During the land day the 30th of March 2009, the Palestinian Popular Party and several other Palestinian Associations organized a demonstration near a polluted Waste Land in Deir Sharaf and Cosin village close to Nablus in the West Bank. This toxic waste comes from the industrial areas from the settlements nearby the two villages, and the toxic waste is simply being thrown on Palestinian land, causing severe problems for the Palestinians in many of the villages in the Nablus region. This waste land affects the ground water providing drinking water to several villages included Nabus City, as well as causing pollution and bad smell in the air.
Between 80 and 100 people participated at the demonstration in order to show their frustration about the situation with the toxic waste. The demonstrators destroyed the fence that was surrounding the Waste Land in protest of the IDFs demand that nobody were allowed to enter the area. The coordinator of the Palestinian Popular Party held a speech, calling for the international society to stand up for the Palestinian people to support their struggle against the occupation, and for institutions like the UN security council to truly acknowledge the Israeli actions as going against International Law.
Residents of Ni’lin, along with international and Israeli solidarity activists, gathered to demonstrate against the construction of the Apartheid Wall on Friday, 27 March 2009. Shortly after protesters began marching on the main road in town, they were attacked with tear gas by Israeli forces. The army maintained a presence in the village, occupying several Palestinian homes and shooting gas and 0.22 live calibre bullets at demonstrators. One demonstrator was shot with live ammunition in his leg, another was hit by a tear gas canister and many suffered from tear gas inhalation.
demonstrators heavily gassed inside village
soldier shoots gas directly at protesters, contrary to regulations
soldiers occupy center of Ni’lin
Ni’lin residents praying on their land
sniper fire used against demonstrators from Ruger rifle
military jeep shoots gas at homes
After a prayer near the village clinic, around 250 protesters marched along the main road, chanting their opposition to the Israeli occupation. Israeli forces fired upon demonstrators before they were able to head to their olive fields. A barrage of tear gas was shot into the village, dispersing the united march.
After the initial attack, military jeeps entered the village, occupying homes to shoot at demonstrators. Several jeeps drove through the streets, periodically stopping to shoot at residents. Israeli forces positioned on the roofs of Palestinian homes also shot into the streets. The military incursion on Ni’lin lasted until 4pm and caused the injury of one demonstrator hit by a tear gas canister and another shot with live ammunition in the leg.
Responding to the Occupation, the theft of their lands and increased suppression of the village’s resistance, several demonstrators threw stones at the armed Israeli forces.
The struggle has intensified as Israeli forces have begun conducting military incursions in the village at the start of the weekly Friday demonstration for the past month. Protesters are being denied not only access to their olive fields, but their freedom of expression against the Occupation within the town. Despite public criticisms in response to the recent, critical injury of Tristan Anderson, the army continues the dangerous tactic of shooting tear-gas canister at demonstrators, utilizing the canisters as weapons rather than the gas as crowd dispersal.
Israeli occupation forces have already murdered four Ni’lin residents during demonstrations against the confiscation of their land and critically injured one international solidarity activist.
Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with live ammunition on 29 July 2008. The following day, Yousef Amira (17) was shot twice with rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving him brain dead. He died a week later on 4 August 2008. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was the third Ni’lin resident to be killed by Israeli forces. He was shot in the back with live ammunition on 28 December 2008. That same day, Mohammed Khawaje (20), was shot in the head with live ammunition, leaving him brain dead. He died three days in a Ramallah hospital. Tristan Anderson (37), an American citizen, was shot with a high velocity tear gas projectile on 13 March 2009 and is currently in critical condition. In total, 19 persons have been shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition.
Since May 2008, residents of Ni’lin village have been demonstrating against construction of the Apartheid Wall. Despite being deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, the occupation continues to build a Wall, further annexing Palestinian land.
Ni’lin will lose approximately 2500 dunums of agricultural land when the construction of the Wall is completed. Ni’lin consisted of 57,000 dunums in 1948, reduced to 33,000 dunums in 1967, currently is 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after construction of the Wall.
11:30am on Saturday, the 28th of March, Israeli forces violently dispersed a Hebron demonstration, firing tear gas and sound bombs and arresting one German solidarity activist.
More than 50 Palestinian residents of Hebron, supported by international and Israeli solidarity activists, were nonviolently rallying against the illegal Israeli settlements inside of Hebron’s old city. The demonstrators gathered near Beit Romano settlement, holding signs against the occupation and chanting, “free, free Palestine!”
Israeli soldiers and police responded by firing sound bombs and tear gas. At this time, the German solidarity activist was arrested and taken to the police station in Kiryat Arba. He was brought to court and released with conditions.
Knesset member Mohammad Barakeh was also present to speak in support of the demonstration, which was organized by the Youth Against Settlements group. Barakeh was tear gassed and pushed by Israeli forces as the rally was dispersed.
The Hebron demonstration also marked Land Day, which commemorates the massacre of six Palestinian citizens of Israel by Israeli authorities during demonstrations in the Galilee on March 30, 1976. Every year, Land Day is remembered all over Palestine with protests against the Israeli occupation.
Hundreds of illegal settlers are living in Hebron’s old city. Israeli road closures prevent Palestinian residents from accessing large areas of the old city, which remain under the direct control of the Israeli military.
On the 13th of March 2009, in Burin village (Nablus district), the Israeli army repressed a peaceful and non violent demonstration by shooting live ammunition and teargas canister aimed directly at protesters.
The protesters decided to hold ground, before a group of twenty Israeli soldiers started to chase the demonstrators down to the village, beating up the Palestinians demonstrators, including a journalist, and international activists. They also set about illegally confiscating all the cameras and a a video recorder that previously where being used to document the soldiers’ actions.
Between seventy and a hundred people took part in the demonstration against the expansion of the illegal settlement in the village, who will result in the confiscation of much of the village’s lands.
This is again a blatant example that Israel still refuse any kind of freedom of expression to the Palestinian people and try to prevent journalists or internationals to report and document about the illegal Israeli occupation.
On the 6th March Israeli forces attacked the weekly protest against the construction of the Apartheid Wall in the village of Ni’lin, shooting four protesters with live ammunition. Three other people were injured after being hit by tear-gas canisters.
Over one hundred people gathered for an open air prayer in one of the village’s olive groves. After prayer, the crowd marched to the construction site of the Wall which runs through village land.
Villagers began breaking down the razor wire barrier along the construction zone. Israeli soldiers arrived in a jeep and began firing tear gas into the crowd, forcing the demonstrators to retreat. As they retreated, other soldiers positioned in the olive groves attacked them with more tear gas.
One international activist from Sweden was hit in the stomach with an extended range tear gas grenade.
In addition to tear gas, concussion grenades and rubber coated steel bullets; Israeli forces opened fire throughout the day with live ammunition. The Israeli army uses a special low calibre bullet known as the ‘0.22’. The bullets are commonly used by snipers at demonstrations in Ni’ilin.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, four young men were taken to the hospital after being shot with the new live ammunition. The first was shot in the left thigh as the crowd ran from approaching soldiers. The second was shot in the right calf and was taken to hospital in the same ambulance as the first. The third was shot across the lower back and had to be taken away in a private car. The fourth was shot just above the right knee.
Additionally, a young boy was hit with an extended range tear gas canister. The child was hit in the lower leg.
The last injury of the day was a Red Crescent Medic, also hit with a tear gas canister in the lower-back.
The protest continued until dusk, when the soldiers withdrew from the area of the village.
The Palestinian village of Ni’iln faces losing over half it’s land due to Israel’s Apartheid Wall. Every Friday, Ni’ilin villagers are joined by Israeli and international activists to protest against the Wall’s construction.
