Tag: Bil’in

Today saw a large demonstration in Bil’in against the apartheid wall attended by members of the French Parliament. 200 Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators marched from the village down to the apartheid wall, where the procession was met by the Israeli army. Extreme force was used to try and push the demonstration back to the village. Despite facing a barrage of tear gas, rubber bullets and sound bombs the protestors managed to stay in the area close to the apartheid wall for about an hour and a half. Four People, two Palestinians, one Israeli and an American, were detained by the army, but were later released.

The apartheid wall annexes about 60% of Bil’ins land. The weekly protest was started almost three years ago and has resulted in the supreme court ordering the wall be moved west to give Bil’in back 250 acres of land. However, the protest continues as the wall is still standing and the illegal settlement of Mattiyahu East, which was built on seized village land, was recently legitamised by the same court.

In the course of 200 demonstrations 800 people have been injured. An Israeli attorney and a Bil’in resident both suffered permanent brain damage from rubber-coated steel bullets shot from close range. Another Palestinian lost sight in one eye. 49 Bil’in residents, including some protest leaders have been arrested, and have even had their houses raided by the army. Some people have spent months in prison.

For a link to Skip Schiels Photos of the demonstration click here

Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals came together in the village of Bil’in for another non-violent demonstration against the internationally-recognized as illegal segregation Wall built on Palestinian land.

Israeli soldiers responded to the peaceful protesters with the usual onslaught of tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber-coated steel bullets. Two internationals were injured by the rubber-coated steel bullets, one receiving a bullet to his face, resulting in substantial bleeding. He was immediately rushed off to hospital. The other international was wounded by a rubber bullet to his inner thigh, while two Palestinians suffered from tear gas inhalation.

As this is olive harvesting season, villagers attempted to symbolically harvest olives in the groves which have been ravaged by fires and gas throughout the year. While harvesting, Israeli soldiers continued to fire tear gas at the unarmed demonstrators.

The demonstration, numbering over 100, including internationals from Italy, North America, Spain, Denmark, the UK, and Israel as well as the steadfast Bil’in villagers, lasted for over an hour, another in a nearly three year peaceful struggle against Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian land, which has seen 60% of vital agricultural land rendered off-limits to the 1600 Bil’in residents. In the past three years, over 800 activists have been injured, including two injuries resulting in brain damage due to the close-range firing of rubber-coated steel bullets.

Friday’s demonstration followed a successful roadblock demonstration the day before, in which local Palestinians were joined by Israeli and international supporters in blocking highway 443, the Israeli-only highway inaccessible to the Palestinians whose West Bank land it dissects.

On Friday October 19th, members of the Palestinian cycling club and villagers of the West Bank town of Al Walaja joined international and Israeli activists along with the village of Bil’in for the weekly demonstration against the Segregation Wall. Al Walaja village has its own demonstration against the Segregation Wall, which will surround their village, and their presence in solidarity and camaraderie with the villagers of Bil’in was greatly welcomed.

The village of Bil’in was recently the site of a court victory for the joint non-violent struggle against the Segregation Wall. The Israeli High Court decided land stolen by the wall for the Matityahu settlement was for expansion and not security reasons. Half of the land stolen was returned, but half of the settlement was to remain on village land, as well as the wall itself. By order of the court, villagers were supposed to be able to go through a gate to reach their land between the hours of 6 am and 8 pm.

The demonstrations have continued, and villagers are still unable to reach their land because of a heavy military presence at the gate, which routinely decides the area is a closed military zone. This day was not an exception. Around 100 activists gathered from all walks of life, marching towards the wall and chanting. The military closed the area and let off a barrage of tear gas on to the crowd below. Attempts to negotiate with the soldiers were useless, activists asked for soldiers to stop shooting to let the bicycles leave, and the soldiers nodded and then gassed them when they tried. People fell back, farther away from the soldiers but the tear gas continued to rain down.

Fires broke out due to the heat of the tear gas canisters when they hit the ground. When activists attempted to put out the fires they were shot at by the soldiers with rubber coated steel bullets. Any attempt to negotiate with the soldiers for a peaceful demonstration was met with volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets. The demonstration soon returned to the village because of fierce military repression.

October 5th, 2007

***This video can seem misleading. The child was not arrested during the demonstration, but one day before. He was released that day but another child, aged 16, was arrested that night, the night before the demonstration.***

On Friday at 1pm after prayers the villagers of Bil’in continued their ongoing protest against the Apartheid wall inside their village. Joined by international and Israeli activists, the people of Bil’in marched to the wall to be met with uncompromising force from the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) protecting the illegal ‘security wall’.

Recently the Israeli high court ruled that the route of the wall was illegal. the court decided the route of the wall must be moved back away from the agricultural land of Bil’in village. This legal victory has not deterred the popular committee of Bil’in from continuing their weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the wall. The nonviolent campaign continues because the Apartheid Wall, and illegal settlements, still exist on land belonging to Bil’in. Unfortunately the IOF have not been deterred from using excessive violence in the shape of tear gas, sound grenades, and rubber coated steel bullets.

Around 100 people took part in the nonviolent demonstration, marching to the wall, chanting, and singing. The demonstration was broken up by massive amounts of tear gas and the unrelenting firing of rubber coated steel bullets. After dispersing the peaceful demonstration the IOF moved up the road and into the village firing into the village all the way. Soldiers stormed into a Palestinian house in an apparent attempt to kidnap someone. Followed by international peace activists armed with cameras the soldiers soon came back out from the house having taken no one. The IOF then stayed on the outskirts of the village indiscriminately firing at anything that moved.

Although there were celebrations in Bil’in less than a month ago the violation of the village still occurs. The Bil’in demonstrations will continue in solidarity with other villages in the West Bank facing the same situation. The spirit of Bil’in will not be crushed by excessive military violence, this has been proved time and time again.