Tag: Bil’in

Sound bomb dropped on Bil’in villager’s foot

by the ISM media team, February 9th

At today’s weekly protest against the Apartheid Wall in Bil’in a soldier dropped a sound bomb on a peaceful protester who was part of group holding a sit-in near the gate to the Wall. The bomb exploded on the foot of Bil’in villager Husam Khatib. Husam received medical treatment on the spot and was able to hobble away afterwards. Two other protesters received injuries from beatings as the IOF violently dispersed those sitting down.

Around 100 Bil’in villagers together with 30 international and Israeli supporters today welcomed the announcement of the Palestinian unity government and condemned the excavation work being done by the Occupation near the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem damaging the foundations of the Muslim holy site.

On the way to the Wall the marchers passed a border police unit standing provocatively on the road inside the village.

At the gate some activists tried to dismantle the razor wire around the gate.

Shortly after, the IOF dispersed the protesters with tear gas and sound bombs. Those who resisted this violence by staying were targetted with further sound bombs and beatings. The IOF remained in the village for several hours after the end of the demonstration, using the village youth as target practice.

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On Thursday there was a hearing in the case of Farhat Burnat who was arrested at the demonstration in Bilin last week. The judge ordered Farhat to be released but as always happens the prosecution asked for a delay in the release for them to file an appeal. This is after he had already been in their custody for 6 days. The IOF can hold Palestinians for up to 8 days before bringing them before a military judge and can them request further detention without charge or trial for 6 month

The judge granted the prosecution request and they have till Sunday at 11 am to appeal. The judge also used harshly condemned the behaviour of the IOF which is quite unusual in a military court.

If the prosecution does not appeal Farhat should be released on NIS 5000 ($1175) bail on Sunday.

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المتظاهرون يدعون إلى إنتفاضة شعبية ثالثة في مسيرة بلعين الأسبوعية
اصابة ثلاثة متظاهرين بجراح بينهم متضامن إسرائيلي
الجمعة 9/2/2007

خرج المتظاهرون اليوم في قرية بلعين بعد أن أدوا صلاة الجمعة في مسيرتهم الأسبوعية المناهضة للجدار والإستيطان ، وقد عبروا عن تضامنهم مع الأقصى ورفضهم لما يجري هناك من اعتداء على المقدسات الإسلامية ،حيث رفعوا الشعارات التي تدل على ذلك منها:لنقاوم سياسة تهويد القدس ،المقدسات الإسلامية والمسيحية خطوط حمراء يجب مقاومة من يعتدي عليها ،لننهض ونعلنها إنتفاضة شعبية ثالثة في وجه الاحتلال العنصري .وقد هتفوا بنفس الشعارات السابقة وأخرى منددة بالجدار ،داعين إلى الوحدة الوطنية .

هذا وقد جاب المتظاهرون شوارع القرية يرفعون الأعلام الفلسطينية واليافطات ،التى شارك فيها 100 متظاهر ،بينهم خمسون من المتضامنين الدوليين والإسرائيليين،وانتهى بهم الأمر عند الجدار حيث الجيش المتمترس هناك منعهم من العبور من البوابة للوصول إلى أرضهم ،مما أدى إلى حصول مشادات بينهم ،وقد قاموا بالاعتداء على كل من يوسف فضل كراجة وطفلته الصغيرة ومصطفى الخطيب وطفله طلال ومحمد الياس نزال بالضرب بالهراوات ،وأطلق الجيش بعد ذلك قنابل الصوت والغاز والرصاص المعدني المغلف بالمطاط على المتظاهرين مما أدى إلى اصابة ثلاثة متظاهرين وهم :حسام كمال الخطيب ،أديب أحمد أبو رحمة ،ومتضامن إسرائيلي يدُعى كوبي، من جهة أخرى قام ما يُسمى بحرس الحدود بملاحقة المتظاهرون داخل القرية ، واطلقوا قنابل الغاز على المنازل مما أدى إلى اصابة العشرات بحالات الاختناق.

عبدالله أبورحمة
منسق اللجنة الشعبية لمقاومة الجدار/بلعين
0599107069 أو0547258210 أو022489043

Nkwenkwezi Bil’in: The Star of Bil’in

by Abdullah Abu Rahme, Coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in. Translated By Nasir Samara, February 3rd

Throughout the history of the occupation, Palestinians have sought every means to resist, to make their voices heard to the world, and to raise international support for the Palestinian struggle for freedom and independence. One of these means includes promoting solidarity with Palestine through international volunteers, whom we consider as ambassadors for our struggle in their own countries.

Yet the lives of these volunteers also bring inspiration to us. Take the story of Anna Wicks, 30, as an example. Anna fought against discrimination in her native South Africa, and came to Palestine with the International Solidarity Movement on five occasions to stand with the Palestinian people in their struggle against the occupation and the Apartheid Wall, one of the most visible forms of open discrimination in the world, one which separates citizens from their lands and which prevents them from moving freely in their own homeland.

Anna stood with farmers and citizens of the villages of Nas’ha, Budrus, Jayyous and Bil’in. She participated in demonstrations and direct actions against the Wall, and accompanied students in Hebron in order to help them reach their schools. She stayed awake with the Bedouins living in caves in Khirbat Qawawis in South Hebron in order to protect them from settler attacks. She also acted as a human shield to protect civilians from Israeli military attacks. When the Israeli army tried to arrest one Palestinian youth, she and her friends exerted all their physical energy to secure his release. Her life was endangered many times in this way, and she herself was injured and arrested in Bil’in, and eventually deported from the village by the Israeli military and prevented from returning.

The last time she came here was one year ago. Israeli immigration authorities tried to deny her entry at Ben Gurion airport until she presented them with documentation proving that her visit was not political, but humanitarian in nature: Anna had come to donate one of her kidneys to a three-year-old Palestinian girl, Lina Fareed T’aem Allah, from the village of Qiri.

She was allowed to enter only under the condition that she did not return to Bil’in. The transplant was carried out successfully and Anna’s act of generosity has saved Lina’s life.

A few days ago, Anna gave birth to a little girl whom she named Nkwenkwezi Bil’in, “the star of Bil’in.” So while she cannot physically be with us in Palestine, Palestine will always be with Anna in the form of little Nkwenkwezi Bil’in.

Villager beaten and arrested at Bil’in

by the ISM media team, February 2nd



UPDATE 10.30: Farhat Burnat will be held at Ofer Military Detention Centre for another 4 days on suspicion of ‘assaulting a soldier’. Many Bil’in residents have been abducted and held at Ofer on trumped up charges only to have their cases collapse due to lack of evidence.


Farhat at a demonstration on September 8th last year

The theme of today’s weekly demo against the Apartheid Wall in Bil’in was the need to end the internal conflict harming the Palestinian cause. Villagers constructed a scaffold with nooses and wore sheets with slogans such as ‘Palestinian State’, ‘Palestinian Freedom’, ‘Palestinian independence’, and ‘Palestinian dream’. The scaffold bore the sign ‘internal conflict’. Around 100 villagers were joined by 30 Israeli and international supporters.

After reaching the gate in the Wall and chanting anti-Occupation slogans, some villagers separated from the main group to try and dismantle the razor wire forming the first barrier in the Wall. Soldiers responded with the new type of sound bomb that explodes in the air and tear gas.

Meanwhile up by the gate soldiers beat and abducted Farhat Burnat, 26, who managed to get over the gate. He remains in captivity. They assaulted and tried to abduct other villagers but supporters managed to de-arrest them.

The IOF also made liberal use of the aerial exploding sound bombs and tear gas against the peaceful protesters to make them disperse. Some dispersed suffering from the effects of the tear gas but others remained near the gate and resisted the military violence.

One soldier approached a Palestinian and asked him to hold out his hand before throwing a sound bomb at him, which hit his chest before detonating. Altogether five people suffered light injuries from rubber bullets and beatings.

A representative from the German Consulate visited the village and was told about the difficulties resulting from the theft of over half the village’s land.

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اصابة خمسة مواطنين واعتقال أخر في قرية بلعين

الجمعة 2\2\2007

خرج المتظاهرون بعد أن أدوا صلاة الجمعة اليوم في المسيرة الأسبوعية المناهضة للجدار والإستيطان في قرية بلعين ، معبرين عن سخطهم ورفضهم للاقتتال الداخلي ، وقد عمل المتظاهرون مشنقة كبيرة مصنوعة من الخشب ،كُتب في أعلاها “الاقتتال الداخلي”، وعُلق في حبالها خمسة متظاهرين بصورة رمزية ، كُتب على كل واحد منهم :الدولة الفلسطينية ، الحلم الفلسطيني ،المقاومة الفلسطينية ،الاستقلال الفلسطيني ، الأمن الفلسطيني . وقد رفع المتظاهرون اليافطات التي تعبر عن أن الاقتتال الداخلي يقضي على كل طموحات وأمال الشعب الفلسطيني بالتحرر وإقامة الدولة الفلسطينية،وأن المستفيد الأول الاحتلال وأعوانه ،وهتف المتظاهرون بعبارات بنفس الموضوع ، بالإضافة إلى أخرى تدعي إلى الوحدة “يا هنية ويا عباس وحدتنا هي الأساس”.

وشارك في هذه المظاهرة 100 متظاهر بينهم 30 من المتضامنين الدوليين والإسرائيليين ،حيث جابوا شوارع القرية متوجهين بعد ذلك إلى منطقة الجدار محاولين العبور من البوابة ، إلا أن الجيش تمترس خلفها ومنعهم من العبور ، مما أدى إلى حدوث مشادات بينهم نتج عنها استخدام الجيش للقوة والعنف ، حيث قام بالقاء قنابل الصوت عليهم ، ومن ثم اطلاق قنابل الغاز والرصاص المعدني المغلف بالمطاط ،مما أدى إلى اصابة خمسة مواطنين وهم :إبراهيم عبدالفتاح بر ناط ،معتصم إبراهيم أبو رحمة،نمرمصطفى أبو رحمة،عايد عبدالرحمن سعيد أشرف محمد جمال الخطيب. واعتقل المواطن فرحات إبراهيم هاشم برناط،بعد أن أعتدي عليه ، حيث ضرب ضربا مبرحا.

ومن جهة أخرى زار الملحق السياسي للممثلية الألمانية في رام الله “فيليب هولزابفل”القرية حيث استمعوا إلى شرح ملخص عما يجري في بلعين ،ووعد بالقيام بجولة على نطاق أوسع في الأيام القادمة .

وقد قام الدكتور عبدالرحمن التميمي مدير عام مجموعة الهيدرولوجيين وعدد من موظفيه والمحامية نادية الخياط يوم أمس بزيارة إلى القرية استمعوا خلالها إلى شرح واف عن معاناة القرية الناجمة عن بناء الجدار ، وعن التظاهرات والصمود الذي حققه أهالي القرية على مدار عامين رغم المحاولات المتكررة من الجيش واعوانه لثنيهم عن ذلك ،ومن ثم قاموا بعد ذلك بجولة حول الجدار والأراضي الواقعة خلفه ،حيث شاهدوا بعض الإنجازات التي حققها المواطنون من خلال متابعتهم واحتجاجاتهم . من جهته أعجب التميمي بنضال أهالي بلعين وبصمودهم وعبّر عن مساندته ووقوفه إلى جانب أهالي القرية.

لمزيد من المعلومات مراجعة:

عبدالله أبورحمة

منسق اللجنة الشعبية لمقاومة الجداروالإستيطان\بلعين

0547258210 أو0599107069 أو022489043

Wall Route Around Bil’in and Land Theft Approved by Occupation Planning Board

by the ISM media team, January 31st

Today the Planning Board in Beit-El gave its decision to approve the new scheme for the Matityahu East neighborhood, on the lands of Bil’in west of the Apartheid Wall. The Planning Board, composed of IOF and settler-colonist representatives, rejected all the fundamental objections to the scheme, but did introduce many changes in it, apparently in order to create the impression of an unbiased hearing on planning issues.

The approval of the scheme means the legitimization of most of the illegal building that took place in Matityahu East. More importantly, its approval creates the alleged legal framework for the legitimization of the present route of the Wall on Bil’in’s land. Under Occupation law, the scheme will become effective only 15 days after the Planning Board publishes an announcement about it in the newspapers (this announcement is likely to be published in the coming days).

Therefore, in the coming days, a new petition to the High Court of Justice will be submitted, against the approval of the scheme.

Channel 4: “Pushing the barrier”

by Indigo Gilmore, January 25th

One village spilt in two by Israel’s controversial wall has been staging a non-violent protest for two years.

To Israel it is a security fence – the Palestinians call it the “apartheid wall”.

It is more than three years since the Israelis began building a massive barrier – part fence, part concrete structure – designed, they say, to keep out terrorist attacks from the Palestinian territories.

But critics say it is less about security than annexing Palestinian land and expanding settlements.

A report out this week by the Israeli organisation Bimkom shows the barrier carving its way through the West Bank, pushing Palestinian communities into a series of enclaves.

Indigo Gilmore has spent the last week in Bilin – split in two by the barrier – where residents have been involved in two years of non-violent protests.