On Friday, as in previous weeks, Israeli and international activists joined hundreds of residents in the West Bank villages of Bil'in, Ni'ilin and Jayyous demonstrating against the theft of their lands by Israel's settlements expansion and the construction of its Apartheid Wall.
In Bil'in, protesters marched towards the wall, some wearing masks of Mahmoud Abbas (Palestinian president) and Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas' Prime Minister) holding hands, symbolizing internal unison against the occupation. Once demonstrators reached the wall and opened the gate leading to their stolen lands, soldiers positioned behind concrete blocks on the other side immediately began fired teargas canisters.
The army then proceeded to chase demonstrators back to the village using rubber-coated steel bullets and teargas. Dozens suffered from teargas inhalation, and three were injured by canisters shot towards them. One of the wounded demonstrators was struck in the head, and suffered a fracture to his skull. Two others are journalists, Spanish and Japanese.
The demonstration in Jayyous Video by Israel Puterman
In Jayyous, too, hundreds of demonstrators succeeded in marching up to the site of the barrier once traditional Friday prayers were over, holding Palestinian flags and voicing slogans for national unity and resistance. There too, with no reason and no provocation, Israeli soldiers positioned on the other side of the fence began dispersing the peaceful demonstration by firing teargas canisters at the crowd, resulting in a few village residents throwing back stones in retaliation. Overall, many people suffered from teargas inhalation, four were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets and by teargas canisters.
Soldiers shooting towards demonstrators in Jayyous
In Ni'ilin, troops positioned amongst the village's olive trees began firing teargas canisters on people as they were gathering after prayer, making it impossible to even begin the planned protest march onto their lands. This resulted in the crowd splitting into different groups trying to carry on the protest march through various routes, as well as to local youths retaliating with stones in an attempt to drive the soldiers back.
With the use of staggering amounts of teargas, the army managed to prevent protesters from marching, and people gradually withdrew from the fields towards the village. However, numerous army jeeps soon followed protesters into the village, where they continued firing teargas and concussion grenades from the main road in every direction.
The following hours saw local residents in various points of the village, from the many alleyways, rooftops and side streets, fight off the army's incursion with stones, and soldiers reacting to any movement in the village with teargas canisters, and later on even with a few sniper shots of live ammunition.
The army eventually exited the village as evening drew, at which point protesters attempted to carry on the march to the Apartheid Wall, but as the head of the march reached the site, military jeeps reappeared and began driving demonstrators back into the village with teargas again. Two people were hit by live ammunition, and a third from a teargas canister hit to his forehead. Three others were hit with rubber bullets.
