13th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine
The Friday demonstration against the illegal wall in Kafr Qaddum was attended by over 100 Palestinians along with numerous pro-Palestinian Israelis and other internationals.
Two days prior to the demonstration, the villagers were told if there was the usual demonstration on Friday, everyone would be arrested.
There were two surprises this Friday. A high ranking female member of the Palestinian authority (PA) attended the demonstration. Prior to the march she spoke to those gathered about the importance of continued activism and protests against the illegal colonial settlements and apartheid wall.
The second surprise was the Israeli occupation forces made no arrests and in fact only a handful of soldiers were seen about 500 metres from the demonstration. It is only speculation on the part of this writer but this may have been due to the PA official being present at the demonstration. There were no shots fired and no injuries reported.
At the Friday demonstration a week earlier in Kafr Qaddum, a 7-year old boy was kidnapped by Israeli forces and interrogated before being returned to his family a couple of hours later. The boy has said that soldiers threatened to kill his father if he did not cooperate.
