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Why Israel imprisoned my best friend

02/09/2010 —

[Electronic Intifada] When I was a boy I was still allowed to travel in Israel. I went to the beach and swam in the sea, something that most Palestinian children living in the West Bank today can only dream of. Israel has been restricting movement more and more over the years. We Palestinians were banned from traveling to Israel, the land where many of our parents were born. And now I find I cannot leave the West Bank. I was stopped from leaving the country on 4 August when I tried to cross the Allenby Bridge and reach Jordan in order to fly to Europe.

And just as Israel has gradually increased restrictions of where we can go, the boundaries of what is permissible to do as a Palestinian have narrowed markedly. We have reached a point where peaceful protest is unacceptable to the Israeli state and military legislation has been constructed to criminalize and throw in jail anyone who dares to publicly voice dissent.

400 days and counting: nonviolent Bil’in activist Adeeb Abu Rahmah to remain incarcerated

02/09/2010 —

[ISM] A military court of appeal yesterday (1st Sept. 2010) rejected a petition calling for the release of Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a leading activist from the West bank village of Bil’in, imprisoned in Israel’s Ofer military detention centre since 10th July 2009.

The decision comes 8 days after the conviction of another Bil’in activist – Abdallah Abu Rahmah – on very similar charges, was openly criticized by the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton, who said the verdict appeared to be designed to “prevent him and other Palestinians from exercising their legitimate right to protest”.

Abdallah Abu Rahmah: Know the facts and act now for the freedom of a nonviolent freedom fighter

30/08/2010 —

[ISM] The West Bank village of Bil’in has become a symbol of the wider popular resistance movement in Palestine. Abdallah Abu Rahmah, head of Bi’in’s Popular Committee, is one of many key organizers of peaceful resistance that Israel has used legal means to persecute. He was convicted on Tuesday of two out of four charges in an Israeli military court and faces up to ten years in jail. The facts of his case – and what you can do to help put pressure on Israel – are set out below.

Bil’in: Conviction And Tears

28/08/2010 —

[Palestine Monitor] The weekly protest march at the village of Bil’in ended in Israeli Occupation Forces storming the crowd, hitting three activists with tear gas grenades, and shooting a man in the knee with a rubber-coated bullet from less than thirty yards away.

Ashraf Khatib was rushed from the field to the Palestine Medical Center in Ramallah, according to the Bil’in local popular committee.

Archbishop Tutu 'concerned' with Bil'in protester's conviction

28/08/2010 —

[Palestine Note] Rights groups and international officials, including EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, have decried this week the conviction of West Bank nonviolent protest leader Abdallah Abu Rahmah, and statesman Archbishop Desmond Tutu has released a statement expressing his concern over the conviction as well.

Palestinian Anti-Wall protester convicted by Israeli military court

27/08/2010 —

[Amnesty International] Amnesty International has condemned the conviction by an Israeli military court of a Palestinian non-violent political activist who has been detained since last December because of his involvement in protesting against the fence/wall which the Israeli authorities have been building largely on Palestinian land.

August 27, 2010 Demonstration

Collecting donations for Canteen accounts of the popular struggle prisoners

25/08/2010 —

As we all know, in addition to the hard running violence in demonstrations against the occupation, one of the key tools of repression against the popular movement is the mass arrests - along with bogus trials that lead to long periods of confinement in prisons in the West Bank and Israel.

Nearly a 100 of Bil’in residents were jailed for various periods of time since 2005. In Ni’lin alone, more than 120 people were detained since the beginning of the struggle in May 2008. During the months in which the people of An Nabi-Salih, Karawat Bnei-Zeid, Beit Rima and Kufer Ein dared to protest more than 40 of them were arrested.

EU rebukes Israel over conviction of West Bank separation barrier protester

25/08/2010 —

[The Guardian] Lady Ashton, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, today took the unusual step of publicly criticising the conviction in an Israeli military court of a Palestinian man in connection with protests against the West Bank separation barrier.

Ashton said she was "deeply concerned" the man may be imprisoned as a deterrent to others. The intervention, a week before the start of the first direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians for more than 18 months, is likely to irritate Israeli politicians. A government spokesman described it as "highly improper".

Act Up for Abdallah Abu Rahmah

24/08/2010 — Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee, was convicted of incitement and organizing illegal marches by an Israeli military court. The conviction concluded an eight months long political show trial, during which he was kept behind bars. Help us work for his release.

We are now waiting for Abdallah’s sentence, but he is facing years in jail. Now is the last moment act up on his case, and it is still not too late.

Please use the below template letters we have prepared to ask your Minister of Foreign Affairs to send an official inquiry to the Israeli government about Abdallah. Demand that your country apply pressure on Israeli officials to release Abdallah Abu Rahmah and stop targeting popular struggle.

Criminalizing Peaceful Protest: Act Up for Abdallah Abu Rahmah

24/08/2010 —

Earlier today, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee, was convicted of incitement and organizing illegal marches by an Israeli military court. The conviction concluded an eight months long political show trial, during which he was kept behind bars. Help us work for his release.

Persecuted for his key role in organizing the successful grassroots campaign against the wall and Jewish-only settlement on Bil’in’s land, Abdallah was convicted based only on the forced testimonies of minors who were arrested from their beds at the middle of the night. not a single material evidence was presented during the entire trial.

Bil'in's Abdallah Abu Rahmah Cleared of Stone-Throwing: Convicted of Incitement

24/08/2010 —

Protest organizer Abdallah Abu Rhamah from Bil’in was convicted of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations today, after an eight months long military trial, during which he was kept behind bars. He was acquitted of a stone-throwing charge and a vindictive arms-possession charge.

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Guestbook

To comment or leave a message, feel free to use the guestbook.

Join us on Facebook

Whether you wish to go to Bil’in to participate in action projects or simply find out the truth for yourself, join Bil’in’s Facebook group and contribute, virtually or otherwise, to the struggle.

Join the International Network for the Palestinian Popular Nonviolent Resistance

We call upon all those who care about justice and peace to join this effort to support the Palestinian Popular Nonviolent Resistance against the occupation and settelment expansion in the Middle East. We want to unite people, to tear down physical and mental walls and to uphold our humanity, like Palestinians and Israelis are doing together against violence, oppression and colonization.

Join the Network and endorse the call on:
internationalpopularstruggle.org

Free Adeeb Abu Rahma

Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a protest leader from Bil’in, was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment, for his involvement in organizing demonstrations. Having served his sentence in full, Abu Rahmah, who was arrested on July 10th, 2009, was supposed to be released immediately according to the decision. The prosecution, which hoped for an even harsher sentence, filed an appeal in the Military Court of Appeals, asking that Abu Rahmah remains incarcerated despite having served his sentence.

TAKE ACTION

Act Up for Abdallah Abu Rahmah

We are now waiting for Abdallah’s sentence, but he is facing years in jail. Now is the last moment act up on his case, and it is still not too late.

Pictures from Palestine by Gianna Pasini

Gianna Pasini, activiste pour la Palestine, shares with this website the photos she took in the village of Bil’in.
We thank Gianna for her contribution.

See all photos in larger size

Help needed to make a « Free Adeeb » website

Dear friends,
Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s family are looking for a volunteer to help them make a "Free Adeeb" website. Adeeb has been imprisoned since his arrest from a nonviolent demonstration on 10/7/2009. The help needed would involve making the site and uploading videos and pictures of Adeeb in action.
If you can help, please contact Adeeb’s daughter rajaaburahmeh@yahoo.com

Five Years of Popular Struggle

Gallery by ActiveStills

Call for the release of Bil'in's prisoners

38 residents of Bil’in were arrested after the beginning of a night raid campaign on 23 June 2009. Raids began concurrently with the opening of a legal trial in Montreal. Bil’in has taken two companies registered in Canada to court for participating in war crimes by building settlements on village’s land.

Three things you can do :

Protest by contacting your political representatives, as well as your consuls and ambassadors to Israel
Organise demonstrations outside of Israeli embassies in your countries
Donate to the Bil’in legal fund

More information

Courtroom Intifada

« Courtroom Intifada », a focus on Bil’in court case in Canada. In a special five-part series « People & Power » (Al Jazeera) charts the rapidly growing number of lawsuits being brought against multi-national corporations. Around the world, ordinary people are asking how many more times their interests should be sacrificed for corporate greed and shareholder profit.

« The Bil’in Wall », Radio Canada’s report for the program « Une heure sur terre » (One hour on earth) focuses on the lawsuit brought by Bil’in, in Canada, against two Quebec-registered companies that have built and sold homes that are for settlers only, on lands belonging to Bil’in.

Support Bil'in Struggle

The Popular Committee of Bil’in is in desperate need for funds in order to pay legal fees both for the trial in Montreal and for representing the arrested protesters in the military courts and bail.

Please donate to the Bil’in legal fund through paypal. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation in the US or Canada contact: bilinlegal@gmail.com.

Note : Tax deductible donations in Canada can also be made online or by check through Medical Aid for Palestine in order to pay legal fees for the trial in Canada. More information

Campaigns and Petitions

Ni'lin is paying a heavy price for its fight against the Israeli occupation

Since July 2008, Ni’lin is mourning its dead. Yousef Ahmad Younis Amera (17) and Ahmed Husam Yusef Mousa (10) were assassinated by the armed forces of occupation. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was shot in the back and killed on December 28th while taking part in a demonstration in solidarity with Gaza. Mohammed Kasim Khawaje (20), who was shot in the head during that same demonstration, died on December 31st. On Friday, 5 June 2009, Yousef Akil Srour (36) was shot in the chest with 0.22 caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.

Ni’lin sends eyewitnesses to UN to testify about Israeli assassination policy : direct link to the UN public hearings video

Join Ni’lin Facebook group

Protests against Israeli occupation

North America

Montreal : Since February 2001, every friday, PAJU vigil.

New-York : Since 2003, every saturday.

Israel-Palestine

See Anarchists Against the Wall discussion list for informations on demos and events in Israel and Palestine.

Women in Black

Women in Black vigils (more than 25 countries).

France

Every first friday of the month in Dijon and Les Sables d’Olonne organized by MAN.

Don't forget about Gaza

Poster - Solidarity with Gaza « In front of this human disaster and in front of many countries’ complicity, or even the international silence, Gaza is left with two main things: patience and hopes.

Regards from Gaza the Resistance fighter. »

- Ziad

A week in Gaza, The Guardian reports on the effects of the crisis on the ordinary people of Gaza (videos)
Popular Committee Against Siege
Gaza Freedom March
The Free Gaza Movement
Gaza massacres (27 December 2008 - 18 January 2009)

« A bus for Bil'in »

« A bus for Bil’in » is the project to collect funds to purchase a minibus for Bil’in, and especially for Bil’in’s students.

Support this project

Solidarity with Anarchists Against the Wall

AATW logo

With the increase of legal persecution against Palestinian demonstrators, AATW are now fundraising to expand its existing legal fund so that it also covers defense costs for Palestinian. This is in addition to covering a standing 15,000 USD debt, resulting from the legal persecution of Israeli anti-wall demonstrators.

Urgent Call for Support

Yes to Justice! No to Occupation!

Bil’in Popular Committee continues to push away the Wall with its regular Friday demonstrations. Bilin’s struggle continues since February 2005, in spite of the repression. Supporting Bil’in means supporting the victory of non-violent resistance over the illegal building of the settlements and the Wall.

More than ever, Bil’in needs help from Israelis and Internationals on the ground to get back all its land and to continue its resistance.

To be part of a civilian mission, please contact ISM.

Contacts Bil'in Popular Committee.

Bil'in, a village of Palestine

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