Bil'in

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the Palestinian village in the West Bank. For the Palestinian village depopulated during the 1948 war, see Bil'in, Gaza.
Bil'in
Bil'in street.jpg
A street in Bil'in
Bil'in is located in the Palestinian territories
Bil'in
Arabic بلعين
Governorate Ramallah & al-Bireh
Government Village Council
Coordinates 31°55′39.93″N 35°04′15.68″E / 31.9277583°N 35.0710222°E / 31.9277583; 35.0710222Coordinates: 31°55′39.93″N 35°04′15.68″E / 31.9277583°N 35.0710222°E / 31.9277583; 35.0710222
Population 1,701 (2007[1])
Jurisdiction

3,983  dunams (4.0 km²)
Head of Municipality Ahmed Issa Abdullah Yassin

Bil'in (Arabic: بلعين‎) is a Palestinian village located in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located 12 kilometers (7 mi) west of the city of Ramallah in the central West Bank. It is adjacent to the Israeli West Bank barrier and the Israeli settlement of Modi'in Illit. After the Six-Day War in 1967, Bil'in was occupied by Israeli forces. Since the signing of the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1995, it has been administered by the Palestinian National Authority.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Bil'in has a population of 1,800, mostly Muslims.[1] The main economic activity is agriculture. Bil'in is considered an ideological stronghold of Fatah, and many employees of the Palestinian Authority reside there.

Contents

[edit] West Bank barrier protests

Bil'in is located 4 kilometers east of the Green Line, near the Israeli West Bank barrier, a barrier that was held by the International Court of Justice to be contrary to international law on 9 July 2004. A week before the International Court of Justice gave this Advisory Opinion, the High Court of Israel gave a ruling on a 40-kilometre strip of the Wall in which it held that, while Israel as the Occupying Power had the right to construct the Wall to ensure security and that substantial sections of the Wall imposed undue hardships on Palestinians and had to be re-routed. Moreover, on September 4, 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the government to redraw the path of the wall because the current route was deemed "highly prejudicial" to the villagers of Bil'in. Chief Justice Dorit Beinish wrote in the ruling, "We were not convinced that it is necessary for security-military reasons to retain the current route that passes on Bilin’s lands." The case was filed two years previously by the local council leader of Bilin, Ahmed Issa Abdullah Yassin, who hired Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard to argue the case. The Israeli Defence Ministry says it will respect the ruling.[2][3]

On September 5, 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled to legalize the Israeli settlement of Mattiyahu East (part of Modi'in Illit's expansion), built on Bil'in's land to the west of the wall,[4][5] [6] The village of Bil'in has vowed to continue its resistance against the wall and settlements on its land, and offered support to other villages facing similar problems.[7] The barrier separates the village from 60 percent of its farming land. A new neighborhood of Modi'in Illit is being constructed on part of this land.[8] The settlements around Bil'in are said to be funded by Israeli businessmen Lev Leviev and Shaya Boymelgreen who are thereby promoting their political and economic interests.[9][10]

A 2005 protest in Bil'in

Since January 2005, the village has been organizing weekly protests against the construction of the barrier. The protests have attracted media attention and the participation of left-wing groups such as Gush Shalom, Anarchists Against the Wall and the International Solidarity Movement. The protests take the form of marches from the village to the site the barrier with the aim of halting construction and dismantling already constructed portions. The protests often end in stonethrowing and rioting in which both protesters and soldiers have been injured.[citation needed] In July 2005, activists entered a metal box placed on the route of the barrier, halting its construction for a short time.[citation needed] Around 150 residents of the village were injured during protests in March, April, and May of 2005.[11]

Serious clashes between protesters and Israeli forces took place in September 2005 and March 2006. Solidarity conferences were held in the village in February 2006 and April 2007.[12]

Jonathan Pollak from Anarchists Against the Wall has been injured on numerous occasions and is a regular at the protest demonstrations.[13] Amongst the injuries Pollak has received includes a head injury on April 3, 2005. An Israeli soldier shot Pollak in the head with a teargas canister from an M-16, from a distance of approximately thirty meters at a protest against the Wall in the Bil'in. This left him with two internal brain hemorrhages and a wound requiring 23 stitches[14]

Two Bil’in protests during the summer of 2005 are described in detail by Irish journalist David Lynch in the first chapter (Under Fire in Bil’in) of his book, A Divided Paradise: An Irishman in the Holy Land (New Island, Jan 2009).[15]

In June 2005 an Israeli soldier lost an eye after being hit by a rock thrown by a demonstrator.[11]

On 11 August 2006 Lymor Goldstein, an Israeli lawyer, was shot in head twice with rubber coated metal bullets, sustaining serious injuries. [16][17]

Mairead Corrigan, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work on the Northern Ireland dispute, was hit in the leg by a rubber coated steel bullet and reportedly inhaled large quantities of teargas during a demonstration in April 2007.[18]

On June 6, 2008, European Parliament vice-president Luisa Morgantini and Julio Toscano, an Italian judge, were injured at a protest in Bil'in.[19]

In the first six months of 2009 over 100 Israeli security personnel were injured during the demonstrations, some seriously.[20]

In April 2009 Bil'in resident Bassem Ibrahim Abu-Rahma died after a tear gas canister hit his chest.[21]

Abdullah Abu Rahma, coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall, was arrested in December 2009 and charged with possession of spent Israeli weapons, which had been displayed in an exhibition showing the means used against protestors.[22] Desmond Tutu condemned the charges and urged Israel to immediately release Abu Rahma.[23]

Similar demonstrations have taken place at Ni'lin.

[edit] See also

http://www.youtube.com/user/hookaheart

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b 2007 PCBS Census. Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.114.
  2. ^ Asser, Martin (2007-09-05). "West Bank village hails victory". BBC News. BBC MMVII. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6979923.stm. Retrieved 2007-09-07. 
  3. ^ New York Times
  4. ^ "High Court: Controversial settlement neighborhood to remain in place". Ha'aretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/901229.html. Retrieved 2007-11-29. 
  5. ^ "Planning council approves illegal West Bank building plan". Ha'aretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/829740.html. Retrieved 2007-11-29. 
  6. ^ "Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Modi'in Illit Residents". Kosher.com. http://archive.kosher.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Article_ID=4148. Retrieved 2007-11-28. 
  7. ^ Khatib, Mohammed. "Bil'in will continue to struggle against the wall and settlements". Zmag. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=13828. Retrieved 2007-11-29. 
  8. ^ "Bil'in, a village in Palestine: Discover Bil'in". International Solidarity Movement. http://www.bilin-village.org/english/discover-bilin/. Retrieved 2007-09-07. 
  9. ^ "Offshore Zionism". New Left Review. http://newleftreview.org/?view=2624. Retrieved 2007-11-29. 
  10. ^ "Under the Guise of Security". B'Tselem Behaymos. http://www.btselem.org/Download/200512_Under_the_Guise_of_Security_Eng.pdf. Retrieved 2007-11-29. 
  11. ^ a b http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=586551
  12. ^ "Bil'in Conference 2007". International Solidarity Movement against Israel. http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/conference2007/. Retrieved 2007-11-29. 
  13. ^ The Guardian, Wednesday 30 July 2008 Middle East: Palestinian boy, 10, dies as Israeli troops fire on demonstration by Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem
  14. ^ Ha'aretz Fence protester hit in the head by tear gas canister By Tamara Traubmann
  15. ^ A Divided Paraidse: An Irishman in the Holy Land (New Island)Chapter One Under Fire in Bil'in page 1-31 by David Lynch
  16. ^ Youtube
  17. ^ "Arab village's fence war wins some Israeli hearts". FOXNews.com. http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008May17/0,4670,PalestiniansBilinapossBattle,00.html. Retrieved 2008-09-07. 
  18. ^ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3390314,00.html
  19. ^ BBC EU VIPs hurt at West Bank protest
  20. ^ http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443776613&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
  21. ^ http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3702569,00.html
  22. ^ Daniel Edelson (December 23, 2009). "Bilin resident charged with displaying used bullets". Ynetnews. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3824423,00.html. 
  23. ^ Amira Hass (December 24, 2009). "For Palestinians, possession of used IDF arms is now a crime". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1137288.html. 

Ramla Governorate

[edit] External links

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bilin
v • d • e
Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate
Cities Governate of Ramallah and el-Beireh
Palestinian territories
Municipalities
Bani Zeid · Bani Zeid al-Sharqiya · Beit Liqya · Bir Zeit · Deir Dibwan · al-Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya · Ni'lin · Silwad · Sinjil · Turmus Ayya · al-Zaitounah (Abu Shukhaidem  · al-Mazra'a al-Qibliya)  · al-Ittihad (Beitillu · Deir 'Ammar · Jammala)
Village councils
Refugee camps
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bil%27in"