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Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mandela join Bil'in residents in their creative action against the Wall and settlements
05/03/2010
by Bil’in Popular Committee
During this week’s demonstration in Bil’in, protestors dressed up in masks representing Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela to commemorate their nonviolent creativity against occupation, oppression and colonialism. The struggles of Gandhi against oppression and occupation in India, Martin Luther King Jr. against racism in the USA and Mandela against the apartheid in South Africa are all similar to Bili’n’s ongoing struggle against occupation here.
AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh
The idea to representing these historic activists who fought all types of racism, oppression, occupation and apartheid using nonviolent methods came from the constant determination of Bil’in to use popular nonviolent resistance against the occupation, the wall and the settlements.
The protest was joined by international and Israeli activists, members of the Freedom Theater in Jenin and the Palestinian People’s Struggle Front. Protesters marched on the streets of the village chanting slogans and singing national songs. The protesters carried Palestinian flags and called for national unity against the Israeli occupation and against the confiscation of the Bilal bin Rabah and Ibrahimi mosques in Hebron . Protesters also called on Palestinians to resist the new Israeli policies in the Hebron district.
When the protest reached the wall, an Israeli army unit was situated behind a concrete block. The gate that leads to the confiscated land was already closed and guarded with barbed wire. The army fired teargas canisters and rubber bullets when the protest reached the gate, causing dozens to suffer gas inhalation.
The Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements condemns the recent Israeli policies to target Israeli activists by not allowing them to join protests against the wall in the West Bank , especially in the villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin. It also condemns the Israeli decision to demolish 50 homes in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem.
The Israeli authorities recently released Mohamad Abu Rahmah, 24 years old; Mo’tasem Al Khatib, 18 years old; and Kamel Al Khatib, 16 years old, from the Negev prison. All of these young people had spent 8 months in detention for participating in the Bil’in nonviolent protests.
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