Bil'in, 5 anni di protesta, un video e la lettera di Abdallah dalla prigione di Ofer

[Assopace Jerusalem <jerusalem at assopace.org>]

 

A seguire il link a un video della manifestazione di ieri a Bil'in, 5 anni dall'inizio della protesta non violenta. Sotto trovate il comunicato del comitato popolare e una lettera di Abdallah Abu Rahme: ieri durante le celebrazioni del 5 anniversario della lotta popolare non violenta, Abdallah ha parlato ai manifestanti, in collegamento telefonico dalla prigione di Ofer.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd02nfZiNHc
Foto: http://www.palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1274

Bil'in celebrates anniversary of the start of the popular resistance against the wall and settlements and to enter the sixth year and injuring ten people were injured and dozens of suffocation

The village of Bil'in, participated today, more than 3000 protesters and was headed by Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad, where the Friday prayer with the people in the village, and this visit comes in solidarity with the people of the village during their resurrection of the anniversary of the popular resistance against the wall and settlements and to enter the sixth year to start Falyatem resistance against the wall and the members of the Legislative Council and Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and a number of ministers and leaders of Palestinian factions and members of the Knesset and the mayor of Geneva.

Has left the people of the village of Bil'in after Friday prayers in the process of popular protests, called by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and settlement in the village to mark the anniversary of the start of the popular resistance against the wall and settlements and to enter the sixth year,

The march began, where the GAP participants village streets, chanting slogans calling for national unity, and the other calling for resistance to the occupation and the racist policy of building settlements and the wall and put up barricades and turned towards the wall after trying to cross into their land, but the military prevented permitted to do so , the army has sprayed the demonstrators with water, called the stinking smell of skunk and used tear gas fired 30 bombs at one time more than once and soldiers used rubber-coated bullets. Wounding a dozen others were injured and wounded.

The Committee thanked the People's participants and sympathizers, especially ambulance crews and Red Crescent Medical Relief Committees and the Health Work Committees for its unique role by helping the injured and received first aid and transported to the hospital during the day and previous days.

This was the Israeli army yesterday raided the village twice, have responded with the village youths throwing stones, forcing them to leave and return in the second time in the middle of the night.

The most important achievements of the experience of Bil'in during the past five years are the following:
1. Israeli Supreme Court issued on December 4 \ 9 \ 2007 a resolution stating the illegality of the wall in the track at the time, this Court has recommended to demolish it and return it to the back and retrieved about 1000 Dunmes, where the introduction of the new path is actually on Monday, 15 / 2 / 2010.
2. Keep the door open for citizens to work in their own land has not been closed, especially during daylight hours.
3. Demolition of some houses in the settlement and the return of some pieces inside the settlement and its environs.

4. For the Popular Committee Against the Wall four awards at the level of domestic and international:

5. The success of the People's Committee to stop settlement expansion on the territory of the village.
6. Conversion of land behind the wall to the green paradise by encouraging citizens to land reclamation and cultivation of cereals, fruit trees, especially olives, where peasants racing to such work, and this is what the People's Committee is seeking to turn the land all green and leave no excuse for the occupation confiscated.
7. The work of international conferences to resist the occupation and the wall and settlements and to disseminate the experience of Bil'in popular, where he held four international conferences and a Palestinian, and prepare for the conclusion of the Fifth International Conference, which will be, God willing, in 21/4/2010.
8. Bil'in has become a tourist attraction, officially and popularly.
9. The village of Bil'in has become a symbol and a model of popular resistance, especially in the resistance to the wall and settlements, nationally and globally, and the focus of attention all over the world with compassion and solidarity with the Palestinian people.

 

This letter from Bil′in′s Abdallah Abu Rahmah was conveyed from his prison cell by his lawyers. Please circulate widely.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

It has been two months now since I was handcuffed, blindfolded and taken from my home.  Today news has reached Ofer Military Prison that the apartheid wall on Bil'in's land will finally be moved and construction has begun on the new route. This will return half of the land that was stolen from our village. For those of us inOfer , imprisoned for our protest against the wall, this victory makes the suffering of being here easier to bear. After actively resisting the theft of our land by the Israeli apartheid wall and settlements every week for five years now, we long to be standing along side our brothers and sisters to mark this victory and the fifth anniversary of our struggle.

Ofer is an Israeli military base inside the occupied territories that serves as a prison and military court. The prison is a collection of tents enclosed by razor wire and an electrical fence, each unit containing four tents, 22 prisoners per tent. Now, in winter, wind and rain comes in through cracks in the tent and we don't have sufficient blankets, clothes, and other basic necessities.

Food is a critical issue here in Ofer, there's not enough. We survive by buying ingredients from the prison canteen that we prepare in our tent. We have one small hot plate, and this is also our only source of warmth. Those whose families can put money in an account for us to buy food, do so, but many cannot afford to. The positive aspect to this is that I have learned how to cook! Tonight I madefalafel and sweets to celebrate the news about our victory. I cannot wait to get home and cook for my wife and children!

I was arrested in my slippers, and to this day my family has been unable to get permission to supply me with a pair of shoes.  I was finally given my watch after repeated requests. For me this is an essential way to keep oriented; it was unbearable not being able to see the rate at which time passes. Receiving it, I felt so overjoyed, like a child getting his first watch. I can barely imagine what it will be like to have a pair of proper shoes again.

Because of our imprisonment, the military considers our families to be a security threat. It is very hard for our wives, children and extended family to visit. My friendAdeeb Abu Rahmah , also a political prisoner from Bil'in, cannot receive visits from his wife and one of his daughters. Even his mother, a woman in her eighties who is currently in bad health, is considered a security threat! He is afraid that he will not see her before she dies.

I am a teacher and before my arrest I taught at a private school in Birzeit and also owned a chicken farm. My family had to sell the farm at a loss after I was arrested. I don’t know if I will have my position at the school when I am released.Adeeb 's family of nine is left without their sole provider, as are many other families. Not being able to care for our loved ones who need us is the hardest part of being here.

It is the support that I receive from my family and friends that helps me go on. I am grateful to the Palestinian leaders who have contacted my family, the diplomats from the European Union and to the Israeli activists who have expressed their support by attending my hearings.  The relationship we have built together with the activists has gone beyond the definition of colleague or friend, we are brothers and sisters in this struggle. You are an unrelenting source of inspiration and solidarity. You have stood with us during demonstrations and court hearings, and during our happiest and most painful occasions.  Being in prison has shown me how many true friends I have, I am so grateful to all of you.

From the confines of my imprisonment it becomes so clear that our struggle is far bigger than justice for only Bil’in or even Palestine . We are engaged in an international fight against oppression. I know this to be true when I remember all of you from around the world who have joined the movement to stop the wall and settlements. Ordinary people enraged by the occupation have made our struggle their own, and joined us in solidarity. We will surely join together to struggle for justice in other places when Palestine is finally free.

Missing the five-year anniversary of our struggle in Bil'in will be like missing the birthday of one of my children. Lately I think a lot about my friendBassem whose life was taken during a nonviolent demonstration last year and how much I miss him. Despite the pain of this loss, and the yearning I feel to be with my family and friends at home, I think that if this is the price we must pay for our freedom, then it is worth it, and we would be willing to pay much more.

Yours,

Abdallah Abu Rahmah
>From the Ofer Military Detention Camp