Tearing down the fence at Bilin
Tearing down the fence at BilinIsrael news photo: Flash 90 (file)

About 1,200 Arab nationalists and their leftist sympathizers from Israel and abroad held a special "anniversary riot" Friday at Bilin, near Modiin. It marks five years since the first riot at Bilin.

The rioters say they are participating in “demonstrations” against the “apartheid wall” built by Israel – their name for the security fence built to stop suicide bombers. Their opponents say, however, that the weekly riots are meant to harass the IDF, give Arabs and leftists regular media coverage and draw volunteers looking for “action.”   

The disturbances have become a weekly ritual and usually end in light injuries on both sides, although there have also been serious injuries. An IDF soldier from the Armored Corps lost an eye in a riot at Bilin in June 2005. An Arab rioter was killed when he was hit in the chest with a tear gas canister in April 2009.

After the riots at Bilin proved successful, another riot hotspot was created at Naalin, not far away. Recently leftists have attempted to create a third hotspot near N'veh Tzuf in northern Binyamin.

As usual in the Bilin riots, the participants threw rocks at IDF forces and damaged the security fence. Security forces responded with means for riot dispersal.

Geneva Mayor Participates
MK Dov Henin (Hadash) took part in the riot Friday and said, “The struggle at Bilin has turned into the symbol of the struggle against the settlements and the 'settlement wall.' We now mark five years since the start of the weekly riots at Bilin together with Palestinian, Israeli and international activists who carry on the struggle in a very impressive way. The struggle receives wide support throughout the world and its recognition in Israeli society deepens with every passing week.”

The Mayor of Geneva, Switzerland, Rémy Pagani, participated in the riot alongside Henin. Henin said that there was “great symbolism in the participation of the mayor of Geneva in the demonstration against the settlement wall and the settlements, which are in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention."