Week of Popular Struggle in West Bank and East Jerusalem Reports
Beit Jalla – Budrus – Jerusalem – Ni’ilin – Bil’in – An Nabi Salah – Al Ma’asara –
Beit Ummar – Qalandia – HebronBil’in, Ni’lin, 15.3.10
Israeli Army: Bil'in and Ni'ilin a Closed Military Zone for a Six Months Period
Dozens of masked soldiers raided the West Bank villages of Bil'in and Ni'ilin this morning to post decrees designating the village's lands as a closed military zone on Fridays for a period of six months.
Report by: Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
Video link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/
Report by: Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
One week after the head of the Israeli Shin Bet threatened to aggravate the repression of the Palestinian popular struggle, a large military force raided the villages of Bil'in and Ni'ilin at 3:30AM tonight. The sole purpose of the raids was to post decrees designating the lands between the Wall and the built up area of the villages as closed military zones between 8AM to 8PM every Friday for a period of half a year. The decrees, which came into effect already on February 17th, are signed by the recently appointed commander of the Israeli Central Command, Avi Mizrahi, himself. Closed military zone orders are usually signed by a brigade commander, a much lower rank.
For more details: Jonathan Pollak +972546327736
Adv. Gaby Lasky who represents residents of the villages, said that “This is yet another illegal measure taken by the Army, which makes ill use of its authority in order to suppress dissent and infringe on the already volatile freedom of speech in the Territories. Closed military zone orders are not meant to deal with demonstrations, which are clearly in the civic rather than the military realm”
The issuing of the decrees happens in the midst of an ongoing persecution campaign against Palestinian activists in an attempt to suppress the rising tide of West Bank popular resistance to the Occupation. In recent months Israel has carried dozens on dozens of protest related arrests. Recently, the Army had also issue a blanket decree forbidding certain cars belonging to Israeli activists from entering the West Bank on Fridays, regardless of who is in them, where they are heading or the purpose of their trip. Seventeen Israeli protesters were also arrested last Friday in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem after the police declared the demonstration illegal for no apparent reason and despite a clear ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court the previous week stating the importance of allowing protest in the neighborhood.
Adittionaly, Iyad Burnat, the head of the Bil'in popular committee was summoned to a Shin Bet questioning yesterday, only an hour after he sent out an email titled “The third Intifada is knocking on the door”, which contained reports on various demonstrations and protest activities that took place in the West Bank during the previous week.
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Qalandia, 16.3.10
Qalandia: Checkpoint Closure Anger Surfaces
Report by: International Solidarity Movement
Approximately 200 residents of Qalandiya gathered today to protest the continued closure of the checkpoint in their city, allowing them access to Israel.
Israeli military attempted to suppress the protest by invading and occupying a Palestinian home, and firing tear gas and rubber bullets down a roof into rush hour traffic below. In the densely packed street, several demonstrators were hit with tear gas canisters that were fired directly at them, as well as numerous passing vehicles. One driver suffered from tear gas inhalation after a canister smashed through the back windscreen their car.
On Friday 5th March, Israeli soldiers in An Nabi Saleh used a similar tactic of firing directly down onto a demonstration from the roofs of houses. This led to the near fatal shooting of a fourteen-year-old boy, after which it had been hoped cease to use this dangerous tactic.
The Demonstration today coincided with a number of other protest around East Jerusalem and the West Bank, responding to the blanket closure of the West Bank, and recent event Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, 17.3.10
Israel’s repression leaves dozens wounded in Jerusalem
Report by: International Solidarity Movement
In reaction to the blanket West Bank closure and Israel’s severe limitation of entrance into Al-Aqsa Mosque, demonstrations spread through Jerusalem. Police and soldiers used percussion grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets and physical assaults in an attempt to quell Palestinians show of disdain. Confrontations were reported in Isawiya and Wadi-Joz. Reports claimed that nearly 100 demonstrators were injured (about 25 seriously) and over 70 arrested.
An ominous and anticipatory air hung over the Old City on Tuesday. The normal banter of the Muslim quarter was replaced with closed shops and anxious stares. This was in response to Israel’s closure of much of the Old City. This closure only extended to Palestinians attempting to pray at the holy site. Tourists and Israeli school children were allowed free reign within its walls. The tourists’ interpretation of the situation was far removed from reality. When asked why access was limited throughout the Muslim Quarter, many responded it was because of Hamas. There was no discussion of the imprisonment of Palestinians in the West Bank. If pressed further, they usually responded that Hamas was upset because “the Muslims thought had a right to a disputed holy site.” Justice, religious freedom and unfettered access to the third holiest site of one’s religion never seemed to enter the discourse.
Although there was much dignified rage expressed nonviolently that day, these tourists were not privy to any of it. Thousands of police clad in riot gear, soldiers armed with automatic assault rifles ensured that any nonviolent expression of this anger was squashed immediately. As tourists took photos and meandered around the guns and those that carried them, men lined up to pray outside Al-Aqsa and across the street from the Old City. While the police effectively insulated the tourists from any sign of nonviolent resistance (handcuffing Palestinians to plain-clothes police officers, so arrests would go unnoticed to the untrained eye), they couldn’t stop it in the open air of Wadi-Joz and Isawiya.
As the Sun set the signs of resistance were readily apparent in Isawiya. Smoldering tires, barricades and youth placed in strategic positions spattered the hillsides. The day had been long for them. Their nonviolent demonstration began around seven AM and quit with the sun. The same was true for Wadi-Joz. However, the price that was paid was human and dear. Amidst the rapacious repression of the IOF and Israeli police, many were wounded. Wounded merely for demanding justice in a land where they are prisoners and unable to express the spiritual extension of their culture in places they hold so dear.
International solidarity activists visited demonstrators injured in clashes between Palestinian Jerusalemites and Israeli occupation forces in Al-Makasad Hospital, including 16 year old Muhammad Ibrahim Afanih from Abu Dis and a 14 year old boy from Ar-ram. The 14 year old, wishing to remain anonymous, received a rubber-coated steel bullet to his finger, removing its tip from his hand, when young demonstrators were ambushed by Israeli soldiers in the streets of Ar-ram neighborhood. Afanih was shot in the leg with a rubber-coated steel bullet by an Israeli soldier when a large military force opened fire on demonstrators in Abu Dis. He was then physically attacked by 4 soldiers, who continued to beat him before pulling him to the curb, where he was forced to wait approximately 10 minutes before the soldiers called for an ambulance. The ambulance was detained at Zayeam checkpoint for 15 minutes as Afanih continued blood from the gunshot wound before the vehicle was permitted to proceed to Al-Makasad Hospital. He was one of 10 injured from the Abu Dis neighborhood. Afanih reported that soldiers had used sound bombs, tear gas grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition against demonstrators. He will undergo an operation on his leg tomorrow, and remain in hospital for 7 days.
17.3.10, Bil’in
"LIFE WITHOUT MY IMPRISONED HUSBAND"
The Account of Adeeb Abu Rahma's Wife
By: Friends of Freedom and Justice of Bil’in
Fatma Abu Rahmah and five of her nine children have gathered in the living room of the family's prospective son in law. The house is fully equipped, but its sterile immaculateness divulges its lack of inhabitants. Doha, who is nineteen, will move in once she is married, but has been postponing her marriage until the release of her father Adeeb. Fatma's tiredness, frustration and despair read from her eyes and are confirmed in her muttering speech, calling on Allah to help her family. She repeatedly exclaims to lack information on her husband's current state of being, which cause her grave irritation and concern.
My husband has been away from me and my family for almost nine months. On July 10th 2009 Adeeb attended the weekly demonstration in Bil'in, on this day soldiers grabbed and arrested him. He was officially charged with incitement to violence. The truth is that he is arrested for nothing more than taking part in a popular demonstration against land theft committed by Israel. Adeeb encouraged others to join the protests, while Israel clearly wants to annihilate the popular resistance. He is imprisoned for defending his people's rights.
I am grief-stricken since Adeeb's imprisonment. However, I cannot allow myself to lament my husband's loss as I have a family of nine to take care of. Since Adeeb has been away, I have to be both mother and father to my children. We shared the care over the children, this is now my sole responsibility. We miss him very much.
Batuh, the youngest daughter, has caught on the topic of the conversation, stops playing, and stresses the tensity by softly, but firmly addressing her mother: "I want to go with you, to see 'baba'!"
We have only been allowed one visit since Adeeb's arrest. Batuh was there to see her father, but she was afraid of the pale and sad figure that her lively father had turned into. She did not even recognize Adeeb and refused to talk to him. Since this visit, no one from the family has been allowed to visit. We are all considered to be "security threats". Generally, prisoners are entitled to two visits every month. We are not allowed to send him a letter or call him. Even his lawyer has only been allowed one visit. The little information we have on Adeeb, we gather through prisoners who have been released. Apparently, my husband was hospitalized for four days recently, but nobody told us!
The living conditions in Ofer prison are said to be extremely harsh. During his first days of detention, Adeeb was beaten severely by his guards. He had been drenched by the stinking chemical water that the army used during the demonstration. The prison administration would not provide fresh clothing, so fellow prisoners gave him another outfit. Four months after his arrest, I took three of our daughters to visit Adeeb in prison and bring clean clothing. We were not allowed to give him his trousers, supposedly because he had not demanded them on the prison's official request form! Clearly, that is a lie.
Alaah, 17 years old, was particularly moved by the visit: "My father looked very sad and tired. I felt such desperation this day. We were so close, but kept apart by a glass barrier in the prison's visiting area. I wanted to sit next to him and touch him."
Together with ten other prisoners, my husband spends day and night in a prison cell of less than 15 square metres, which includes the bathroom. Sunlight is limited in this cramped cell. A tiny bathroom window and small openings in the ceiling are the only sources of daylight. Adeeb can only escape this cage and grasp a sense of the real world during a daily ten-minute walk outside.
Financially, it has been really difficult on us. Adeeb used to work as a taxi driver, so our family suffers from this loss of income. We still have a little shop, opened by two of my children, but it does not cover my family's necessary expenses. Our two eldest daughters are in university, which is very expensive. I had to take out a loan with the bank in order to pay for their tuition fees and study expenses.
It has been even harder on an emotional level. Two months ago, Alaah, my daughter of 17, was very sick and was even hopsitalized twice. She could not walk or move, as if she was paralyzed. The doctors could not find anything wrong with her and decided it was psychosomatic...
Adeeb has had 15 court hearings so far. His case has been remanded until the end of legal proceedings, which may take up to a year or longer. Basically, we do not know when he will be back home…
Postscript: the family was allowed one visit on Wednesday March 10th, shortly after this interview.
Nabi Salah, 19.3.10
3 Arrested and Dozens Injured in Nabi Saleh, as IOF Attacks Village, Demonstration
Anarchists Against the Wall
This Friday in Nabi Saleh saw yet another escalation in the army's violence towards protesters and its collective punishment criminal strategy against the entire village, including confined targeting of non-protesters and non-violent protesters. 3 Palestinians were arrested, one of them carrying foreign/Israeli passport. The other 2 are expected to remain in custody and to face a hearing within a week in the military tribunal of the apartheid regime. Over 20 people were injured, mostly from rubber-coated metal bullets. One of the injured was shot at his forehead. Another person broke her arm from a bullet. They were evacuated to a nearby hospital.
Around 80 Nabi Saleh residents, other Palestinians and Israeli and international supporters participated in this week's demonstration against the crippling occupation and the Halamish settlement's annexation and destruction of a growing amount of land and resources from the village. This time protesters took a different route than the usual march through the village, and marched towards the closest open area, to avoid attack on the village's main street. This helped only a little as army jeeps immediately invaded the village to confront the protesters while other soldiers approached on foot from a different direction. The area was soon covered with tear gas, pushing the protesters back into the village's built area. With extensive shooting the army managed the all time to confine the protesters close by to the village's houses, thereby attacking many non-protesting residents as well. Five times did the army use its jeep-installed cannon to shot barrages of tear gas canisters on the entire village.
Around 5:30 PM IOF soldiers invaded the village's main street on foot. In this incursion they have shot onto one of the houses, smashing its windows and roof water tank. Two of the shots also hit one of the inhabitants while staying in his house. He then showed the damage to protesters and photographers. Eye-witnesses estimate the attack is a result of confined targeting of non-protesters, aimed at dividing and repressing the village's community.
Even after sunset protesters refused to disperse and re-gathered again and again in protest, some of them throwing stones to ward off the army incursion, others just standing peacefully against the armed-to-the-top soldiers, documenting, or taking care of the many wounded from the army's aggression.
Bil’in, 19.3.10
Bil’in Defies the Closed Military Zone
Report byFriends of Freedom and Justice of Bil’in
Video link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/
Today’s demonstration, organised by the Popular Committee Against the Wall, took place in solidarity with the holy sites in Jerusalem and against the Israeli Army’s decision to declare Bil’in a closed military zone. As usual several people suffered from gas inhalation. The march started in the village just after Friday prayers as up to a hundred Palestinians, Israelis and international peace activists took to the streets. The demonstration defied the military order which had declared the area a closed military zone and warned people from outside Bil’in to stay away or risk arrest. The demonstration was attended by members of the National Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, who had all responded to the call from the Popular Committee for solidarity with the people of Bil’in. The participants wanted to show defiance against the occupier’s arrogance and to show to the world that resistance against the occupation will continue despite the Israeli Army’s threats. The march continued to the wall, where participants echoed the chants of national support for Jerusalem and the holy sites. The Palestinian flag was raised as a symbol of national unity. As the march arrived at the gate parts of the Apartheid Wall was pulled down. The participants were then showered with gas and rubber bullets before the army attempted to storm the village. This attempt was successfully thwarted by the protestors.
Hebron, 19.3.10
47 Residents Wounded in Hebron
IMEMC
Palestinian medical sources in the southern West Bank city of Hebron reported Friday evening that 47 residents were wounded during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the city and the nearby Beit Ummar town.
21 residents received treatment after inhaling Gas fired at them in Hebron, and nine others were wounded by rubber-coated bullets. The clashes took place near the Ibrahim Mosque.
Similar clashes took place in Al Zahed area in the city while the army fired gas bombs and rubber-coated bullets.
Sources at the Red Crescent in the Hebron reported that some of the wounded residents were moved to the local governmental hospital, and the Muhammad Al Muhtasib Hospital, while the rest received treatment by field medics.
The sources added that the army fired a gas bombs at one of the ambulances while transporting some wounded residents. The gas bombs hit the windshield of the ambulance and shattered it.
Soldiers also occupied rooftops of several homes and used them as military posts and monitoring towers.
Twenty residents received treatment after inhaling gas fired by the army while six others were wounded by rubber-coated bullets in Beit Ummar town.
Several youths hurled stones at settler vehicles causing damage to three cars; the army invaded the town and prevented local ambulances from reaching the wounded residents.
Israeli military forces attack protests in Hebron with tear gas, concussion grenades
In the latest in a series of protests across the West Bank, Palestinian youth in the southern West Bank city of Hebron threw stones at Israeli soldiers Friday, while the soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and concussion grenades at the youth from inside their armored vehicles.
The protests in Hebron coincide with non-violent demonstrations on Friday challenging the Israeli government's approval of a plan to construct 1,600 new Jewish-only housing units on illegally-seized Palestinian land in East Jerusalem.
One Al Jazeera reporter in Hebron reported that "The amount of tear gas used in the city is just quite unbelievable”, adding that several Palestinian youth had been injured.
The clashes in Hebron come in the midst of increased Israeli settler violence in recent months, including the shooting and beating of Palestinian civilians in the Old City of Hebron and nearby neighborhoods.
The city of Hebron is well-known throughout the West Bank for being home to the most violent and extreme Israeli settlers, many of whom openly celebrate and admire Baruch Goldstein, who was responsible for gunning down 27 Palestinian civilians who were praying in a mosque in 1994.
500 Israeli settlers live in illegally-seized Palestinian land in Hebron, and the Israeli government has deployed several thousand troops to the city to protect the settlers as they attack the indigenous Palestinian population with impunity.
Al-Ma’sara, 19.3.10
Report by: Al-Ma’sara Popular Committee Against the Apartheid Wall and Settlements
Last Friday, like every Friday for the past three and a half years, the people of al Ma'sara were joined by locals from elsewhere and Israeli and international activists in their weekly protest against the illegal Apartheid Wall on the village's land. Protestors marched through the village towards the Wall chanting slogans against the occupation and demanding justice and peace. The procession was lead by two activists who held a large banner with a picture of Rachel Corrie, whose parents are currently demanding justice for the coldblooded killing of their daughter in a trial in Haifa.
This time, the activists found their way cut off even earlier than usual: an excessive number of soldiers and border police had spread barb wire across the main street of the village well before the first entrance, effectively blocking off all entry and exit to the village. As in the past weeks, two soldiers had taken up position on the roof of a residential building, towering over the activist as well as residents.
Protestors held speeches in Arabic, English and Hebrew demanding justice for the murder of activist Rachel Corrie. Activists also condemned Israel's attempt to prevent international and Israeli activists to join the popular resistance in Ni'lin and Bil'in on Fridays through an order that was distributed in both villages last week during a night raid. Last, protestors demanded the release of Omar Alaaddeen of the al-Ma'sara Popular Committee who was detained last week at the container checkpoint allegedly for attacking a soldier. In truth, as witnesses confirmed, Omar was clearly told he was being punished for participating at demonstrations in his village. His first hearing is due today at Ofer prison.
At several points, protestors managed to lift the barb wire to let through elderly residents and once, a flock of sheep. Protestors also removed the barb wire temporarily and sat in front of the soldiers, effectively defying repeated attempts of intimdatiotn and threats of arrests. When soldiers prepared to shoot at the activists, protestors failed to budge and instead began chanting "no no, don't shoot" failed to bud
After repeatedly demonstrating the ineffectiveness of the barb wire to stop the popular struggle in the middle of a Palestinian village, protestors eventually ended their demonstration, insisting that no threats could prevent them from continuing their continuous resistance against the occupation.
Budrus, 19.3.10
Five Injured, Eight Detained At Anti Wall Protest In Budrus Village Central West Bank
by IMEMC
Five Palestinians were injured, eight others detained when Israeli troops attacked an anti wall protest at the village of Budrus, near Ramallah city, central West Bank.
Villagers, along with their international and Israeli supporters, marched from the village towards their lands taken by Israel to build the wall. Israeli soldiers used tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and sound bombs to stop the protest.
Five residents were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets. Troops chased the people back to the village and detained eight of them. Among those detained, were two Palestinian journalists working for the Palestinian state TV.
The protest today was organized after the army informed the residents of Budrus, on Thursday, that more lands will be taken to build a watch tower for soldiers on villagers’ lands. The village lost land for the wall back in 2004.
Ni’lin, 19.3.10
In Defiance of Military Orders, Scores Protest At The Village Of Nil ‘in, Central West Bank
By IMEMC
Villagers, along with international and Israeli supporters, protested on Friday at the village of Nil ‘in, central West Bank, the Israeli built wall on farmers lands.
The Israeli army announced, this week, that the villages of Bil’in and N'ilin, central West Bank, will be closed military zones every Friday for the next six months. The order forbids Israelis and international supporters from entering the villages on Friday or they will face arrests and deportation.
The two villages are sites of weekly nonviolent anti-wall and settlement protests. These protests are often joined by international and Israeli activists, especially in the village of Bil'in who has been running Friday Protests since 2005.
On Friday, villagers conducted midday prayers at lands close to the wall then marched towards it. Israeli troops were heavly deployed at the gate of the wall separating farmers from their lands.
The protesters instead went to a nearby location and managed to hang a Palestinian flag on the wall itself. Later, soldiers used tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets to disperse the crowd. Dozens suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation.
The nonviolent weekly protest ended with clashes between local youths and troops. Early on Friday the army sealed off Nil ‘in village and did not allow international and Israeli supporters, along with journalists, to access the village. People had to use an alternative farming road to get into the village to reach the protest site.
Beit Ummar, 20.3.10
Beit Ommar Marches In Solidarity With Jerusalem
Report by: Palestine Solidarity Project
At 13:25 Friday afternoon 8 Military jeeps and personnel carriers invaded Beit Ommar in force firing dozens of rounds of rubber coated steel bullets, stun grenades and at least 40 tear gas grenades. The town youth forced the army and Border Police to retreat to the outskirts of the town with a constant barrage of stones.
In a co-ordinated series of non-violent protests across the West Bank today thousands of Palestinians protested peacefully against the Israeli restrictions imposed on access to the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, part of a week-long clampdown on Palestinians in Jerusalem which began when the Israeli government announced the construction of 1500 new housing units in East Jerusalem.
In Beit Ommar over 100 residents marched down the main street after midday prayers to demonstrate the strength of feeling against the further violations of their freedom of movement and freedom of worship. They were met by an incursion into the town by 8 military vehicles carrying more than 35 heavily armed soldiers who attempted to disperse the protest using stun grenades and tear gas. A large number of youths began throwing stones at the vehicles and the army responded by sending 2 squads of soldiers towards the centre of the town, breaking into houses as they advanced. From behind the safety of their vehicles other soldiers launched gas grenades and fired rubber coated steel bullets at the youths. After a standoff for several hours the soldiers retreated to the watch tower at the entrance to the town firing rubber coated bullets and tear gas as they went. The situation remains tense in the town tonight with a3 military vehicles stationed at the entrance to the town and large numbers of youths gathered ready to defend against another invasion.
Iraq Burin, 20.3.10
16-year old boy shot dead by Israeli snipers
Latest News, Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, March 20th, 2010
Report by: Stop The Wall
This afternoon the Israeli military killed 16-year old Mohammad Qadus from Iraq Burin, a village south of Nablus, with a live round on his heart. A second youth, Asaud Qadus, 19 years old, was critically injured after being shot in the head. Mohammad was trying to carry Asaud to safety when he was hit.
Today, just as every Saturday in the last few weeks, settlers from the settlement of Bracha attacked the village of Iraq Burin. The community of around 600 people has lost over 100 dunum to the settlers who claim more land.
Eyewitnesses report that today the number of settlers and Israeli military was unusually high. At around noon, settlers and soldiers invaded the village.
People stepped out of their homes to defend their village and a struggle ensued. The military took up positions with several jeeps at strategic points and chased the youth in the streets of Iraq Burin.
They shot tear gas, sound grenades and life ammunition randomly at homes and people. Asaud Qadus was shot by live ammunition in the head. Young Mohammad ran to carry the injured youth to safety but was himself targeted in the heart by live ammunition.
Medics and ambulances were prevented from entering the small community. Only after a long time both youth were allowed to be carried out of the village and to a hospital in private cars. Mohammad was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital in Nablus while Asaud is still in critical condition.
Two people were arrested but no further details are known about them yet.
Shoot-to-kill policy
Mohammad was the latest victim shot while protesting since Bassem Abu Rahmah, 31, was killed by a high velocity tear gas canister in Bi’lin last April. His death comes only two weeks after Ehab Barghouti, a 14-year-old boy from Nabi Saleh village near Ramallah was shot in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet by the Israeli military on 5 March 2010. He is still in critical condition.
Killing children with live ammunition is not an accident, It is a crime. Of the 16 people killed by the Israeli military in connection with anti-Wall protests since 2002, half were under the age of 18.
The pattern of killings related to anti-Wall protests shows that the occupation forces engage in killings cycles: during a wave of killings in 2004/2005 8 were killed, then again between July 2008/ April 2009 6 were killed. This is very likely just the start of yet another wave of killings.
This systematic criminal policy against our people is a war crime and supports the settlers in stealing Palestinian land. Israel will continue with its shoot-to-kill policy against our children and youth until the international community starts to hold it accountable for its crimes.
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Update: Second Youth Iraq Burin Dies Overnight
http://www.popularstruggle.
Beit Jala, 21.3.10
Pictures: http://www.indybay.org/
Or: http://www.flickr.com/photos/
Report by: Anarchists Against the Wall
Sunday demo in Beit Jalla was held a day after Israeli forces murdered 2 youths in Iraq Burin during a demonstration against the settlements and occupation. It was also marking the seventh anniversary of the murder of Rachel Corrie in Gaza by an IOF D9 bulldozer.
Around 50 Palestinians and their international and Israeli supporters marched through the road that leads to the construction of the apartheid wall in Beit Jalla. Just a few dozen meters of march were stopped by about 20 IOF soldiers and a larger-than-usual barbed wire that they installed to block the protesters from marching on. Chants and speeches were held in Arabic, English and Hebrew, stressing Palestinians rights of movement and on their land and calling the soldiers to refuse to take part in an occupying and oppressing army. Despite the demo being peaceful, the soldiers and their commanders were showing great anxiety and kept threating to use violence. Protesters than sat on the ground, to ease the soldiers' tension. After a while the demo ended peacefully and protesters went swiftly away from the soldiers.
In spite of being asked by many not to do so, few kids went forward and threw a couple of stones to the soldiers' direction. The soldiers than shot tear gas canisters at the already distant protesters and the city street was filled with gas. The clashes did not repeat as Palestinian police in the area blocked people from entering the street
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