A-Infos (en) Palestine-Israel, Small successes along the continuous struggle

This week, the state forces stopped the night rides harassing and arresting activists of 
the Bilin village. On the refugees and "guest workers" front, the expulsion of children 
born and raised in Israel and their parents deferred to the end of school next year. A n 
activists film "Refugees" was screened in the main TV channel. The struggle continued 
against transfer in Sheikh Jarrah (occupied Jerusalem) and with the Bedouins in the Israel 
south. The involvement with the olive picking continued, and with the new wave of high 
school seniors refusnics too. Friday on-going joint demonstrations of the Anarchists 
against the wall and the Palestinian villagers of Bil'in, Ni'ilin, Ma'asarah.

BIL'IN

In spite of stormy whether, bout 30 Israelis, Internationals, and people of Bil'in 
participated in the weekly Friday demonstration against the separation fence, the 
settlements, and occupation. This the demonstration was devoted to calling for the release 
of Abu Rahmah, as well as to protesting the ongoing attempts to eliminate the village’s 
resistance. Protesters marched on Friday wearing masks of Adeeb, declaring “We are all 
Adeeb Abu Rahmah”.

Adeeb Abu Rahmah, who has been detained for over three months, is not suspected of 
committing any violence, but was indicted with a blanket charge of "incitement to 
violence", which was very liberally interpreted in this case to include the organizing of 
grassroots demonstrations. A judge had initially ruled that Abu Rahmah is released with 
restrictive conditions, but an appeal filed by the military prosecution had the decision 
overturned, and he was remanded until the end of legal proceedings. Since the arrest, the 
defense has appealed this decision four times. Trials often last up to a year and Abu 
Rahmah is the sole provider for a family of eleven.

     Abu Rahmah's arrest came amidst an Israeli arrest and intimidation campaign that 
began concurrently with preliminary hearings of a Bil’in lawsuit against two Canadian 
companies responsible for the construction in the settlement of Modiin Illit (built on 
lands robbed from Bil'in and neighboring Palestinian villages). In almost five years of 
protest, 75 Bil'in residents were arrested in connection to demonstrations against the 
Wall. Of them, 27 have been arrested in the recent, ongoing arrest campaign. Israeli 
forces have been regularly invading homes and forcefully searching for demonstration 
participants, targeting the leaders of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and 
Settlements, as well as teenage boys accused of stone throwing. Sixteen currently remain 
in detention, nine of which are minors.

During the demonstration youngsters succeeded to enter the route of the separation fence 
through a breach in the external fence of the route - in spite of heavy shower of tear 
gas. The main body of the demonstration arrived as usual at the main gate to the other 
side of the fence and confronted there the state forces for nearly an hour - in spite of 
sporadic showers of tear gas grenades. Few of the grenades that were not activated the 
first time thrown, were returned to the soldiers to taste their own medicine.

MA'ASARA

Some 40 Palestinian demonstrators from the village of Ma'asara, joined by twenty 
internationals and four Israelis, marched from the village center towards the route of the 
Apartheid Wall. Demonstrators carried flags of many different nations which show 
solidarity with Palestine in order to remind Israel that the entire world demands the end 
of the occupation.

As usual, the march was stopped by occupation soldiers with barbed wire at the entrance to 
the village. While many of the demonstrators found cover from the rain under a huge 
Palestinian flag, a few daring activists stood in front of the soldiers in their T-shirts, 
waving the different flags. Speeches were then carried in Arabic, Hebrew and English, 
noting the insistence of the struggle to go on in all sorts of weather, and calling upon 
the soldiers to refuse and switch sides. In an attempt to help the soldiers do just that, 
some of the village kids stepped on the wire or tried to remove it all together. The 
soldiers, however, choose to maintain the separation between themselves and the 
demonstration, and pushed the children away.

After another half hour of slogan chanting in the pouring rain led to the end of the 
demonstration. Though none were arrested or wounded, some cases of a potential cold were 
noted amongst the soaking demonstrators.

NI'ILIN

Ni'lin's first winter protest was held under heavy rainfall. Consequently, the number of 
protesters was smaller thanusual, and consisted of a few dozen Ni'liners, ten israelis and 
a similar number of internationals. Some of the demonstraters set fire to a large pile of 
tires placed near the wall's concrete slabs. The combination of heat and humidity seemed 
to have cracked parts of the concrete. A number of protesters clashed with the soldiers 
guarding the fence, who fired volleys of tear gas and squirted the "Skunk" which was 
particularly potent in stench. No injuries were recorded aside from gas inhalation, and 
the protest ended earlier than usual.

Pictures at: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/31/18627278.php

Vudeo demo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLfLZH8gHHQ

OLIVE PICKING

Vigil for olive trees cut by settlers in the Hebron area 
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/10/31/18627264.php

See previous reports at: http://ilanisagainstwalls.blogspot.com
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