Victory for Palestinian Village of Bilin
Israeli supreme court ruled yesterday that wall must be re-routed around Bilin.
A rare victory to be sure but a victory nonetheless. The success was the result of non-violent resistance of years of joint struggle led by Palestinians who were supported by Israeli and international activists. There have been roughly three such victories out of 120 cases brought to Israeli courts by Palestinians fighting the path of the wall.
The court decision dictates that the military are obliged to plan and implement a new route for the wall. It has been ordered that the new path will allow for all Palestinian agricultural land to be on the Palestinian side. Furthermore, the court has ordered that the state should not take into consideration the area earmarked for Stage B of the planned expansion of Matityahu East.
The most important decision however was made by the International court in 2004 when it ruled that the wall was illegal in it’s planned route thru the West Bank and that it should be removed. The international community ignored the decision.
Palestinians Celebrate.
Dubai TV via Mosaic on LINK TV
Yesterday, trucks and vans carried dozens of singing villagers out to the barrier again where they waved flags and rattled sticks on the metal fence in front of the Israeli soldiers. One villager shouted to the crowd through a loudspeaker: “Your steadfastness brought you here.”
“Because of our protests the world knew about us and that’s why we won,” said Abdul Latif Yassin, 50, a school teacher. “But we still have more land beyond the barrier than has been given back to us today.”
At the same time things get more difficult for Palestinians in other areas like the agriculture village of Jayyous. Jayous also pursued a strategy of non-viloent demostrations and lawsuits.
The number of Jayyous residents who engage in agriculture has decreased for a simple reason: the separation fence. In this area it was completed three years ago and it cuts off the residents of Jayyous from their lands. To reach their farm land, they require a permit from the Civil Administration, and these are given out less and less often. Only 90 of the 4,000 residents of Jayyous are today permitted to work their lands. For three years, Abu Azzam was one of the lucky ones who received a permit. On June 23, he was informed that the permit would no longer be renewed, “because of opposition on the part of security elements.”
