Despite the middle-of-the-night arrest earlier this week of a leader of the Bilin protest movement, scores joined the protest yesterday at the separation wall amid a hail of teargas canisters. Friends of Freedom and Justice-Bilin has a video of the protest at that link, and reports:
Today, activists managed to pull open the yellow gate next to the fence, after cutting through the surrounding barbed wire. This gate is regularly used by the army to invade and harass the people of Bilin. Beyond the gate you can see the Israeli army’s current encampment as well as fields and olive trees belonging to Palestinian families from Bilin. The apartheid wall usurps 60% of the village’s land. International demonstrator T.D. commented, “All the values and principles of morality that we know have been completely inverted and perverted here, its Orwellian.” His placard read, “War monger Obama receives Nobel Peace Prize.” Another sign read: "Rogue criminal state Israel: The only ‘democracy’ in the Middle East." This protest was held just two days after Abdulla Abu Rahme the Media Coordinator of Bilin’s Popular committee was arrested in Ramallah.
