Author
Seth Porcello / IMEMC
On Friday May 12 Bil'in held it's weekly non-violent protest against the occupation, and against the wall that separates them from their agricultural land. Twelve people injured in this demonstration and one sustained life threatening injuries. Phil Reess from Australia was shot in the head by a rubber coated steel bullet which resulted in a brain hemorrhage. He had been filming the demonstration. BJ Lund from Denmark was also shot in the head and suffered a fracture in his jaw. Both are currently recovering.
The people of Bil'in have been demonstrating every friday for the last 15 months, confronting the wall and the army, that stand between them and their land. But the resistance here in Bil'in has taken on many different forms. In December 2005, the people of Bil'in decided to do something never before done in the struggle against the anexation of Palestinian land. The Popular Committe Against the Wall in Bil'in decided that in order to oppose directly the continued construction of this settlement, they would build a settlement of their own, on their land. On December 15th, under cover of darkness a one room, one window, house was built on the Israeli side of the wall, approximately 100 meters from the settlement of Moudin Ilit.
This small one room house built is still standing today, as it's demolition is tied up in the courts. The Israeli High Court is currently ruling on the legality of the Moudin Ilit settlement in Israeli law, and thus if the settlement is illegal, the house must remain. And so it does, under constant watch of Bil'in residents and internationals who stay there.
There has never been a case in the Israeli High Court that has successfully challenged a settlement under Israeli Law, according to Michael Sfaoudi. But these legal challenges are only one avenue through which the people of Bil'in have taken their struggle, and it will surely continue regardless of what the Israeli High Court rules.
This Report will address the history of the struggle in Bil'in, as well as the current methods of resistance.
Includes interviews with:
Abdullah Aburahmeh of the Popular Committee Against the Wall
Muhammed Al Katib also with the PCAW and resident in Bil'in
Michael Sfaodi the Israeli lawyer representing Bil'in in court.
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