Bil'in

Infobox Palestinian Authority muni
name=Bil'in


imgsize=250
caption=A street in Bil'in
arname=بلعين
meaning=
founded=
type=mund
typefrom=
altOffSp=
altUnoSp=Bilin
governorate=rb
latd=31|latm=55|lats=39.93|latNS=N
longd=35 |longm=04|longs=15.68|longEW=E
population=1,800
popyear=2006 [http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/populati/pop07.aspx Projected Mid -Year Population for Ramallah & Al Bireh Governorate by Locality 2004- 2006] Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics]
area=3,983
areakm=4.0
mayor=Ahmed Issa Abdullah Yassin

Bil'in ( _ar. بلعين) is a Palestinian village located in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate, located km to mi|12 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. The main economic activity is agriculture. Bil'in is considered an ideological stronghold of Fatah, and many employees of the Palestinian Authority reside there.

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. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6979923.stm |title=West Bank village hails victory |accessdate=2007-09-07 |last=Asser |first=Martin |date=2007-09-05 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC MMVII ] [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/world/middleeast/05mideast.html?ref=middleeast New York Times] ]

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 a disputed portion of Bil'in's land to the west of the wall, [cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/901229.html |title=High Court: Controversial settlement neighborhood to remain in place |accessdate=2007-11-29 |publisher= Ha'aretz ] [cite web |url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/829740.html |title=Planning council approves illegal West Bank building plan |accessdate=2007-11-29 |publisher=Ha'aretz ] [cite web |url=http://archive.kosher.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Article_ID=4148|title=Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Modi'in Illit Residents|accessdate=2007-11-28 |publisher=Kosher.com ] 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. [cite web |url=http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=107&ItemID=13828 |title=Bil'in will continue to struggle against the wall and settlements |last=Khatib |first=Mohammed |accessdate=2007-11-29 |publisher= Zmag] 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. [cite web |url=http://www.bilin-village.org/english/discover-bilin/ |title=Bil'in, a village in Palestine: Discover Bil'in |accessdate=2007-09-07 |publisher= International Solidarity Movement ] 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. [cite web |url=http://newleftreview.org/?view=2624 |title=Offshore Zionism |accessdate=2007-11-29 |publisher= New Left Review ] [cite web |url=http://www.btselem.org/Download/200512_Under_the_Guise_of_Security_Eng.pdf |title=Under the Guise of Security|accessdate=2007-11-29 |publisher= B'Tselem Behaymos]

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. [ [http://archive.kosher.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Article_ID=4148 Kosher.com - kosher bakery, kosher grocery, your everything kosher superstore! ] ] In July 2005, activists entered a metal box placed on the route of the barrier, halting its construction for a short time. Fact|date=June 2008

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. [cite web |url=http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/conference2007/ |title=Bil'in Conference 2007 |accessdate=2007-11-29 |publisher= International Solidarity Movement against Israel]

Jonathan Pollak from Anarchists Against the Wall has been injured on numerous occasions and is a regular at the protest demonstrations. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/30/israelandthepalestinians.middleeast The Guardian, Wednesday 30 July 2008] "Middle East: Palestinian boy, 10, dies as Israeli troops fire on demonstration" by Toni O'Loughlin in Jerusalem] 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 [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=560981 Ha'aretz] "Fence protester hit in the head by tear gas canister" By Tamara Traubmann]

On 11 August 2006 Lymor Goldstein, an Israeli Lawyer was shot in head twice with rubber coated metal bullets, sustaining serious injuries. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=17Hv6C4rziU Youtube] ] [cite web |url=http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008May17/0,4670,PalestiniansBilinapossBattle,00.html |title=Arab village's fence war wins some Israeli hearts |accessdate=2008-09-07 |publisher= FOXNews.com ]

Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Corrigan, who won the prize in 1976 for her work in the Northern Ireland dispute, on Friday, April 20, 2007, was hit in the leg by a rubber coated steel bullet and reportedly inhaled large quantities of teargas during a non-violent demonstration. [ [http://www.nvpdecade.org/english%20new/maguire_statement.pdf Fellowship of Reconciliation] retrieved 29 July, 2008.] ]

On June 6, 2008, European Parliament vice-president Luisa Morgantini and Julio Toscano, an Italian judge, were injured at a protest in Bil'in. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7440743.stm BBC] EU VIPs hurt at West Bank protest]

On 7 July 2008 Ashraf Abu Rahma of Bil'in was filmed by 17 year-old Salam Kanaan at an anti-barrier demonstration in Ni'lin where an Israeli battalion commander (Lt. Col. Omri Bruberg of Armored Battalion 71) is holding Ashraf, a handcuffed and blindfolded detainee, while a subordinate shoots the detainee in the foot. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7517406.stm BBC report] Barak condemns detainee shooting] [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/27/israelandthepalestinians.middleeast Observer 27 July 2008 page 37] "Story behind the shot protester and the teen who caught it on film" by Peter Beaumont] A polygraph test on Tuesday 29 July 2008 has cast doubts on the testimony of Lt. Col Bruberg. After meeting with OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, Bruberg agreed to take a 10-day leave of absence while IDF Judge Advocate-General Brig.-Gen. Avichai Mandelblitt makes the decision of whether or not to press charges against the battalion commander. [ [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331130784&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull JPost] "Polygraph casts doubt on officer's story" by Yaakov Katz]

ee also

*Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.bilin-village.org/village_en.php Official website]
* [http://www.gphrc.org/alan%20injured.html Account of Injury]
* [http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2005/12/08/conference-in-bilin/ International Solidarity Movement article about the 2005 conference]
* [http://www.po.org.ar/oien/2006/oien06/oien06001.htm Article on 2005 protests]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DXVqRp7w-I Youtube film by Imad Burnat about Bil'in demo on Oct., 4, 2007, and subsequent detention of 11-old juvenile delinquent boy by Israeli soldiers]