Sunday, a military judge ruled Ahmad could be released, but only on the condition that a sum of 10,000 NIS (2,600 USD) be deposited as bail.
Ahmad’s family has lost most of its land to the construction of the Wall, and have paid dearly for their role in the struggle – Ahmad’s eldest brother, Rani, is paralyzed from the neck down after being shot in the neck by a sniper during a demonstration in the year 2000. Following the injury, Israel also revoked Ahmad’s father’s work permit. Another of Ahmad’s brothers, Ibrahim Burnat, was also arrested six months ago and has been in jail since.
Ahmad’s family cannot afford the money to pay Ahmad’s bail. Unless we are able to raise that sum, he will remain languishing at the Ofer Military Prison for the duration of his trial, which could last one year.
Raids such as the one Ahmad was arrested in are not exceptional in Bil’in, or in any of the other villages in which grassroots protest against the occupation takes place on a regular basis. In Bil’in alone, ninety people have been arrested in connection to demonstrations in the village.
The West Bank village of Bil’in, among numerous other villages, has been targeted by Israeli authorities for their commitment to grassroots organizing. Hundreds more have been arrested in the past two years in Ni’ilin, Nabi Saleh, Budrus, Jayyous, alMa’asara and the other villages who take part in the popular struggle against the occupation.
Every such arrest is a threat to our ability to sustain this new vital wave of grassroots resistance. Lawyers fees, bails and prisoner support are an obstacle that we will be able to overcome, but to do so, we need your support today more than we have ever needed it before.
Please click here to make a donation and encourage the work being done in these villages. Your contributions can help us stand up for a true justice in Palestine.