Saturday, April 25, 2009

Palestine-Israel, Joint struggle at Um Salmuna and added mourning in Bil'in and Ni'ilin... and Tel Aviv and Saffa too

We participated during the week in The Fourth Bil’in International Conference on Non-Violent Resistance under the name of Bassem Abu Rahma. About 60 activists from the Anarchists Against the Wall who marched during the years with Basem in the Friday demonstrations came to this Friday demonstration that was in his name, to give him the last honer and to mourn him. Another act of mourning this week was in Ni'ilin, that in spite of the murder of 4 of its youngsters during the months of struggle, opened on Tuesday a second exhibition about the Holocaust and we also had a joint "march of life" towards the separation fence. We participated also in the Friday demonstrations against the fence in Ni'ilin and Um Salmuna. Saturday we tried to join the struggle at Saffa.


NI'ILIN

"Man shall not live by Holocaust alone"
The Popular committee for the non-violent resistance of the wall in Ni'ilin invites to participate in the "Life Walk" demonstration in the Holocaust Memorial Day, tomorrow, Tuesday, at 14:00.

The exhibition and the march were covered by both international and local TV media.
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3704234,00.html

In a kind of response:

Member of Israeli parliament biggest party Kadima, Otniel Schneller, called on Friday at a rally in support for IDF soldiers in Ni'ilin for courts to Issue restraining orders against the anarchists protesters against the security barrier in the West Bank villages of Bil'in and Ni'ilin. Schneller said:
"There should be restraining orders against the anarchists, just as there are restraining orders against the extreme Right during the olive harvests in Samaria." ".


BIL'IN BIL'IN

Link to Israel Puterman video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXRoAZkKqik of Basem Ibrahim Abu-Rahme's funeral 18-4-09.

"Today (Monday) in Berlin 100 people have demonstrated in Protest of the murder of Bassem Abu Rahme and in solidarity with the joint Palestinian, Israeli and international resistance against the occupation.

The demonstration was organized in one day by a diverse coalition of groups including the Jewish Voice for Just Peace, ISM, IWPS, Anarchists Against the Wall- Berlin, the International League for Human Rights, The German section of War Resistance International and members of the Palestinian Community. The demonstrators assembled in the heart of Kreuzberg in Heinrichplatz and carried pictures of the Israeli photographers collective Activestills documenting the Resistance against the Wall and also pictures showing Bassem and his murder. The demonstrators then marched on the Oranienstrasse calling in German "Long Live the International Solidarity", "The Wall must fall" and "Free, Free Palestine". Speeches were given to the participants and to the many Berliners that were on the street - about the joint resistance in Palestine, the Killing of Bassem and stressed the necessity of international pressure against the Israeli Apartheid regime. Flayers describing the murdering of Bassem were widely distributed to the many by passers.

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The Fourth Bil’in International Conference on Non-Violent Resistance under the name of Bassem Abu Rahma April 22-24, 2009 had hundreds of participants from all over the world and all Palestinian regions.

Excerpt from the announcement

First day:

Welcome speeches 9:30-10:30
• Eyad Burnat head of Bil’in Popular Committee
• Salam Fayad, Prime Minister of Palestine
• Luisa Morgantini, Vice President of the EU Parliament
• Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize

Break 10:30-10:40

Panel 10:40-11:40
• 10 minutes for each of the Heads of Delegations, including Adar Grayevsky, activist from Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall


More information can be found at http://www.bilin-village.org/english/conferences/conference2009/Fourth-Bilin-conference-on-grassroots-popular-resistance-in-April

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Low on the scale of humanity

On Friday evening the phone rang. It was my daughter. She wanted to tell me that she had just heard that Bassem had died. That a gas canister was shot at his chest at short range during the demonstration at Bil'in and he collapsed on the spot. She sounded completely calm and matter-of-fact. That's how she is. She has no illusions about life. And she loathes melodrama. She works with drug addicts and AIDS patients, and knows there is a list of categories of people in this country who have, in the public's eye, lost the right to be considered human beings. Among these transparent people are those perceived as wretches, who have brought their misfortune down upon themselves: The Palestinians are one category on the list - together with drug addicts, prostitutes and AIDS sufferers. She therefore sees it as her obligation to stand at their side as well.

About two years ago she came home from the weekly demonstration against the separation fence in Bil'in, and related that she had met the best-looking man in the world there. Two weeks later I went with her to the village to meet him and his family. I took along as a "reinforcement" my cousin, Liliane, who was visiting from France and was the first in our family to have crossed the line and married a Muslim Arab. We were also joined by a photographer, Dan Keinan, who took pictures of the loving couple, Bassem and my daughter, sitting in Zahara's vine-covered bower.

Zahara is Bassem's aunt. Her house is the last one in the village; after it begins the slope down to the separation fence. The bower is the usual resting place for demonstrators after they have run up the hill, panting hoarsely from the gas grenades that the soldiers have lobbed at them. Under the grapevines sat Bassem's widowed mother and relatives of the Abu Rahmeh family, who came from here and there: a lecturer at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, party activists, a wealthy contractor who spoke fluent Hebrew.
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Bassem promised he would learn Hebrew so it would be easier to come and visit my daughter. He was proud of the temporary permit he had been given to work in Israel. In fact, it was a restricted-travel permit limited to the Jewish settlements in the territories, and good for six months. Bassem took me for a tour of the village and told me about the houses and who lived in them. There were kitschy rich people's houses with red roofs and simple folks' houses with flat roofs.

Bassem, 31, came from a modest family. He was not an intellectual, but he had natural leadership abilities. I returned to the village several times and watched him calming down groups of angry young people near the separation fence, so they would not provoke the soldiers. I saw him maintain order during the historic demonstration, about a year ago, that marked the Supreme Court's recognition of the justice of the villagers' case, and its ruling that the lands stolen during construction of the separation fence must be returned to them.

That was a euphoric day in the village. The Palestinian prime minister came to give a speech, along with a group of dignitaries from Ramallah. The audience spontaneously began to dance. Bassem stood off to one side, poker-faced, perhaps because like my daughter he had no illusions and he did not like melodrama.

Indeed, the Supreme Court ruling has not been implemented to this day. The demonstrations against the separation fence continue as usual every Friday. After the noonday prayer at the local mosque, the qadi, who is also the local paramedic, dons a phosphorescent Red Crescent vest and the demonstrators, who wait in the shade of the trees in the adjacent cemetery for the prayers to end, set out down the hill to the fence. At the head of the procession marches an elderly man, one of the founders of Fatah, who always reminds me of my grandfather - an elder of the Zionist sports organization Maccabi, who used to march at the head of the parade at the opening of the Maccabiah event in the Ramat Gan Stadium.

Over the years, the conflict between the demonstrators and the soldiers has become a ritual with routine elements. Behind the fence stands a line of expressionless soldiers, wearing helmets and with weapons cocked. Their commander, in a jeep behind them, calls through a megaphone for the demonstration to disperse.

It is clear from the outset that the demonstrators do not stand a chance in face of the soldiers and that the protest is only symbolic. There is a hill overlooking the arena of the regular encounter between the demonstrators and the soldiers, where the women, and the reporters and cameramen stand; the whole audience watches the gladiator show without really participating in it. But sometimes, willy-nilly, the audience becomes an actor.

Once this happened to me. I was standing and observing what was happening from afar and suddenly a gas grenade landed next to me, fragments of which cut me in the neck. Last Friday something similar happened to a French woman journalist. A grenade fragment cut her face. Bassem rushed to her aid and called to the soldier behind the fence to stop the shooting so that she could be evacuated. In response, the soldier loaded a gas canister into his rifle and fired it at Bassem's chest.

Thus ended the brief story of the life of Bassem Abu Rahmeh, who was handsome, tall and charismatic, but in terms of the scale of categories of humanity, ranked very low.

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Demonstrations against Israel's separation fence in the West Bank left some 29 people injured on Friday, as Israel Defense Forces soldiers fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullet at protesters. Approximately 1,000 Palestinians and left-wing activists protested the route of the security fence in the towns of Bil'in and Ni'ilin in the West Bank.

Palestinian sources said the wounded included Palestinian journalists and family members of Bassem Abu Rahmeh, who was killed during a similar demonstration last week. Twelve demonstrators were injured in Bil'in and four protesters were injured in Ni'ilin. A total of 13 Israeli troops were also injured in the demonstrations. The 13 Israel Police and Border Police officers were lightly wounded by stones hurled at them.

Protesters said 10 people were injured by rubber bullets, including three Israelis [AAtW activists, I.S]. All of the wounded suffered light injuries to their feet.

Abu Rahmeh, 31, was killed during a protest last week in Bil'in, which has been a flash point for confrontations between soldiers and anti-fence protesters. IDF sources said last Saturday that the tear gas canister that killed him was likely fired in violation of orders.
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Bil'in 24-4-2009 - link to Isralel video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEXrKU2m2wU
and David video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz_i9B9Q7OU
When we arrived at the gate of the separation fence the state forces started to shower us with tear gas. In spite of it, dedicated activists refused to retreat and built a memorial monument at the point Basem was murdered the previous Friday.


TEL AVIV

On Thursday evening AAtW activists and other supporters demonstrated in center of Tel Aviv in solidarity with Neta Mishli. The state forces did not like them and arrested two of our comrades who spent the night in jail.

Neta Mishli, 18, from Tel-Aviv, a signatory of the 2008 high school seniors refusal letter, http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46805270728 who began serving her first prison term today (23 Apr.) Neta arrived yesterday (22 Apr.) at the military Induction Base and refused to enlist. For this she was first sentenced to seven days of confinement to base (she was told there was no room in the military prison for women). However, the following day she was again tried and sentenced, this time to 20 days in military prison. She was told that the Military Attorney's Office has authorized trying her again for the very same act.

Neta has prepared the following declaration upon entering prison:

"I am not willing to be part of an organization committing war crimes, taking the lives of thousands of innocent civilians, an organization that, in the name of humanism and democracy, forces me and my peers to sacrifice a period of our lives, and our lives themselves, for false calm, for no calm shall come to pass until Israel decides to give up the policy of war and turn towards peace. Therefore, as a small step towards stopping the cycle of bloodshed, I hereby refuse to enlist in the military".

Neta Mishli is due to be released from prison on 10 May, but is likely to be imprisoned again soon afterwards.



UM SALMUNA

R.W. wrote:
"4 Israelis and some 15 internationals joined over 30 Palestinians for the weekly demonstration against the wall in Um Salmuna. After a short march the demonstrators reached the barbed wire barrier set by the soldiers to prevent demonstrators from reaching their lands. The demonstrators tried to bypass the barrier, and eventually managed to remove it, but were forcefully blocked by the soldiers. After speeches commemorating the murder of Bassem Abu Rahme in Bil'in a week earlier and the 64th anniversary of the collapse of the fascist regime in Italy the demonstrators again tried to cross through, but were violently pushed back by the soldiers, who threatened to arrest the non violent organizers despite their persistent and successful efforts to prevent violence and escalation. After a brief confrontation the demonstration turned back into the village and dispersed."

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We were invited to join the struggle in Saffa on Saturday:

Some short clips of April 8 when settlers attacked Saffa, an area next to Beit Ommar. 11 people were shot by the military but thousands of Palestinians came out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yDKiX9_ocI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBJvFkLq0_Y

This Saturday at 9:30am farmers from Saffa (also known as Khirbet Saffa, between Beit Ommar and Sourif) want to go to their land near Beit Ayn settlement to prepare the land and prune the grapevines before the summer.

about 10 activist left Tel Aviv on Saturday morning to join Palestinian farmers attempting to get to their lands. They joined actions coordinated by the PSP and Taayush. On action was to take place in Saffa near Bat Ayin (a notoriously dangerous settlement) and another in Hebron. In both cases large numbers of police were waiting in most checkpoints leading to those locations. The police said they wee acting on "intelligence" to prevent the arrival of provocateurs. By that they mean solidarity activists who try to accompany farmers to their lands. The police did not manage to completely prevent the arrival of the activists but they did delay and limit the arrival of activist. The good news is that in Saffa the farmers were able to work their lands after all without the assistance of Israeli activists.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Palestine-Israel, Another casualty of the joint struggle against the separation fence

Yesterday in the joint Friday demonstration against the separation fence and occupation, a tear gas missile shot directly to the chest of Basem Ibrahim Abo-Rahmeh - while standing between two Israeli activists of the Anarchists against the Wall, caused fatal injury.
The video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlbzuZ_50mU He died on the way to hospital. The tear gas missile which is a military weapon for the range of four hundred meters, is the same one nearly murdered a month ago Tristan Anderson in a demonstration against the separation fence in Ni'ilin. - For years, the Israeli state force use the demonstrations as experimental field for police weapons for dispersing crowds. Lately they also use them for the testing of the military tear gas missile also used in the last Gaza war.

A comrade reported:

"This Friday some 15 Israelis and 15 internationals joined a few dozen Palestinians in their weekly demo in Bil'in. The demonstration's theme was Palestinian prisoners' day, and the demo was headed by people carrying posters demanding the release of Palestinians held by the Israeli occupation forces. As usual, upon reaching the fence the demo was met with shock and gas grenades. The strong wind blew in the direction of the demonstrators and spread the gas among them, so only a small group of demonstrators managed to stay close to the fence. This, however, only encouraged the soldiers to keep shooting relatively large amounts of gas and other ammunition. The first victim was a French demonstrator superficially wounded in her face by a rebound shrapnel. Shortly after, a soldier shot an extended range gas projectile from a few meters away directly at Bassem Abu Rahme who was standing at the fence, knocked him over, left a gaping hole in the middle of his torso, and put him into respiratory distress and shock. Since no ambulance was at the scene, Bassem (a.k.a. Phil, aged 30) was evacuated in a private car toward Ramallah. Some demonstrators maintained their presence at the fence for a while, but as the last of them left the scene, the news of Bassem's death reached at the village."


The Friday demonstration in Ni'ilin ended abruptly when the participants heard about the murder of Basem in Bil'in and the AAtW activists - all knew Basem from previous demonstrations, and the AAtW people rushed to the near by Bil'in.

Many of us approached to hold hands with his younger brother Ashraf - another persistent activist, who became "famous" as the MEDIA all over the world showed few months ago how a regional commander ordered a soldier to shoot his leg while he was handcuffed and blind folded.

Today (Saturday) we gave Basem the last honer. About 60 activists of the Anarchists Against the Wall joined thousands Palestinians from Bil'in village and the region in the funeral of Basem Ibrahim Abu-Rakhme. One of the Bil'in group of people dedicated to the struggle against the separation fence. In four years of Friday demonstrations, I do not recall even one Friday I have not seen him active in the preparation for the demonstration, marching in the first lines, and defying the tear gas near the gate to the route of the separation fence.

At the evening we had a demonstration in Tel Aviv. About 500 people (including 10 of the legendary antiauthoritarian anticapitalist Matzpen - most active from the late 1960s to the early 1980s) mainly from among the thousands who participated in the Friday demonstrations in Bil'in with Basem during the last 4 years. We marched and chanted all the way from the center of town towards the War ministry compound where. There we had a meeting with few speakers.


Friday 10.4.2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy47y59WtQc video of Ni'ilin demonstration

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Palestine-Israel, The joint struggle continue - week days and weekend.

Comrades of Anarchists Against the Wall participated in the continuous struggle against evictions and demolitions of houses of Palestinian families in the extended Jerusalem region (Silwan and Shikh Jarakh mainly). Wednesday we were in Ni'ilin. Friday was focussed on the demonstrations against the separation fence and occupation in Bil'in, Ni'ilin, and Um Salmuna. As there is no supreme joy as the malicious joy, we had such huge joy in Bil'in, when the stupid state forces found that the eastern wind carry the tear gas they shoot on us towards them. Bil'in struggle still get into the the main TV media. Previous Friday TV news brought a clip http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=627821&sid=126 about shooting contradicting regulations. 10.4.09: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPvdVfx4tQU

BIL'IN

R. reported:

"Seven Israelis and five internationals joined a few dozen Palestinians for the weekly demo in Bil'in. The demo was led with Palestinian flags, singing and chanting, and with a poster portraying young Palestinian children as wanted suspects. The popular committee announced a decision according to which the soldiers should behave themselves today, but the soldiers blatantly disregarded the decision, and welcomed the demo with the usual surge of shock grenades and gas. The shabab threw stones, the soldiers shot grenades and bullets, and the wind, which was refreshingly pro-Palestinian, sent most of the gas back to the soldiers. The demonstrators prepared a large metal board painted as the separation wall, [a "legacy" kept from a past demonstration. I.S.] and we used it as a shield to enter through the fence gate [to the route the electronic fence is in its middle. I.S.]. Three demonstrators managed to stick to their positions and advance for just under half and hour, despite persistent stray stones from the back and all sorts of ammunition from the front. Eventually a direct hit of several gas grenades forced the demonstrators to retreat and exit the fence area.

[Few "brave and wise" soldiers succeeded after much effort to opened the lock of the gate in the electronic fence, and thieved the deserted shield to the other side of the separation fence. I.S.]

During the demo a demonstrator and a photographer were directly hit with shock and gas grenades, but didn't suffer severe damage. After the demonstration dispersed a few soldiers entered the village, but didn't stay very long. Samih, who had suffered a head injury from a gas projectile a couple of months ago, is getting better, and regained control of the arm that had been paralyzed. Inshalla, Tristan will take after him".

Previous week, in the TV channel 10 Friday evening news, one sample of state force terrorist acts in Bil'in http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=627821&sid=126 of shooting demonstrators even in contradiction to the stated regulation of the opening fire on demonstrators.

NI'ILIN

IMEMC / Activestills reported:

"Wednesday, we participated in the mid-week demonstration in Ni'ilin. As it was the Passover eve, the presence of the Israeli state force was minimal, and their "retaliation" was milder than usual. Only two teams of theirs advanced into the main street of the village near the entrance road block. They "only" shoot tear gas, without firing bullets and tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators from short range - as they usually do...

Friday, a comrade reported:
"Scores of villagers from Nil'in located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, along with their international supporters held their weekly protest on Friday midday against the illegal Israeli wall being built on village land.

As soon as locals and international supporters arrived in the part of the village where Israel is building the wall, soldiers showered them with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. They also fired rounds of live ammunition.

One sustained critical wounds after being hit with a live round while six people were injured with rubber-coated steel. Dozens were treated for gas inhalation."

Pictures at:
http://dada.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/10680/index.php
Related: http://imemc.org http://activestills.org

UM SALMUNA (the Ma’asara region)

Shai Report: Friday demonstration against the wall in Ma’asara 10.4.09

The demonstration started after the pray in the village, marking international children day. About 40 demonstrators from the village, together with international and Israeli activists took part. The army set, as usual, a barb wire at the entrance to the village and prevented the passage to the land of the villagers. Some demonstrators tried to cross the barb wire but the soldiers reacted with violence and threats of arrests.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Palestine-Israel, the joint struggle against the occupation - the "Land Day" and the separation fence

On Monday and Tuesday, Israeli and international activists joined residents of Ni’ilin, Beit Liqya and Jayyous, in events commemorating Land Day, a date on which Palestinians remember victims of a general strike called by Arabs living in Israel on March 30, 1976, in protest of massive land confiscations - which left six Arab citizens dead and hundreds injured and imprisoned). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMXhkC5bj64 Ni'ilin Monday Land Day video. Friday, activists of The Anarchists Against the wall (including those of the Jerusalem region involved during the week in joint struggles there), joined the regular demonstrations at Bil'in, Ni’ilin, and Um Salmuna (The Ma’asara). 3-4-09 video: Ni'ilin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B9tq9SDcU4 | Bil'in: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F09naRPK__M

Ni’ilin, Jayyous and Beit Liqya Commemorate Land Day 30/31 March

NI'ILIN

Land Day demonstration marches through Ni'ilin's main street http://awalls.org/files/images/NiilinLandDayBanner.jpg The demonstration, organized by Ni’ilin’s Popular Committee, began at 14:00 in the village’s center, with a few dozen people marching through the main street with flags and a large banner up front, as well as cars and vans, decorated with huge flags and playing songs of resistance, driving around the village. As soon as demonstrators reached the area where the village’s olive tree plantations begin, they were stopped by a line of armed Border Police soldiers, who arbitrarily announced that the march cannot proceed any further. Residents tried to engage the soldiers and explained to them, in both Arabic and Hebrew, the gravity of their situation, the injustice of the occupation and of the wall, which are the reasons they continue protesting week after week. However, after standing in front of the Israeli troops for about 20 minutes, most demonstrators decided to avoid a confrontation and walked back to the village, while a handful sat down on the dirt road in protest and were ultimately dispersed with a teargas grenade.

A cloud of teargas engulfs the area, Ni'ilin
http://awalls.org/files/images/NiilinLandDayTearGas.jpg

Approximately at the same time, in a different area, where military jeeps were seen parked close to the outskirts of the village, clashes erupted between the soldiers and young people from the village, with troops firing teargas canisters into the village and people throwing stones at them in return, accompanied by the occasional firecracker. The clashes moved and spread between several of the village’s fields, with army jeeps even entering the village at one point, only to retreat almost immediately.

Together, demonstrators and masked stone throwers proceeded to complete the planned march in the direction of the separation barrier, and upon reaching it even managed to cause limited damage to the fence and metal posts, before having to disperse on the hilly terrain when troops arrived at the scene. Clashes between soldiers, who fired teargas canisters as well as rubber-coated steel bullets, and young people responding with slingshots, continued until sunset on the southern hills between Ni’ilin and the separation barrier. No injuries were reported.

Young stone throwers face Israeli troops in the fieldsYoung stone throwers face Israeli troops on the outskirts of Ni'ilin
http://awalls.org/files/images/NiilinLandDayStonethrower.jpg

JAYYOUS

In Jayyous, around 150 people gathered at the center of the village and marched to the southern point of the separation barrier, close to the village. Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, chanted slogans against the wall and the occupation, and were accompanied by two pickup trucks loaded with olive tree seedlings. Unlike in most of the weekly protests against the wall in Jayyous, this week the Israeli army was not ready and waiting for the crowd as it reached the separation barrier, and so the tree planting was quickly underway, with many people, old and young, taking the seedlings and planting them on the village’s land.

Shortly after, two army jeeps appeared, and soldiers ordered the participants to stop planting and head back to the village, the reason given by their commander being that stones had been thrown at the fence of the separation barrier. When demonstrators ignored these orders and continued with their work, soldiers tried in vain to disperse the crowd by hurling concussion grenades at them. Soon, more troops arrived – some of which drove into the village – but nevertheless demonstrators carried on and managed to accomplish the tree planting. After the event was over, as people returned to the village, there were small skirmishes between soldiers, who fired teargas canisters, and a few of the village’s youth, who fought the army with stones. No one was reported injured.

Planting olive trees near Mahayub A'assi's grave, Beit Liqya. Photo: ISM Palestine
http://awalls.org/files/images/LandDayBeitLiqya.jpg

BEIT LIQYA

In Beit Liqya - where the event commemorating Land Day took place one day after, on Tuesday - about 300 people joined by other villages as well as Israeli and International activists congregated at the village center and marched towards the separation barrier, to the energetic sounds of bands of youth drummers, chanting and carrying flags and banners. Once the demonstration reached the vicinity of the separation barrier, near a monument raised in memory of Mahayub A'assi (a 15-year old boy from the village murdered at that very spot by Israeli soldiers in 2005), people began planting the olive tree seedlings they brought along.

As some of the younger members of the crowd moved closer to the fences of the separation barrier, clashes took place between young residents of the village, using slingshots, and Israeli troops shooting teargas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition at them. Gradually, soldiers began advancing towards the demonstrators, who were still planting olive trees nearby, and shot rubber-coated steel bullets at them too, injuring several people. Troops continued shooting at the crowd even after organizers of the event ended the tree-planting and people were returning to the village.

******** FRIDAY ********

BIL'IN

This Friday in Bil'in: The demonstration was joined by about 20 internationals and 10 Israelis. Local participation was smaller than usual, and the atmosphere quite cosy. The avantgarde marched drumming and dancing, until we all reached the gates, where we were greeted with a relatively mild offering of shock grenades and gas. For about half an hour we witnessed a relatively moderate exchange of stones, gas and rubber bullets, while the drummers merrily held their ground, and the demonstrators chanted pro-refusenik and anti-occupation slogans. Then the army increased the gas dosage, concentrating it up-wind from the demo, and most demonstrators retreated. The drum was taken over by Um Ja'ber, who gathered around her the people who had retreated, until the shabab and the army had enough and all demonstrators left the area. I know of one wounded person: a photographer hit in his leg with a rubber bullet.
A peaceful weekend to all, Roy.

UM SALMUNA

Ma'asara Friday demonstration report

Report: Anti wall demonstration in Ma’asara and villages near Bethlehem.

Around 13:30 about 80 residents of the village gathered together with international and Israeli activists, near the entrance to the village. They were joined with a group from Bethlehem supporters of Dr. Mustafa Al Barguti. The demonstrators marched towards the rout of the wall, but similar to last months, were stopped by soldiers who put barb wire at the entrance. Tens of soldiers and border policemen were present. The demonstrators tried to cross the barb wire but were violently pushed back by the soldiers. Then a large group of anti riot police force arrived and it looked as if they are planning to charge on the demonstrators. The organizers declared of the end of the event. When everybody turned back to the village the soldiers shot extremely hot tear gas at them.

NI'ILIN

In Ni’ilin, as residents tried to gather at noon for the traditional prayers at their usual spot, near the village’s clinic, they discovered Israeli troops were already there, occupying the very same place. Soldiers fired teargas canisters at anyone trying to make their way uphill towards the village’s clinic, and so the prayers were moved to a different location. Afterwards, a protest march set off from the center of the village, circumventing the hill were the soldiers positioned themselves, through the fields. Protesters managed to get to the barrier, and soon many members of the crowd began attacking it, trying to dismantle or sabotage the fences and barbed wire by which Ni’ilin’s lands are being stolen. As soldiers and border police jeeps arrived on the other side of the fence, they began firing teargas canisters and rounds of live ammunition at the crowd, to which some responded with slingshots. Eventually the demonstration was forced to retreat further and further, and the confrontation moved back inside the village, where residents set up barricades and tried to fight off troops with stones as well as paintbombs. Clashes continued until soldiers finally retreated from the village and left the area. One young Palestinian was injured from live ammunition. The bullet went through two of his fingers, and he was transferred to a hospital in Ramallah.

http://dada.israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/10656/index.php

Related Link: http://awalls.org