Scores injured at the weekly Bil’in protest

Friday July 11, 2008 15:38 by Adullah Abu Rahmah - 1 of International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC Editorial Group

The villagers of Bil’in marched after the Friday prayers along with the international and Israeli supporters in their weekly protest against the illegal wall Israel is building on the village's land.

Bil'in protest

The protest was part of the ongoing campaign initiated earlier this week in commemoration of the 4th year after the International Court of Justice in The Hague deemed the wall illegal.

Leaders of the Islamic Jihad political group, the Palestinian Liberation Front and the Popular Liberation Front from Ramallah city joined the protestors today.

Protestors marched to their lands trapped behind the wall and as soon as they arrived to the gate of the wall the soldiers showered them with tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets leading to scores suffering from gas inhalation. In related news the Bil’in village council raised a court case in Quebec County in Canada against two Canadian companies based in Quebec ,Green park and Green mount international, which are building and selling residencies in the Israeli Mittyho East settlement, which is illegally built on Bil’in village land.

This court case is part of chain of actions planned to pursue those involved in building illegal settlements. Earlier this year the villagers of Bil’in along with Adalah, New York lead a huge media campaign against the diamond billionaire Liv Live,v who supports building settlements in the West Bank, including those built on Bil’in village land. UNISEF was the first world agency to refuse Leviv money for this campaign.

Also this week, an independant South African fact finding mission visited the village of Bil'in with members that included Supreme Court judges, parliament members and activists who fought the apartied regime in South Africa. The group was welcomed by the village council, where they were oriented about the suffering of the village due to the wall and the Israeli practices. The visiting group showed support for the Palestinians and their struggle against the Israeli army attacks against Palestinians.

west bank | non-violent action | news report tbray1 at gmu dot edu