A call for international support - Israeli Friends of Bil'in
30/05/2007
The Bil’in Saga is entering its final chapter.
On the legal front the Bil’in committee against the wall and settlements and their attorney Michael Sfard have taken every possible step to fight the existing route of the wall. Now they are asking us to help generate international pressure on the Israel politicians to change the route of the wall in Bil’in before the Supreme Court decision.
The Bil’in committee has proposed a coordinated advocacy campaign with third countries. The committee will be meeting with the representative offices in Ramallah but would like an Israeli counterpart group representing the Israeli friends of Bil’in to meet with the councilors and ambassadors in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Below is the letter that will be sent to the councils and ambassadors requesting a meeting on behalf of Israeli friends of Bil’in. Please consider signing on as an individual or better yet as a group/organization. Help in recruiting impressive signatories to this list would be much appreciated. Organizations please send your name asap to neta.golan@gmail.com. Individuals (and organizations) interested in adding your name please go to: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Bilin40/petition.html
Letter
Your Excellency,
For the past two years Israelis and Palestinians have been protesting together the construction of the separation barrier in the village of Bil’in - about 6 km east of the Green line - and the construction of the new settlement of Matityahu East, both of which stand in clear contradiction to the Road Map and International Law.
Under the guise of security, the route of the barrier in this area has been designed to place areas intended for the construction of the Matityahu East settlement on the "Israeli" side of the Barrier. The current route of the barrier separates almost 50% of Bil’in’s land from the village. Until the end of 2000 most of Bil’in residents made a living as labourers in Israel. Since the mass cancellation of work permits in October 2000 agriculture has become a much more significant source of income for the people of the village.
In 2003 the construction of residential buildings in Matitayhu East (officially a neighbourhood of the settlement Modi’in Illit, but in fact a new settlement of more than 2,700 housing units) began, in clear violation of the plan for the neighbourhood that was approved by the Israeli Civil Administration four years earlier. According to the Israeli Civil Administration and State Attorney’s Office, 42 residential buildings were constructed in Matityahu East - 20 of these without any permit whatsoever, and the other 22 with illegal permits issued by the Local Council of the Modi’in Illit settlement.
On January 12, 2006, in response to a petition filed by Peace Now and by the Bil’in Village Council, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction forbidding any further construction in Matityahu East. In January 2007, in an attempt to legalize the gross violations of the planning law in Matityahu East, the Israeli Civil Administration’s Planning Board approved a new plan for the settlement. The Planning Board rejected virtually all the objections filed by the residents of Bil’in. After the approval of the new plan, another petition was filed by Peace Now and by people from Bil’in, asking the Supreme Court to annul the Planning Board’s decision to legalize the construction in the new settlement.
Beyond the grave injustice that would be done to the people of Bil’in, a failure of the joint popular struggle there is likely to have negative implications for the entire Palestinian-Israeli conflict. If the non-violent struggle in Bil’in fails, and the barrier remains in its current route, the message will be that non-violent popular struggle is ineffective in the occupied territories, and that the only mode of opposing the 40-year long Israeli occupation is a violent one. At a point in time where the international community is working to reduce violence in the region, the success of the popular struggle in Bil’in is a matter of particular urgency and should interest all those who strive towards peace.
We ask you, Your Excellency, for an opportunity to meet with you at your earliest possible convenience. We look forward to providing you with more details and seek your intervention in encouraging the Israeli authorities to keep from creating facts on the ground that will render any solution to the current crisis impossible.
Sincerely,
Israeli Friends of Bil’in
