At today’s demo against the Apartheid Wall in Bil’in the IOF lashed out at the peaceful protesters, inflicting 11 injuries, including one head wound. As Israeli activist Koby Snitz was attempting to protect a Bil’in villager, the crown of his head was cut open with a rifle-butt blow. His head was bandaged up on the scene and he was subsequently hospitalised.
Also targeted today was Reuters cameramen from Bil’in, Emad Burnat, who spent three weeks in prison last October on trumped-up charges. Emad was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet.
Villagers today celebrated the release of another villager abducted and held on trumped-up charges, Farhat Burnat, who was released yesterday after two weeks in detention. In line with the treatment of other peace activists from the village, Farhat was released on the large bail sum of NIS 5000 and the condition that he not attend a demo for two months despite the military judge criticising the violent behaviour of the IOF. Unable to dispute the video evidence of IOF brutality the judge, as always, nevertheless obeyed the wishes of the Occupation prosecutors.
As in previous weeks the IOF stormed through the gate in the Wall to disperse the peaceful protesters who stood their ground. The range of military brutality today encompassed the use of metal sound grenades as knuckle-dusters and throwing sound grenades two at a time among the protesters. In addition to Koby’s head wound, another Israeli activist was deliberately shot with a sound grenade at close range.
Eight of the village youth were shot with rubber bullets and as the protesters dispersed after the demo, multiple volleys of tear gas were fired at them.
Next week’s demo marks two years of consecutive Friday demos in Bil’in and large numbers are anticipated.
On February 11th 2007, the Civil Administration’s Planning Board published an ad in Ha’aretz to notify the public that it decided to approve the new scheme for the Matityahu East neighborhood in the settlement Modi’in Illit, on the lands of Bil’in west of the wall. Under the Planning Law applicable in the West Bank, the scheme will be valid 15 days after the publication of the ad.
On that very day, a group of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals decided to provide solid proof that the Planning Board approved a scheme although the conditions that very board stipulated were not yet met . And such proof was indeed provided.
an exposed sewage pipe, a meter and a half underground
One of the paragraphs in the new 210/8/1 scheme for Matityahu East says that a pre-condition for the very approval of the scheme is the restoration of enclaves owned, even according to the Civil Administration, by Palestinians from Bil’in. During the illegal construction activities in the compound, two of the enclaves were practically destroyed: on one of them, Green Park, one of the construction companies, built a house. On the second enclave, the companies paved the main road of the neighborhood, its width being 30 meters. Other enclaves were also damaged, but to a lesser extent, since they are located further away from the first-stage development area.
The scheme further demands that all building in the enclave should be destroyed, and that all ruins should be removed completely. This is also a pre-condition for the approval of the scheme itself.
On January 17th the Planning Board assembled to approve the scheme. Its members were presented with photographic evidence showing that the two enclaves were not properly restored. In both infrastructure remained buried underground, making any future agricultural use of the land unlikely. In any case, the representative of Bil’in argued, the fact that infrastructure remained there contradicts the specific requirement to restore the enclaves, and since this pre-condition was not met, the Board should not approve the scheme.
But as can be expected from the highest planning institution of the occupation, the scheme was approved on that very day – with the vague excuse that it was not proven that building or building ruins remained in the enclaves.
This conclusion was exactly what we went to contradict last Sunday. At around 11:00 am, we moved pass the fence of Matityahu East and into one of the enclaves. Later on we moved further to the most western enclave, not far away. On that western enclave we managed to uncover a concrete plate buried under the dirt, not before the security inspector of Modi’in Illit called the army and police and we were shortly chased away from there.
In the meantime some of us continued digging in the much larger first enclave. There we discovered many surprises: a complete telephone network box buried under the ground, leading telephone lines through the enclave and to the houses further east; a huge sewage pipe going from the houses through the enclave to the local sewage factory down the road; and a segment of the asphalt road and pavement which the construction companies left untouched buried under a thin layer of dirt.
All this hard-evidence will be put shortly to legal use in the upcoming new Court petition against the approval of the scheme. Our joint action proved once again that the Civil Administration’s Planning Board is working hand in hand with the settlers’ construction companies to promote the settlements enterprise – even when the conditions this very Board stipulated are not met.
Farhat Burnat, the Bil’in peace activist beaten and arrested at a demo 10 days ago remains in Ofer military detention centre tonight. After viewing video evidence last week the military judge ordered Farhat’s release but the IOF was given until Sunday to appeal this. This was then extended until today at 9am. Just after 9am an appeal was filed by the IOF but this wasn’t heard today and no future date was set.
Despite recognising the “ugly face” of the IOF the judge still wanted to release Farhat under conditions and NIS 5000 bail. The most Palestinians can hope for when there is no evidence against them, is to be released within a few weeks with a large bail amount and restrictions on their movement.
Last October Bil’in cameraman Emad Burnat spent almost 3 weeks in prison on the trumped up charges of throwing stones at the IOF until being released to house arrest in a neighbouring village. He has only just been allowed to return home to his family in Bil’in.
Villagers from Bil’in today accessed their land on the other side of the annexation barrier in order to plant trees. The Israeli Supreme Court had previously ruled that this land, which has been built on for the expansion of the illegal Matityahu East settlement, rightfully belongs to the vilage of Bil’in and that all settlement activity must stop.
Despite this, construction companies have continued to expand the infrastructure of the illegal settlement. Whilst digging today Bil’in villagers uncovered water pipes and phone lines under this land in violation of the Supreme Court ruling, which ruled that this land shouldn’t be used as a utility right of way for the settlement.
Two weeks ago a Planning Board in Beit El composed of IDF and settler representatives, approved a new scheme for the settlement, retrospectively legitimising the illegal construction in Matityahu East. The villagers of Bil’in are appealing this decision in the Supreme Court.
At today’s tree planting Bilin villagers were joined by around 30 international and Israeli supporters. Despite not being allowed through the gate from the village, these supporters weren’t deterred and managed to find a way round.
The water pipes and phone lines were discovered at the depth of about 1 metre. This land had contained settlement buildings which were demolished after a Supreme Court ruling six months ago.
On their way back to the village the group passed by the Bil’in outpost where villagers have been living in huts on the other side of the Wall for over a year.
When they reached the Wall the internationals were again told they couldn’t pass through with the villagers. One villager was pushed against a fence whilst another was detained for two hours in a tent, blindfolded and handcuffed, before being released.
أهالي قرية بلعين يزرعون أشتال الزيتون خلف الجدار بمشاركة متضامنين دوليين وإسرائيليين
11/2/2007
قام أهالي قرية بلعين اليوم بزراعة أشتال الزيتون في أرضهم الواقعة خلف الجدار ،وقد شاركهم في هذا العمل التطوعي مجموعة من المتضامنين الدوليين والإسرائيليين ،حيث زُرعت الأشتال في الأراضي التي تم استعادتها بفعل المقاومة الشعبية والمتابعة القانونية التي يقوم بها أهالي بلعين.
من جهة أخرى حاول المستوطنون الذين يسكنون في مستوطنة ميتاتياهو الشرقية والمقامة على أراضي بلعين اعتراض المتطوعين وثنيهم عن مواصلة عملهم ،إلا أن إصرار المشاركين وضمن ما معهم من وثائق تثبت ملكية هذه الأرض حال دون نجاح الأخرين في مقاصدهم.
وكشف الفلاحون ومن معهم من متضامنين عن وجود خطوط للهاتف وأخرى للمياه في الأرض التي زرعوا فيها الأشتال تزود المستوطنة غير الشرعية بذلك ،وهذا يتنافي مع ما أقرته ما تسمى بمحكمة العدل العليا الإسرائيلية وهو وجب إزالة كل ما له علاقة بالمستوطنة من الأرض المستردة لأهالي بلعين ،ومن ناحية أخرى يصعب الموافقة على منح ترخيص للمستوطنة إذا افتقدت للماء والهاتف والكهرباء، لهذا فقد قامت اللجنة الشعبية لمقاومة الجدار بتبليغ محامي القرية للاعتراض على ما يجري هناك ،ومنع اعطاء الترخيص لتلك المستوطنة .
وعند انتهاء هذا العمل التطوعي عاد المتضامنون والأهالي إلى القرية ،وقد استوقفهم الجيش عند بوابة الجدار ومنعوا المتضامنين من العبور وأجبروا على العودة ، إلى حاجز بيت سيرا كعقاب لهم ،وقاموا باعتقال أشرف إبراهيم أحمد أبو رحمة وهو من سكان قرية بلعين حيث اعتدوا عليه بالضرب .
لمزيد من المعلومات الاتصال على :
عبدالله أبورحمة
منسق اللجنة الشعبية لمقاومة الجدار والإستيطان /بلعين
0547258210 أو 0599107069 أو 022489043
A military judge wrote Saturday that soldiers trying to disperse protesters against the separation fence in the West Bank village of Bil’in used more violence than the demonstrators.
After watching a videotape of the rally, the judge wrote that the troops showed an “ugly face” to people holding a democratic demonstration.
Lieutenant Colonel Shmuel Keidar of the Judea military court was ruling on the Military Advocate General’s request to extend the remand of Farhan Ibrahim Hashem Borant, who was charged with attacking a soldier at the demonstration.
For the past two years, Bil’in residents and anti-fence activists have been holding demonstrations against the separation barrier in the Palestinian village, near Modi’in Illit. The fence cuts through the village, severing it from about half of its land.
The prosecution claimed Borant had attacked a soldier who asked him to move away. Defense attorney Gabi Lasky showed the court a video that convinced the judge that the charges were false and that the soldiers had used violence, not the demonstrators.
“The video … shows the soldiers used more violence than the demonstrators,” the judge concluded, releasing Borant under restriction. “The video is no credit to the defense forces. Even though they see the cameras, the soldiers do not restrain themselves from displaying the ugly face they adopt toward people at a democratic protest.”
“Every time we’ve provided videos, the judges released the Palestinians charged with attacking soldiers,” Lasky said.
