October 18, 2013, Bil’in, Sayda’s account

When I was here earlier this year I met Soraya, the wife of Emad Burnatt, the director of the Oscar nominated film “Five Broken Cameras.” Bil’in is famous for its weekly protests against the wall. Since 2005 they have been organizing the protests marching from the village to the site of the wall with the aim of halting construction of the wall that took away their farm fields. Israeli forces always intervene to prevent protesters from approaching the wall, and violence often erupts in which both protesters and soldiers have been very seriously injured and killed. Yesterday we performed in Bil’in! We were initially scheduled to perform near the wall, outdoors, but the rain came and the performance was moved in doors. We performed in the village council building. 96 children and adults gathered, among them Emad and his son. They children loved the show! We then toured the protest area, which is littered with tear gas canisters. And we were invited to Emad’s home for coffee.