Tag: Bil’in - Page 139 - International Solidarity Movement

Prisoner Solidarity and Anti-Wall Protest to Continue in Bil’in on Friday in the Face of Continued Military Suppression

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This Friday at 12:00 pm the villagers of Bil’in together with Israeli and International supporters will hold another creative non-violent march to the construction site of the Apartheid Barrier. The main theme of this week’s demonstration will be prisoner solidarity. Due to the recent night-time raids by the Israeli military, seventeen non-violent protestors from the village currently remain in Israeli detention. These arrestees are being accused by the Israeli authorities of damaging the foundations of the barrier and throwing stones.

Over the past eleven days, the Israeli military has conducted a series of arrest raids during the night in Bil’in. Going house to house, they have been rounding up activists known to participate in the non-violent demonstrations, keeping the entire village sleepless and distressed in the process. International Human Rights Observers last Monday night witnessed and filmed the illegal (under Israeli law) use of a Palestinian civilian as a “human shield” by the Israeli military (footage available upon request). One on occasion, the Israeli military distributed a leaflet in Arabic warning the villagers that although they have “allowed the people of the village to conduct non-violent protests against the construction of the wall on their lands” they consider the damaging of the barrier “violence against security property” and warned them that “the daily lives of the villagers will be disrupted as a result of such acts”.

Among the Palestinian non-violent activists arrested are a 14 year old child, a 16 year old child and three brothers from one family. Only one of those arrested -who was taken by the soldiers in order to pressure his brother to turn himself in- has been released so far. Mohammed alKatib, a member of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in said: “they go after the young and vulnerable in order to intimidate them into giving information about other activists in the village”.

In response to the latest invasion on Monday night, Bil’in residents together with a few Israeli and International volunteers again poured out of their houses and confronted the military, singing and chanting. The Israeli force subsequently withdrew from the village.

For more information:
Muhammed alKhatib 0545-851893
Abdullah Abu-Rahme 0547-258210
ISM media office 02- 2971824

Three More Night-time Arrests in Bil’in; Soldiers Use Human Shield

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Israeli soldiers invaded Bil’in last night and made three more arrests of young men and boys. Three jeeps of Border Police arrived about 1:30 am and went into several houses to make arrests for alleged stone throwing during demonstrations. Once again, the people of the village came out on the street to resist further arrests, and drive the military out. A group of about 50 Palestinians came out chanting and clapping in another act of non-violent resistance.

ISM activists witnessed and caught on film the usage of human shields by the Israeli military last night, which has been ruled illegal under Israeli law (footage available on request).

The names of the new arrestees are:

Abdullah Ahmed Yassin, 14
Nour Mahmoud Yassin, 19 (cousins)
Nayes Gazzi alKatib, 18

These three arrests are in addition to the previous arrests of fifteen Palestinian non-violent activists, including a 16 year old child and three brothers from one family. Only one of them, who had been arrested by the soldiers in order to pressure his brother to turn himself in, has been released so far.

On the 21st of October, in an act of non violent resistance villagers from Bil’in began to implement the decision of the International Court of Justice that Israel’s illegal wall should be dismantled and removed metal posts meant to serve as foundation for the wall on Bil’in land. The Israeli military reacted to this act with arrests and distribution of a text in Arabic warning people not to take part in direct action against the wall. In the Arabic text the army claimed that “every Friday for the last six months, the IDF has allowed the people of the village to conduct non-violent protests against the construction of the wall on their lands”, despite regularly firing on non-violent demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets. The text concluded with the threat that “the acts of the people violating the law will disturb your daily lives”.

For the last ten months, Bil’in has launched an ongoing non-violent campaign against the annexation barrier supported by hundreds of Israeli and International activists, and met by violence from the Israeli army. Israel designed the current route of the barrier to annex 60% of Bil’in’s agricultural land, and expand the settlement of Modi’in Elite. Plans for Modi’in Elite’s expansion have yet to be approved by the Israeli government.

For more Information:
Abdullah AbuRahme, Coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements: 0547258210
ISM media office 02-2971824

Eyewitness to Night-time Raids in Bil’in

by Jesse

Last night at about 1:40am we were called to the streets by local Palestinians of the village of Bil’in where we were staying the night. A force of three jeeps full of Israeli soldiers armed with M-16s were conducting night raids to arrest villagers in Bili’n. we were witness to two of the arrests, one of which was a young boy of 14. The other was a young man of about 18. There was one further arresst that we did not directly witness. Most of the 19 people arrested in the past 2 weeks have been young men below the age of 19.

After we were notified of the soldier’s presence, our group of 5 internationals arrived at the scene and started filming the raid by walking up to the door of the aparment that was being raided. We witnessed one man being taken to the jeeps, and followed the other soldiers to another apartment building. They went in and brought out a Palestinian man, took him upstairs, and used him as a human shield by making him knock on the door for another apartment. From there, we followed them to another apartment where they arrested the Palestinian boy. When they took the boy out to the jeeps, we followed them so that they were constantly being monitored.

Then, the villagers showed up chanting in unison. There were about 50-70 villagers in the group. The soldiers were obviously intimidated. From there, the arrests stopped and a confrontation between the villagers and the soldiers ensued. One of the Palestinian men was negotiating with the commander of the soldier’s unit, and from there things got tense. At one point, the soldiers formed a skirmish line and forced our group back a few feet. Negotiations continued for a while, and then the soldiers started preparing to leave. The villagers started creating roadblocks with large stones from the side of the road, and then the soldiers made their getaway. The entire group of Palestinians and internationals chased them down the street and out of the village.

The village of Bili’n is suffering from the creation of the wall, which will cut off the village from it’s Olive groves. The wall and the building of settlements will claim about 2400 of the 4000 dunums of land that this village cultivates. There have been protests every friday in Bili’n lately to expose the injustice of the Wall and Occupation.

What kind of security can be provided by arresting children in the middle of the night and terrorising the entire community in this manner? This is the insanity of the occupation in Palestine. I wish I had not had to go out and witness this tonight, but I am grateful that at least someone was here so that it did not happen without witnesses. If we had not been here, things could have been much more violent and brutal. As it was, the soldiers knew they were being observed by several internationals and several cameras. It is critical that we pass along this information to people so that we can change our government’s policies of supporting this kind of cruel treatment of the Palestinians.

Bil’in Prisoner Solidarity Demonstration Report

based on a report by IMEMC

Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber coated bullets at a non-violent protest against the Separation Wall in Bil’in village, near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday.

The protest started midday Friday after dozens of residents, peace activists and representatives of Physicians without Borders, marched towards a construction site of the Separation Wall while wearing mock handcuffs in a creative protest that symbolized the captivity of the Bil’in residents who have been arrested in recent military invasions of the village.

Abdullah Abu Rahme, coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, told the IMEMC that this protest was carried out to express the rejection of residents and international peace activists to the recent attacks and invasions carried out by the army against the village, and to protest against the construction of the Separation Wall.

The Popular Committee in Bil’in reported that the main aim of the demonstration this week was to protest the Israeli invasions of the village. It also aimed to draw attention to the arrests which aim to scare the residents and the activists from taking action against the Wall.

Abu Rahme also said that soldiers carried lists which included names of dozens of residents from the village. Soldiers claim that those residents are wanted by Israeli security for their activities in the protests against the Wall.

The protestors carried banners which read “we are all wanted, from 1 – 2600”, the number of 2600 symbolizes the number of residents living in Bil’in.

The protestors also carried banners in Arabic, Hebrew and English, reading: “Date 20-2-2005, penalty; uprooting thee trees, arrest and injuring the residents, night invasions, curfew and siege”. The date refers to the date when Israel started bulldozing the residents’ orchards in order to construct the Separation Wall.

One Israeli peace activist was detained by the soldiers on Friday; two Israeli protestors and one Palestinian were injured after the army fired rubber-coated bullets. Dozens of residents and activists suffered the effects of inhaling tear-gas fired by the army.

Abu Rahme reported that soldiers and under-cover units of the Israeli army have recently been invading the village on an almost daily basis, and breaking into dozens of homes in an attempt to intimidate the residents.

Dozens of residents were arrested in the village since it started conducting its peaceful protests against the Wall. Last Wednesday, Israeli soldiers invaded the village after midnight and forced dozens of families out of their homes after breaking into them.

“Today’s protest was also in support of the detainees who were arrested in the village during the military raids”, Abu Rahme said.

Earlier on Friday, Israeli soldiers barred reporters and students of Bier Zeit University from entering the village to participate in the protest.

The residents aided several journalists in crossing into the village after the army closed all of its entrances; the journalists were escorted through the orchards and hills.

Also, protestors carried the names of the eleven residents who were arrested last week in the village, and demanded that the army release them.

Soldiers closed the three entrances of the village and installed military roadblocks early in the morning,. The three entrances link the village with Kharbatah Bani Hareth village, Saffa village, and the village if Kafer Ni’ma.

Four More Arrests in Bil’in; Further Arrests Resisted by Villagers

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Israeli soldiers invaded Bil’in last night for the fourth time in six days. A group of about 20 Border Police arrived in jeeps and arrested four non-violent Palestinian activists who they accused of damaging the fence, including an expectant father, two brothers and a 16 year old boy. Afterwards, a group of regular military came in mostly on foot. The soldiers said they had pictures of further Palestinians who they wanted to arrest, but a group of at least 30 villagers came out on the streets singing and chanting, in reaction to which the soldiers left. For the second night in three days, non-violent resistance was successfully used to oppose an Israeli military invasion of Bil’in.

The names of the new arrestees are:

Basem Ahmed Issa Yaseen, 28 (an expectant father, with two children)
Khalid Shokat alKatib, 20
Baasil Shokat alKatib, 21 (brothers)
Mohammend Abdel Fateh Burnat, 16

These four arrests are in addition to the previous arrests of eleven Palestinian non-violent activists, including a sixteen year old child and three brothers from one family. Only one of them, who had been arrested by the soldiers in order to pressure his brother to turn himself in, has been released so far.