Marching from the Bil'in barrier #3

Friday was Bil'in, and for the first time in a very long while, the military did not attack us. After the mass violence last week, the popular committee of Bil'in had a new plan. They decided to have a mourning march, carrying a large black flag and in silence. We planned to only stay at the checkpoint for 1 minute, which would not allow the military enough time to coordinate and attack. So we all marched under and along side the black flag, in honor of the countless victims in Lebanon and Gaza, and the new martyrs in Nablus and Balata camp.

We approached the soldiers, the committee read a passage from the holy Qur'an, and we turned around and marched back. It was nice because no one was hurt, and for the first time we left the site in a unified march, not in a scattered flee for safety. There were no soldiers chasing us through the olive groves shooting unarmed children in the back. No beatings.

from blog post written following the demonstration:
occupiedlove.blogspot.com/2006/07/bilin-al-quds.html

July 21, 2006, the people of Bil’in marched in silence to the Apartheid Wall with the support of Israelis and internationals. The weekly march turned into a mourner’s procession as two hundred and fifty demonstrators carried a 20 meter long black flag as a symbol of the over 425 Palestinians and Lebanese killed in recent weeks. They also carried posters with the message “Is this the world we want for our children?”....“We are protesting against the Israeli military aggression that targets innocent civilians and infrastructure...We are against the Arab and International apathy and silence towards the ongoing Israeli violations of human rights”.

from the ISM demonstration report:
www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/07/21/mourners/