On November 14th, nine people were injured in a demonstration against the construction of the apartheid wall in Ni’lin.
The demonstration started from the centre of the village at 11.30am and made it all the way to the construction site. The Israeli army, situated right outside the village, did not attack the non-violent action immediately as it has in the last few demonstrations. Instead the soldiers waited until the demonstration had reached the construction site before firing rubber-coated steel bullets straight at the protesters. After that the protesters went back and forth in the fields between the construction site and the village, while trying not to avoid the teargas cannisters and rubber-coated steel bullets that were being shot by the soldiers.
The demonstration ended up in the main street of Ni’lin where the Israeli soldiers that were guarding a flying checkpoint attacked them again. The soldiers stopped all traffic from entering or exiting the village and several times they took cover behind civilian cars with people inside. From this position they shot rubber-coated steel bullets and teargas, not only at the protesters but also into peoples’ homes.
Nine people were injured by the Israeli forces, seven suffering from teargas inhalation, while one was hit in his head with a teargas canister and one was hit in his head with a rubber bullet. They were all treated immediately at the local health clinic.
When the apartheid wall is completed, it will annex 40% of Ni’lin’s land accumulating a loss of around 85% of its land since 1948. It will also completely encircle the village together with two roads that can only be used by Israelis and Ni’lin will then be depended on that one check point will be open to reach their neighbor villages and the rest of the West Bank.