51 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 26 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds   

Mr. Presidents and Prime Ministers: Tear Down This Wall!

By       (Page 1 of 3 pages)   1 comment
Follow Me on Twitter     Message eileen fleming
Become a Fan
  (17 fans)
[Bilin, West Bank] Six years of weekly protests against the route of Israel's separation wall and four years after the Israeli high court declared the path of The Wall illegal and admitted its purpose had nothing to do with "security' but with settlement expansion, Israeli army bulldozers began to dismantle The Wall in Bilin this week.

The new path of The Wall sanctioned by the high court still leaves 435 acres of village land on the Israeli side, and thus The Bilin Popular Committee has declared June 24th will be the beginning of the struggle against the new route of The Wall. After this Friday's afternoon prayers at the mosque, the ritual mass demonstration will again march to The Wall/Fence, but this time they plan to dismantle it and access the Palestinian's legally owned land.

Mohammed Khatib, spokesperson for the Popular Committee noted, "On the ground, nothing has changed yet. All we know is that although the Israeli court officially pronounced our claims to be just, the army continued to protect the original route shooting and arresting protesters, thereby completely ignoring the ruling. We will continue to struggle until all the land is returned to our people and until we see an end to the Israeli occupation." [1]

On 4 November 2009, Richard Boudreaux, correspondent for the LA Times, reported from Bilin:

"Every Friday Mohammed Khatib's forces assemble for battle with the Israeli army and gather their weapons: a bullhorn, banners -- and a fierce belief that peaceful protest can bring about a Palestinian state.

"His message is a hard sell: Khatib, 35, is a modern-day Gandhi"And the risks of his activism are enormous"The Israeli army has targeted him. He was arrested, severely beaten and threatened with death during a series of midnight raids on the village this summer. He was freed on condition that he report to an Israeli police station each Friday at the hour of the weekly protest." [2]

      "The wall will fall in Bilin; the wall will fall like in Berlin"

  The Walls of Berlin and Bil'in

In a speech commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin on 12 June 1987, Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev , to tear down the Berlin wall, "We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace"if you seek peace...tear down this wall!"

In 1989, the Berlin Wall came crashing down due to the build up of pressures exerted by the Solidarity movement demanding freedom at the time of the demise of Communism.

The fall of the Berlin Wall symbolically ended the Cold War and proved that walls cannot keep people apart. The Berlin Wall was twenty-seven miles of rolls of barbed wire augmented with a high concrete barrier and watchtowers, floodlights, and a no man's land.

Israel's Wall is twice as high and five times as long as the one that fell in Berlin.

"Financed with U.S. aid at a cost of $1.5 million per mile, the Israeli wall prevents residents from receiving health care and emergency medical services. In other areas, the barrier separates farmers from their olive groves which have been their families' sole livelihood for generations ." [3]

When Israel's Wall is super-imposed on a map of Palestinian aquifers, it exposes that The Wall is also about grabbing those natural resources from the indigenous peoples of that land.

In Bilin, the Green Line is five miles from Israel's separation barrier and for the last six years every Friday afternoon after prayers at the mosque, Palestinians and growing numbers of Israelis and Internationals have been waging a nonviolent solidarity march in resistance to the route of the construction of Israel's Wall-which in Bilin is a twenty foot high wire fence that has confiscated their prime agricultural land.

I was inspired to go to Bilin after attending a November 2005, Power Point Lecture by an Israeli and Palestinian member of Anarchists Against the Wall, who spoke throughout America.

Anarchists Against the Wall/AAtW is a collaborative NONVIOLENT resistance and civil disobedience group of Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals who are dedicated to bringing down Israel's separation wall and ending the occupation of Palestine, which has now entered its 44th year!

Israeli anarchist, Jonathon Pollak said:

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 1   Well Said 1   Valuable 1  
Rate It | View Ratings

Eileen Fleming Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Eileen Fleming,is a Citizen of CONSCIENCE for US House of Representatives 2012 Founder of WeAreWideAwake.org Staff Member of Salem-news.com, A Feature Correspondent for Arabisto.com Producer "30 Minutes with Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu" (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

An Evening with Helen Thomas and Flashback to John Lennon and Vanunu Mordechai

Ending the Year with same old prayer: Freedom for Vanunu Gaza and Palestine

John Lennon, Dorothy Day and Christmas 2010 in the UK

There's Nothing Christian about Zionism

Justin Bieber thinks he's seen Jerusalem

I hear dead people talking

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend