Against the Fence: Children of Bil’in Village demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court

Translation of http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3098699,00.html:

After the Israeli Army forbade adults resident in the village to enter Israel in order to protest in front of the Supreme Court that has been deliberating their appeal against the building of the separation fence on their land, dozens of children were brought from the village to demonstrate. Friction was created between them and the police after the children waved Palestinian flags. One of the adults that was permitted to accompany them said: “We had hoped the children would create sympathy”.

Children’s demonstration: Dozens of Palestinian children, residents of Bil’in village that is located between Modi’in and Ramallah demonstrated today (Tuesday) in front of the Supreme Court after the army forbade the adult residents of the village from entering Israel. Light friction developed between the children and the police after the children waved Palestinian flags and the police ordered them to desist. An argument developed between Israeli and international activists accompanying the children and the police. One international activist was arrested.

Ahram Khatib is one of the adults who were permitted to accompany the children. According to him: “These children are the first to be directly affected by the wall, and we had hoped that they would create sympathy in the Israeli court system, but I am afraid the decision has been taken ahead of time”.

In their appeal, the residents of Bil’in, located east of Modi’in and adjacent to Kiryat Sefer, state that the building of the fence is confiscating more than half their lands – 2,300 dunums out of a total of 4,000.

In the appeal, it is argued that the village lands are used for agricultural purposes, including olive and almond trees. The appealers argue that the confiscation of land hurts their income as well as their dignity, and does not allow them to exist and to grow the produce on which they rely, and hence that the confiscation of land contradicts the basic law: human dignity and freedom, and also the basic law: freedom of employment.

According to Khatib, there is an additional problem with the building of the fence on village land: “They are not taking our land just to build the wall. They are building settlements behind the fence. They are building five and six storey houses, and that is for the settlements”.

Bil’in, like the other villages in the area, has stood out in the last few months in non violent struggle against the separation fence. The residents said that they want to use this struggle to highlight the damage to their lives and to recruit as many people as possible from the Israeli peace camp and international supporters.

Over the weekend, demonstrators in Bil’in used a new weapon to protest against the wall. They threw balloons filled with chicken excrement towards security forces.

Photos of children’s demo at:
https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/3283/index.php

Meeting of the committee of ministers against the Wall in Bil’in

Today, Saturday June 18th, the Bil’in Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements will host a meeting of the committee of ministers against the Wall including ministers Walid Abed Rabbo, Ghassan Khatib, Khaled Kawasmi, Hind Khoury, Ahmed Majdalani, Naser El Qodwah, and Mohammed Shtayeh.

The meeting will take place in the Bil’in village council at 1 PM and will include discussion of the summer campaign against the Wall, the creation of a council against the Wall with neighbouring countries, the creation of a Land Fund, and other related issues.

Crackdown on non-violent resistance

Click here for pictures of the demonstration.

Around 1:30pm, around 300 demonstrators, including Bil’in residents, Israeli activists and internationals began marching in the direction of the construction site of the Annexation Barrier. The demonstrators were carrying mock tomb stones that read- “R.I.P. Residents of Bil’in, Cause of death: The Wall 2005”.

After about five minutes, the demonstrators approached the last houses in the village where the Israeli army had posted a warrant and a map that declared Bil’in and three other surrounding villages a closed military zone from 6am Friday until 6am Saturday. A large force of soldiers, border police and plainclothes officers were waiting for the demonstrators with a white van that houses the new Israeli army weapon, ‘the Scream’, behind barbed wire.

A number of demonstrators proceeded to lie down in the road under their tombstones while others began to remove the barbed wire. When the Israeli army turned on the Scream the demonstrators remained lying down. The military threw tear gas and sound bombs into the crowd and began arresting people. A Palestinian who was lying on the ground was hit and burned by a sound bomb. Soldiers refused to allow him to receive medical attention despite him bleeding from his leg. He was later arrested.

In addition to rubber coated steel bullets, tear gas and sound bombs, Israeli soldiers used a new weapon- a sponge cap attached to a hard plastic shell that is fired from a 40mm gun attachment and spins at high speed.

The army entered the village and Palestinian youth responded by throwing stones. Fifteen demonstrators, including a 15 year old child who was hospitalized after a gas canister was fired directly at him, were injured in the course of the demonstration from both the new and “traditional” weapons. An Israeli protester and a disabled Palestinian in wheel chair were hit by tear gas canisters and required medical treatment. Israeli army regulations prohibit direct firing of tear gas canisters at people, yet this is a common practice at non-violent demonstrations. The Israeli military spokesperson reported that three `security personnel’ were wounded by stones.

Seven demonstrators were arrested, including three Palestinians and four Israelis. One Israeli and one Palestinian were later released. The other arrested were brought to Giv’at Ze’ev police station and were accused of throwing stones (even though they were arrested before any stones were thrown). A video that was brought by Israeli activists to the police station proves that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians who were arrested threw stones. However, the police interrogators only agreed to watch the part of the video showing the Israeli arrested. They said that discussion regarding the Palestinian arrested will take place another day. Subsequently, the three Israelis who were still under arrest refused to be released and all five have been taken to prison cells where they will spend the night.

One of the arrested is Abdallah Abu Rahma, a prominent member of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements. Members of the committee have thus far been detained, arrested, beaten and threatened, and their families have been harassed in the middle of the night by Israeli security forces. The entire village has suffered from collective punishment at the hands of the Israeli army for their persistence in non-violent resistance. In a recent Ha’aretz report the army commander in the area confirmed the use of collective punishment against villages resisting the wall.

Israeli government proposes blocking Palestinian compensation

http://www.btselem.org/english/

The Israeli government has proposed an amendment to the Civil Wrongs Law intended to exempt Israel from paying compensation to Palestinians injured by the security forces. The amendment applies to “residents of a conflict area” and “subjects of enemy states.” The Government has clearly stated its intention to apply the new law to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.

Today, Palestinians are not able to sue the state for damages caused by combatant activity, broadly defined as, “…any action of combating terror, hostile actions, or insurrection, and action intended to prevent terror and hostile acts and insurrection committed in circumstances of danger to life or limb.” If the Knesset passes the new amendment, it will almost completely block the ability of Palestinians to file for compensation, even for damage caused by illegal shooting, looting, negligence on training grounds, abuse and degrading treatment at checkpoints, or physical violence.

The law is blatantly discriminatory in that it denies the right to sue for compensation based on the identity of the victim, rather than the substance of the claim.

B’Tselem joined together with the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, HaMoked, and the Public Committee against Torture in Israel, Adallah and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel to warn against the grave implications of passing such a law. The organizations calls on the government to remove this amendment from the Knesset docket, thereby preventing a stain upon its law books.

Urgent Action: The amendment has passed its first reading in the Knesset plenary and is now under discussion in the Knesset Law Committee. The Committee held its first discussion of the amendment on May 31, and is expected to reconvene to continue discussion shortly. Write to the committee chairman, MK Michael Eitan, calling on him to act to prevent passage of Amendment 5 to the Civil Wrongs Law.

Fax: +972-2-6496404 or
meitan@knesset.gov.il

Bil’in demonstration reported in local English newspaper

Peace protestor Sam Grafton this week told of how violence broke out at a march in Palestinian. The 24-year-old, of Willes Road, Leamington, was part of a demonstration in the West Bank town of Bi’lin.

He claims he tried to stop aggression towards Palestinians protesting against a ‘security wall’ being built on their land.

Mr Grafton said: “The march was led by people who’ve been disabled by the occupation forces and other people carrying placards bearing the names of the 3,800 Palestinians who’ve been killed since the beginning of the second intifada in 2000.

“As soon as we left the village the army fired plastic bullets and tear gas directly into the crowd at head height.

“They acted completely recklessly, especially as the demonstration was being led by people who were blind and in wheel chairs.”

For the full story see:
http://www.leamingtonspatoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=i1&ArticleID=54882