Bil’in Continues to Defy Israeli Violence

by Henry

The weekly non-violent protests against the Israeli Apartheid wall continued this Friday in Bil’in, with Palestinians from the village uniting once again with Internationals and Israelis in a display of resistance to the ongoing theft of their village’s land. Today’s demonstration featured a large tomb which symbolized all the people and villages that are being killed by the wall. Written on it was “RIP, Victims; Villages who’s land was stolen, Reason; The Wall and the Occupation, Year 2006.”

The demonstrators proceeded to the wall site, where the soldiers quickly destroyed the tomb, using sound bombs at very close range to the crowd. The Israeli, International and Palestinian demonstrators refused to leave the area and resisted much violence by the Border Police and soldiers in doing so.

Israeli Military seen destroying the tomb

Within an hour’s time, two Israeli protesters were detained, and the Popular Committee Members asked everyone to begin returning to the village, where another group of soldiers were advancing into the village, firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

By forming a line between the Palestinians, the Internationals and Israelis were able to help prevent a Border Policeman (who was using the retreating people as cover) from arresting a young Palestinian child. The crowd then returned to the wall site in defiance of the Israeli Military forces, extending the protest.

When the demo by the wall finally ended, the activists were able to use their presence to help remove the soldiers from the village, where they were inciting stone-throwing by the village youth, but only after firing over 20 tear gas canisters in rapid succession.

Abdullah Abu Rahma, coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall, states “the presence of the army is provocation, their checkpoints, wall, settlement activities and land grab are direct violations to our rights, and the international law”, Abu Rahma added, “We have a protest center behind the Wall, we always protest peacefully there, we have the right to resist the occupation and to resist the land expropriation policy practiced against us”.

The people of Bil’in are using the symbols and language employed by Israel for the theft of Palestinian land in a bid to hold onto village land that Israel is attempting to annex for the Wall and settlements. The Israeli government’s efforts to remove the Palestinian outpost contrast starkly with Israeli government’s support for the establishment of hundreds of illegal Israeli settlements and outposts throughout the West Bank. Approximately half of Bil’in’s lands are being isolated from the village by the Wall. The village will lose at least 1,950 dunams if the Wall is not removed.

The struggle of Bil’in has been going on for over a year, and their will to resist the Occupation and the Apartheid Wall has not diminished. The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is calling for volunteers to come to Palestine and continue our support of Bil’in’s non-violent resistance during ISM’s Spring and Summer Campaigns.

Protestors are pushed back by Israeli military in Bilin
Photo: AP


Photo: AP


(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Two protests against the Annexation Wall, Friday 10th of March

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Both protests will begin at 12:00 from Bil’in and Beit Sira’s respective Mosques. Villagers of Bil’in who’s land is being annexed will hold its weekly demonstration. This week the people in the village are planning on bringing tomb stones to set up a mock mass grave in front of the wall.

In Beit Sira we will be demonstrating on land being annexed by Israel. The village is being surrounded by the Apartheid wall on 3 sides after already having large sections of their land confiscated by Makabim settlement.

For more information call:
Beit Sira: Mansur 0545420464
Bil’in: Abdullah 0547-258-210
ISM Media Office: 02-2971824

International Womens Day (IWD) near Jerusalem

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By Harrison
Palestine Pal

On Wednesday, March 8th, I experienced International Womens Day (IWD) near Jerusalem. 120 women gathered at Ar Ram checkpoint. We marched from Ar Ram checkpoint to Qalandiya checkpoint which isn’t too far away. It is staggering how close together these two permanent checkpoints are. The rally was a fairly quiet one. Mid march the women stood lined up against the Apartheid wall. When we marched to Qalandiya we recieved a very possitive reaction from all the Palestinians women and men walking out of the check point.

Amongst the women there appeared to be a fair mix of Israeli’s and Palestinian women, as well as internationals. The proportions difficult to calculate give the number of Palestinian women without head coverings that could have been Israeli’s (and vice versa). Needless to say that it was a real melting pot of women, old, young, alternative and conservative appearances. Apparently many of the Israeli activists who would have liked to attend were participating in another IWD demonstration in Nazareth.

The rally was organised by the Jerusalem Centre for Women (JCW). There were placards throughout the rally in Hebrew, Arabic and English with slogans like ‘War means unemployment,’ ‘Dismantle the settlments NOW,’ ‘House Demolitions Violate Women,’ etc. The rally also had many placards particularly reflecting the politics of the Jerusalem Centre For women with the words “Jerusalem two capitals for two states.’

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Ministry documents highlight West Bank land acquisition network

By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent
printed in Haaretz

Top secret documents from the Justice Ministry from the early 1990s confirm the existence of a vast network of ties between successive Likud and Labor governments and land dealers and settlers’ associations, for the purpose of acquiring land in the West Bank.

Copies of these highly confidential documents were sent to the ministers of defense, justice and housing as well as the attorney general.

The documents were presented to the High Court of Justice during the hearings of petitions submitted by residents of the West Bank village of Bilin and the Peace Now organization. The petitions are over the construction of hundreds of apartments on village land and the route of the separation fence in the area.

In a confidential letter sent in November 1990 to the coordinator of activities in the territories, Plia Albeck, who at the time headed the civil department of the State Attorney’s office, wrote that “because this area was apparently purchased by the Hakeren company, and it therefore hold the rights to this area and because it asked from the supervisor of government property to manage it, then this area is apparently government property.”

It seems that the senior representative of the Ministry of Justice is unconvinced that Hakeren indeed purchased this land legally, inserting the word “apparently” twice in allowing the area to be declared “government property.”

Albeck asks for complete confidentiality, claiming that the revelation of the deals may endanger the sellers’ lives.

It should be noted that one of the parties to this deal was land dealer Shmuel Einav, whose name has been linked to a major land deal in the Har Shmuel neighborhood adjacent to Jerusalem, where Palestinian lands were obtained with the aid of falsified documents.

Hanna’s Mom In Palestine

Impressions

Genocide:
Some people use the word genocide to describe the situation in Palestine. This offends many Jews, and turns us off from listening to anything else the speaker says. We picture gas chambers, concentration camp workers, and huge piles of bodies. Some of us have learned that there were massacres of Palestinians by Israelis; others do not know. There is no excuse for killing even one person, but the enormous differences in scale make the comparisons easy to refute.

I have been to the Holocaust Museum in Washington many times. When you enter the museum you go up elevators to the 3rd floor. Off the elevators you hear then General Eisenhower talking about what American troops encountered when they discovered the camps. After that, you wind through dark hallways with the history of the increasing amount of restrictions and
discrimination against Jews in Europe. That is where I see the parallels with Palestine. We had ghettos; they have refugee camps. We had yellow stars; they have green license plates and identity cards that dictate what parts of their former land they can access. We were prohibited from working and traveling many places we went before; so are they. Daughters who
married and moved from Gaza to the West Bank can no longer visit their elderly parents. People who honeymooned at the sea, or worshipped in Jerusalem can no longer go there if they fled to the West Bank because they were afraid of the Israelis. Were they wrong to flee? How could they know at the time they made the decision? Six million Jews died because they did
not flee soon enough.

Israel’s Right to Exist:
The U.S. wants Hamas to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist. I think this is irrelevant. I doubt very many Palestinians will agree that Israel has a right to exist, but they recognize that Israel does exist. That’s recognize with a small r, not a capital R, if there is such a thing. Asking them to swallow their pride and lie about how they feel is counter-productive. We need to work out together how to share this precious land.

Right of Return:
Mohammed, a 14-year-old, told me the history of the mosque in the village the Israelis call Zacharia. I doubt the adults who live next door to the mosque know that history. I, as an American Jew, have a right to move there to live. Mohammed’s parents do not have the right to visit, and neither will he in two years. You can not convince me that they should not have the
right of return. I’m not saying that the Israelis who live there now should be evicted, but I do think that there will need to be reparations. Where houses exist, there must be an amount of money that a Palestinian family would be willing to accept to turn over their key, or an Israeli family would be willing to accept to move out.

As for the demographics, I know that allowing Palestinians to return may result in a country that is no longer majority Jewish. To me, Judaism should be synonymous with justice. This is not a just, and therefore not a Jewish state now. It is a state composed of more people who celebrate Yom Kippur than who celebrate Ramadan. To quote Isaiah, “Is such the fast that
I have chosen? ”

Jerusalem:
The old city will never cease to amaze me. It is my history, and my heritage, and it is not wrong for Jews to worship there. It is also not wrong for Muslims and Christians to worship there. It should be accessible to all.

Courage:
I was amazed by the strength of the Palestinians I met, making as good a life as possible for their children under daunting circumstance.

Tolerance:
I was impressed by the lack of hatred of Israelis, given that there is so much negative contact between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank. I heard a sincere desire to work things out.

Hannah’s Safety:
I am less worried about Hannah’s safety now that I have seen where she works and met the people she works with. She seems to really know her way around and have some degree of caution, although I still don’t understand why an asthmatic would intentionally go into areas where she could get tear-gassed. I guess if it made her too uncomfortable she would stop. I also saw how many people truly care about her. She would have many protectors in case of
trouble.