Tag: Demonstration

13 injured in Nabi Saleh during weekly non-violent protest

3 February 2012 | International Middle East Media Center

During the weekly non-violent protest in the village of an-Nabi Saleh on Friday several injuries were reported including that of a French citizen who was struck in the neck by an Israeli projectile.

The young woman, reported to be named Amessi, was struck in the neck, initially thought to be by a tear gas canister, but later reported to be a rubber coated steel bullet. As of yet reports remain conflicted.The young woman was cut by the shot and lead to bleeding from the wound.

Reports state that the young woman has been transfered to hospital where she is stable.

Israeli military major, Peter Lerner, has claimed via his Twitter account that the young woman was struck by Palestinians throwing stones.

Furthermore, it was reported by activists at the scene and by the Popular Struggle Co-ordination Committee that Nariman Tamimi attempted to film the young woman’s injuries, but was assaulted by Israeli soldiers.

In addition to the injury sustained by Amessi, another international activist was struck in the waist by a tear gas canister. The young man, reportedly, has extensive bruising to the area.

In total residents of the village have reported 13 injuries in an-Nabi Saleh, not including those suffering ill effects from tear gas inhalation.

On December 9th 2011 village resident, Mustafa Tamimi was killed when military personnel shot out of the back of their armed jeep, striking Tamimi in the face with a tear gas canister.

Tamimi succumbed to his wounds.

The firing of high velocity tear gas canisters directly at protestors violates both international law regulating the use of so called non lethal munitions, and Israeli domestic law, yet several activists, both Palestinian and international, have been killed and severely injured by direct shots from tear gas canisters.

In April 2009, Basem Abu Rahme was killed in the village of

Bil’in when shot in the chest with a tear gas canister, and U.S. citizen Tristen Anderson was left disabled when shot in the head by a canister in March 2009.

Anderson was taken to a hospital in Tel Aviv where he underwent brain surgery, having a portion of his frontal lobe and fragments of shattered bone removed.

Updated from:

BREAKING: Woman Shot in Head by Israeli Military in Nabi Saleh
Friday February 03, 2012 16:11 by Circarre Parrhesia – IMEMC News

Activists in the village of an-Nabi Saleh are reporting on Friday that a woman has been shot in the head by a tear gas canister fired by the Israeli military.

Resident of the village Linah al-Saafin stated on her Twitter account that a young woman was shot in the face by the Israeli military, which was followed by information from Deema al-Saafin that the young woman was shot by the military with a tear gas canister and then taken from the scene by the military.

Activists based in the villages that hold non-violent protests regularly update followers as to the events of the protest via their accounts on social networking platforms such as Twitter.

On December 9th 2011 village resident, Mustafa Tamimi was killed in a similar incident when military personnel shot out of the back of their armed jeep, striking Tamimi in the face with a tear gas canister.

Tamimi succumbed to his wounds.

The firing of high velocity tear gas canisters directly at protestors violates both international law regulating the use of so called non lethal munitions, and Israeli domestic law, yet several activists, both Palestinian and international, have been killed and severely injured by direct shots from tear gas canisters.

In April 2009, Basem Abu Rahme was killed in the village of Bil’in when shot in the chest with a tear gas canister, and U.S. citizen Tristen Anderson was left disabled when shot in the head by a canister in March 2009.

Anderson was taken to a hospital in Tel Aviv where he underwent brain surgery, and had to have a portion of his frontal lobe and fragments of shattered bone removed.

Kufr Qaddoum marches forward despite threats of violence

by Alex

7 January 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

At noon on the 6th of January, 2012, a demonstration was held in the village Kufr Qaddoum, located just outside Nablus. The people gathered after the Friday-prayer and started marching along the main road that runs through the village. This road was, until the year of 2003, also the main road to Nablus, which by then only was a 10 minute drive away. This came to a short end during the second Intifada when the Israeli army decided to close the road as they considered it a safety risk to the nearby illegal settlements. The Israeli government has, since the end of the Intifada, agreed that the road is not a “safety risk” anymore and therefore gave the green-light to reopen it. The army however has so far disobeyed this decision and refuses to open the road which means that the villagers still have to take a detour of about 30 minutes, making the drive to Nablus three times longer and more expensive than before.

This denial by the army is the reason why today 150 – 200 Palestinians, accompanied by  internationals, marched in a peaceful demonstration towards the roadblock to show their dissatisfaction with the Israeli army and to reclaim their right to their road. When the demonstrators  approached the road-block they were met by about 15 armed soldiers standing on the road and approximately 5 more soldiers stationed on the hills next to the road. About 50 meters in front of the soldiers on the road they had placed barbed-wire. The soldiers spoke through a megaphone declaring that if anyone crossed the barbed-wire the demonstrators would be met by violence. Not one of the protesters crossed the line nor used any violence but simply tried to remove the barbed-wire when the soldiers began to fire teargas-canisters, forcing the protesters to run back towards the village. The protesters were then followed by a truck spraying them with “skunk-water” from a water canon as well as by soldiers attacking them with teargas and stun-grenades from the hillsides, as well as from the streets, and continued following the protesters deeper into the village. This violence continued throughout the demonstration, which lasted for about two hours. In the end the soldiers withdrew, and the Palestinians reached the road-block where they sang and cheered before they went back to the village, all the time watched by soldiers ready to take action from a hill closer to the nearby settlements.

Alex is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed)

Ni’lin honors its heroes and urges military to “Stay Human”

by Barbara and James

30 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Volleys of tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition is how the Israeli Army met a small demonstration in remembrance of 2 martyrs, in Ni’lin today. Starting after Friday prayers approximately 25 Palestinians and 6 internationals made their way from the village through olive groves to the Apartheid Wall to commemorate the murder of Mohammed Khawaje and Arafat Khawaje on the 28th December 2008. Mohammed was shot in the forehead with live ammunition and Arafat was fatally shot in the back when attempting to rescue another villager who had been shot by an Israeli sniper.

Today the protest was immediately greeted with the full arsenal of the weapons available to the Israeli military. There was nearly as many heavily armed soldiers as demonstrators. A Palestinian demonstrator pleaded through a megaphone in a fog of tear gas for the soldiers to “Stay Human.”

The reply was a callous round of live ammunition fired at the demonstration. As the demo drew to a close, an armoured American-made Humvee packed with soldiers taunted the protest before a final set of shots were fired.

Ni’lin has been holding these weekly demonstrations since the Aparthied Wall was first planned. The Wall has annexed over 30% of the land of Ni’lin and has cost the lives of 5 martrys.

The protest continues weekly.

 Barbara and James are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).

Kufr Qaddoum: Israeli military fulfills its promise to make arrests

by Amal

26 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

As reported a few days ago, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have fulfilled the expectation that they would arrest residents from Kufr Qaddoum.  Two young men were arrested: one on Christmas Eve and one Christmas day. A “flying” checkpoint, that is, one that is mobile and spontaneous, was set up  by the Israeli military on both days at the entrance of the village.

Nael Jomaa was arrested on Saturday around 4:30 in the afternoon, and his cousin, Muhammad Jomaa, was arrested the following day at approximately the same time.  There is still no information as to why they were arrested or when their court hearing will be held.

Many things are not clear, but the residents believe that these arrests will continue. Six people have been arrested this month from Kufr Qaddoum. Most, if not all, still do not know why they are being held and have not been charged officially. Due to the unjust Israeli judicial system, these men expect to spend at least three months in prison with high fines. Some residents have had to spend three months in prison and pay 3,000 NIS. One thousand for each month they were imprisoned. They were also told that for each thousand they do not pay an additional month would be added to their detention until they paid it.

On 23/12/2011 villagers demand access - Click here for more photos

The residents of Kufr Qaddoum live with many hardships due to the IOF, but also have to live with constant threats and harassment. When they travel through checkpoints, soldiers have expressed the army’s intentions to arrest people from Kufr Qaddoum. It is evident that the Israeli Occupation Forces is living up to their threats.

Amal is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

 

Kufr Qaddoum: Demonstrators photograph military violence despite their weapons and cameras

by Amal

23 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The demand in Kufr Qaddoum for their main road to be reopened continues. Today’s demonstration exceeded the number of participants in the past few protests. Approximately 200 people joined together against this illegal street closure. Many of the supporters came from different parts of Palestine and the international community, from Bilin residents to an activist all the way from Norway.

Hundreds stand in solidarity against military Occupation - Click here for more images

Kufr Qaddoum is finally starting to receive the exposure it needs in order to get its story out to the public and the world.

Unfortunately, this did not stop the Israeli Occupation Soldiers from their pattern of increased violence during demonstrations. The majority of the tear gas canisters used today were aimed either directly into crowds or at specific individuals. It is illegal to use tear gas as a fatal weapon rather than for dispersion. There were many close instances of potential serious injuries due to these canisters being shot as physical contact weapons. To make the possibility of serious injuries greater, the soldiers positioned themselves on the roof of a house, which gave them a clearer view of their human targets. There was no regard for the people that live in this house as the soldiers occupied the top of it.

Besides shooting tear gas canisters directly at protesters, the soldiers spent a lot of time taking pictures of the participants. Pictures taken by soldiers have been used many times to imprison participates of these unarmed protests.  The Israeli Occupation Forces have many methods to diminish any resistance such as imprisonment and fatal injuries. These are the risks that protesters accept with the hope that one day their people will be free.

Amal is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).