Dozens of Palestinian, international and Israeli activists participated at today’s demonstration against the apartheid wall and land annexation organised by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in. The demonstration was dedicated to the Palestinian Bedouins in Al Nakab and to the international day of Jerusalem.
The march began after Friday midday prayers from the center of the village towards the apartheid wall.
The participants raised Palestinian flags and chanted slogans calling for the end of the occupation, the demolition of the apartheid wall and freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners.
Upon arrival to the area of the wall, Israeli soldiers, located behind the wall, fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas canisters and sound grenades at the demonstrators.
Many suffered from tear gas inhalation and were treated on the spot.
2nd August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Ni’lin, Occupied Palestine
Israeli army represses demonstration in Ni’lin as it marks the five year anniversary of the murder of ten-year-old Ahmed Mousa and seventeen-year-old Youssef Amirah. Demonstrators remain defiant after five years of stolen land, illegal settlements and brutal killings of five members of the village and countless injuries.
On a hot Friday the 2nd of August during Ramadan, around 40 Palestinian demonstrators accompanied by internationals and Israeli activists gathered for the afternoon prayer in the olive field. At around 1.30pm The demonstration started as people marched towards the illegal annexation wall that steals 2500 dunams of land. The demonstration started in 2008 against the wall’s construction, but have continued unrelentingly after the construction was finished. The demonstrators chanted in Arabic as they approached the wall.
Israeli occupation soldiers hid behind the wall carrying riot shields and weapons as they looked over, ready to fire on the peaceful demonstrators.
Journalists and demonstrators who approached the wall had sound bombs dropped on them, before the army fired barrages of tear gas canisters. Some of the tear gas canisters started fires in the olive field including one tree where the canister got stuck in the branches. Later in the demonstration the amount of tear gas canisters that were fired stopped demonstrators from coming closer to the wall. Rubber and plastic coated steel bullets were also routinely fired.The demonstration finished around 3.00pm when demonstrators decided to withdraw.
This Friday marks the week of the end of July that is the five year anniversary of the murder of Ahmed Mousa and Youssef Amirah. Ahmed was shot in the head with live ammunition on the 29th of July 2008, Youssef was killed the day after when at Ahmed’s funeral he was shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the head by Israeli occupation forces. Omri Abu, an Israeli border police officer, was put on trial in a rare case when Palestinians are murdered by the army. He was later acquitted by an Israeli court for ‘causing death by negligence’ on the grounds that there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that his bullets were the ones that hit Ahmed in spite of acknowledging that he tried to cover up the evidence by ejecting the cartridges from his rifle and claiming that he did not fire at all.
The complete lack of justice in the trial was expected by the people of Ni’lin who have suffered much pain with the deaths of their five shaheeds and countless injuries, but continue to resist.
This afternoon the journalist Haitham al-Khatib 37 years old was hit by a tear gas canister in the back after being targeted by the Israeli soldiers, a 18 years old Mahmoud Samara also got injured by a rubber bullet in the leg, their conditions were described as a minor, in addition to cases of suffocation after inhaling tear gas in Bil’in weekly march.
Protesters marching towards the wall in Bil’in (Photo by Hamza Burnat)
The march which called by the Popular Committee against the Wall and settlements in Bil’in began after Friday prayers from the center of the village toward the apartheid wall. Participated along with the people of Bil’in, an Italy’s parliamentary delegation led by Luisa Morgantini (former vice president of the European parliament), Israeli and foreigner peace activists.
The participants raised Palestinian flags and chanted slogans calling for the departure of the occupation, the demolition of the apartheid wall and the liberalization of the Palestinian political prisoners. Upon the arrival of the participants to the area of the wall the Israeli soldiers who were situated behind the wall fired rubber bullets, tear gas and sound grenades at the demonstrators which led to some injuries that were treated on the field.
For their part, members of the popular Committee gave a detailed explanation to the Italian parliamentary delegation and the foreign peace activists about the Israeli violations and attacks of the occupation in Bilin since the eight years so far, and they also talked about the strategy of the popular resistance in Palestine.
Israeli soldier throwing a tear gas canister at protesters (Photo by Hamza Burnat)Journalist Haitham al-Khatib after being hit by a tear gas canister (Photo by Hamza Burnat)
26th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine
The Israeli military invaded the village of Kafr Qaddum multiple times on Friday 26th July, firing excessive teargas, sound grenades and rubber bullets at the people of the village. They were also armed and prepared to use live ammunition against peaceful protesters. Several hours later, the village was once again invaded, this time by an Israeli military bulldozer which created a roadblock in the centre of the village, restricting freedom of movement.
At around 11am on the morning of the 26th of July, over fourty soldiers walked directly into the village of Kafr Qaddum, heavily armed with sound grenades, teargas, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition. They fired sound grenades and gas at Palestinians walking in the village, several hours before the village’s Friday demonstration convened. The soldiers started running at people several times, seemingly attempting to make arrests or physically attack the villagers – many of those affected by this, and by the offensive weapons that were fired, were on their way to pray in the mosque on the third Friday of Ramadan.
Youth of the village facing the force of the Israeli military (Photo by ISM)
As many people of Kafr Qaddum answered the call to prayer, the soldiers who had invaded the village then occupied a hillside overlooking the village. At around 1.30 after the prayers, the demonstration gathered, with a group of around one hundred Palestinians – along with Israelis and international supporters – marching towards the hilltop occupied by the soldiers. The protesters demanded that their road be opened for access and told the soldiers of the Israeli army that they would be held accountable for their crimes in The Hague.
Youth of the village defended their homes from the heavily armed soldiers, resisting the military invasion. The soldiers fired heavy metal tear gas canisters at head height and directly towards the protesters, as well as firing plastic coated steel bullets. Several protesters suffered from extreme teargas inhalation and one was hit in the leg with a tear gas canister. Soldiers ran from the hill towards the protesters, chasing them between the houses of the village – once again seemingly attempting to arrest or attack protesters during the nonviolent demonstration.
Having chased many demonstrators out of the centre of the village, four military jeeps and a bulldozer raided the village, accompanied by around thirty soldiers on foot. The bulldozer dug up piles of dirt and stones from the side of the road, piling it into a roadblock in the centre of the village. This new roadblock would severely restrict access for villagers living east of it, meaning that they would not be able to enter or leave the village by car at all, as their eastern access to Nablus is already blocked by the settlement of Qedumim. Collective punishment, which this roadblock constitutes as it indiscriminately punishes the citizens of the village, is a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Soliders behind the new roadblock as the bulldozer retreats (Photo by ISM)
However, the resistance continued as after the demonstration ended, the village municipality prepared to remove the roadblock with their own digger. The village of Kafr Qaddum will continue to resist occupation, settlements and military violence.
Around 4,000 dunums of Kafr Qaddum land has been appropriated by the illegal settlement of Qedumim and the demonstrations started as it was threatened that this amount would increase as the settlement expanded. Kafr Qaddum’s main road was closed in 2002, making access to their neighbouring villages of Jit, Sarra and the city of Nablus impossible without a 14 kilometre detour on badly paved roads through olive groves.
23rd July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine
Tonight 23rd July 2013, the Israeli army invaded Nablus and shot large amounts of tear gas canisters and sound bombs at Palestinian youth trying to push back the invading forces.
At around 2:45am, Israeli army invaded Faisal Street, the main artery that crosses the city from East to West. Some Palestinian youth were already in the city centre, enjoying the nights of Ramadan, and others joined them after the army invaded. Together, they responded to the invasion by throwing stones at the soldiers who rapidly shot tear gas canisters and sound bombs at them.
Stationed in groups of three or four along the street, Israeli soldiers continued shooting at people during an hour and a half. A group of international activists living in Nablus went to the area where the shooting was happening and when they made clear that they were internationals and there were unarmed civilians in the area, Israeli soldiers pointed at them, threw a couple of sound bombs and shot several tear gas canisters directly at them.
During the time of the invasion, Israeli forces shot numerous tear gas canisters low and directly at people. Two Palestinians and an international activist were hit by the canisters. The soldiers reportedly arrested one man from a car in the city centre.
Every week the Israeli army comes and often raids different parts of the city of Nablus, ransacking houses, arresting people, firing sound bombs and gas canisters.
According to the Oslo agreements, Nablus is in Area A, which means that both security and civil administration should be the role of the Palestinian Authority. Once again last night, the Israeli army ignored these agreements.
