On the morning of Friday the 4th of July 25 Palestinians and 15 internationals and Israelis participated in a weekly non-violent protest against the apartheid wall in the village of Al Masara, close to Bethlehem in the West Bank. The demonstration was halted on its way to the wall by the Israeli Army. The army threw sound bombs at the non-violent demonstrators and arrested two Palestinian protesters trying to reach their lands annexed by Israel.
Protesters gathered in Al Masara village and started marching towards the planned route of the apartheid wall, carrying a huge Palestinian banner. The demonstration was stopped by soldiers blocking the main entrance to the village with razor wire and several jeeps. After thirty minutes of peaceful protesting the army detained two Palestinians trying to pass the blocked road and threw several sound bombs at protesters trying to liberate the Palestinians. In these attempts one international and one Israeli activist were also detained. As three persons tried to escape, the army fired live ammunition in the air and subsequently chased them down. After the arrests the demonstration dispersed. The international and the Israeli activist were later released and the Palestinians were held, accused of violence against the soldiers. Eyewitnesses reported no violence from Palestinians or internationals against the army.
The village of Al Masara has had around 30% of its land annexed by the state of Israel, and is holding weekly demonstrations in protest against the apartheid wall being constructed across their land. In the upcoming week two actions are planned, one for Wednesday the 9th and one for Friday the 11th.
To view original report by the Palestine Solidarity Project click here
The Israeli military has been slowly escalating its intimidation tactics in Beit Ommar in the last three days, often patrolling the streets at sundown, provoking youth by parking outside of the mosque and waiting for young boys to come and throw stones before shooting tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. The increasing terrorization of the village culminated last night at approximately 9:30 pm when a 17 year old boy, Mohammed Anwar Al-Alami, was shot in the heart and killed.
Soldiers first entered Beit Ommar yesterday at 4pm and began slowly circling the village, often stopping in the center of town, shooting a few tear gas canisters, but otherwise staying in their jeeps. They were not searching houses nor made any other indication that they were engaging in any authorized operation. Shortly after sundown, at approximately 9pm, they began arresting residents. Blindfolding and handcuffing 9 men in total and bringing them to the entrance of the village.
Four were later released, five remain in Israeli custody. Several more jeeps and Armored Personnel Carriers (APC’s) entered the village. Young boys began throwing stones and empty bottles which bounced off the armored military vehicles harmlessly. Still, for the Israeli military a rock against reinforced metal is reason enough to end the life of a young man, about to finish his final exams and graduate from high school.
Mohammed was quickly rushed to the hospital, but he had been shot in the chest and the bullet entered his heart, killing him almost instantly.
Demonstrations against the wall and occupation of land have been held frequently in Umm Salamona outside of Bethlehem since April this year. Today, approximately 50 protesters, half of those Israelis activists and internationals, participated in a demonstration that started out in the main street of Umm Salamona. A peaceful march was lead towards the planned construction are of the apartheid wall but was stopped by armed Israeli soldiers and policemen barricading the road with razor wire. The demonstrators chanted and tried to communicate with the soldiers but were not allowed to proceed further.
Despite this fact, the protesters managed to force the roadblock. Some were violently pushed back and threatened by soldiers. The protesters responded peacefully agitating for non-violence and democracy. One of the Israeli protesters was targeted and brutally abused for no obvious reason. The police detained him for about an hour with the excuse that he was to be transported to a hospital. Half an hour after the end of the demonstration, he was released without further consequences but badly bruised and with a possible broken rib.
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Bil’in
To view original article, published in Maan, click here
Two international solidarity activists were injured by Israeli forces on Friday in the weekly protest against the separation wall in Bil’in, west of Ramallah, and dozens of protesters were treated for tear gas inhalation.
Villagers from Bil’in marched together with international and Israeli solidarity activists after Friday prayers, carrying Palestinian flags and banners demanding the removal of the Israeli wall and settlements and calling on the international community to lift the siege on Gaza and help Palestinians retain Jerusalem. Participants also demanded that the Israeli army stop killing Palestinian civilians and end the use of live ammunition against non-violent protesters.
As they approached the separation wall, Israeli forces prevented the villagers from reaching the gate that is supposed to provide access to their lands, and opened fire on them with tear gas canisters, sound bombs, and rubber-coated metal bullets. Scores of protesters were treated for gas inhalation, and two internationals were injured by rubber-coated metal bullets.
An Israeli activist was badly beaten at a demonstration against the apartheid wall on Friday 27th
In addition, on Thursday evening Israeli settlers raided a house built three years ago by the Bil’in Popular Committee for Resisting the Wall on the village’s land near the Matityahu East settlement. The settlers burned part of the house, which was built by the Popular Committee to help villagers maintain access to their lands and olive trees on the other side of the wall, and stole equipment from it. For the past month the Israeli army has prohibited the villagers from staying overnight in house, making it even harder for the villagers to protect their trees and equipment from settler attacks.
Also on Thursday, the Israeli army released Bil’in resident and activist Tariq Muhammad Taufiq Al-Khatib after detaining him for one week for his participation in the weekly protests.
Villagers in Bil’in have been demonstrating every week against the separation wall for the last three years. Despite the 2004 International Court of Justice ruling that Israel’s construction of the wall inside the occupied West Bank was illegal, and a November 2007 Israeli High Court of Justice ruling ordering the military to re-route the wall in Bil’in, the villagers continue to be denied access to the land on which their livelihoods are based.
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Al-Khader
To view original article, published by Maan on the 27th June, click here
More than 100 Palestinian men and boys, supported by a handful of international volunteers, held a peaceful demonstration against the Israeli separation wall in the West Bank village of Al-Khader, near the city of Bethlehem on Friday.
The demonstrators gathered for the Friday Muslim prayer in intense midday heat on a settler bypass road in Al-Khader, close to the intended construction site of the wall. Two Israeli army jeeps, an armored personnel carrier, one border police jeep, and one Israeli civil administration jeep prevented the protesters from reaching the construction site.
Local officials say the completion of the wall will result in the de facto annexation to Israel of more than 90% of the agricultural land the town depends on for its livelihood. The villagers of Al-Khader have been protesting the wall’s construction every week since January.
In delivering the Friday sermon, local educator Issa Ghneim talked about the status of Jerusalem, the occupied Palestinian capital, calling the city “the heart of Palestine,” saying that the city’s status is “non-negotiable.”
Ghneim also expressed frustration at the lack of progress in the current final status negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. “We gave more than ten years to negotiations, and still they [the Israeli authorities] did not remove one roadblock,” he said. He was referring to the network of over 600 checkpoints and roadblocks Israel maintains as a part of its occupation of the West Bank.
On the 30th May, around 150 people from the village of Al-Ma’sara demonstrated against the building of the apartheid wall on their land. As usual the demo started from the middle of the village ad continued towards the construction site where the Israeli army are building the wall. The majority of the participators were from the village and were joined by a group from the Anarchists Against the Wall and members of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).
As the demonstration reached the entrance of the village, Israeli soldiers closed the entrance of the village with razor-wire. Protesters tried to remove the wire in order to continue to reach the land of the village, but the soldiers attacked them. Two of them were injured and moved to a near clinic to be treated. After that the Israeli soldiers arrested two people, one from the Israelis and the other from the USA.
Then Mahmoud Zwahre, director of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Al-Ma’sara village, made a speech about the Palestinian Justice Day. He pointed to all of the faces of the occupation in Palestine, especially in Al-Ma’sara village, making clear that the occupation has developed a policy of apartheid and declaring a ‘Summer Against Apartheid’, that will start next week. Then another speaker from the village Popular Committee talked about the behaviour of the Israeli solders against civilians, made clear when the soldiers fire sound bombs at the protesters. He also focused on the future situation of the village after the wall and the effects of the wall on the area. He then asked all of the internationals and local people to participate in the next demo which will take place on the 6th of June on the anniversary of Naksa .
After that a group of the participators a Christian group conducted a special prayer in front of the wire and soldiers asking for peace.
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Bi’lin:
By Ghassan Bannoura, published by IMEMC on the 30th May 2008.
To view original article click here
Villagers from Bil’in, located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, supported by international and Israeli peace activists conducted their weekly nonviolent protest against the illegal Israeli wall built on the village’s land on Friday.
The villagers called for the removal of the of the Israeli wall, settlements. Like every week the protests started after the mid-day Friday prayers were finished in the local mosque.
Protesters marched towards the location of the Wall which is separating the village from its land. Immediately after the protest reached the gate of the Wall, soldiers showered the protesters with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Scores of protesters were treated for gas inhalation, and three were injured by rubber-steal coated bullets.
One local activist was kidnapped by the Israeli army during the protest
Iyad Burnat of the local committee against the Wall and Settlements said that the soldiers used a new army vehicle that fires tear gas at protesters. “It can fire 30 gas bombs in one go.” Burnat told IMEMC.
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Al-Khader
Around 200 villagers from Al Khader village near Bethlehem, in the southern part of the West Bank protest on Friday the Israeli wall and settlements constructed on the village land.
Supported by 50 international and Israeli peace activist the villager held the midday prayers on the settlers road near the village then marched towards the nearby Israeli road block. Several hours later the action was finished peacefully.
A number of the village activists today took a group of internationals who took part of today’s action for a tour on the village land that is annexed for the wall and the Israeli settlements.
On Friday the 9thof may, at the village of Bil’in around 100 hundred Israelis, Palestinians and Internationals gathered in solidarity to protest against the illegal wall separating the village and the local residents from their land.
Photo By IMEMC’s Haithem El Khatib
Shortly after mid-day, local villagers, Israelis and International peace activists marched towards the wall to show their support against the illegal occupation of the village’s land. Not long after reaching the wall, the Israeli Army began launching tear gas and firing rubber bullets into the crowd of peaceful protesters. The excessive use of tear gas even effected local villagers not participating in the demonstration as a number of canisters were fired at a nearby house.
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Al-Khader:
IMEMC: Protesters in Bethlehem affirm the right of return
To view original article published by IMEMC, click here
Around 200 Palestinians, internationals and Israelis demonstrated at military checkpoint placed at the southern entrance of Bethlehem, to protest the wall Israel is building on the lands of the Palestinian village of Al-Khader near Bethlehem on Friday morning.
The protest started with a prayer near the checkpoint, during which the preacher affirmed the right of return for the Palestinian refugees instated by the United Nations Resolution 194, as the 60th anniversary of the dispossession of the Palestinian people nears.
As soon as the protesters gathered for the prayer, at least 30 Israeli troops backed by 6 military vehicles, blocked the checkpoint in an attempt to foil the protest.
The nonviolent demonstration was organized by the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements as part of series of weekly protests against Israeli measures in Palestine.
Protestors carried Palestinian flags and banners reading, “Stop erasing Palestinian identity”, “Stop ongoing Nakba”, “End the Israeli occupation”, and called for the recognition of right of return for Palestinian refugees.
The demonstration ended peacefully after one hour with no friction with the army.
