Today in Ni’lin, one demonstrator was hit with shrapnel and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation during the suppression by the Israeli occupation forces of the anti-wall weekly protest.
The march organized by The Ni’lin Popular Committee was supported by many Palestinians, International’s and Israeli peace activists. Upon arrival at the gate of the racism wall, the people of Ni’lin sent a message to the Israeli Occupation Forces, (IOF) confirming that the weekly protests will never stop until our land is free, and we have dismantled the illegal racism wall.
The protest was stressful, following the threats of the Israeli Occupation Forces who had claimed to be planning a trap to surround the demonstrators in order to arrest them. However, their threats were all in vain.
After about fifteen minutes from the start of the protest, Israeli Occupation forces began to shoot tear gas grenades at the protesters which lead to many suffering from the effects of tear gas inhalation. One protester who was hit with shrapnel in his eyes had the necessary treatment.
A weekly Ni’ilin demonstration was met with the intense tear gas attack, leaving dozens suffering from the consequence of inhaling the gas. Demonstration, organized by the Ni’ilin Popular Committee and joined by Israeli and international peace activists was held in solidarity with the political prisoners from the village held in Israeli prisons. The prisoners from the village, detained 17 months ago and sentenced on false charges, were moved from Ofer to Negev military prison.
Once the demonstration reached a gate in the apartheid wall, protesters started to knock on the door and demand that they are allowed to access their stolen land, which they have not seen for last three years. The soldiers reacted by attacking the peaceful demonstration with tear gas grenades, rubber coated steel bullets and sound grenades. One of the protesters was shot and dozens suffered from suffocation after inhaling tear gas.
Ibrahim Amireh, the coordinator of the Ni’ilin Popular Committee against the apartheid wall, said that the harsh treatment of the prisoners from the village was meant to destroy people’s spirit and hope. – But we will not stop defending our land and our dignity. We will continue to hold peaceful demonstrations, maintaining strong will and determination until we tear down the apartheid wall, put an end to the racist occupation of our land and we are able to live in a secure, just and peaceful society. – added Ibrahim Amireh.
Background:
Since the construction of the apartheid wall began on Ni’ilin land, the Israeli occupation forces have had conducted numerous raids into the village, arresting people in the middle of the night.
Between August 6th 2008 and December 1st, 2008 more than 157 people were arrested in Ni’ilin. Age: between 9 and 55 years-old. Israeli occupation forces raided villagers’ houses in the middle of the night, arresting people in an extremely brutal manner. During one of the raids, a mentally-ill person, whose brother was being arrested, was shot in the left eye with a rubber coated steal bullet. The man lost his eye.
Between May 1st, 2009 and August 27th, 2009 – 123 people were arrested.
Between January 1st, 2010 and July 26th, 2010 – 45 people were arrested. During this campaign, Israeli occupation forces detained three leaders of the local popular committee: Ibrahim Amireh, Zaydoon Srour and Hassan Mousa. They were sentenced to one year in prison and a bail of 9000 NIS in exchange for additional 9 months of imprisonment. There are still five villagers held in Israeli military prisons. Ni’ilin prisoners were sentenced to 4 to 28 months in prison and high bails.
On Sunday June 19th, six International Solidarity Movement activists from the United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Germany, and Sweden were illegally arrested by the Israeli military after attending a demonstration against the construction on confiscated land belonging to the Palestinian village, Deir Qaddis.
Apart from numerous Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists, many children and elderly villagers participated. The demonstrators marched through the village waving flags and chanting slogans. Some of the demonstrators formed a road blockade with rocks on the confiscated land.
The Israeli military arrived shortly after and responded with volleys of tear gas, aimed directly at demonstrators. The tear gas canisters set alight the grass around them, causing a fire which spread for hundreds of meters throughout the hills.
After the Israeli military had left the area, the demonstrators returned to the village. The military subsequently invaded the village following the demonstrations. The internationals were resting in a Palestinian home drinking tea. Upon noticing army infringement upon the village, the international volunteers walked onto the road to see where the army was, hoping that their presence as internationals would deter the soldiers from attacking the village. Yet the commanding officer ran down the hill, with about 15 soldiers behind him, pointed his gun directly at the volunteers, and said violently, “If you move, I will shoot.”
While under arrest the soldiers proceeded to teargas the village below, and as they did so, the wind carried the teargas across to the international volunteers. As they tried to treat themselves with onions and alcohol wipes, items commonly used to deter the affects of tear gas, the soldiers shouted that tear gas was “part of the Israeli experience.”
Then the soldiers forced them to walk in convoy formation.
“We walked with a soldier in front of us, behind, and one on either side with guns, shouting at us and using intimidation techniques, forcing us to walk like prisoners,” said one volunteer.
She continued to describe her experience as they were taken away from the village. “We walked for approximately 15 minutes in the heat and sun along the road until we were outside the illegal Israeli settlement of Nil’ in. When we repeatedly stated that we did not believe our presence in the village was illegal, or that the arrest was legal, the soldiers responded with the same aggressive responses that we ‘should know the law of the country that we are in, meaning Israel. They then made us get into an armoured jeep, where we were forced to sit in silence before blindfolding us, for the acclaimed reason that we were ‘not allowed to see the settlement’ through which we were passing,” she said.
During the first six hours of detention, the activists were kept in an armored military truck, being blindfolded for approximately one hour. After more than ten hours in detention, the activists were forced to stay awake and were given one piece of bread and water. The arresting officer was the Hebrew/English translator during each activist’s interrogation, having testified against them just hours before. He talked over the activists as they gave their testimony, accused the activists of lying and cut one activist off before she could finish her testimony. They were released 17 hours later, after signing a condition stating they will not participate in demonstrations in Deir Qaddis, Bi’lin and Ni’lin.
The activists were charged with participating in an illegal demonstration despite the fact that the demonstration took place on Palestinian land and therefore can not be declared illegal under both Israeli and international law.
Two Protesters Injured with Live Ammunition and one arrested in Deir Qaddis
Demonstrators disrupted construction of a new neighborhood in the adjacent settlement of Nili. Israeli soldiers responded with baton charges, tear-gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition. One organizer was arrested and several olive trees were burned down.
Two Palestinian youths in their twenties were hit by live ammunition today, during a demonstration against the settlement expansion in the West Bank village of Ni’lin and Dier Qaddis. A 24 year-old protester, was shot twice – in the pelvis and in the shoulder, and the second, a 22 year-old, was shot in the back of his thigh and will require an operation. Mohammed Amirah, a member of the Ni’lin popular committee, was arrested after seriously beaten, apparently for incitement.
The demonstration was organized by the Ni’lin, Budrus and Deir Qaddis popular committees.
Residents of Ni’lin, Deir Qaddis and Budrus, accompanied by Israeli and international supporters.
As the protesters advanced towards the bulldozers, Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers first fired a few rounds of live fire in the air and very quickly moved on to shoot tear-gas and rubber-coated bullets directly at the protesters. Despite the attack, demonstrators managed to reach the bulldozers and disrupt construction for half an hour. Then the soldiers started beating the demonstrators and arrested Mohammed Amireh.
As the protesters retreated, soldiers followed them to the edge of the village, where clashes ensued and where the two were shot. In addition to the two protesters hit shot with live ammunition, six more were shot with rubber coated steel bullets.
A private Israeli guard opened live fire on protesters marching on an illegal quarry near the West Bank village of Shuqba.
The march was organized by the Ni’lin and Budrus popular committees and commenced at noon. Dozens of Palestinian and Israeli activists marched toward the illegal quarry to stop the further confiscation of Palestinian lands from the nearby villages of Ni’lin, Qibya, Shuqba and Shebteen.
As demonstrators were marching towards the quarry, an Israeli security guard opened fire. Villagers had not even arrived to the designated spot of protest, the quarry, before live ammunition was shot. The injured protester from Budrus was evacuated to the hospital for necessary treatment.
After some time, 3 three Israeli military jeeps arrived and began firing tear gas canisters at the protest. Many suffered from gas inhalation and a few olive trees caught on a fire.
The quarry, owned by an Israeli commander, rests on lands confiscated from Palestinian villages. The demonstrators hope to deter further confiscation, since the quarry continues to be expanded illegally.
