Thursday, the 25th of February, marked the 16th year anniversary of closing Shuhada street in Hebron to Palestinian movement. That afternoon, about 300 Palestinian, Israeli, and International activists met at the Hebron municipality where they made posters, distributed t-shirts and hats, and spoke with media personnel before they began the march towards Shuhada Street in Hebron. The protesters marched in the rain waving flags, linking arms, and chanting slogans in Arabic, Hebrew, and English.

Hebron

The protesters remained true to their commitment to nonviolence, yet they were met by a very heavy army presence which was quick to deploy harsh crowd dispersal techniques that included a heavy amount of tear gas and stunt grenades. The tear gas canisters were fired from all directions, often coming very close to hitting people. A few elderly protesters fainted and were evacuated by ambulance. Protesters scattered and ran to avoid the tear gas, but the army appeared to be surrounding the protest and shooting from all angles.

Hebron

The army continually tried to push the protesters further back by creating a human wall and physically pushing the protesters who, in response, formed their own wall to withstand the pressure.  Three Israelis were picked out the crowd at random, taken away by the police and detained temporarily. One international activist was arrested and then released several hours later. The clashes between the military, police, protesters, and a few notorious settlers continued for about an hour and 45 minutes until a final barrage of tear gas caused everyone to retreat.

Protest in Hebron February 25, 2010 from Open Shuhada Street on Vimeo.

In Tel-Aviv, activists placed an impromptu roadblock in a busy street in an attempt to raise consciousness about the Palestinians' lack of freedom of movement in Hebron and the entire West Bank. They asserted that since the Israeli apartheid system utilizes methods of permanently blocking roads and checkpoints in order to enhance the occupation and policy of separation, the residents of Tel-Aviv, who will be delayed for a short time, could use that time to reflect on the Israeli policy that they are part of.

Tel-Aviv Roadblock

While some of the weekly Friday demonstrations were compromised due to severe weather conditions, a larger than usual march was held in Nilin. In spite of many committee members and dozens of youths being in jail the village had a solid turn out for the demonstration. The march was joined by representative from at least one other neighboring village and about 20 Israelis and International. Starting from one of the mosques, the demonstrators marched through the village and towards the check point at the entrance to the village. There they were attacked by border police soldiers using tear gas and rubber coated metal bullets.

The confrontation lasted for about 2 hours before the village youths who were leading the charge decide to call it a day and come back next week.

In Bil'in, about 20 Israelis and 5 internationals joined the select bunch of Palestinians who risked the grim weather for Bil'in's weekly local demo against the wall and occupation. Today's themes were a call to protect the holy places (following Israel's designation of the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron as a national heritage site) and a wanted ad featuring the local military commander. The demonstrators reached the fence and were attacked with large quantities of tear gas. The army also made use of the heavy and lethal extended range gas canisters. After repeated attacks did not suffice to scatter the demonstration, a combination of an army invasion into the village and a gush of rain led to the termination of the demo.

In Shiekh Jarrah Some 80 Jerusalem demonstrators marched through their city Friday, all dressed up in costumes and celebrating the Jewish holiday of Purim, meeting up with 100 more demonstrators in the entrance to Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood for the weekly protest against house evictions. Activists sang, beat drums, jumped about and danced for nearly one and a half hours, fighting off the Jerusalem cold and whipping rain and hail.

Sheikh Jarrah

This week's demonstration was also joined by a mission of some of Britain's biggest Unions, who concluded a week long tour of the West Bank, concluding that their support for the international BDS campaign is vital. Opposite the demonstration the regular police forces blocked the main road of the neighborhood, but other than that seemed quite uninterested in the demonstration. A representative of J-street (a Jewish American leftist organization) presented ten thousand signatures which were collected in the U.S. expressing support of the struggle to free Sheikh-Jarrah of the settlers. At the end of the protest all went to their separate homes with no clashes or arrests of any kind.

In Ma'asara, soldiers invaded the village on the night previous to the planned demonstration. The officers forced popular committee member Mahamad Brijia from his home and held him outside as they violently searched his house. The soldiers threatened Mahamad that if either he or any other member of the committee were to organize and/or attend another demonstration they shall be arrested.

The following day, as village residents prepared to march towards the site of their confiscated land, the Israeli military blocked all the ways in and out of the village. As people gathered near the exits in an attempt to travel outside the village, the army,  preventing from any residents going in or out, opened fire with tear gas, rubber coated metal bullets, and stun grenades. The soldiers followed the retreating residents into the village and chased them through the streets.