(At 4:02, as the women sing, a male protester yells: "Who's afraid of women's song?")

The following is a testimony of one of the women, out of the 23 activists, who were arrested in this week's Nabi Saleh demonstration (above video). This demonstration was the first after Mustafa Tamimi's murder . It was extremely brutal, which is a relative term, considering the continuous repression that the demonstrations against the apartheid wall face, and the village of Nabi Saleh in particular. Out of the 23 activists, many were physically assaulted while handcuffed behind their backs, as Mohammed Khatib, one of the leaders of the Bil'in popular committee, describes in his own testimony. Mustafa Tamimi's sister, Ola, who was prevented from being with her brother as he took his last breaths, was pepper sprayed in the eyes, from a few centimeters away. And another handcuffed woman was slapped with the back of the hand of a passing male settler, when she expressed objection to him assaulting Khatib and taking pictures. These are just a few of the testimonies that were published and taped, we still don't have a complete story of this particular demonstration, and many other stories will be lost in the clouds of gas.

Testimony of Sahar M. Vardi

MUSTAFA TAMIMI, PALESTINIAN RESIDENT OF THE VILLAGE OF NABI SALEH WAS KILLED LAST WEEKEND AFTER BEING SHOT IN THE HEAD BY A GAS GRENADE.

BEN RONEN, ANARCHIST ACTIVIST BIDS FAREWELL TO HIS GOOD FRIEND

FIRST MEMORY
“Ola is somewhere, I don’t know, Saddam is in Jordan, back soon, Louai is up there with all the shebaab (youths), Oudai – you know where he is……..in a fortnight he will be released from prison and will return to the village, and Ziad is at a wedding in Ramallah.” “And where is your son?” I ask Abd al-Razak as we sit outside under his olive tree with his wife Ikhlas, just a few minutes before the start of the weekly demonstration. “Mustafa?” He went out early today. One of his friends came by to collect him and they went to Nablus.” Maybe it’s a good idea that he keeps away from the village for one Friday.” I say. “He can be wherever he wants, he’s grown up” Abd al-Razak replies.

Mustafa Tamimi of Nabi Saleh died in Beilinson Hospital. There’s no debate over the cause of death: Tamimi was shot in the head at close range during the weekly demonstration in his village, on international human rights' day - 9.12. The weapon: a high force, long range tear gas canister. According to a number of witnesses, backed up by photographs, the canister was fired point-blank, in total contravention of army regulations, from a distance of less than ten meters. The shooter: an Israeli soldier, from a Jeep.

bilin 28 june 2011

 Marking the beginning of the end of the fence in Bil'in

This week, after a nonchalant four year delay since the Supreme Court
deemed it illegal, the state began to dismantle the fence in Bil'in. Next
week, we are promised, we will have the privilege of demonstrating in
front of the new wall, which also annexes much of the village's
agricultural and other land, against the decision of the International
Court of Justice in The Hague – only this time with a seal of approval
from the judges in Jerusalem.

After nearly 7 years of demonstrations in Bilin and after more than four years since the high court decision to do so the Israeli army has finally began to dismantle the fence in Bilin. On June 22nd it dismantled the camera tower which was used to spy on the village and demonstrators.

tower down june 22 2011- activestills

bilin 17 june 2011