Iyad Burnat
| Iyad Burnat | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
12 September 1973 Bil'in, Palestine |
Iyad Burnat (born September 1973) leads Bil'in's non-violent struggle in the West Bank. He is the head of the Bil'in Popular Committee against the Wall, which has led weekly demonstrations since 2005 against the Israeli West Bank barrier. He is also head of Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bil’in, a pro-Palestinian organization with the stated aims of building a "wide network of people from all over the globe who support Freedom and Justice for all"
In 1990, at 17 years, Burnat was charged and sentenced for throwing stones at IDF soldiers and was jailed for two years. He has been arrested and imprisoned for non-violently protesting Israeli actions more than 10 times since. Iyad's house has been the target of numerous night-raids by Israeli soldiers.
In 2004, the Israeli military built a wall separating village farmers from their lands, removed 1000 olive trees and restricted travel in the name of protecting Israeli settlers. Since 2005, Bil'in villagers have been engaging in weekly Friday demonstrations against these activities, along with Israeli citizens and international peace activists. Burnat has been leading the demonstrations.
In September 2007 Israel's high court ruled that the wall on the outskirts of Bil'in unnecessarily interfered with the residents without offering any security advantage. Burnat said: "It's not easy for the Supreme Court to return land. This is a historic step...The steadfast peaceful resistance of the villagers of Bil'in resulted in the decision to partially remove the wall in the village." The Washington Times compared Burnat's philosophy of Palestinian protest tactics to the writings of Martin Luther King or Mahatma Gandhi.
In 2007 Burnat described his choice of nonviolent protest, saying "The belief in one's rights is more important than anything else. If I am confident about my rights, nothing will make me despair...When you resist an Israeli soldier by peaceful means, their weapons become irrelevant." The Christian Science Monitor reported that "the strategy paid off" when Israel's Supreme Court issued a ruling on the path of the fence around Bilin.
In November 2008 Burnat and a group of American peace activists were denied entry into the Palestinian town of Ni'lin. He later was arrested in a November 21 morning raid. He was fined and released in December 2008.
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