Conference 2008
17 resources in this category
From June 4th to June 6th, Bil’in held their third Annual International Conference. Nearly 300 participants - Israelis, Palestinians and Internationals - attended this three day conference.
Among the speakers, were present: Salam Fayyad, Palestinian prime minister; Rafiq al-Husseini, Chief of Staff of Mahmoud Abbas; Luisa Morgantini, vice-president of the European Parliament; Mairead Maguire, Irish activist, Nobel Prize; Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian independent political analyst and one of the founders of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI); Michael Warschawski, author, journalist and co-founder of the Alternative Information Center (AIC); representatives of Palestinian political parties as well as delegations of peace activists from Israel and many countries (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, England, Canada, Ireland, Greece, Switzerland, USA and Netherlands). The former president of USA, Jimmy Carter, sent a letter to participants, which was read to the audience. The conference also received a video message of support from former Director General of UNESCO, Federico Mayor Zaragoza.
This year, a day of the conference was dedicated to visit other towns and villages who are also facing the expansion of colonization and occupation on a daily basis. In addition, Hani Amer (from Mas’ha village) and Feryal Abu Haikal (from Tel Rumeida) were also present at the conference to explain the situation in their respective town and village.
The conference ended with the weekly demonstration, which had started with a soccer game quickly interrupted by the firing of tear gas. This year again the demonstration was hardly repressed by the Israeli army.
Third Annual Bil'in Conference Speakers
11/06/2008
The Third International Conference on Nonviolent Popular Struggle was held in Bil’in from June 4-6, 2008. More than three hundred people attended, including Palestinians, Israelis and internationals. Many high profile speakers addressed the conference participants, including Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Salem Fayyad, Dr. Rafiq Husseini, Chief of Staff to President Mahmoud Abbas, Luisa Morgantini, European Union parliamentarian and Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate from Northern Ireland.
Iyad Burnat's presentation to Third Annual Conference in Bil’in
11/06/2008
Bilin is a Palestinian village which its history belong to the Roman Era. It was named Bilin because the Roman Empire came to the village and settled there and found no water springs. So they named it Bila Aien, which means without water. Later it began to be called by its present name Bilin.
Solidarity With Bil’in: Between Football Games And Tear Gas
09/06/2008
Hundreds of demonstrators, both Palestinian and international, gathered in Bi’lin on Friday to peacefully protest the construction of the Apartheid Wall and the confiscation of Palestinian lands.
The day began with a football game in an olive grove on a hill in Bi’lin just outside an Israeli settlement, a form of peaceful protest adopted by citizens of Bi’lin. The game came to a screeching halt however, when Israeli forces fired tear gas onto the makeshift field. Players and spectators scattered, seeking refuge in the town. Medical personal administered oxygen and handed out alcohol to those affected by the gas.
European dignitaries injured in Bil'in
07/06/2008
The vice president of the European parliament, an Italian judge and a Northern Irish Nobel Peace prize laureate were among the five people injured at Friday’s weekly demonstration in Bil’in against the separation fence.
