Tag: Bil’in - Page 130 - International Solidarity Movement

How you can support Non – Violent Resistance in Palestine?

Action Alert-

One year on, the community of Bil’in continues its tireless non-violent struggle against Israel’s wall despite the heavy cost this has meant to the village.

Helping to ease the economic burden that has fallen on Bil’in due to arrests, imprisonments and fines of local people is an important way we can support of their struggle.

Making a financial contribution to ISM’s legal fund is one way to show villagers they are not alone in opposing the theft of village land by the wall and in seeking justice and the upholding of international law.

The use of non-violent action in Bil’in the past year has been successful in drawing attention to this issue, but it has come at a price. By making a donation towards legal costs, you can show your solidarity with the community in a very practical way.

Already, thanks to generous donors, ISM’s Legal fund has been able to make a big difference.

Since October, 2005 the Israeli military has being conducting night raids on the village, arresting young men and children other Non Violent leaders and activists have been arrested from the demonstrations. Those arrested reported they have been abused or tortured in confinement. Recently 18 villagers were charged with one to four months in Israeli military prison and 1,000 to 2,000 NIS each in fines. Every 1,000 NIS ($213) left unpaid results in an additional one month of imprisonment.

Many economically devastated families are unable to pay and are left feeling helpless and humiliated, unable to prevent further weeks of abuse for their sons and husbands.
Following a legal struggle within the Israeli military system some prisoners were offered release on bail of between 2,000 and 10,000 NIS each.

The ISM Legal Fund has been able to support the community of Bil’in by posting 39,000 NIS ($8,300) in bail for the release of community leaders and activists and 18,000 NIS ($3,800) in fines to allow families to release their loved ones. ISM would like to thank you for your support and ask that you continue to give so we can prevent other instances of needless incarceration. Following is a list of people the ISM Legal Fund helped using your contributions:

– Rateb Abu Rahme was released on bail for 5,000 NIS after being arrested while lying down holding a cardboard tomb stone that read Bil’in R.I.P. 2005. Assault charges were dropped and his bail money returned after video evidence proved his innocence.
– Abdullah Abu Rahme was released on bail twice adding up to 11,000 NIS after being arrested out of an installation of a bridge that read “Peace needs bridges not walls” and a second time while holding a tombstone.
– Abdel Fatah Burnat was released from custody on 2,000 NIS bail after he was arrested from a cage built on the route of the annexation barrier.
– Tamer was released on 2,000 NIS bail after being arrested from a metal tube placed on the route of the wall.
– Riad and Elyan were released on 15,000 NIS bail, (5,000 paid by the ISM and the 10,000 by Israeli peace activist groups.) after being arrested out of a non-violent crowd by undercover provocateurs.
– Akram Khatib was released on 4,000 NIS bail while trying to protect in Abdullah from arrest.
– Hamze Samara was released from custody on 10,000 NIS bail and is awaiting trial. He was arrested from home and charged with causing damage to the “security fence” and released on 10,000 NIS bail.

– Ashraf Ibrahim Abu Rahme, Abdullah Ahmed Yassin, (14), Faraj Yasin (19), Khalid Shokat Khatib (20), Mohammed Abdel fatah Burnat, and Wajdi Khatib (17) have been released after serving a jail sentence of one to four months in Israeli military prison and 1,000 to 2,000 NIS each in fines

– Fadel Awad Ali Yassin(23), Iwad Imram Khatib, Jawad Khatib (19) Nour Mahmoud, Yassin (19), Nayef Gazzi Al Khatib (18), Basem Ahmed Issa Yassin (28), Baasil Shokat Al Khatib (21), Hasan Awad Yassin (26) Mohammed Omran Khatib (23) and Saji Mohammed Ali Nasser Are still in prison and have paid 1,000 shekel each.

– Issrar Samara (22) and Khelmi Abu Rahme are imprisoned and awaiting Trial.

Remember, Bil’in was not always impoverished. In the last five years many villagers have been cut off from their sources of income due to the closure of Israel to Palestinian workers, the Israeli siege on Palestinian cities and villages and the theft of farmland for settlement construction.

Villagers have engaged the Israeli military through a variety of creative non-violent tactics to interfere with the construction of the annexation barrier on their land. The barrier, justified by Israel as a security measure, will separate villagers from more than half their land in order to absorb the illegal Modi’in Illit settlement and surrounding land to allow for its expansion into Israel.

How to donate towards Bil’in’s resistance to the wall
Please make donations to ISM’s Legal Fund to help us continue to assist the village of Bil’in. Donations can be made on the ISM website through PayPal (above on the right or at www.palsolidarity.org/main/donations/), or by mailing checks to:
ISM – USA
PO BOX 5073
BERKELEY CA 94705-0073
USA
Please make checks out to: “MECA (ISM-USA Fund)”. The Middle East Children’s Alliance is the fiscal sponsor for ISM-USA. They are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Their tax exemption number is: 94-3074600.

If your organization is able to pledge money, please write to us. We thank Israeli lawyer Tamar Peleg of Hamoked, and the Palestinian Prisoner support organization Addameer, who have generously donated their services and represented activists from Bil’in pro-bono.

Two Villages, One Struggle; Aboud and Bil’in Against the Wall

Palestinians, Internationals & Israelis Protest on the Path of the Wall in Aboud

by Harrison & Henry

Aboud;

150 Palestinians, Internationals and Israelis marched through the streets of Aboud on Friday to protest against the Apartheid Wall. The villagers hope to raise awareness that the current path of the barrier will confiscate 20 percent of the West Bank’s water supply, numerous important archeological sites, a historical church, and much of the village’s land. They also emphasized the issue of the Danish cartoons which insulted the Prophet Mohammed and have caused a much misunderstood global reaction.

The rally marched through the village, down the main road and out into the village’s agricultural lands, where the IOF have begun laying the foundation for the wall’s path through the lands of Aboud.

Path of the Wall seen in the distance

There were blankets on this path to secure the sands while the Israeli government builds the illegal Apartheid wall. In an act of non-violent resistance and protest of Israel’s further construction on their lands, people attending the rally set fire to the blankets and placed large rocks on the road.

On the hill Bassam Al Salhi, Secretary General of the Palestinian People Party in addition to Fateh member Moheeb Awwad, a newly elected member of the Palestinian legislative council addressed the protesters.

The PPP had a very strong presence at the rally, celebrating the anniversary of their organisation and declaring the need to continue the campaign against the wall and the occupation. Comments echoed by Moheeb Awwad from Fateh who talked about the need for all Palestinian factions to unite in continuing to work against the occupation.

There was also a call from Bassam Al Salhi from the PPP to support the internationals who were working with the Palestinians to end the occupation and to separate them from their governments some of which supported the racist cartoons which have been published around Europe. An international activist also spoke, affirming the Palestinian struggle; the non-violent resistance against the Wall and settlements and spoke out concerning the offensive cartoon printed recently in a Danish newspaper.

The printing of cartoons, which were insulting to Islam’s prophet Mohammed, were described as an attempt to break the good ties between Muslims and Christians in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere. This is particularly important for the people of Aboud, who are both Muslim and Christian and have lived in peace together for generations.

The rally then moved around the corner when it was confronted by an Israeli military jeep. Many Palestinians threw stones at the jeep in an attempt to force it back. The Israeli military responded by firing warning shots of live ammunition in the air. Soon, the rally moved back to the village, undeterred by the violence of the Israeli Military, and determined to continue their resistance.

Israeli Military Jeep approaches demonstrators

The lawyer of the Popular Committee, Mohammad Dahla, said that so far there have not been any trees uprooted in the area, because the construction is being carried out in a very rocky area at the moment. But the planned route indicates that the coming stage will include confiscating and bulldozing farmlands.

“We will achieve a ruling to bar the uprooting of the trees, and farmlands”, Dahla stated, “The court said that the route will be shifted, we still did not receive any new maps or plans”.

Since Israel started the construction of the Wall in Aboud, 1700 Dunams of farmlands were annexed, and bulldozed. Additional 3000 Dunams will be isolated behind the Wall.

People of Bil’in plough their land while the Israeli Government builds illegal settlements

Bilin;

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.

Recently, Bil’in has expanded what is the first Palestinian settlement, located west of the barrier. On Tuesday night Bil’in villagers built the outpost’s second house. Abdullah Abu Rahma, coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall, reported that the protesters attempted to reach a room they installed near the Wall in order to protest against it and and against land expropriation for settlement construction and expansion.

“Twenty protesters managed to reach the site, stood near the military bulldozers, and raised a Palestinian flag”, Abu Rahma stated, “soldiers surrounded and attacked them, and threatened to arrest them if they do not leave the area”.

“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”.

In total, six protesters were injured by rubber-coated bullets, dozens suffocated after inhaling gas fired by the army.

Soldiers detained eleven international peace activists, two Israelis and two Palestinians. All were held for three hours before they were released, except for one Israeli peace activist who was transferred to a nearby military base.

The one year anniversary of the struggle of Bil’in is fast approaching, on February 20th, and their will to resist the Occupation and the Apartheid Wall has not diminished since then. The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is inviting volunteers to come to Palestine for a conference on Joint Nonviolent Struggle in Bil’in and for ISM’s Spring campaign.

The Bil’in Conference will take place February 20 & 21, 2006. ISM’s Spring Campaign will take place between March 1st and April 23rd, 2006.

Palestinian action alerts for Friday, Feb. 10

Bil’in:
Villagers will attempt to hold a demonstration on areas of their land confiscated for the construction of Israel’s annexation barrier after 12 p.m. prayers. Bil’in villagers have employed an array of creative nonviolent tactics to oppose the expropriation of about half their land for nearly one year. The most recent development has been the expansion of the first Palestinian settlement west of the barrier. Tuesday night Bil’in villagers built the outpost’s second house. The march will begin at the mosque, and proceed toward the Modi’in Illit construction site.

For more information call: 0547-258210

Aboud:
Palestinians, Christian and Muslim, will march to sections of the annexation barrier under construction in Aboud village. They will march in protest of the derogatory cartoons about the Prophet Mohammed as well as against the theft of their land. The purpose of the demonstration is to highlight two points. The first is that the Palestinian reaction against the cartoons transcends religion. The villagers also hope to raise awareness that the current path of the barrier will confiscate 20 percent of the West Bank’s water supply, numerous important archeological sites, and a historical church.

Protesters will gather in front of the local council at 11 a.m.

For more information call: Operation Dove 0599311344 02-2864774

Bil’in Waiting for Justice

Palestinians of Bil’in, Israelis and Internationals waiting to enter the High Court of Justice, Feb 1st

High Court queries route of security fence near Bil’in
By DAN IZENBERG, Jerusalem Post

The High Court of Justice on Thursday issued a showcause order instructing the state to explain why it had chosen the specific route of the separation barrier near the Palestinian village of Bil’in and why the barrier should not be moved westward, closer to the nearby Jewish settlement of Modi’in Illit.

The court’s decision followed a hearing the previous day on a petition filed by attorney Michael Sfard on behalf of Bil’in Town Council head Ahmed Yasin.

Sfard asked the court for a show-cause order that would oblige the state to provide a more detailed response to the petition, along with an affidavit from a senior state official supporting the state’s argument.

The panel of three justices that heard Wednesday’s hearing – Supreme Court President Aharon Barak and Justices Dorit Beinisch and Eliezer Rivlin – rejected Sfard’s request for an interim injunction to prevent the Defense Ministry from completing construction of the threekilometer stretch of barrier near Bil’in, which is the subject of the petition.

Palestinians of Bil’in, Israelis and Internationals demonstrating outside the High Court of Justice, Feb 1st

However, the justices reminded the state that it had promised not to close the current opening in the barrier with a planned gate, which is earmarked to be the controlled entry point for villagers seeking to work their lands on the “Israeli” side of the wall.

The court gave the state 21 days to present its detailed response to the petition. It also ruled that a number of respondents should be added to the petition, which was originally directed at the government and the West Bank military commander.

The respondents to be added include the Modi’in Illit Local Council and several construction and management companies currently building housing on land the petitioners argue should be on the Palestinian side of the barrier.

The companies include Green Park, Greenmount, Hefzibah, the Fund for Redeeming the Land, Planning and Development of Settlements and the Ein Ami Initiating and Development Company.

In the petition, Sfard charged that the route of the fence near Bil’in cut the village off from hundreds of dunams of its agricultural land.

Bil’in claims it owns more than 2,000 dunams of land on the “Israeli” side of the barrier, including approximately 900 dunams upon which the construction companies are building housing for the planned Jewish neighborhood of Matityahu East. Sfard said that by all accounts, 700-800 dunams of land belonging to Bil’in farmers, including some within the housing project, are located on the Israeli side of the barrier, and therefore the route should be changed to allow the farmers free access to their lands.

The Land of Bil’in

Bil’in Unbowed; One Year of Non-Violent Resistance to the Apartheid Wall

by Henry and David

The weekly non-violent protests against the Israelis Apartheid wall continued today in Bil’in, when Palestinians from the village displayed their resistance to the ongoing theft of their village’s land. At least one Palestinian was injured by a tear gas canister which was fired directly at a group of three non-violent demonstrators as they stood with their hands raised in the air. One Israeli protester was detained by the Israeli Military, and another Israeli was hit in the head by a tear-gas canister and taken to hospital; many others also suffered from the use of tear gas and force by the soldiers. The one year anniversary of the struggle of Bil’in is fast approaching, on February 20th, and their will to resist the Occupation and the Apartheid Wall has not diminished since then.

Despite heavy rain, the crowd of approximately 150 Palestinian, international and Israeli activists marched to the construction site of the Apartheid Wall, which is gradually cutting off the village from much of its land. The Israeli Army and Border Police were on hand to prevent the unarmed demonstrators from reaching the construction site through the use of force.

At the site, demonstrators chanted slogans and some Palestinian national songs. A decision from one of the local committee against the Wall was made to move to the other side of the village. The Israeli Military attempted to prevent this by the use of force, but the people were able to prevail and remain unmoved.

After half an hour, activists observed the soldiers shooting rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas at the young boys of the village at very close range. The decision was then made to return to the village, however, it was interrupted in order to de-arrest an Israeli activist. This was done successfully by Internationals, Israelis and Palestinians together, but soon after that another Israeli was taken and detained by the Israeli Military.

(Israeli soldier seen aiming his rifle at unarmed Palestinian children)

When the demo was declared over by the Popular Committee, the activists moved towards the village. The Israeli Military then used the activists as cover, so that they could get closer to some of the young Palestinians of Bil’in, which led to more shooting of tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets. From this point on, the army continued to use disproportionate and unnecessary force against unarmed Palestinians, shooting tear gas canisters directly at them and coming very close to the village itself.

Later in the evening, the Palestinians of Bil’in and internationals watched a film, Rachel Corrie An American Conscience, directed by Yahya Barakat. The director was present in Bil’in for the screening of the film, which is about the death of Rachel Corrie, who was killed on March 16 2003 by the IOF in Rafah. The film will be screened again for the Bil’in Conference, which will take place February 20 & 21, 2006, which will be the beginning of a Spring 2006 ISM campaign.

for more information on the film, go to
http://www.palestineonlinestore.com/films/american.htm