At dawn today, some 35 to 40 Israeli Occupation Forces in 6 jeeps and a troop carrier raided the home of Rani Ayub in the West Bank village of Bil'in: there were no arrests as Rani was arrested four weeks ago in his home and has been held, incommunicado, since then in the notorious Mascobia (Russian Compound) police/interrogation center in West Jerusalem with no family visits, access to lawyers or even a charge. Iyad Burnat, head of Bil'in's Popular Committee say's the occupation soldiers were on a trawling exercise, seeking documentation and Rani Ayub's mobile phone.
When repeatedly challenged to justify their heavy presence in the village, all that was proffered by way of explanation was that they were there "to talk" and and one at least was "just doing his job." This raid follows hard on the heels on what appears to be an attempted kidnapping of children in Bil'in yesterday which was foiled by Bil'in photographer; Hamde Abu Rahma who discovered them hiding in an olive grove well equipped with creature comforts such as camping matts for sleeping to ease the discomfort of lying flat on the ground - two Bil'in children; Amar Rayed Al-Kateeb, 13, and Sameer Jadallah Al-Kateeb, 14, were kidnapped by IOF soldiers two weeks ago whilst playing in an olive grove on the outskirts of the village close to the Apartheid Wall, Sameer is still held incommunicado in Israeli custody, Amar was released in the the early hours of the following day to his parents. In the ongoing repression and criminalisation of all nonviolent resistance to the occupation the present modus operandi of the Israelis is to arrest or kidnap Palestinian children or teenagers and terrorise false confessions out of them in order to frame the prime movers in the peaceful protests or else charge the leading lights with bizarre Kafkaesque offences such as that of Bil'in Popular Committee Coordinator, Abdullah Abu Rahma, who faces a charge of "possession of arms" (spent tear gas canisters). So it goes in the West Bank and Bil'in.
Thank you for you continued support,
Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Commitee in Bilin co-founder of Friends of Freedom and Justice - Bilin
is a news and discussion forum for supporters of political prisoners, prisoners of war, politicized social prisoners, and victims of police and state intimidation.
This blog is organized and updated autonomously of the disbanded Break the Chains Prisoner Support Network formerly based in Eugene, Oregon. While this online project shares several of the same concerns as the old Break the Chains collective, no formal organization exists behind the current web presence.
"I will never surrender my pride and dignity nor allow the system to 'cut my tongue' and I will always, without fear, speak out against these war crimes and crimes against humanity, no matter if I spend the rest of my life in a prison cage, and draw my last breath of air laying down in this steel bed surrounded by razor-wire fences and cages, and its prison policies that are designed to destroy one's humanity…."
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