Bil'in - بلعين: Demonstration against the raids and arrests of people in the middle of the night in Bilin

Thursday 23\7\2009



Over 100 hundred Palestinian, Israelis and internationals marched tonight in the streets of Bilin towards the wall, calling the soldiers, only some hundred meters away to stop the raids on the village, the arrests of teenagers in the middle of the night, the wall and the occupation. Marching with flash lights and Palestinian flags in their hands, some of the demonstrators reached a hill not far from the village and facing the soldiers continued calling the soldiers to go home. Inspired by the lights some lit camp fires on the slope of the hill and lit fireworks. The soldiers responded this time only with light bombs that lit the area, showing this special gathering of supporters of Bilin in the Middle of the night, but almost putting the olive trees on fire. If it was not so sad it could have been a beautiful night, but the feeling was clear that any moment the soldiers can shoot tear gas or rubber bulits and people can get killed as some times happens.



This action was initiated by the popular committee against the wall in Bilin, and joined by Israeli and international peace activists after the Israeli army arrested in the past month 17 people, most of them teenagers. In this action, the demonstrators asked the soldiers to stop the nightly raids on the village and the arrests. The people of Bilin have the right to continue the non-violent struggle against the construction of the wall on lands that were confiscated from the village in order to build a settlement on them. The organizers printed a leaflet and left it near the wall for the soldiers to find in the morning.



The leaflet said: “We, the people of Bilin, know that you have practiced a lot all sorts of oppression against us and against our rights. In your eyes we are all wanted only because we choose to struggle for our rights for freedom and dignity. You must realize that we are not afraid of you. On the contrary, we are convinced more than ever that we are doing the right thing. For several weeks now, you have let none of us sleep. Even if you knocked gently on our doors, both you and us know that you are harassing unarmed children and their families. Intimidating children and sick people constitutes as collective punishment on civilian population. These kind of actions have a name: terror. Why do you hide your faces? You are not in some important battle, as your commanders lie to you. Everybody knows your actions are criminal, there is no need to cover your faces. Get rid of the masks, in any way you can not hide the truth ? the truth, that by raiding the village and depriving sleep from the entire village throughout weeks, you are acting as terrorists.”

For more information, please contact:

Abdullah Abu Rahama- the popular committee against the wall coordinator\ Bil’in

0547258210 ?? 0599107069

e-mail ? lumalayan@yahoo.

www.bilin-village.org