Violence and Illegal Activity on the Ground as Part of the Bil’in Eighth International Conference for Popular Resistance *

Overview

1. The Bil'in Eighth International Conference for Popular Resistance was held between October 2 and 4, 2013. The objective of the conference was to discuss strengthening and expanding the popular resistance. The conference was attended by senior figures in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah, popular resistance activists and representatives of Palestinian organizations. There were also representatives from abroad, at least two of whom were European diplomats (the British consul-general in east Jerusalem and the EU representative on the PA^[1]). During the conference there was violent and illegal activity near the villages of Bil'in and Walaja (northwest of Bethlehem) as part of implementing the popular resistance on the ground. According to reports from the Palestinian media, Luisa Morgantini, a member of the European Parliament, participated in the popular resistance activity on the ground.

Violence in the Village of Bil'in

2. On October 4, 2013, the usual weekly riot took place near the security fence in the village of Bil'in, which has become a symbol of the popular resistance. An estimated 300 Palestinians marched to the security fence in Bil'in and threw stones at IDF forces. The IDF forces responded by dispersing the crowd with riot control equipment. There were no casualties and no one was detained.

3.  According to a Palestine TV correspondent, the riot in Bil'in was the concluding event of the Bil'in Eighth International Conference for Popular Resistance. Palestine TV broadcast pictures of dozens of participants advancing on the IDF forces stationed on the other side of the security fence and confronting them. According to Palestine TV, one of the participants in the event was Luisa Morgantini, a member of the European Parliament, who claimed she was wounded by IDF fire and had to receive medical attention in Ramallah (Palestine TV, October 4, 2013).

4. One of the participants at the riot in Bil'in was Mustafa Barghouti, head of the National Initiative movement and a prominent popular resistance activist. Interviewed by Palestine TV, he said that "all the land of Palestine will be liberated by the popular resistance and the armed resistance. Just as we destroyed the roadblock at Walaja [See below], now we are resisting the roadblocks and fence at Bil'in and Abu Dis, everywhere. The popular resistance is the path of the Palestinian people to freedom and independence."

Destruction of Gate Erected by IDF near the Village of Walaja

5. The Palestinian media reported that the second day of the Bil'in Conference included an "activity on the ground" near the village of Walaja (northwest of Bethlehem, near Har Gilo, a neighborhood of Jerusalem). An estimated 50 Popular Committees Against the Fence and Settlements activists, accompanied by anti-Israeli foreign activists, gathered at the gate and overturned it.

6. The iron gate had been erected by the IDF to prevent the incursion into Israeli territory of Palestinian vehicles from the Bethlehem region, especially from the area of the village of Walaja. They sprayed "Down with the occupation" on a concrete block supporting the gate and drew a Magen David equaling a swastika (Shihab website, Palestinian TV and the Wafa News Agency, October 3; Al-Sharaa TV in Tulkarm and the Ma'an News Agency, October 3 and 4, 2013).

Marwan Barghouti, Luisa Morgantini (far left) and Abdallah Abu Rahma march after Abu Rahma's release. He had been delayed for a number of hours at the Wadi Nar roadblock (east of Bethlehem) by the Israel Border Police. Ms. Morgantini (hand at left in right picture) signals a "V" (Website of the Palestinian National Initiative movement, October 3, 2013)

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