Today three demonstrators were wounded while dozens suffered from teargas inhalation during a confrontation with Israeli Occupation Forces in Bil’in. The protest was held by the Popular Committee against the Wall and the Settlements in Bil’in with the participation of the young people from the al-Omaari Youth Center, the residents of Biâlin and dozens of international solidarity activists. The activists gathered to protest against the construction of the Apartheid Wall and settlements on their land. The protest was also in solidarity with the prisoners of the popular resistance in Bil’in, such as Abdullah and Adib Abu Rahme.
During the protest the participants raised Palestinian flags and pictures of the popular resistance prisoners, and chanted slogans against the policy of settlements and the current aggression on Palestinian houses in Jerusalem. They called to halt the policy of eviction and expulsion in Jerusalem, to halt the siege on Gaza, to halt the arrests of activists and to free all the prisoners, in particular the prisoners of the Popular Resistance.
The participants wore masks representing the prisoner Abdallah Abu Rahme, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King drawing similarities between global protests from history.
The protest is a legitimate project of the civil society in Biâlin to defend their land that has been taken by the Apartheid Wall. It was also a way to send a message to the IOF that Abdallah and Adil Abu Rahme are in the hearts of every citizen and activist that came to Bil’in to protest against the Wall, and that the arrest will not dissuade from continuing the popular resistanceâs project against the Wall and the settlements.
The Occupation Forces demanded the heaviest sentence for Abdallah Abu Rahme – two years of prison – for having been the head and organizer of peaceful protests in Bil’in and Niâlin and being responsible of the popular resistance. The Court sentenced Adib Abu Rahme in July to twelve months in prison with fine of 6000 NIS.
The protest headed towards the Wall where the military forces of the Israeli Occupation waited behind blocks behind the Wall, after having closed the gates of the Wall with barbed wire. When the demonstrators tried to go towards the land behind the Wall owned by the inhabitants of the village, the IOF fired tear gas canisters, sound bombs and rubber bullets at the demonstrators in an attempt to chase them away. This led to 3 wounded: Tal Shapira (25) by a canister on his foot, Amjad Abu Rahme (16) by a canister on his back, Fadi al-Khatib (15) by a canister on his hand, while dozens suffered from teargas inhalation.