Abdallah Abu Rahma, head of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, Mohammad Khatib, a prominent Palestinian activist, and Naji Tamimi, member of the Nabi Saleh Popular Committee, have been retained by members of the Israeli forces from 10:30 am to 14:30pm in a Checkpoint between Ramallah and Bethlehem with the aim to try to avoid an action organized by the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC) in the village of Wallaja.
Yesterday, 3 October, the Israeli forces raid the tent where the PSCC organized the 8th Bil’in Conference and retained, from 17h pm to 21pm, 7 activists and organizers of the Conference. The Israeli military forces raid the space with four jeeps and at least 30 soldiers, they retained seven key person-coordinators of the conference and handcuffed them. The reason of the raid remain unclear. Right now all the organizers have been released without charges.
In that way, the Israeli forces are trying to prevent the 8th Bil’in Conference on Palestinian Nonviolent Struggle through an organized wave of repression towards key activists and coordinators. Indeed, yesterday morning, three key Palestinian coordinators, Abdallah Abu Rahma, Mohammed Khatib and Naji Tamimi, all of them declared as Human Rights Defenders by Catherine Ashton, Head of the European External Action Service, have been retained, as well, from 10:30 am to 14:30pm, in a Checkpoint between Ramallah and Bethlehem.
A lawyer representing the PSCC, that has been in touch with Israeli Military representatives, has declared that the three Human Rights Defenders have been interrogated in relation with the activities connected with the 8th Bil’in Conference.
In this context, more than 70 Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals demonstrated, yesterday morning, on confiscated land belonging to the village of Wallaja (Bethlehem District) against the expansion of the Israeli Beit El Settlement (a symbol of the central command of the Israeli army and its control over occupied Palestinian land), the policy of settlement construction and expansion, discriminative division, and the takeover of Palestinian land.
The demonstrators managed to damage a gate installed by the Israeli Security Forces 4 mothns ago which separates Omar Shananir Family from Al Walaja Village, re-connecting both areas again.
Background of the 8th Bil’in Conference
The 8th Bil’in International Conference on Nonviolent Popular Struggle is an initiative of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC). The PSCC are civilians, ordinary people, who are engaged in a Palestinian-led nonviolent struggle of Palestinian, Israeli and International activists for life and freedom, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law.
Internationally recognized politicians such as Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Luisa Morgantini, Desmond Tutu or Jimmy Carter have joined the event in the past. The main goal of the conference is to strength and improve the coordination tools between the different implicated actors in the protection of Human Rights Defenders in Palestine just as general media, policy makers, and the Palestinian, Israeli and International civil society.
Several key figures of the Palestinian Leadership participated in the inauguration session of the Conference on wednesday 2nd October including: Dr. Rami Hamdallah, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, former candidate to the Presidency of Palestine representing the Mubadara Political Party, or Mr. Mahmoud Aloul, Member of the Fatah Central Committee.
Key representatives of the International Community including representatives of the Spanish Consulate in Jerusalem, the General Consul of Britain or the representative of the European External Action Service were also presents in the conference just few hours before the conference was raided by Israeli Military forces.
For more details: +972 (0) 545674173 – palestine@antiga.novact.org
