On Friday, Israeli and international activists joined the West Bank villages of Ni’ilin, Bil’in, Jayyous and al Ma'asara in their weekly protests against the wall, the ever-expanding illegal settlements and the brutality of Israel’s military occupation. As in previous weeks, the assembled crowds encountered repression and violence from the army while trying to exercise their right to protest on their own lands.
In Ni’ilin, hundreds of people marched after the Friday prayers from the village’s clinic through its main street, many holding placards with Tristan’s pictures and chanting slogans in solidarity with him. As the march neared the entrance of the village, where the army set up a roadblock, demonstrators turned into a path leading through the fields towards the route where the wall is currently being built. At this point soldiers and border police appeared from among the olive trees and began firing teargas canisters and stun grenades at the crowd, driving it back into the village.
Solidarity with Tristan Anderson during protest march against the wall, Ni'ilin
Soon after, two army jeeps entered the village, and troops positioned themselves on top of a house under construction, from which they continued shooting teargas, rubber-coated steel bullets and even some rounds of live ammunition. Some of Ni’ilin’s residents responded by throwing stones, and demonstrators erected a large, burning barricade on the main street, preventing jeeps from going further into the village. After clashes subsided in that part of the area - and following an unsuccessful attempt by soldiers to drive through the barricade – Israeli troops left, only to reappear shortly after on the outskirts of a different part of the village, where again they occupied a house under construction and fired teargas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets at anyone within sight. Here, too, slingshots were used by youths to try and drive the army out, which they eventually succeeded. A few protesters were slightly injured by rubber-coated steel bullets and teargas canisters (quite noticeably, soldiers avoided using the type of extended range teargas canisters which injured Tristan Anderson a week earlier).
In Bil’in, protesters marched from the village’s center after the Friday prayers, waving Palestinian flags and calling for national unity and a popular struggle against the wall. At the head of the march drove a truck which played music and political speeches, and following it people walked holding a huge banner against Israeli Apartheid policies and violence against civilians, particularly in east Jerusalem. When demonstrators got to the separation barrier, built on Bil’in’s own land, Israeli troops stationed on the other side began firing large amounts of teargas canisters directly at the crowd, preventing it from getting too close to the fence itself. Due to the direction of the wind, the use of teargas proved relatively ineffective, as did the following volley of stun grenades. However, as it became clear that troops were about to switch to live ammunition, Bil'in's Popular Committee ended the demonstration. Afterwards, a few young residents responded to the soldiers' attack with stones. Several suffered from teargas inhalation and three demonstrators, including two American nationals, were lightly injured and received medical treatment in the field.
Teargas fired against demonstrators at the separation barrier, Bil'in. Photo: Haytham alKhateeb
In Jayyous, around 150 people took part in the protest march, commencing in the village and advancing in the direction of the wall, whose route snakes very close to the edge of the village. As the front of the march neared the fence, Israeli troops began hurling a large quantity of stun grenades at the demonstration, as well as making ample use of rubber-coated steel bullets, forcing people to retreat and a few residents to response by throwing stones. After a very brief confrontation, three jeeps full of soldiers and border police officers drove into Jayyous and announced the area a closed military zone. As in previous weeks, the army furthermore imposed a curfew on the village, prohibiting anyone from being outside their homes and forcing all non-residents to leave the village, thus ending the demonstration. No injuries were reported.
Palestinian women attempting to remove the barbed-wire barrier, al Ma'asara
In al Ma'asara, south of Bethlehem, dozens of people marched in protest of the theft of their lands by the separation barrier. This week, the theme of the demonstration was Mother's Day, and accordingly, a large number of Palestinian women took part in the march, where they were offered red roses. As the march exited the village in the direction of the wall, Israeli troops waiting further down the road arbitrarily set up a barbed wire spool across it to stop people from marching any further. Demonstrators attempted to remove it, which lead to minor skirmishes with Israeli troops, as well as to two women from the village sustaining bruises after being attacked by soldiers.
