Right to Protest: You're Not Welcome Here No More by Ciarán O'Carroll

On the 15th of March 2010 the Israeli Army, once again, raided the Palestinian West Bank villages of Bil’in and Nil’in. The soldiers went from one end of the village, to the other, posting a document on shop fronts and homes.

This document declared that Israeli, and international activists, were strictly prohibited from entering the villages between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm every Friday and declared them to be closed military areas until August 17th.

Israel’s illegal “Separation Wall” cuts through both villages, restricting the residents from their work, agricultural land, and water resources.

This declaration is a violation of the right to peaceful protest. It is an attempt to repress, and destroy, the village's resistance against the occupation and the annexation of its land.

Earlier in the day, Iyad Burnat, the head of the Bil’in Popular Committee, received a phone call from the Israel Security Agency. He was ordered to report to an office the next day for questioning which he refused to do, as he had done nothing wrong.

Despite the International Court of Justice finding Israel’s “Separation Barrier” contrary to international law, and saying it should be removed, its construction continues. Residents in Beit Jala have this week obtained an order to stop work on the separation wall.

Approximately 70 olive trees have already been uprooted. One families septic system was broken leaving raw sewage spewing out below their home; and a playground was bulldozed. If the wall is finished it will stand only several meters from some of the homes.

There is very little the Palestinians can do to change their situation alone. They are virtually unarmed, with a few rockets and some stone-throwing kids, and they face the fourth most powerful army on this earth.

With relations at a ’35 year low’ between Israel and the USA, International pressure at this pivotal moment could bring about monumental changes for justice and human rights in the Middle East.

Contact the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demand construction of the “Separation Barrier” ceases and the removal of illegal settlements on Palestinian land. There has never been a more important time to take action.

Write to:

Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan St.
Hakirya,
Jerusalem 91950
Israel

*The Separation Barrier

Constructed by the State of Israel. It consists of a network of fences, walls and trenches. The barrier is built mainly in the West Bank and partly along the 1949 Armistice line, or "Green Line" between Israel and Palestinian West Bank.

The Israeli government prefer the name ‘security fence’; while for the Palestinian’s the preferred name is the ‘apartheid wall’