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Gallery|Human Rights

A decade of anti-wall struggle

Palestinians and solidarity groups mark ten years of protest against Israel’s separation wall.

Mohamed Abu-Khatib, a Popular Struggle leader from the village of Bilin holds mirrors in front of Israeli army forces as a performance held during the weekly protest against the wall, in July 2005.
By Activestills Collective
Published On 16 Feb 201516 Feb 2015
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Bilin village, Palestine – This year marks the 10th anniversary of weekly demonstrations against the Israeli Separation Wall in the West Bank village of Bilin. That’s more than 500 Friday protests since Palestinians, usually accompanied by international and Israeli solidarity activists, began marching towards the barrier that divides their village.

On the other side of the wall lies the Israeli settlement of Modiin Illit. Like all settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, it is considered illegal under international law.

In 2007, an Israeli high court decision ordered the military to change the initial route of the wall, which had claimed more than half of the village’s lands. The army did not comply until four years later, but even the alternate route of the barrier deviates substantially from the Green Line, as does 85 percent of the wall’s route inside the West Bank.

Even this limited success came at a high price. Two of the village’s residents were killed in protests, and hundreds of protesters have been injured. In 2009, an Israeli soldier fatally shot Bassem Abu Rahmah in the chest with a high-velocity tear gas projectile.

His death was captured on video and appeared in the Oscar-nominated documentary Five Broken Cameras. A memorial garden of flowers planted in tear gas bombs was planted last year on the spot where he died. His sister, Jawaher Abu Rahmah died from tear gas inhalation following a protest on New Year’s Eve 2010.

Recently, one of the protest’s main leaders, Abdullah Abu Rahmah, once again faced an Israeli military court where he was accused of “ideological crimes” for his role in organising the demonstrations.

Under Israeli military law, any demonstration by Palestinians in the West Bank is illegal – whether nonviolent or otherwise. Abdullah has already spent 15 months in prison for organising “illegal demonstrations” and “incitement”.

An Israeli activist is arrested by an Israeli soldier during the weekly protest against the wall, in September 2005.
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Palestinian and Israeli activists run away from a tear gas canister shot directly at them by the Israeli army during the weekly protest against the wall in Bilin, West Bank, October 2005.
The late Basssem Abu-Rahme (El Feel) waving a kite brought to him as a gift by an Israeli activist from the Anarchists Against The Wall group (AATA), during the weekly protest against the wall in Bilin, West Bank, November 2005.
Palestinian, international and Israeli activists gather in the centre of Bilin village before the weekly protest against the Separation Wall, West Bank, February 2006.
Palestinian women celebrate the Israeli high court’s announcement that the Separation Wall in Bilin is to be rerouted, September 4, 2007.
Activists turn away from tear gas shot by Israeli soldiers during a weekly protest against the Separation Wall in the West Bank village of Bilin, February 2009.
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Protesters dismantle a section of the Separation Wall at a demonstration marking the 5th anniversary of the struggle against the wall in Bilin, February 2010.
Palestinian activists dressed like Avatars during the weekly protest against the wall, February 2010.
The mother and sister of Jawaher Abu Rahmah mourn during her funeral of Bilin, on January 1, 2011. Jawaher died after she inhaled tear gas fired by Israeli forces during a protest against the Separation Wall.
Sabiha Abu Rahmah, cleans the memorial monument of her son Bassem, who was shot to death by an Israeli soldier during a protest in the village in 2009, on October 4, 2013.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad (c), runs to avoid tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers during a protest marking the 8th year of the struggle against the Separation Wall in Bilin, March 2013.
Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Modiin Illit hold Israeli flags and chant slogans against Palestinian demonstrators on the other side of the wall, during the weekly demonstration against the Israeli occupation and the Separation Wall on June 28, 2013.
Five Broken Cameras director and Emmy award winner, Emad Burnat, holds his award in front of the Israeli wall, during the weekly demonstration against the wall and occupation in the West Bank village of Bilin in November 2013.
A Palestinian youth places a flag on the Israeli wall during a protest marking 9 years of struggle against the wall in Bilin, on February 28, 2014.


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