Basem Abu Rahme was called by Pheel by many of his friend in Bilin. He was courageous a man. In his village of Bilin he was one of the most regular people at their demonstrations for many years. The demonstrations were always a dangerous time in Bilin during their regular Friday time yet he still attended the majority and would always go to the front of the demonstration to send a vocal message to the soldiers. Despite the bullets and tear gas, he continued to attend the demonstrations and stand up for his village and it was in this place that he will always be remembered. Although it was hard due the military’s harassments and arrests of people in his family he never gave up and nor has his village. He was also a great man of peace. This was proven by his extremely welcoming attitude towards the Israeli activists who joined in his village's demonstrations. He spoke a decent amount of Hebrew and always used this skill together with his friendly nature to talk to the Israelis at Bilin. With both Palestinians and Israelis he was always telling funny jokes to put smiles in people’s faces and cheer people up before and after very stressful demonstrations. He was not a shy man and would say "Shalom" and after a few years of regular demonstrations many of the Israeli activists became friends with Pheel and got to know him quite well. The primary reason a activist came to Bilin was for the struggle however many Palestinians from the villages and Israelis activists had become his friend and as a result and a bonus to the social atmosphere was nice in Bilin thanks to people like Pheel. Often people would talk about politics at demonstration however the friendship some of the activists had with him went beyond this uneasy Palestinian-Israeli friendship to a real and warm friendship. In addition to this he invited some of the Israelis to his house and to play football with him and the other members of the village. He will be terribly missed by his close friends and family in Bilin village as well as the Palestinian struggle for freedom that has lost a great man. Furthermore he will also be missed by many of his Jewish and Israeli friends who liked him as brave man, as a peacemaker and as a friend. The future of Israel and Palestine is based on friendly personalities like him and he will never be forgotten.
Basem (Pheel) during a demonstration at Bil'in 
Basem (Pheel) next to the wall Bil'in
