Bil'in, a village of Palestine

Bil'in, a disappearing village?

01/09/2005

The village of Bil’in is located several kilometers northeast of Ramallah. In 2004 the village numbered 1800 inhabitants. The surface area of the village was approximately 4000 dunums, 3500 of which constitute tillable soil. In 1948, the village lost more than 2000 dunums of its agricultural land to Israel, said land being added to the territory within the Armistice Line (Green Line). Bil’in and its neighboring villages (Saffa, Nil’in, Deir Qiddis, Al Midya, Rut Shilta, Beit Sira, Bir Ma’in, Al Burj, Kharbatha Al Misbah) depend almost entirely on agriculture for their living, particularly cultivation of the olive tree.

Since imposition of restrictions on passage from the Palestinian territories to Israel, the unemployment rate has risen to over 60%. Their only remaining means of livelihood is to live off the land – but for how long?