Bil’in’s Wall
Sad reports of Israel’s Separation Wall encroaching on Palestinian land are common, but this story in Palestine Monitor about new wall construction at Bil’in and Saffa, near Ramallah, interests me particularly because just two months ago I visited Bil’in. Excerpts:
Six Israeli bulldozers along with Israeli occupation forces have started breaking ground on Palestinian private property in preparation for laying the foundations of the structure. The Wall in this area is up to six kilometers from the Green Line, deep inside West Bank territory. It will isolate about 50% of the two villages’ land behind the Wall, separating villagers from their olive trees and agricultural and grazing lands. Workers there will also not be able to reach Israel to go to work. … Hundreds of the 6,000 residents of Bil’in and Saffa will lose their land to Israel’s ongoing state-sponsored theft.
Yesterday was the third day of civil protests against this illegal policy. In the past three days, many Palestinians were injured when Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the peaceful protesters. Ten Palestinians were injured yesterday during a demonstration in Saffa.
The FFIPP group I was part of visited Bil’in. Residents showed us where the wall was supposed to be built, right across the rolling hills and olive trees.
On the other side of the line, three Jewish settlements, one of them described as Israel’s third-largest religious town, crept closer.
This grazing land would no longer be accessible to Bil’in residents:
By coincidence, yesterday I posted to my photo blog a photo of two Bil’in boys, illustrating the theme “protective.”