WEST BANK, PALESTINE: Bil'in village, the internationally renowned centre of Palestinian non-violent resistance to Israel's Apartheid Wall, was this morning - 15th March 2010 - declared a 'Closed Military Zone' by Israeli Authorities, meaning that access for International and Israeli anti-Wall activists is outlawed for six months. Furthermore, the head of the Popular Committee in Bil'in, Iyad Burnat, received a phone call from the Shin Bet - Israel's 'internal security service' - ordering him to report to Ofer Military Prison for questioning.

Following a 2am invasion of the village by the Israeli military, an order was posted around the village declaring Bil'in to be a 'Closed Military Zone' until August 17th. It goes on to state that Israeli and international peace activists are strictly prohibited from entering Bil'in between the hours of 8am and 8pm every Friday, the day on which the weekly non-violent demonstration against the Wall takes place. Any activists breaching this order will face arrest and/or deportation by the Israeli military.

Speaking from Bil'in, the head of the Popular Committee Iyad Burnat, who has been a regular visitor to Ireland as a guest of a wide range of human rights NGOs, today said: "This is a crude attempt to stop Israeli and International activists from supporting the popular struggle in Bil'in, and is therefore just another action to repress and destroy the village's resistance to the occupation and also against the annexation of it's land. We are aware that even before this order was posted, over the last two weeks a number of international activists have been refused entry to the village by Israeli forces".

Mr. Burnat continued: "I myself have been asked to report to the Shin Bet office in Ofer Military Prison for questioning tomorrow, and this is an order I refuse to comply with. I have done nothing illegal. In Bil'in we are determined to continue our weekly non-violent protests and will not bow to this, the latest, in a long line of intimidation tactics carried out by the IDF. We plan to hold a mass demonstration here this coming Friday 19th March".

IPSC spokesperson Freda Hughes, who has visited Bil'in and taken part in the protests, said: "The non-violent struggle in Bil'in has been going on for over five years. In that time over 200 Irish people have attended the demonstrations and stood side by side with Palestinians, Israelis and other internationals seeking justice for Bil'in. It has been my experience that every Friday the Israeli army responds with violence, both physical and psychological. Protesters are regularly tear-gassed, sprayed with foul water, subject to the firing of concussion grenades, and shot at by the Israeli military. Many protesters, both Palestinian and international, have been severely wounded and one resident Bassem Abu Rahmah was killed after being hit full force in the chest with a tear gas canister in April 2009."

Ms. Hughes continued: "While this news is deeply shocking, people should recognise this order for what it is, merely the latest attempt by the Israeli state to crack down on internationals entering the West Bank. Over the past number of months there has been a spate of denials of entry and deportations of international activists and NGO workers, including several Irish people. This, coupled with the withholding of NGO employees' and visiting lecturers' work permits and a surge in arrests of non-violent activists, is extremely worrying and is leading many to fear that Israel may be preparing the ground to impose much harsher military measures on Palestinians in the West Bank."

Background:

Bil’in, a small village situated west of Ramallah in the Occupied West Bank, has become an international symbol of the Palestinian non-violent popular struggle. For almost five years, its residents have been continuously struggling against the de facto annexation of close to 60% of their farmlands. Their land is being confiscated for the construction of the Apartheid Wall and for the construction of illegal Israeli settlement-colonies. The people of Bil’in live in what amounts to an open air prison. Bil’in has been the scene of gross human rights violations on behalf of the Israeli state – not just against Palestinians, but also Israeli and international activists, journalists and even politicians.

This heroic struggle has been internationally recognised and in 2008 earned the Popular Committee (along with the Israeli group Anarchists Against the Wall) the Carl von Ossietzky Medal for their work in trying to bring about a “realization of the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. Bil'in has also been visited, and its struggle endorsed, by many high profile international figures such as former President of Ireland Mary Robinson,  Irish Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Former US President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and hip hop superstar Saul Williams.

More info: http://www.bilin-village.org/english/ and http://www.bilin-ffj.org/