Nabi Saleh
This Friday in Nabi Saleh saw yet another escalation in the army's violence towards protesters and its collective punishment criminal strategy against the entire village, including confined targeting of non-protesters and non-violent protesters. 3 Palestinians were arrested, one of them carrying foreign/Israeli passport. The other 2 are expected to remain in custody and to face a hearing within a week in the military tribunal of the apartheid regime. Over 20 people were injured, mostly from rubber-coated metal bullets. One of the injured was shot at his forehead. Another person broke her arm from a bullet. They were evacuated to a nearby hospital.
Around 80 Nabi Saleh residents, other Palestinians and Israeli and international supporters participated in this week's demonstration against the crippling occupation and the Halamish settlement's annexation and destruction of a growing amount of land and resources from the village. This time protesters took a different route than the usual march through the village, and marched towards the closest open area, to avoid attack on the village's main street. This helped only a little as army jeeps immediately invaded the village to confront the protesters while other soldiers approached on foot from a different direction. The area was soon covered with tear gas, pushing the protesters back into the village's built area. With extensive shooting the army managed the all time to confine the protesters close by to the village's houses, thereby attacking many non-protesting residents as well. Five times did the army use its jeep-installed cannon to shot barrages of tear gas canisters on the entire village.
Around 5:30 PM IOF soldiers invaded the village's main street on foot. In this incursion they have shot onto one of the houses, smashing its windows and roof water tank. Two of the shots also hit one of the inhabitants while staying in his house. He then showed the damage to protesters and photographers. Eye-witnesses estimate the attack is a result of confined targeting of non-protesters, aimed at dividing and repressing the village's community.
Even after sunset protesters refused to disperse and re-gathered again and again in protest, some of them throwing stones to ward off the army incursion, others just standing peacefully against the armed-to-the-top soldiers, documenting, or taking care of the many wounded from the army's aggression.
Bil'in
Concerned about the attempt to crush demonstrations with a highly publicized closed military zone warrant, almost 50 Israelis and over 25 internationals joined the local Palestinians for the weekly demonstration against the apartheid and land grab wall in Bil'in. Despite the facts that the warrant is not new and that warrants issued for the purpose of preventing demonstrations were declared illegal by the Israeli courts in the past, the army's publicizing of the warrants made demonstrators wonder whether they should prepare for mass arrests. Looking forward to finding out the answer in person, the demonstrators marched to the wall chanting and singing, and reached the gate, where they chanted some more, removed the closed military zone sign, and shook the fence, tearing down one of its poles. To the demonstrators' amazement, the soldiers stood by, hurling at them nothing but threats throughout the peaceful demo.
The shabab kept away from the main demonstration and protested in their own way, reciprocating stones for the gas bestowed upon them further along the fence. After the demonstration was declared over a small group of soldiers invaded the village, escalating the response of the local youth and spreading more gas along their trail. But soon enough they turned back, and all demonstrators left the scene. We are yet to see if the army's relatively "moderate" response is a new policy, a reaction to media presence on their side, or an attempt to catch demonstrators off guard next week.
Ma'asara
The demonstration that came out from the village of Ma’asra, was in mark of the anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie, who was murdered in Gaza, when hit by an IDF bulldozer while trying to prevent demolition of a house. Relatively little procession included 20 Palestinians and 20 Israeli and international activists. Occupation soldiers were waiting for the demonstrators inside the village area, and placed a wire to prevent the passage toward the village's land. Speeches in Arabic, English and Hebrew were given. Eventually the wire breached by a herd of sheep that went out to pasture. From that moment protesters were mingled among soldiers and after a while going back, promising to continue the struggle.
Beit Jalla
Sunday demo in Beit Jalla was held a day after Israeli forces murdered 2 youths in Iraq Burin during a demonstration against the settlements and occupation. It was also marking the seventh anniversary of the murder of Rachel Corrie in Gaza by an IOF D9 bulldozer.
Beit Jalla
Around 50 Palestinians and their international and Israeli supporters marched through the road that leads to the construction of the apartheid wall in Beit Jalla. Just a few dozen meters of march were stopped by about 20 IOF soldiers and a larger-than-usual barbed wire that they installed to block the protesters from marching on. Chants and speeches were held in Arabic, English and Hebrew, stressing Palestinians rights of movement and on their land and calling the soldiers to refuse to take part in an occupying and oppressing army. Despite the demo being peaceful, the soldiers and their commanders were showing great anxiety and kept threating to use violence. Protesters than sat on the ground, to ease the soldiers' tension. After a while the demo ended peacefully and protesters went swiftly away from the soldiers.
In spite of being asked by many not to do so, few kids went forward and threw a couple of stones to the soldiers' direction. The soldiers than shot tear gas canisters at the already distant protesters and the city street was filled with gas. The clashes did not repeat as Palestinian police in the area blocked people from entering the street.
