It took Bil’in four years to get their land back. They took their case to court, they protested and they held weekly demonstrations. During that time, they saw members of their village die and hundreds of protesters imprisoned.

Just as every other Friday for the past six and half years, the march on 1 July began from the village and headed towards the site on which until just a week ago stood the barbed wire fence.

Raja Abu Rahmah

After the four-year wait for its removal, the atmosphere in Bil’in was jubilant. Music blasted from speakers set up on a lorry, children and men on foot followed closely behind waving an array of flags and the young men, the shebab, huddled in cars and vans, honked their way through the narrow path.

Raja Abu Rahmah is a 22 year-old medical student from Bil’in. "I have been coming to the demonstrations most weeks," she said. "Today it’s a kind of celebration because we got some of our land back. Many people died, like Bassem and Jawaher, and many were imprisoned, like my father Adeeb, and for this we are very sad, but this is a big achievement and today we can be proud and happy."

Back in 2007, Israel’s High Court stated that the section of the Wall that through Bil’in should be re-routed, as it did not serve a security purpose but rather was designed to accommodate future development of Matityahu East, a new neighborhood that is part of the illegal settlement, Modi’in Illit.

According to the Jerusalem Post, it took the IDF two years just to present a new route for approval and another two years to complete construction of the new wall.

The consensus in the village is that when it comes to other people’s rights, Israel "tends to delay things," with many convinced that the IDF never intended to return the land and it was only the steadfastness showed by Bil’in, coupled with international pressure, that forced the army to backtrack.

Raja sees the non-violent resistance model—now successfully tested in Bil’in—as an approach that should be ongoing and have the ultimate aim of ending the occupation. She hopes the events in her village may have a snowball effect across Palestine.

"I think what happened here was unfair from the beginning. Our land was taken from us and there are many villages that are in the very same situation," Raja said. "Bil’in has now become an example for everyone, it’s known all over the world. This was a successful start and I hope we can continue across Palestine what we have begun here. This is not just about Bil’in."

As the demonstration reached the top of a previously inaccessible hill, people gathered around the site where a heavy metal barrier blocked the way to the confiscated land. A deep trench, where the Wall had been lifted out, still scars the landscape for hundreds of feet.

Then the music stopped. The men took off their shoes and lined up to pray in the midday sun.

The sense of achievement was palpable. Only a week ago it would have been impossible for anyone to reach this point without being showered with tear gas or worse.

After prayers, the crowd continued towards the newly rerouted Wall.

The music started again and continued all afternoon. Youngsters danced, men worked to erect a small brick structure and women and children sat in the shade of a nearby olive grove.

An Israeli military jeep was spotted on the horizon and a row of soldiers, wearing helmets, was visible throughout the day just across the Wall.

Rateb Abu Rahmah

The weekly marches have taken their toll on the village in terms of lives lost and children and men imprisoned, but the morale is still high.

As Rateb Abu Rahmah, Media Coordinator for the Popular Committee of Bil’in, excitedly explains, today marks the beginning of the second stage of non-violent resistance: reclaiming the land by creating the very same facts on the ground that for years have been Israel’s weapon of choice.

"We are building a small house here. We want to grow, cultivate the land and build houses. This is Bil’in West and we want to make it green for the people of the village. Next Friday we will continue the celebration and we will build another house, and then another."

Rateb goes on: "if the Israeli army thought that by moving the wall they would end our non-violent protests they were mistaken. This is because," he adds, pointing at the wall, "All the Palestinian land is still under occupation. There’s 730 km of wall in the West Bank. This Wall is not for security; this Wall is there to steal our land. If they want peace, they should build bridges across the Palestinian and Israeli people—not walls."

Adeeb Abu Rahmah

Sitting under an olive tree, Raja’s father, Adeeb Abu Rahmah is still taking it all in.

He is a member of the Popular Committee, which oversees the running of the demonstrations, and served a 16-month sentence for organizing and taking part in the Friday marches. He was released in December last year.

"I am very, very happy," Adeeb says, "But this is just the beginning. The next step is for the actions and demonstrations to continue. It is very important that we keep going so other villages in Palestine will too. There’s Nabi Salih, Ni’iln and other places that are suffering from the same problem."

Looking across the wall he stresses that "half of the land confiscated from Bil’in is still being occupied and they are building a settlement on it right now. We were born here and we will die here. We will stay until the end."

Despite all this, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs seems to be more concerned with the cosmetic problem that the Wall poses.

On its website it admits that, members of Modi’in Illit have "expressed some reservations to the IDF regarding the proximity of the Wall [to the settlement]." To remedy this, "stone tiles will be placed on its western side so that it will look more aesthetic."

Today, at least, no amount of stone tiles could have averted the attention of the settlers from the celebration that was happening in Bil’in.