On Friday, some 150 residents of Dir Qadis and Kharbata, joined by 15 Israeli activists, demonstrated against the concrete blocks that have been placed on one of their two main roads. The blocks have been in place since 2000, but protests are only starting now. This was the first demonstration organized by these villages.
After a short march demonstrators reached the blocks and decorated them with Palestinians flags. A part of the demonstration went on to the near by settler road, where the residents' ongoing discomfort caused by the Apartheid road system was made clear as demonstrators banged stones on railings in a steady rhythm, and took down road signs with the names of settlements. Several passing settler cars were met with shouting, and fewer with sporadic stone throwing.
After 15 minutes the army came, and the demonstrators reunited around the road block. Village representatives made their demands known to the army officers in place, who only seemed to be interested in ordering their soldiers to surround the demonstration and aim their guns at it. Some twenty minutes later the demonstration ended, with no physical confrontations.
At around the same time, the weekly procession in Bil’in started after the noon prayer. Tens of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists joined together on the path to the fence, chanting the slogans “no to the wall”, “no to the occupation” and “we want peace”, in Arabic, English and Hebrew. On the other side of the fence, behind their concrete blocks, 8 army jeeps were looking on. Tear gas grenades were fired in the direction of the procession, from the army forces situated north of the path and a warning issued from the army: “This is an illegal demonstration. Anyone nearing the fence may get hurt”. The group wasn’t deterred and continued walking up the path, chanting.
Upon reaching the fence the procession continued chanting slogans, and big banners of “we want peace”, in English, Hebrew and Arabic were held up. Shortly after we reached the fence, several soldiers were deployed to the fence and greeted us with tear-gas grenades. This would repeat several times.
As the demonstration drew towards its end, soldiers opened the outer gate of the fence, firing more gas grenades and smoke bombs, and running into the demonstration area in order to make an arrest. Following mass arrests at night in recent months, this action taken by the soldiers prompted the heads of the popular committee to run in the direction of the village, signifying the end of the demonstration.
Meanwhile, around 150 demonstrators gathered in Nil'in for the weekly demonstration against the combined wall & fence infrastructure built upon the village lands. The group reached the concrete part of the land-stealing barrier. The demonstrators hung a Palestinian flag on the top of the huge slabs, reminding the world - and the near by settlers and soldiers - that their spirit will not be crushed by the wall. Army jeeps patrolling behind the wall were welcomed with stones, and shot back tear gas. The demonstration then moved to confront the soldiers in the open field adjacent to the wire-fence part of the racist project. In spite of the immense heat and the thirst due to the Ramadan fast, the demonstrators stood for hours confronting the soldiers, cutting the fence, some throwing stones, all while coping with big amounts of tear-gas flooding the fields. As the soldiers realized they will not break the demonstration from their secured posts behind the fence, a group of them crossed the gate and entered the Palestinian side by foot chasing the demonstrators closer to the village. After relatively short confrontations the soldiers backed. This time, the demonstrators decided not to follow them back to the wall, and the demonstration ended quietly.
Nil'in 11.9.09
A third and more massive demonstration against the agricultural permits regime forced upon the farmers of Bidu & Beit-Surrik was held this Saturday.
The demonstration was held simultaneously on both sides of the fence. A group of Israeli activists met near the settlement of Har-Adar, and although the police tried to block the demonstrators from entering settlement grounds, 35 of them managed to gather in the settlement in front of the gate in the fence, where they were able to make eye contact with demonstrators on the Palestinian side. During their stay near the fence, private settlement security guards and official policemen told demonstrators that villagers who are demonstrating will be stripped of what few entrance permits they already have as punishment.
Meanwhile on the other side, 50 Palestinian demonstrators with a small group of Israeli and international activists stood in front of police and soldiers protecting the gate from the Palestinian side. The demonstrators addressed the officers and tried to reason with them - explaining the illegality and inhumanity of the policy they were implementing. Surprisingly enough, the officers were not convinced, and the protesters started chanting slogans denouncing the wall and its racist origins and consequences. Demonstrators delivered peace messages to their partners on the Israeli side by an amplified cell phone. The demonstration then ended quietly on both sides of the fence, and is likely to continue in weeks to come.
Bidu from both sides
