AGAINST THE WALL

On the legal front the Bil'in committee against the wall and settlements and
their attorney Michael Sfard have taken every possible step to fight the
route of the wall. Now they are asking us to help generate international
pressure on the Israel politicians to change the route of the in Bil'in
before the Supreme Court decision.

The Bil'in committee has proposed a coordinated advocacy campaign with third
countries. The committee will be meeting with the representative offices in
Ramallah but would like an Israeli counterpart group representing the
Israeli friends of Bil'in to meet with the councilors and ambassadors in Tel
Aviv and Jerusalem.

Attached (and also pasted below) is the letter that will be sent to the
councils and ambassadors requesting a meeting on behalf of Israeli friends
of Bil'in. Please consider signing on as an individual or better yet as a
group/organization. Help in recruiting impressive signatories to this list
would be much appreciated. Organizations please send your name asap to
neta.golan@gmail.com . Individuals (and organizations) interested in adding
your name please go to: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Bilin40/petition.html

LETTER BELOW (also attached)

Your Excellency,

For the past two years Israelis and Palestinians have been protesting
together the construction of the separation barrier in the village of Bil'in
- about 6 km east of the Green line - and the construction of the new
settlement of Matityahu East, both of which stand in clear contradiction to
the Road Map and International Law.

Under the guise of security, the route of the barrier in this area has been
designed to place areas intended for the construction of the Matityahu East
settlement on the "Israeli" side of the Barrier. The current route of the
barrier separates almost 50% of Bil'in's land from the village. Until the
end of 2000 most of Bil'in residents made a living as labourers in Israel.
Since the mass cancellation of work permits in October 2000 agriculture has
become a much more significant source of income for the people of the
village.

In 2003 the construction of residential buildings in Matitayhu East
(officially a neighbourhood of the settlement Modi'in Illit, but in fact a
new settlement of more than 2,700 housing units) began, in clear violation
of the plan for the neighbourhood that was approved by the Israeli Civil
Administration four years earlier. According to the Israeli Civil
Administration and State Attorney's Office, 42 residential buildings were
constructed in Matityahu East - 20 of these without any permit whatsoever,
and the other 22 with illegal permits issued by the Local Council of the
Modi'in Illit settlement.

On January 12, 2006, in response to a petition filed by Peace Now and by the
Bil?in Village Council, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary
injunction forbidding any further construction in Matityahu East. In January
2007, in an attempt to legalize the gross violations of the planning law in
Matityahu East, the Israeli Civil Administration's Planning Board approved a
new plan for the settlement. The Planning Board rejected virtually all the
objections filed by the residents of Bil'in. After the approval of the new
plan, another petition was filed by Peace Now and by people from Bil'in,
asking the Supreme Court to annul the Planning Board's decision to legalize
the construction in the new settlement.

Beyond the grave injustice that would be done to the people of Bil'in, a
failure of the joint popular struggle there is likely to have negative
implications for the entire Palestinian-Israeli conflict. If the non-violent
struggle in Bil'in fails, and the barrier remains in its current route, the
message will be that non-violent popular struggle is ineffective in the
occupied territories, and that the only mode of opposing the 40-year long
Israeli occupation is a violent one. At a point in time where the
international community is working to reduce violence in the region, the
success of the popular struggle in Bil'in is a matter of particular urgency
and should interest all those who strive towards peace.

We ask you, Your Excellency, for an opportunity to meet with you at your
earliest possible convenience. We look forward to providing you with more
details and seek your intervention in encouraging the Israeli authorities to
keep from creating facts on the ground that will render any solution to the
current crisis impossible.

Sincerely,

Israeli Friends of Bil'in

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