Bil'in Weekly demo 5.9.2008

Two Videos of the weekly demo against the Apartheid Wall in Bil'in
filmed September 5, 2008 and posted by davidreeb & yisraelpnm, respectively.

One Year After the Israeli Supreme Court Ruling, Bi'lin [Bil'in] Still Resists Against the Wall
Source: Palestine Monitor
6 September 2008

On Friday the 5th of September, Bi’lin village was commemorating the first anniversary of the Israeli Supreme Court of Justice’s decision by carrying non-violent protest against the apartheid Wall. Last year, the Supreme Court stated that the separation Wall running through the village of Bil’in was illegal; emphasizing that the Wall should be moved back to a distance of 500 meters from the Israeli settlement, which is built on Bili’n’s land.

This decision -that is yet not implemented on the ground- was supposed to return 1.100 dunums to the farmers, about 50 % of the land that has been confiscated in 2004 after the building of the Wall, and stops future settlement building.

Although the ruling was issued one year ago, the State of Israel only issued an alternative path of the Wall in July 2008. A new route that only gives back to Bi’lin’s residents 10 % - of the 2000 dunums initially confiscated in 2004. In August 2008, the Israeli High Court of Justice stated that the new route of the Wall violated the precedent ruling of September 2007, and gave the Israeli State 45 days to issue a new path for the Wall, that will respect the September 2007 ruling.

For now, Bil’in’s residents are still waiting for the new route, and the building of the Wall is still ongoing. The Bili’n Committee Against the Wall announced that the village will continue its non-violent resistance until the wall is removed and the Court decision is implemented.

On the anniversary of the decision, residents and internationals gathered on the site of the ongoing construction of the Wall for the weekly non-violent protest that the village has been carrying for four years now.

While the demonstrators marched from Bi’lin – chanting and calling for the end of the occupation, settlement building and the release of Palestinian detainees – they were prevented to reach the site of the ongoing construction as the Israeli occupation force installed razor wires to block the protest.

As peaceful demonstrators attempted to remove the wire, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and sound bomb at the group. Dozens suffered from inhalation of teargas and an Italian woman was injured, hit by a teargas canister.

davidreeb's video



Yisraelpnm Video