The Bil’in Pan-Canada Tour: Israeli Apartheid on Trial
Published by Patricia June 4th, 2009 in Human Rights, International Solidarity Tags: Temporarily disabled.Two Events in Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territory, June 7th and 8th.
Featuring: Mohammed Khatib of the Popular Committee Against the Wall, Bil’in, Occupied Palestine, Emily Schaeffer an Israeli lawyer representing the village of Bil’in and local speakers!
Sunday, June 7th – panel discussion with Carol Martin: Nis’ga, Gitnyow, Native 2010 Resistance. 6pm-8pm, Room 1700, SFU Harbour Centre, Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Suggested donation $10-$25. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Monday, June 8th – lecture: 7pm – 9pm, reception: 9pm – 10pm with Carol Martin: Nis’ga, Gitnyow, Native 2010 Resistance. Vancouver Unitarian Church, 949 West 49th Avenue Suggested donation: $10-$25. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Childcare available on-site.
All monies fundraised will go directly towards covering tour costs and Bil’in’s legal fees.
About Bil’in and this Tour
Bil’in, a Palestinian village located 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. Since 2005, villagers have led weekly nonviolent protests, with active participation from both Israeli and international solidarity activists, in opposition to illegal Israeli colonization and annexation of Palestinian land. Almost 60% of Bil’in’s land has been annexed by Israel to date.
Bil’in has filed a lawsuit in the Quebec Superior Court against two Quebec registered companies: Green Park International and Green Mount International. The companies are accused of illegally constructing residential and non-residential buildings for the Israeli settlement of Mattityahu East on the Bil’in’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.
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 a historic court case scheduled to be heard in Montreal in late June 2009. They will be in Vancouver to talk about this case and Bil’in’s resilient struggle.
For more background information about the lawsuit.
For more information on Bil’in.
For more information on local events please contact or 604.780.8463.
In Vancouver, events are being organized by the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign.
Endorsers and Sponsors
Locally these events have been endorsed and sponsored by: Adala – Arab Justice Committee, Canadian Arab Federation, Canada-Palestine Association, CanPalNet, Concerned Transit Operators of Metro Vancouver, Co-op Radio, Independent Jewish Voices Canada – BC, Jews for a Just Peace, Lawyers Against the War, Masjid Al-Salaam, No One Is Illegal – Vancouver, Outlook Magazine, Pakistan Action Network, Public Service Alliance of Canada – BC Region, SFPIRG, Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights-UBC, StopWar, Vancouver District Labour Council, Vancouver Muslims, Vancouver Quaker Meeting, Vancouver Socialist Forum, UBC Colour Connected, World Peace Forum.
Nationally the Bil’in Tour is organized by: Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), Tadamon, and Young Jews for Social Justice with endorsement and sponsorship from: the Canadian Arab Federation, Canadian Friends Service Committee, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada, KAIROS, the Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation, Canadian Friends of Sabeel, Science for Peace, United Jewish People’s Order, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) Canadian Section
Articles on Bil’in
National Post: Palestinian village sues Canadian contractors
CBC report about legal proceedings in Quebec – Canada (October 7, 2008)
Photo Gallery of Bil’in village non-violent resistance:
A letter from Mohammad Khatib honouring slain Palestinian Bassam Ibrahim Abou Rahme
Photos: Solidarity with Bil’in in Montreal
Palestine: Bil’in international conference closing statement