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March in solidarity with Occupied Jerusalem
25/06/2010
by Bil’in Popular Committee
One citizen was wounded today and dozens suffered as a result of inhaling tear gas during clashes in the village of Bil’in today. Peace activists and foreigners marched in solidarity with the Friday weekly demonstration against the wall and the settlements and were met with suppression by the Israeli occupation.
Hundreds of people participated in the march called by the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in. A Brasilian businessman of Palestinian origin, Mr. Khadar Osman, was among the group, as well as Israeli peace activists and solidarity Internationals. There were also many young men and women volunteers with the Project Partnership for Development Cooperation. The young people of the Project Partnership for Development worked from early morning with the Alhadaf cultural center in Bil’in making approximately 25 murals on the village walls, giving a distinctive aesthetic character to the village.
Demonstrators wore portraits of PNA council member Mohammad Abu Tir, who is being deported to Gaza by the Israeli government. They wanted to deliver the message that all the people of Bil’in are Abu-Tir, that the deportation and the expulsion of MPs is not acceptable, and that Palestinians will not allow the expulsion of the its people from their homeland. They refuse the ethnic cleansing of East Jerusalemites. These were the slogans and themes that people marched with in the demonstration. Palestinian flags and flags of Jordan, and Qatar, were also present in the march, demonstrating the support of Bil’in by the two States. Other placards condemned the policies of occupation and settlement, while others denounced the attacks on Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, and urged that the arrests of people in the West Bank cease. They also called for the release of all detainees, the lifting of the siege of Gaza, and for a boycott of Israel.
Moreover, the demonstrators marched in the village chanting for national unity and the rejection of differences, and confirmed the need for a resounding Palestinian resistance to the occupation.
The march made its way towards the wall, where the military force of the Israeli occupation army was waiting for them at the concrete blocks behind the barrier gate which they had closed off with barbed wire. As the demonstrators tried to cross towards the land which they own behind the wall, the army fired sound bombs, bullets, metal coated bullets and tear gas at them from all directions. They then pursued the demonstrators to the outskirts of the village, wounding a university lecturer Radwan Yassin (50 year) who was hit on his hand by a gas canister. There were dozens of cases of tear gas suffocation. Furthermore, the heavy use of tear gas caused the burning of extensive farming areas belonging to a large number of people of the village of Bil’in.
The Popular Committee Against the Wall and settlements in Bil’in condemns the practices of the occupation in Jerusalem: the demolition of homes, the deportation and the expulsion and ethnic cleansing of the city of the children of the indigenous population. The committee calls upon the Palestinian people and the leadership to unite in the face of the policies of the Judaizing of Jerusalem by deportation of Palestinian citizens and the demolition their homes.
Dozens suffer from tear gas inhalation and ten injured in Bil’ins weekly demonstration
by Bil’in-FFJ
Today’s protesters in Bil’in carried a message asking for the boycott of Israeli blood diamonds. Every year, consumers the world over unwittingly spend billions of dollar on diamonds crafted in Israel which is the world’s leading exporter of diamonds.
It is worth noting that Israel also stands accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, genocide, the crime of apartheid, extrajudicial executions within and outside the territory it controls and persistent and serious breaches of the Geneva Conventions.
As usual, Palestinians, Israelis and internationals, about 100 demonstrators in all, marched together up to the gate of the wall, and faced large amounts of tear gas, after which the soldiers went through the gate and chased the protesters some hundred meters towards the village. The villagers wore t-shirts and carried posters with a message demanding the boycott of Israel’s diamond industry. As usual the protest in Bil’in was carried out in a spirit of non violence.
Another message of the day was solidarity with the Palestinians in Jerusalem, who are facing eviction from their homes and constant violence from Israeli settlers taking over their houses. After ten minutes the soldiers responded with tear gas volleys into the crowd. As people were running towards the village, soldiers ran after them, still shooting tear gas, and as a result, dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation. Three soldiers who were reported to be hidden in the field close to the village, shot more tear gas making it difficult to reach the village. About ten protesters suffered heavily from the gas, struggling to breathe. The hot tear gas canisters caused a fire in the field, on both side of the road as they hit the dry ground. In the midst of a cloud of tear gas, Palestinians worked hard to stop the fire, which was spreading quickly among the olive trees. In the end they managed to put out the fire, which added a lot more smoke to the tear gas in the air. The demonstration lasted for about 45 minutes, after which people went back to the village.
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