Conference at Bil’in

There was a conference recently on non-violent resistance to the Israeli takeover of Palestinian lands. About 300 people attended, including members of the European Parliament. Maried Maguire said this at the conference: "Thanks to the media here for telling the truth. Bring this truth to whatever country you come from. Non-violence will solve the problems here in Israel and Palestine. Often, the world sees only violence. But Palestinians are a good people, working towards non-violence. This Wall must fall! It is an insult to the human family and to the world– that we are building Apartheid Walls in the 21st Century! More than forty years of Occupation and Land Appropriation."

There is more information on that conference, and the aftermath, at this website. There is also some links to You Tube videos of the conference and the non-violent protests at the wall in Bal’in. The people of Bil’in have already won a legal victory against the taking of their land, but it seems it is being ignored. Israel is still trying to build a wall like the one in the picture. This picture came from a website that is working to help poverty-stricken Palestinians.

There is also a video shot by a Palestinian as part of the “shooting back” project. “Shooting back” in this case refers to filming (shooting) what the Israeli settlers are doing. Well, in this video, the settlers are acting like brutes without any morals. And the Palestinian women who was attacked said this: "They don't want us to stay on our land. But we won't leave. We'll die here. It's ours."

This project (of shooting back) was started by an Israeli human rights group. It is projects like this, and the wonderful peace teachings of the Jewish faith, that give me hope.

And I was alerted to a lot of this information from Information Clearing House. I recommend getting their daily news updates. Here's a You Tube of the protests in Bil'in: