Bil’in is a Palestinian village located 12 km west of Ramallah in the West Bank. According to a 2007 census, the village is home to 1800 people. When Israel began constructing the separation barrier in 2003, it soon became clear that most of the village’s agricultural lands would be on the other side of the barrier and therefore inaccessible to their owners. In 2005, a local committee was formed in order to organize protests against the land annexation and settlement expansion, as Modi’in Ilit, the closest settlement, was rapidly growing at the expense of Bil’in’s lands.
The popular committee launched the first weekly Friday demonstration in January 2005, and over the years, many Israeli and international activists have joined the marches to the site of the wall. In 2007, the court ordered the Israeli government to change the route of the wall, which was finally implemented in 2011, though large tracts of land owned by Bil’in residents remained over the wall.
The Israeli army responded to the weekly protests with massive raids and arrests of local activists, as well as tear gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, “skunk” water and even live rounds fired at protesters. On April 17, 2009, Bassem Abu Rahmeh was killed when an IDF soldier fired a tear gas canister at his chest. His sister, Jawaher Abu Rahmeh, was killed December 31 2010 from inhaling of tear gas fired at the village.
With tension on the rise, as is Israeli violence against Palestinians, villagers from Bil’in confronted the IDF today near the separation wall which was built on their agricultural lands. Soldiers dispersed the demonstrators with barrages of tear gas. No major injuries reported. …
Residents of Bil’in, northwest of Ramallah, joined by many international and Israeli solidarity activists, marched on Friday to protest the ongoing occupation, land expropriation and Israeli disrespect of the right of Palestinians to worship in al-Aqsa. The IDF deployed in front of the separation wall, inside the village’s fields and olive groves, and attempted to…
Today in the village of Bil’in, residents (accompanied by Israeli and international solidarity activists) marched in solidarity with the hunger striking political prisoners. Marchers held posters with images of prisoners, and some wore prison uniforms, calling for the release of prisoners, and an end to the Israeli occupation. The IDF responded with barrages of tear…
The morning after the violent assualt and subsequent eviction of Ein Hijleh, Palestinian and international activists staged a protest against the occupation and apartheid wall. The IDF responded with barrages of tear gas. However, when a tear gas canister detonated inside a military jeep, soldiers suffocated and fell ill, eventually leaving the area. …
Protesters in Bil’in, Palestinian, Israeli and international, marched together towards the separation wall, to commemorate the death of Muhammad ‘Asfour from the village of ‘Aboud, killed by rubber bullets fire by the IDF. They also paid homage to Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela who passed away earlier this week. The IDF responded with barrages of…
