What: A demonstration in solidarity with Adeeb Abu Rahmah

When: 12:30 PM, Friday, 30 October 2009

Where: The village of Bil'in, West of Ramallah

Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a leading activist and organizer from the West Bank village of Bil’in has been held in detention since his arrest during a demonstration on 10 July 2009.

The arrest of Adeeb Abu Rahmah. Video by: Haytham Khatib

Bil’in’s weekly demonstration against the Wall and settlements will be devoted to calling for the release of Abu Rahmah, as well as to protest the ongoing attempts to eliminate the village’s resistance. Protesters will march on Friday wearing masks of Adeeb, declaring "We are all Adeeb Abu Rahmah.

Abu Rahmah, already detained for over three months, is not suspected of committing any violence, but was indicted with a blanket charge of "incitement to violence", which was very liberally interpreted in this case to include the organizing of grassroots demonstrations. A judge had initially ruled that Abu Rahmah be released with restrictive conditions, but an appeal filed by the military prosecution had the decision overturned, and he was remanded until the end of legal proceedings. Since the arrest, the defense has appealed this decision four times, as trials often last up to a year and Abu Rahmah is the sole provider for a family of eleven.

Abu Rahmah's arrest came amidst an Israeli arrest and intimidation campaign that began concurrently with preliminary hearings in a Bil’in lawsuit against two Canadian companies responsible for the construction of homes in settlement of Modiin Illit. In almost five years of protest, 75 Bil'in residents were arrested in connection to demonstrations against the Wall. Of them, 27 have been arrested in the recent, ongoing arrest campaign. Israeli forces have been regularly invading homes and forcefully searching for demonstration participants, targeting the leaders of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, as well as teenage boys accused of stone throwing. Sixteen currently remain in detention, nine of which are minors.

On 23 June 2009, the Canadian court heard the preliminary arguments for a suit brought by Bil’in against two companies registered in Canada (Green Park International & Green Mount International). The village is seeking justice against the construction of settlements on its lands under the 2000 Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Statute, which incorporates international humanitarian law into Canadian federal law. Some of the people arrested in the latest wave of arrests have reported being questioned in regards to this suit during their interrogation.