Friday, June 29th, Beth and Martha went up to Jerusalem, then to Ramallah and from there to the village of Bil’in. Bil’in is known by international peace activists for its nonviolent demonstrations, which it has performed every Friday for more than two years. The popular organizing committee is well-coordinated. Michigan Peace Team was honored to host a committee member as part of a speaking tour in Michigan this last winter. Beth and Martha met him again before the demonstration started.

The actions protest the construction of the illegal Apartheid separation barrier/wall in Bil’in, which lies about 6 km east of the Green line (the 1967 border of Palestine), and the construction of the new settlement of Matityahu East, both of which stand in clear contradiction to International Law. Under the guise of security, the route of the wall/barrier is designed to confiscate land for the construction of this new illegal Israeli settlement. The current route of the wall/barrier separates and confiscates almost 50% of the village’s land. Until 2001, most Bil’in residents worked as laborers in Israel. With the mass cancellation of Israeli work permits, agriculture is now a significant source of income for the people of Bil’in.
 

In 2003 the construction of Matitayhu East, a settlement of more than 2,700 housing units, began in violation of an Israeli Civil Administration [ICA] plan approved four years earlier. On January 2006, in response to a petition filed by the Bil’in Village Council and by Peace Now, an Israeli group, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction forbidding any further construction. In January 2007, the ICA in contradiction to their previous stance approved a new plan for the settlement, rejecting all the objections filed by the residents of Bil’in. After the new ICA plan, the people of Bil’in and Peace Now appealed again to the Supreme Court to annul the ICA decision to legalize the construction of the new settlement. [www.bilin-village.org]
 

At mid-day Friday, Palestinians, Israeli peace activists [one of whom was from Haifa], journalists and international peace activists from Italy, Japan, and the US, gathered in a home near the mosque, to wait for the men to come from prayer at the mosque.  Palestinian boys and men led the march, carrying the Palestinian flag and clapping and chanting against the wall and the occupation.   The group walked down and up the hills toward the illegal barrier/wall.  Martha was amazed to see the changes since last year. The top of a nearby hill had been cut away for the construction of the new settlement.
 

At about a block’s distance the Israeli army of about 40 soldiers and 10 jeeps began to shoot tear gas and sound bombs at the demonstrators. The soldiers fired tear gas canisters directly at the ambulance. The tear gas was very strong. Both Beth and Martha received a large amount and felt like lying on the ground, but knew they had to move up the hill to escape more tear gas that was being projected from the soldiers’ guns. Six people were taken to the ambulance because of gas inhalation.

During the demonstration, people moved forward and back on the road toward the soldiers. More tear gas, more sound bombs and rubber bullets were fired by the Israeli soldiers. At one point when Beth moved back down towards the soldiers with a group of Palestinians and internationals, the soldiers fired more tear gas, launching a canister which nearly hit Beth in the head. This action is being carried on in land that belongs legally to the Bil’in village. When Palestinians assemble to speak freely or to protest, this is the reaction they get. Furthermore, the military often declares a closed military zone wherever demonstrations occur and so the peaceful demonstrators are met with violence from the soldiers. They do not have freedom of speech or assembly. This is what illegal occupation means.

Some people had entered the olive groves to our left and moved a distance up the hill out of our sight. However, later we did see that at least two people on the hill near the soldiers were being hauled off and detained. We found out later that some people were able to reach the razor wire fence.

Afterwards we learned three Israeli demonstrators were detained, one of whom is currently serving in the Israeli army. When he was detained, the man gave his military number, unit and name. He was beaten up and held for about an hour. When he was released, the man said that he was ashamed of what the army was doing in the area and vowed not to return to service. People in the village have reported that since last week, the Israeli army has been invading the village on a daily basis and attacking local non-violent activists and those who help to organize the demonstrations.

The ICA plan for further construction of the new settlement of Matityahu East would be a grave injustice to the people of Bil’in. A failure of the joint popular [Palestinian, Israeli, International] struggle could have negative implications for the entire Palestinian-Israeli conflict. If the non-violent struggle in Bil’in fails, and the barrier/wall remains as it is, the message will be that non-violent popular struggle is ineffective in the occupied territories, and that violence is the only way to oppose the 40-year long Israeli occupation. With the attention of the international community on the violence in Gaza, and the desire to reduce violence in the region, the success of the popular struggle in Bil’in is urgent and needs to be important to all who work for peace.