Bil’in’s weekly demonstration against the Wall and settlements was devoted to calling for the release of Abu Rahmah, as well as to protesting the ongoing attempts to eliminate the village’s resistance. Protesters marched on Friday wearing masks of Adeeb, declaring “We are all Adeeb Abu Rahmah”.
Adeeb Abu Rahmah was arrested on 10 July this year, and is still held in custody for taking part in organizing the village's demonstrations. Demonstrators wore masks of his face and called for his release.
Two injured and several demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation from canisters thrown at them by the Israeli occupation soldiers in their attempt to suppress the weekly protest of Bil’in citizens and solidarity groups.
Ni'lin's first winter protest was held under heavy rainfall. Consequently, the number of protesters was smaller thanusual, and consisted of a few dozen Ni'liners, ten israelis and a similar number of internationals. Some of the demonstraters set fire to a large pile of tires placed near the wall's concrete slabs. The combination of heat and humidity seemed to have cracked parts of the concrete. A number of protesters clashed with the soldiers guarding the fence, who fired volleys of tear gas and squirted the "Skunk" which was particularly potent in stench. No injuries were recorded aside from gas inhalation, and the protest ended earlier than usual.
Some 40 Palestinian demonstrators from the village of Ma'asara, joined by twenty internationals and four Israelis, marched from the village centre towards the route of the Apartheid Wall. Demonstrators carried flags of many different nations which show solidarity with Palestine in order to remind Israel that the entire world demands the end of the occupation.
As usual, the march was stopped by occupation soldiers with barbed wire at the entrance to the village. While many of the demonstrators found cover from the rain under a huge Palestinian flag, a few daring activists stood in front of the soldiers in their T-shirts, waving the different flags. Speeches were then carried in Arabic, Hebrew and English, noting the insistence of the struggle to go on in all sorts of weather, and calling upon the soldiers to refuse and switch sides. In an attempt to help the soldiers do just that, some of the village kids stepped on the wire or tried to remove it all together. The soldiers, however, choose to maintain the separation between themselves and the demonstration, and pushed the children away.
After another half hour of slogan chanting in the pouring rain led to the end of the demonstration. Though none were arrested or wounded, some cases of a potential cold were noted amongst the soaking demonstrators.
