2 July 2015, in honor of the first anniversary of the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, Palestinian activists with international supporters blocked a settlers-only road leading to the illegal Adam settlement. Demonstrators cited this road as the road that the murderers took in their search for a Palestinian victim. Journalists, Palestinian and international activists, suffered from pepper spray burns and several were hospitalized.
“This is the first in a week of demonstrations for Muhammad Abu Khdeir. One of the murderers, Yosef Haim Ben-David, is from the Adam settlement. This is why the demonstration was held at this settlers-only entrance,” said Abdullah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in.
Demonstrators blocked the road to settler traffic in both directions until the Israeli Army and Border Police dispersed the non-violent demonstrators and journalists by pepper-spraying indiscriminately. Three Palestinian activists, four journalists, and two International ISM volunteers were pepper sprayed in the eyes and mouth by a masked Army officer. An ISM co-founder as well as journalists from Roya TV Channel, Reuters, and Palestine TV were severely pepper sprayed in the eyes requiring hospitalization.
The soldiers threw sound percussion grenades at demonstrators and chased people. In addition to the pepper spray, they shoved journalists and Palestinian activists to the ground.
After the soldiers and border police chased the demonstrators off the road and down a hill, they continued to throw percussion grenades even as the demonstrators stood at a distance waiting to find fellow demonstrators.
2nd March | Abdallah Abu Rahma – originally posted on Haaretz | Bil’in, Occupied Palestine
On February 20, 2005, we, residents of the West Bank Palestinian village of Bil’in, set forth, accompanied by supporters from around the world, and marched to the west side of the village. Israeli army bulldozers had begun uprooting olive trees there and wiping out the place that had shaped our memories and those of our ancestors. The occupation regime provided the excuse that the wall that they were building there was for “security reasons,” but the truth was that the real aim was to steal land to build Jewish settlements. Since then, we have organized 521 weekly Friday demonstrations and another 80 at other times.
The protests are still taking place. We take pride not over the large number of protests that we have held but rather over the fact that we set a goal for ourselves and have accomplished it. We are simple people and are not large in number, but from the first moment, we refused to accept the reality the occupation was imposing on us through the separation barrier, with its route planned to run through Bil’in and neighboring villages. And despite the range of points of view of village residents, everyone agreed on a common goal: persistent opposition to the fence, until it came down.
Advancing toward our goal required us to cooperate like a hive of bees. The first step involved dividing up the tasks and areas of responsibility and pooling together resources and efforts. The recruitment of our friends from abroad in our struggle made things easier for us — as did the fact that Israeli activists joined us. The village residents, who had never met Israelis who were not soldiers or settlers, had a hard time accepting the Israelis’ involvement at first, but it soon became clear that bullets fired at demonstrations did not discriminate. They hit everyone, without distinction of religion, race or gender, and that held true when it came to arrests as well. Nevertheless, discrimination between Palestinian activists and Israelis and foreigners of course does exist in the military court system in the West Bank.
The second step in turning Bil’in into a symbol of the Palestinian popular struggle to such an extent that the villagers have been dubbed the “Palestinian Gandhis” was the use of art, theater, sports and music at the protests to illustrate the disaster that the construction of the fence was bringing upon us. Then came the third step: working with the media to convey the suffering of the Palestinians. We created a bridge of trust and credibility that bypassed the occupation authorities’ and IDF Spokesman’s stream of distortion and spin, telling our story to the Palestinian and international media, and sometimes to the Israeli media as well. We approached not only well-established media outlets, but also the alternative media and social media.
The fourth step involved devoting resources to legal battles — providing legal defense and assistance to detainees and aid in filing court petitions. We knew that the prospect that a court in Israel would accept the Palestinian position was slim, but through insistence and persistence, and concerted legal effort, we convinced the Israeli Supreme Court that our arguments were correct, that the route of the fence on Bil’in’s land was not decided based on security considerations, as the Israeli army had claimed, but rather in order to confiscate land and expand the settlements that were built on our land.
As a result, on July 3, 2007, the court ruled that the fence in Bil’in should be demolished. The execution of the court decision, albeit after major delays, delighted the village residents, but that was not the end of the story. The protests continued, with additional goals: rehabilitating the land that had been recovered, encouraging the villagers to establish a presence on it, by farming it again and by building recreational facilities on it to reestablish the connection between the residents and the land itself.
The fifth step involved continuity. Whatever the weather, in heat and cold, regardless of the circumstances, whether sad or happy, and despite the various kinds of collective punishment — the closure, the roadblocks, the curfews — we insisted on holding the demonstrations with our flag held high. One day people asked me why I always carried a Palestinian flag at the demonstrations, to which I replied that as long as the occupation continues, my flag will be held high as a symbol of the continued fight for liberation.
The Israeli army spared no effort to put down the demonstrations in Bil’in. It used various types of ammunition, some old and familiar, while others were tried here for the first time. They also demonstrated considerable creativity when it came to collective punishment. The army raised the use of nighttime raids into the village to a real art form. Hundreds of residents were arrested in the ten years of protest, and thousands were injured. Two people from one family, Bassem and Jawaher Abu Rahmeh, were killed by the army. None of this diverted us from our goal of liberating our land.
On this momentous occasion, after ten years of efforts, I was put on trial for a fifth time over a series of false allegations. This is also the fifth time that an Israeli judge has convicted me. Last time it led to 16 months in prison, but there is no punishment that can undermine my sense of the justice of my right to defend my land and my people’s land and our human rights. I will remain loyal to this struggle whatever the price.
Anyone who has tasted success and victory will always seek to repeat them and preserve them and will not be reconciled to any other reality. The price is steep, but the rewards come later, when you sense the joy, the security and the peace that your activities have provided for everyone. Failure and defeat sometimes make people evade responsibility and assign blame for their circumstances. There are also those who deal with defeat by assimilating the worldview of the victor and acceptance of the new reality. That is another reason why we cannot remain silent in the face of injustice. All of us much act to change the bitter reality.
The successes and achievements of the village of Bil’in are not exclusively that of one person but rather the result of a collective effort that everyone is entitled to take pride in — Palestinians, activists from abroad and Israeli activists. We therefore share our happiness with all of those who have come to Bil’in since 2005. We will continue to strive for humaneness to prevail. Even those who have not come to the village up to now are invited to join in and taste the sweetness of success.
Abdullah Abu Rahmeh is the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee
17 February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Bil’in, Occupied Palestine
On Friday 13th February, Israeli forces assaulted the demonstration in Bil’in with hundreds of tear gas rounds, dozens of stun grenades and pepper spray, injuring eleven Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators. Member of the Bil’in popular committee Mohammed Khatib and a UK citizen and solidarity volunteer Michael “Mick” Bowman were both violently arrested. At the demonstration, Palestinian activists carried posters honoring Kayla Mueller and condemning the murders of the three students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Demonstrators holding posters, cameras and Palestinian flags flee tear gas (photo by ISM)
“As people were protesting a soldier suddenly came running, wielding pepper spray, spraying it at journalists and activists indiscriminately,” reported Karam Saleem, a Palestinian activist present documenting the demonstration. Those who had been pepper sprayed, including Mohammed Khatib, were taken down to an ambulance to treat their burns. Saleem continued, “Mohammed was about twenty meters away from the main part of the protest, still suffering from pepper spray, when suddenly a soldier ran after him and grabbed him. Another five soldiers quickly surrounded him and shoved him violently to the ground.”
Mohammed Khatib being arrested (he is holding a poster of Kayla Mueller)
He was handcuffed and blindfolded before being loaded into a military jeep.
Mohammed Khatib was first pepper sprayed, then violently arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded
Israeli forces targeted journalists and those attempting to document the protest; many were shoved and threatened while attempting to photograph or film. Those present reported that the Israeli military also fired tear gas directly at people holding cameras.
Journalist being assaulted by Israeli forces – only one of many that Friday in Bil’in (photo by ISM)
Israeli forces pepper sprayed demonstrators who were doing nothing more that trying to photograph the army’s brutality, and also pepper sprayed those holding posters of Kayla Mueller and the three US students from Chapel Hill. Jameel Al-Barghouthi, head of the Palestinian Authority Committee Against the Apartheid Wall and Settlements, Munthir Amira, head of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC), Mohammed Khatib, a member of Bil’in’s Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, Issam Rimawi, a Palestinian photojournalist, two Palestinian activists Abdallah Elian and Kafah Mansour, British citizen and activist Mick Bowman, two female Israeli activists, and one Danish and one Dutch female international volunteer were all injured.
“The army was extremely brutal yesterday in their use of tear gas, beatings, and pepper spray,” recalled Tali Shapiro, an Israeli activist who was severely pepper sprayed in Friday’s demonstration, suffering from first degree burns on her hands, ears, and most of her throat and neck. “We saw they were beating and arresting someone (Mohammed Khatib), so I ran towards them. By the time I got up the hill Mohammed had been taken away and another man [Mick] was on the ground with many soldiers on top of him, twisting his limbs and head. I immediately took out my phone to take pictures. The soldiers started pushing away journalists. They formed a line in front of several of us, and before I could assess the situation another soldier sprayed my face with pepper spray.”
Activist Tali Shapiro after being severely pepper sprayed (photo by ISM)
Fifty-six-year-old Mick Bowman, a social worker and resident of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, recalled that in the time before his arrest, “the Israeli forces behaved with particular aggression towards protesters who were carrying the posters of Kayla and of the students from Chapel Hill North Carolina.” Border police threw stun grenades directly towards demonstrators, scattering those holding posters near the front of the protest.
“Next thing I knew,” Mick recalled, “three or four soldiers jumped on me from behind and forced me to the ground. I was lying face downwards, with a couple of them kneeling on my back.
Mick Bowman, knelt on, assaulted and pepper sprayed by Israeli border police arresting him (photo by ISM)
As they were handcuffing me, one of them stood on my hand, rubbing his boot back and forth and crushing my thumb. One of them grabbed my nostrils, and another was pressing down on my face, causing abrasions and bruising around my right eye. After they had handcuffed me, a border policeman also pepper sprayed the left side of my face from the distance of a few inches.”
Mick Bowman being dragged to the military jeep, just after being pepper sprayed
After their arrest, Mohammed and Mick were transported to the Binyamin settlement police station. Mohammed Khatib was taken to Ofer military prison and Michael Bowman was taken to Muskubiya (the Russian Compound) prison in Jerusalem. Both were charged with ‘assaulting a soldier.’
“When police officers use violence they always claim that violence was used against them. It’s standard procedure” explained Mohammed Khatib. Mick was released on the evening of February 14th, and Mohammed was eventually released on the evening of February 15th, on a bail of 4,000 shekels (1,030 USD).
Abdullah Abu Rahma, head of the Bil’in popular committee, described the purpose of demonstration in Bil’in: “On Friday we protested against the theft of our land by Israel’s illegal wall and settlements and to express our resistance to terrorism everywhere. We carried the images of Kayla Mueller who was killed while being held captive by Da’esh and who had marched with us in Bil’in. We also carried the images of Deah Barakat, Yusor Mohammad, and Razan Abu-Salha, who were murdered in their home in North Carolina. We made it clear that we will oppose terrorism and the killing of innocent people whether it is committed by organizations like Da’esh, by states like Israel or by individuals like the murderer from Chapel Hill.” This Friday will mark the tenth anniversary of Bil’in’s popular resistance demonstrations – against the Apartheid Wall, against the Israeli occupation, and against oppression and violence everywhere.
Palestinian demonstrators holding posters of Kayla and of the three murdered in North Carolina. The one of the Chapel Hill students reads “to resist terrorism everywhere”
21st October 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Bil’in, Occupied Palestine
On October 21st, Human Rights Defender Abdallah Abu Rahma was found guilty by an Israeli military court of “disturbing a soldier”.
“Demonstrating against the occupation cannot be a criminal offence. Finding Abdallah guilty only shows that the [Israeli] military force is a tool to perpetuate the occupation.” Stated Gabi Lasky, lawyer of Abdallah Abu Rahma, to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
Abdallah at a demonstration in Bil’in on November 9th, 2012.
Abdallah spoke to the ISM about his recent conviction. “Yesterday the military court ruled that I was guilty, showing once again that they stand on the side of the occupation, and not that of truth and justice.
I was arrested on the 13th of May 2012 in front of Ofer Military prison at a demonstration commemorating the Nakba and in solidarity with the prisoners, many of who were on hunger strike. I was imprisoned in Ofer for 16 months a year earlier, for my role in the non-violent demonstrations in my village, Bil’in, against the Apartheid wall and settlements built on our land.
This time when I was arrested I was held for a few hours and released on bail, I was not summoned to court until the beginning of 2013, following the success of the popular committees in the construction of the Palestinians villages Bab Al Shams and Bab Al Manatir.”
Abdallah Abu Rahmah is the coordinator of the Bil’in popular committee, which began popular demonstrations against the Apartheid wall and settlements in January 2005. The route of the Apartheid wall originally planned to separate the village form 50% of its agricultural land. As a result of the village’s continued popular struggle, the route was changed and 25% of the village land was effectively annexed by the wall to the illegal settlement of Modiin Elite.
Hundreds of protesters have been arrested and injured by Israeli forces in Bil’in since the popular struggle in the village began. In 2009 during a demonstration, Bassam Abu Rahmah was shot directly in the chest with a high velocity tear-gas projectile, dying of his wounds minutes later. On Januray 1st 2011, Jawaher Abu Rahmah died of poisoning after inhaling excessive amounts of tear gas during the weekly demonstration the previous day.
3 December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On two different occasions while Palestinians, accompanied by international activists, peacefully blocked roads leading to illegal settlements to demonstrate against the occupation and settlements, settlers purposefully injured activists in hit and run incidents.
On November 14 while a group of protesters blocked a road leading to an illegal settlement, a settler tried to drive through the crowd, then accelerated, deliberately hitting an international activist, as the activist was trying to get out of the way. The activist hit the front of the car, then bounced off the windshield and hit the ground. The settler then drove away, careless about what he had just done. An ambulance was called, and the activist was treated for injuries to his head and arm.
A similar incident occurred on November 19, as a roadblock protest was held on another settler road. As a settler car approached the crowd, he accelerated into Palestinian popular struggle coordinator Abdallah Abu Rahmah, hitting him with his car, before fleeing the scene. Abdallah was treated in hospital but was released later that day. Israeli army soldiers were present at the scene, but didn’t do anything to prevent the settlers from acting in violent ways, and allowed them to flee the scene.
The settlers seem to be above the law. They continually get away with violence, destruction of property, and constant harassment against the Palestinians, while the soldiers usually protect them, because they have Israeli citizenship. Incidents similar to these happen constantly all throughout the West Bank, while soldiers and authorities turn a blind eye.
Abdallah Abu Rahmah lies injured on the ground after a car driven by Israeli settlers ran over him at a roadblock protest. Photo by: Guest photographer Hamde Abu Rahma / Activestills.org
Davey Brandi and Ellie are volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed)
