Bil”in, a Palestinian village in the West Bank, has become an internationally celebrated symbol of Palestinian popular resistance to the ongoing construction of the Israeli apartheid wall and settlements on their land. Since 2005, villagers have led weekly protests, with the active participation from both Israeli and international solidarity activists, in opposition to illegal Israeli colonization and annexation of Palestinian land.
In June 2009, Mohamed Khatib of Bil”in”s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Emily Schaeffer, an Israeli lawyer representing the village of Bil”in, will be embarking on a tour of 11 Canadian cities to speak on Bil”in and the historic court case scheduled to be heard in Montreal in late June 2009.
The village has filed a lawsuit in Quebec Superior Court against Green Park International and Green Mount International, two companies registered in Quebec. The companies are accused of illegally constructing residential and other buildings on the village”s lands. According to the lawsuit, the lands of Bil”in are subject to the rules and obligations of international law because the West Bank is currently under Israeli military occupation.
Bil”in”s case against the construction of settlements on their land is based on the provisions of the Geneva Convention, which prohibit an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into territory that it has occupied as a result of war. The case against Green Park and Green Mount seeks an immediate order from the Canadian court that it end its illegal activities.
organizers
Solidarity for Human Rights (SPHR)
Tadamon!
Young Jews for Social Justice
national sponsors
Canadian Friends of Sabeel
Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation of Canada
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
national endorsers
Adala – Canadian Arab Justice Committee, Vancouver
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign, Vancouver
Canadian Arab Federation
Canadian Friends Service Committee
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace
Canada-Palestine Association
CanPalNet
Christian Peacemaker Teams, Canada
CKUT Radio, Montreal
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Victoria
Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine, Quebec
Collectif anarchiste La Nuit (UCL)
Concerned Transit Operators, B.C.
Co-op Radio, Vancouver
Fredericton Palestine Solidarity
Fredericton Islamic Association
Halifax Peace Coalition
Human Rights Committee, Vancouver
Independent Jewish Voices Canada
Jews for Just Peace, Vancouver
KAIROS Canada
Lawyers Against the War
Masjid Al-Salaam, Vancouver
No One Is Illegal, Vancouver
Outlook Magazine
Pakistan Action Network, Vancouver
Palestine Solidarity Society, Halifax
Palestine Solidarity Network, Edmonton
Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU), Montreal
Public Service Alliance of Canada, B.C. region
Regroupement autonome des jeunes (RAJ)
Science for Peace, Canada
SFPIRG
Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver
StopWar, Vancouver
UBC Colour Connected
United Jewish People”s Order (UJPO)
Vancouver District Labour Council
Vancouver Muslims
Vancouver Quaker Meeting
Vancouver Socialist Forum
Women”s International League for Peace and Freedom, Canadian Section
World Peace Forum
info:
info(at)tadamon.ca
514 664 1036
