Friday, April 29, 2011

Boy injured and many peace activists suffer from over exposure to tear gas in Bilin's weekly demo.

At Bilin's protest today, a ten year old boy, Mohammed Iyad Bornat was hit with a tear gas canister in the thigh.  In addition, dozens of peaceful protesters both internationals and Palestinians, suffered from  tear gas inhalation. This was in an attempt from the Israeli army to repress Bilin's weekly protest marches against the wall and the illegal settlements which continue to strangle the village.

The march, organized by the Popular Committee here in Bilin, began after the end of Friday prayers and set off from outside the Mosque towards the construction site of the wall along with dozens of people from nearby villages and dozens of international activists and Israelis.

Protestors raised Palestinian flags, flags with the images of commander Marwan Al Bargouti, pictures of the two matyrs, Jawaher and Basem Abu Rahma and they chanted slogans demanding unity and the end of the division and occupation of Palestine. When the protestors arrived at the east gate of the wall, the Israeli soldiers repeatedly fired sound bombs, "skunk water", tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets towards the protestors resulting in minor casualties among the demonstrators.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Two children taken to hospital after the latest army invasion in Bil’in At midday.

April 28, 2011 the Israeli army entered Bil’in. 3 military jeeps came through the Western gate in the Wall, drove through the village and to the mosque. Clashes erupted when a group of children and youth saw the jeeps, and stones were thrown in order to make the soldiers leave the village. However, instead of leaving the army decided to stay for an hour, throwing stun grenades and shooting tear gas and rubber covered steel bullets towards the villagers. Two young boys were injured by rubber covered steel bullets; Jamal (14) was shot with two bullets on his chin, while Najmi (15) was hit in his leg. An ambulance was called to take them both to the hospital in Ramallah for treatment.
At the time of reporting, army jeeps are located close to the Wall, and people are worried that the jeeps will enter again.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Friday 04/22/2011.

Friday 04/22/2011
On the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Bassem Abu Rahma and within the activities of the International Conference on Popular Resistance, Bil'in renews the covenant of the martyrs to continue the struggle until they achieve independence.
One citizen of the village of Bil'in was seriously injured as well as five demonstrators and four others who were injured as a result of abuse by the occupying forces, in addition to dozens of other cases of people choking on poison gas.
Today a woman of Bil'in was seriously injured whilst five demonstrators and four citizens received dozens of bruises, there were also many cases of severe asphyxia  as a result of inhalation of tear gas, many people suffered due to the waste water and chemicals fired by the Israeli Army. This was due to the clashes that took place after the suppression of the Israeli occupation forces with the creation of the wall and settlements. On the second anniversary of the martyrdom of Bassem Abu Rahma there was a march organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil'in and the National and Islamic Forces. It began after Friday prayers from the center of the village and was attended by the people of Bil'in, dozens of Palestinians and internationals. Palestinian factions, including the wife prisoner Marwan Barghouti, Fadwa Barghouti, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Secretary General of the initiative and leader of Fatah, The Palestinian People's Party, The Popular Struggle Front and the Palestinian Ambassador in Australia, Izzat Ibrahim, along with dozens of peace activists, Israelis and foreigners in solidarity.

The Participants of the march waved many Palestinian flags, flags of Palestinian factions and pictures of martyrs Jawaher and Bassem Abu Rahma. There were also yellow banners with a picture of the leader Marwan Barghouti who is a prisoner of the occupation. This started the participants chanting national anthems calling for unity and rejection of differences, to unite in the face of the occupation and its plans and to end the division and occupation as quickly as possible.
The march headed towards the wall, where Israeli forces intercepted the march by storming the village from the west side. They fired bursts of gas, sound bombs, rubber bullets, lead Toto and live bullets toward the participants in an attempt to prevent the demonstration from getting to the area. This resulted in a injury to citizen Isra 'Bornat, 20 years old. He received serious injuries as a result of inhaled poison gas and was transferred to a Palestinian hospital in Ramallah. Mohamed Hesham Bornat 28 years old was hit by a soldier's baton in the head, Jasser Ash'al, 22 years old was hit by a tear gas canister in the hand, Ahmed Ibrahim Abu Rahma, 38 years old was hit by a tear gas canister in the leg, Mohammed Shawkat, 18 years old was shot with a rubber bullet in the leg, and Simon Krieger 22 years old was hit with a tear gas canister in the arm. The occupation forces severely beat all of Iyad Bornat, 38, and Mohammad Al Khatib, 36, as well as two people from London showing solidarity with the Palestinian people, all of whom were severely bruised.

After the Israeli soldiers broke out with such violence the protestors managed to make the army of occupation retreat to the back wall.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

six years of nonviolent struggle .

Bil'in, located west of Ramallah in the central West Bank between Jerusalem and Jaffa, is a small Palestinian Village surrounded by beautiful hills and mountains. It has 1,800 inhabitants, many of whom work in agriculture.
Only a few hundred meters away from the outskirts of Bil'in stands a fence. It's been there since the end of 2004. There are automatic motion detectors equipped along with Israeli occupation soldiers. Towers rise in the sky several hundred Meters away. Cameras from these towers watch every move in the village. The scene is reminiscent of the Berlin wall in Germany.
For most Palestinians this "wall" is virtually impenetrable. The Israeli government sees the fence as the boundary between their own territory and the occupiedWest Bank. Under international law this is not correct because "the wall" was not on the "green line" - ie the 1967 borders, but extends far into Palestinian land. The International Court of Justice in The Hague declared the wall illegal years ago. The government in Jerusalem has yet to comply with the ruling.
In the Israel-occupied Palestinian West Bank, the 700 km long barrier wall winds through PalestinianTowns and villages. The construction of the Wall by Israel holds 29 Palestinian cities (an area of ​​21656.4 Hectares) isolated from the West Bank and incorporates them into the Israeli side of the barrier wall. This land seized by Israel is very fertile and contains underground water resources in large amounts. Israel has also seized a large area of land around Jerusalem.
For decades, the village of Bil'in has experienced seizure of land by the Israeli occupying power. In the 1980s, the illegal settlement of Mitat was built on land that the residents of Bil'in use to herd their sheep. In 1990 Israel confiscated more of Bil'in's land to build another illegal settlement known as Kiryat Sefer. In 2002 Israel began building the illegal settlement of Mitet Yaaho on yet more land belonging to the villagers of Bil'in. In April 2004, the Israeli government announced its intention to build an additional barrier close to the village. At that time the villagers formed the "Popular Committee Against the Wall and its Settlements" (PCAWS). The PCAWS helps protect, in coordination with lawyers, the rights of the citizens of Bil'in. The land for the illegal settlements and the construction of the barrier wall was all stolen from Bil'in. This committee has been organizing, with support of Israeli and international activists, weekly non-violent demonstrations.
On 20/02/2005 bulldozers began working on the barrier around Bil'in. The Israeli occupation forces had almost 1000 olive trees cut down and destroyed farmland belonging to residents of Bil'in. The olive trees were Bil'in's main source of livelihood, especially on the western side of the barrier which is now cut off from residents. Also confiscated was the farmland used to grow other crops including grains, vegetables and livestock. In response the village started staging peaceful demonstrations, involving all members of the village society. Since then demonstrations against the barrier have taken place every Friday, and occasionally other days. The demonstrators have found creative ways to express themselves. They perform street theater with scenes reminiscent of historic personalities of non-violence such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.
Israelis and International activists provide valuable support for the non-violent struggle of the villagers of Bil'in. One of the first Israelis to take part in these demonstrations was the Aachen Peace Prize laureate Uri Avnery. The support of the Israeli peace movement of nonviolent resistance in Bil'in presents a model for the struggle. The Palestinians, as well as Israeli and international activists are fighting together against military despotism and occupation. Among the key victories of the resistance of Bil'in is the decision by the Supreme Court in Israel from 04.09.2007, that the construction of the barrier wall is illegal despite the Israeli army's cited justification ("security purposes"). The court recommended that the Israeli army move the barrier wall about 500 meters back along with an opening in the fence for villagers so that they can access their farmland. The army has yet to comply.
The Israeli army meets the nonviolent weekly demonstrations in Bil'in with brutal repression. Every Friday demonstrators are met with tear gas, sound bombs and rubber-coated steel bullets. Furthermore, the village are often a target of nighttime raids, in which the Israeli military triggers panic among the villagers. Sound bombs are set off in the middle of the night while soldiers raid houses and make arbitrary arrests, sometimes of children under 16.

On 17.04.2009 Bassem Abu Rahma, a co-organizer of the weekly protests died after a tear gas canister hit him in the chest.
and On New Year's Day in 2011 his sister Jahaver died of tear gas poisoning after a demonstration.
 At least 1,200 people have been injured by the Israeli army, 10 of them seriously.
85 villagers were arrested by Israeli military, including members of popular committees and their children.
and tow people was killed from one family.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

VISIT TO BIL'IN

by 
Karen Clarke.


    In January, I received an invitation from Interfaith Peace Builders to participate in their 30th delegation, in conjunction with the National Peace Foundation, to travel to Israel/Palestine in May.  Our mission was to interface with a broad spectrum of people from both sides of the conflict and to record how their lives have been impacted by the Occupation, which is multi-tiered and multi-layered in complexity.


    Interfaith Peace Builders (IFPB) began as a program run by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) in November 2000.  Since then, IFPB has partnered up with different organizations and eventually branched off from FOR.  The primary goal of IFPB is to educate Americans serving as delegates about the region and to broaden their understanding of what is happening on the ground.  Returning delegates then share their own stories with their communities.

         What then do I write about?  Like individual weavings of tapestry, it is almost impossible to separate one aspect of the Occupation from another.  I think about the village of Bil’in, where we stayed for one night.  That is where I will begin my story.

    Bil’in is a small farming community of approximately 1800 people located 16 km west of Ramallah in the West Bank.  The area, once comprised of 4000 dunums (1 dunum = 0.25 acres) has been reduced to 2300 dunums by the Separation Wall, and closer to 900 dunums on the account of illegal settlements surrounding the village.  During construction of the wall, 1000 ancient olive trees were uprooted.  Olive trees have connected the villagers to this land for centuries.  Agriculture is a main source of the economy here.

     Our delegation arrived in Bil’in on June 1rst at 2:45 pm.  We were greeted by our friendly hosts and promptly ushered into a family dwelling.  As we were entering the village, I was struck by the seeming quiet and inactivity.  Hours earlier, the calm darkness was shattered by Israeli troops riding in the streets, shooting guns, and throwing tear gas bombs onto the houses.

    Night raids by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) are common as they continue their search for men and boys who participated in the protests.  People are arrested at random for arbitrary reasons and detained for indefinite periods of time.  There is little to no information about where these people are taken.

    Scenes such as this take place across the country.  What puts Bil’in on the world map?  Bil’in is a site of weekly protests against the separation wall and encroaching settlements with villagers, international and Israeli activists gathering to lend support by non-violent means.  The IDF is reputed to fire tear gas canisters directly into unarmed protesters.  It has been reputed on occasion that special Israeli forces disguised as protesters will attend the demonstrations and start throwing stones to provoke the soldiers.
         Our host, Ali, declared, “Through popular resistance, we proved it [the wall] was only used to grab land, displace people, and not for security reasons.”  We watched a short video commemorating Basem Abu Rahmeh, a villager who was shot in the chest close range with a tear gas canister, and died at the scene.  My fingers cramped up as I attempted to keep pace with the narrator’s story.  Ali’s 4-yr.-old daughter, a beautiful girl with a cherubic face, walked around the room showing us a spent tear gas canister.  (4:15 pm call to prayer).  Finishing our visit, we rode to nearby Nil’in, another site of peaceful protests, to speak with  Abu and members of Popular Committees.


         Surrounded by an olive grove on a hilltop, we got a bird’s-eye view of the Modi’ in Ilit complex encompassing Matiyahu East and Kiryat Sefer settlements.  As Abu spoke, a military jeep pulled within sight of us and parked on the access road snaking along the separation wall. Another speaker explained, “Despite the killing of my nephew, the taking of my land, I am still a man of peace.  Revenge causes suffering.”  A boy of about 18 who was present, bore the scar of a head injury sustained while attending a weekly protest.  We wandered back through the neighboring village of Nil'in and a young man would periodically point us towards the buildings to show us bullet holes from previous IDF incursions.  On the return trip to Bil'in,  I watched nervously out the back of the bus window as a military jeep remained in view following us at a creeping pace.   
Our final stop before dispersing with families was at the protest site in Bil’in known as “work-site of shame”. We walked up the road that so many people across the globe have traversed.  Divided by the access road, our barrier was a steel fence reinforced by concertina wire.  Spent tear gas canisters and burnt debris littered the landscape.  A gravesite of Basem Abu Rahmeh was carefully maintained.  We took pictures and quietly spoke amongst ourselves, gathering our thoughts.  A short while later, a soldier stepped from behind a high tension wire fence covered by a cloth mesh and shouted a verbal warning not to cross the barrier.  We explained that we were not there to protest and only wanted to visit the site for a few minutes.  The soldier stood on the other side of the fence facing us in silence.  As we ambled back towards the village, the soldier returned to the guard station. 
Having had some time to readjust and fall back into a routine more or less, I am haunted by graphic footages of night raids into Bil'in and neighboring Nil'in via emails forwarded to me.  A recent video that was particularly moving showed an international activist (with an American accent)being wrestled to the ground and subsequently arrested.  An IDF soldier placed his arm around a distraught woman who was calling out to her friend being loaded into a jeep.  The soldier was saying, “Please!  Please get back.  We don't want to hurt you!”  In these videos, I see places we walked, held discussions, listened, observed the surroundings and took pictures.   I recognized a portico where I greeted a middle aged  man before entering his abode.  I wonder about the households who hosted us.  Were their belongings ransacked?  Damage to properties?  People threatened and harmed?  Of those who were arrested since our visit, did we share a meal with them?  Laugh, converse, and smoke together?
“An enemy is one whose story we have not heard.” - Gene Knudsen Hoffman

  Our group of 16 was split into 3 sets of people.  Both Palestinian and American parties knew little in the way of language and custom so we communicated by hand gestures and drawing pictures.  Dave, a Jewish delegate in our group, presented a book that had nature scenes of the New England region to a young girl.  Shortly thereafter, a young man named Hamde joined us for supper.  Hamde coaxed Aaron, another delegate, into biting into a chili pepper.  We laughed as Aaron, teary-eyed, finished his meal to the best of his ability.  Barbara, a former stock broker in her 60s, presented a pipe with tobacco and proceeded to smoke with Hamde.  The awkwardness and tension of two seemingly opposing groups of people melted like the January thaw of Northern Maine.  Family members of all ages entered the room to smoke and observe the scene.  A boy of about 12 borrowed my camera and took pictures.

   We visited families in other houses.  A teenage girl approached me and shouted, “MarHaba!”  (Hello!) and asked if I spoke Arabic.  Another teenage girl asked questions about the states.  I drew her a map and put people's names by their respective origins.  She asked how old I was.  To my answer, she laughed and replied, “You are short!”  I did not try to decipher the meaning of that.  Across the room, a mock wedding was being arranged between  Barbara the stockbroker and the man who greeted us on the porch.   The house parties resonated with loud talking, raucous laughter, and more coffee.  At another gathering,  Hamde, who was sitting at my right at one point, showed me more pictures of the protests taken off of his cell phone.  Plates of lemons and dates were passed around.  Eventually, we returned to our respective hosts.  A few young men lingering in front of shops greeted us as we passed.  A peaceful night.

            In retrospect, we had an unlikely gathering.  Following 911, there was much fear-mongering about “the other”.  “You’re either with us or against us!”  “Terrorists” became a household word in our vocabulary.  Doors to human exchange and understanding slammed shut with a resonating clang.  We could then justify the unjustifiable.  Most of us on the delegation had never set foot inside the house of a Muslim family in the Middle East, much less America---  Christians and Jews alike.  It was a first in stepping beyond the threshold of our comfort zones.

    An IDF soldier reached out to an unarmed protester in a show of compassion, crossing yet another threshold.

         Hamde drew an illustration of the separation barrier and military vehicles traversing the access road.  Arrows point to two civilian casualties.  Above the scene, a dove holding an olive branch flies over the fence.  The next morning, I woke early and watched a pair of white doves perched on a powerline against the backdrop of Modi’inIlit with Bil’in in the foreground.  The white dove is a universal sign of peace.

                               *Note:  Some of the names of the villagers have been changed to protect their identities.  We were told that some families previously hosting internationals had been subjected to retribution raids by the IDF.  The next morning, I heard that Nil'in had been raided

Working around the wall

There is no journalist in the world being threatened more than a Palestinian journalist, because he or she not only goes to the event, but lives the event itself.
I will start my story from where I have lived my whole life, along with my fellow Palestinians living under the Israeli occupation. This greatly influenced my career choice of becoming a journalist.
Bil’in is a small Palestinian village located in the central West Bank, seven miles west of Ramallah. Its population does not exceed 1,500 inhabitants. It is primarily an agricultural community, where most people live on what they earn from farming and olive trees.
In 2004, the Israeli government started to build the Separation Wall on the lands of this village, causing the loss of around 70 percent of its territory and an increase in unemployment and poverty. Farmers could not longer access their lands for harvest, that is if the plants and trees survived the destruction caused by the construction of the Wall.
Since then, the citizens of Bil’in and members of international solidarity groups have been relentless in demonstrating peacefully against the Wall and the neighboring Israeli settlement of Modi’in Illit. For six months, these non-violent protests were held daily. Currently, they are organized on a weekly basis. They have led to worldwide solidarity, bringing together Israelis and Palestinians, and gaining the support and approval of international activists such as Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, Ela Bhatt, Gro Brundtland and Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
My duty as a journalist is to cover the daily events in Bil’in and to transmit a truthful image to the world. I never expected that such a task would be so difficult.
There are several problems in being a journalist in Palestine. It starts at the preprofessional stage of getting an adequate journalism education. Not only are the resources scarce, but journalism students, among others, face the daily hassle of passing through checkpoints that restrict their movement. Getting to class on time becomes a daily struggle.
Second, once one is a journalist in Palestine, he or she comes to realize that there is lack of freedom that is necessary for a journalist to accurately cover events and transmit them to the rest of the world. My story is an example of this.
When I was covering the Bil’in demonstrations, I was directly attacked with rubber bullets and tear gas fired by the Israeli army. On top of such physical assaults, the psychological effects of beatings, continuous insults, humiliation, and abuse are hardest to recover from.
In one instance, I was arrested while covering the nightly incursions carried out by the Israeli army to arrest anti-Wall protestors. The Israeli army detained me for 12 hours and accused me of blocking the army’s mission while I was doing my job. Also, I was detained and questioned for a continuous six hours by Israeli Security upon returning from a trip to Europe, where I exhibited my photographs depicting the situation in Bil’in
Despite ongoing pressure and harassment, journalism in Palestine continues to evolve. Palestinian journalists are continuously attempting to refute Israeli propaganda claims that describe Palestinians as people who practice violence and terrorism. In addition, the Palestinian press is growing in depth and magnitude, despite the internal and external difficulties.
Israeli attacks against Palestinian media and violations of the freedom of the press have been on the rise in the past few years. Television stations, both government-run and private, have been shelled repeatedly. Journalists have been arrested and attacked. Even international journalists and foreign bureaus working in the Palestinian territories have been targeted and their work impeded by Israeli forces. Such actions render the transmission of a one-sided view of the situation, while silencing the Palestinian voice.
For more than 60 years of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory, the Israeli viewpoint has forcefully and deliberately dominated domestic and global media outlets. In doing so, the Israeli side obscures the truth about Palestine. Israel has focused on the United States and European countries that have an influence with regards to the ongoing conflict.
Nevertheless, the emergence of the Internet—and all it offers from the speedy delivery of the news to different forms of communication—has made the world a smaller village. A Palestinian journalist can experience freedom of expression on the web. Truth about the situation can no longer be halted. On the contrary, the transparency that the Internet provides may lead to more voices representing the Palestinian side.
To practice journalism here, one must be whole-heartedly dedicated to the profession despite the constant threat to one’s life. Journalism is one of the most important professions of our time. Therefore, it must be protected by all means. International laws should be enforced to allow journalists to freely practice their profession without any restrictions.
http://www.globaljournalist.org/stories/2011/02/04/working-around-the-wall/

Friday, April 15, 2011

Friday 04/15/2011 Four people were wounded and dozens suffered from gas inhalation today in Bil'in's weekly demonstration.

Samir Burnat (35) was shot with Tutu ammunition in the foot and shoulder. He was transferred to a Ramallah hospital for treatment. Also injured by the cartridge fragments were Basil Mansour (34), Mohammed Burnat (22), and a child named Fadi El Khatib (15) who was injured in his hand.

Dozens of others suffered from severe asphyxiation due to inhalation of the toxic gas used by the Israeli occupation forces in their bid to suppress the peaceful march. The march was organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil'in and a popular campaign for the release of captive leader Marwan Barghouti and all other Palestinian prisoners.
Dozens of people from nearby villages, as well as dozens of Israeli and international peace activists, participated in the march along with the citizens of Bil'in. Abbas Zaki, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah, Fadwa Barghouti, a member of the Revolutionary Council, and Ziad Abu Ein, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Detainees were also in attendance.

Participants in the march carried Palestinian flags and yellow banners with pictures of the captive leader Marwan Barghouti. They also carried photos of Italian peace and solidarity activist Vittorio Arrigoni and banners calling for an end to division and occupation. The march is one in a series of events in solidarity with prisoners and remembrance of the ninth anniversary of the kidnapping of Marwan Barghouti. The demonstrators demanded the immediate release of Barghouti and all other prisoners held in Israeli jails. Slogans demanding unity and an end to division and occupation were chanted.
Fadwa Barghouti, wife of the imprisoned Marwan Barghouti, conveyed a message from her imprisoned husband. He paid tribute to the popular movement and the youth for their efforts to end the occupation and division. The message also emphasized that the victories for revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt are victories for Palestine and victories for the resistance and steadfastness of the people. The message called for the resumption of the comprehensive national dialogue on the basis of commitment to the implementation of the prisoner's document of national reconciliation. Barghouti's message called for consolidation of the efforts of Palestinians and the creation of new political dialogue as a new reason to isolate Israel and impose sanctions.

For his part, Abbas Zaki, member of the Central Committee of Fatah, expressed that the victory of Marwan Barghouti and the prisoners will be national unity, reforms within the PLO, and a grassroots adoption of a strategy to address ongoing Israeli crimes.

Pictures were carried in honor of Vittorio Arrigoni, the Italian pacifist who was killed this morning by unidentified gunmen in the Gaza Strip. The People's Committee expressed their disapproval of the crime and the need to hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to trial.

The People's Committees Against the Wall and Settlements called for solidarity and sincere condolences to be given for Vittorio Arrigoni in Al-Bireh Municipality Hall this Friday and Saturday from 4-8 pm

Friday, April 8, 2011

some of my pictures for the life in palestine .






















Friday 08/04/2011 Dozens suffering from suffocation in Bil'in's weekly demonstration

On the occasion of the Palestinian Prisoners Day, and in solidarity with the longest serving Palestinian prisoners, Bil'in continues the struggle of the martyrs, the wounded and prisoners for independence and freedom.
Today dozens were suffering from poisonous tear gas and the stench from chemical water that the Israeli occupying forces launched towards the demonstrators after the weekly peaceful march in Bil'in. The march was organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and settlements on the occasion of the Palestinian Prisoners Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The march started after the Friday prayer in front of the mosque in the village and went towards the apartheid wall.

The people of Bil'in, dozens of Palestinian civilians from nearby villages and a British delegation participated in the march as well as an adviser to the Prime Minister, Jamal Zakut, the Palestinian writer, Liana Badr, the leaders of the Popular Struggle Front and dozens of Israeli peace activists. Several foreigners, Israeli and international activists and other participants raised Palestinian flags and pictures of martyrs in solidarity. They also carried yellow banners with the image of the captive leader, Marwan Barghouti, posters of two of the longest serving Palestinian prisoners Nael and Fakhri Barghouti and a poster of the Palestinian activist, director, thinker and leader, Juliano Khamis who was killed in Jenin.

The participants chanted slogans demanding an end to the occupation and division, the release of prisoners, especially Nael and Fakhri Barghouti and affirming the right of return and the non-negotiable requirements of the Palestinians.

Upon arrival at the eastern gate of the wall the rally were met with a shower of tear gas, sound bombs, rubber bullets and stinking chemical water. Dozens of people were suffering from severe choking and the stench of the chemical water. The participants managed to access the gate of the wall, climbed it and attached the Palestinian flag to the gate of the wall, despite the presence of dozens of heavily armed soldiers. Ambulance personnel dealt with all the cases on the ground
...

Friday 08/04/2011 Dozens suffering from suffocation in Bil'in's weekly demonstration

On the occasion of the Palestinian Prisoners Day, and in solidarity with the longest serving Palestinian prisoners, Bil'in continues the struggle of the martyrs, the wounded and prisoners for independence and freedom.
Today dozens were suffering from poisonous tear gas and the stench from chemical water that the Israeli occupying forces launched towards the demonstrators after the weekly peaceful march in Bil'in. The march was organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and settlements on the occasion of the Palestinian Prisoners Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The march started after the Friday prayer in front of the mosque in the village and went towards the apartheid wall.

The people of Bil'in, dozens of Palestinian civilians from nearby villages and a British delegation participated in the march as well as an adviser to the Prime Minister, Jamal Zakut, the Palestinian writer, Liana Badr, the leaders of the Popular Struggle Front and dozens of Israeli peace activists. Several foreigners, Israeli and international activists and other participants raised Palestinian flags and pictures of martyrs in solidarity. They also carried yellow banners with the image of the captive leader, Marwan Barghouti, posters of two of the longest serving Palestinian prisoners Nael and Fakhri Barghouti and a poster of the Palestinian activist, director, thinker and leader, Juliano Khamis who was killed in Jenin.

The participants chanted slogans demanding an end to the occupation and division, the release of prisoners, especially Nael and Fakhri Barghouti and affirming the right of return and the non-negotiable requirements of the Palestinians.

Upon arrival at the eastern gate of the wall the rally were met with a shower of tear gas, sound bombs, rubber bullets and stinking chemical water. Dozens of people were suffering from severe choking and the stench of the chemical water. The participants managed to access the gate of the wall, climbed it and attached the Palestinian flag to the gate of the wall, despite the presence of dozens of heavily armed soldiers. Ambulance personnel dealt with all the cases on the ground
...

Monday, April 4, 2011

At 1am in the morning, the Israeli Occupation Forces and police invaded my family house .

At 1am in the morning, the Israeli Occupation Forces and police invaded the Village of Bil'in and forcibly entered the house of Ali Burnat. They searched the house and his car but took nothing. After approximately 40 minutes they left the house and moved through the village. Thirty minutes later they arrived at the house of Khamis Abu Rahma and began a thorough search. Meanwhile they interrogated Khamis about the occupants of his home. The Soldiers then began a sweep nearby, searching the cars of his neighbors. After thirty more minutes, the soldiers gave up and left Bil'in.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpPz7GqWI9U