Tag: Tear-Gas Canister - Page 51 - International Solidarity Movement

Israeli army supress peaceful demonstration in Iraq Burin

21 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Around 80 Palestinians and international activists held a peaceful demonstration today in the village of Iraq Burin to protest the theft of village land for settlement construction. The demonstration began at about 16.00 when protesters marched through the village and over the hills towards the illegal settlement of Bracha. The peaceful demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and banners calling for an end to the occupation and for justice for Rachel Corrie whose trial continues tomorrow. They were immedietely met with a barrage of tear gas from the Israeli forces. The demonstrators had been at the top of the hill for only fifteen minutes, peacefully chanting slogans about freedom for Palestine and an end to the occupation and illegal settlements, when troops began firing tear gas at them. The protesters were forced to retreat quickly down the rocky hill as the soldiers shot at them; they narrowly missed the protesters and caused some to suffer adverse effects of strong teargas inhalation. One man was taken away by paramedics as he suffered from asphyxiation. The army continued to fire on protesters as they made their way down the treacherous hillside. However undeterred by the army’s brutality and disproportionate response to the peaceful protest, the villagers plan to continue their demonstrations on a weekly basis.

Iraq Burin is a small village 8 km southwest of Nablus. The illegal settlement of Bracha is located about one mile southeast of the village, and is situated on around 100 dunams (25 acres) of village land, as well as more land from surrounding villages. As with other settlements, it is not just the actual land of the settlement that is a problem, but also the land near it There is a swathe of “off-limits” land around the village that farmers are often prevented from using due to its close proximity to the settlement, leaving them with less land to graze sheep on or harvest from.

The villagers of Iraq Burin held weekly demonstrations last year to protest against the expansion of Bracha, and their continuing inability to access the village’s agricultural land. This began as a reaction to a sharp increase in provocative (and often violent) attacks initiated by residents of the settlement. These attacks were frequently aided and abetted by the Israeli military, who in turn invaded the village, firing rounds of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition at Palestinian civilians. However the village took the decision to stop the weekly protests when Mohammed Qaddous (16) and Asaud Qadous (19) were shot dead by the Israeli military during a demonstration.

iraq burin protestors attacked by Israeli army

Demonstrations mark Nakba Day in Hebron

16 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Approximately one thousand people demonstrated in Hebron during the weekend to commemorate the Nakba day. Several protesters were injured after violent responses from the Israeli army.

On Sunday the 15th May around a thousand Palestinians joined in a demonstration to commemorate the Nakba, (in English literally “the catastrophe”) which occurred in 1948 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from their homes as the Israeli state was created. The demonstration, in which the International Solidarity Movement as well as all major political parties and the Mayor of Hebron took part, started at the Hebron Municipality building in the H1 area (the area of the city controlled by the Palestinian authority) and stopped at the UNRWA (The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees) office, where speeches were held. The chants of the demonstrators and the speeches highlighted the right of the 1948 refugees to return and the unity of the Palestinian people.

Protesters also marched towards the Old City of Hebron. Here the Israeli military advanced into the H1 area and attacked protesters with tear gas, sound bombs and rubber coated steel bullets. Other protesters were prevented from entering the Old City by Palestinian police forces. A group of young women in the front line of the demonstration managed to break through the police line and for a while managed to continue the protest behind the police forces. Protesters responded to the violence of the Israeli military by throwing stones. At 4pm a member of an ambulance crew told the ISM that 20 people so far had been injured by the Israeli military, four were injured by rubber coated steel bullets and the remaining by inhaling tear gas. According to Ma’an News Agency, an additional five demonstrators were later treated for wounds caused by rubber coated steel bullets, four for tear gas inhalation and one for fractures caused by being beaten by the Israeli military.

On Saturday the 14th of May during the evening a march took place involving around 300 Palestinians, they carried fire torches and marched from the Municipality to the nearby square where speeches were made. They also carried keys which represent the loss of their homes in the Nakba. The march took place within the Palestinian controlled part of Hebron and there were no difficulties with the Israeli military although a sizable Palestinian police force was on call to watch the protest.

On Sunday the 15th during the evening after the main protests marking the Nakba, the ISM were asked to attend a protest by Youth Against Settlements, a Palestinian activist group. The demonstration was held in Wadi al Hadya. Though all of the street lights had been inexplicably turned off, the ISM members reported 30 youths gathered at the base of the hill and were blocking the road with a large skip, which was set on fire. This was to stop the advance of Israeli soldiers who had gathered at the top of the hill. The soldiers were using their laser sights which could be clearly seen moving over the young men gathered at the protest. The soldiers then fired tear gas and sound bombs in order to disperse the gathered youths. As far as the ISM members were able to tell nobody was injured by this unprovoked fire but this is as yet unconfirmed.

Protesters commemorate the Nakba at Qalandyia

15 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

From 11.00 this morning until 21.00 at night, the International Solidarity Movement joined with thousands of Palestinians and other Internationals in commemorating the Nakba by demonstrating at Qalandiya checkpoint which separates the West Bank from Jerusalem and the rest of pre-1948 Palestine. As protesters united in denouncing the expulsion of Palestinians from their land in 1948, the Israeli army responded to the mass mobilisation with live ammunition, teargas and rubber-coated steel bullets. The teargas used was a different, more powerful type than is usually used during demonstrations and resulted in severe cases of asphyxiation. Protesters resisted the occupation forces by throwing stones. A report from the Palestinian Red Crescent said two protesters were hit with live rounds, 15 were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets, and 120 suffered tear-gas inhalation, however protesters remained undeterred by the military’s disproportionate use of force and continued protesting into the evening. Undercover police officers infiltrated the demonstration, arresting protesters. Qalandyia checkpoint remained open with vehicles moving in both directions as the military fired ammunition and teargas into lanes of traffic targeting protesters. The military also fired teargas at ambulances, injuring medics and making it difficult to access and treat the wounded.

Teen critically injured as Israel cracks down on Nakba demos

13 May 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Updated 14 May 2011: Milad Ayyash died of his injuries reported below.

17 year-old was critically injured from live fire in East Jerusalem. An American protester suffered serious head injury after being hit by a tear-gas projectile shot directly at him from close range.

Israeli military and police forces responded violently to demonstrations commemorating 63 years to the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948 today all over the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Milad Sa’eed Ayyash, a 17 year old from the Ras el-Amud neighborhood was shot in the stomach with live ammunition. He has reached the Muqassed hospital with no pulse and the doctors are now fighting for his life.

Tension also rose in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, where 19 protesters have been injured and 11 were arrested. During the evening hours, large police forces raided houses in Silwan and carried out additional arrests.

In the village of Ma’asara, south of Bethlehem, two protesters were arrested during a peaceful demonstration that was attacked with tear-gas for no apparent reason. One of those arrested is a member of the village’s popular committee. In Nabi Saleh – a regular target for military aggression recently – soldiers and Border Police officers injured no less than 25 protesters, including a Palestinian women in her 50s who was beaten up so badly that her wounds required her removal from the Salfeet Hospital to the bigger and more advanced Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus. A 25 year-old American demonstrator suffered a serious head injury and an Israeli activist was diagnosed with two open fractures in his hand. Both were injured by tear-gas projectiles shot directly at them from short range, in violation of the Israeli Army’s open fire regulations. Four protesters were arrested in Nabi Saleh, including two Palestinian women.

24 year old man from Iraq Burin shot by teargas canister at close range

8 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Abdalah Aadus shot with tear gas canister

Yesterday afternoon, 24 year old Abdalah Aadus from the village of Iraq Burin was taken to hospital after being shot in the side by a teargas canister which was fired from close range. Abdalah had been participating in a demonstration against the theft of his village’s agricultural land by settlers.

At 15.00, approximately 40 villagers from Iraq Burin gathered and started walking from the village towards their land which is situated close to the illegal Bracha settlement. The demonstrators carried Palestinian flags which they planted on their agricultural land. After 30 minutes 20 Israeli soldiers and 1 security guard from the illegal settlement showed up and responded by shooting rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas canisters and sound bombs directly at the demonstrators from a close range. One of the soldiers also threatened the demonstrators by saying that the army would return to the village that night and arrest them all. During the demonstration Abdalah was shot in his side and taken to the hospital. Fortunately he was not severely injured and was able to leave the hospital later the same day.

Last year the villagers of Iraq Burin held weekly demonstrations against the theft of their land by the settlers. The Israeli military responded to the protests with great violence, firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets directly at the protesters. In March 2010 Mohammed Qadous 16, and Asaud Qadous, 19, were killed by Israeli forces during one of the non-violent demonstration. After the tragic incident the villagers decided to stop the demonstrations, as the price was just too high.

Iraq Burin is a village with 700 inhabitants located outside of Nablus, in the West Bank. The village is surrounded by the two illegal settlements of Bracha and Yizhar and their outposts. The settlers have so far stolen 4000 dunams of land from the village.