Recent Activities

Images of resistance from the past week. Pictured: a demonstration in Jaffa, 29/12/08; Mortally injured Mohammed Khawaja in Ni'ilin, 28/12/08; Clashes in Ni'ilin following the death of Arafat Khawaja, 28/12/08; Police clashing with demonstrators in front of the Ministry of Defence, 27/12/08. Pictures by ActiveStills

Israel's harshest assault on Gaza since 1967 - codenamed "Operation Cast Lead" - which began on Saturday morning and left over 250 Palestinians dead on its first day alone, was met with widespread condemnation around the world, including dissent within Israel itself.

Video by David Reeb

150 anti-wall demonstrators were attacked by the army in Ni’ilin today. The force, composed of border policemen, was positioned at the edge of the village, only meters away from the built-up area and about a kilometer away from the path of the wall, and on sight started pushing and beating demonstrators, who were doing nothing but to calmly walk to the village’s lands. A Swedish protester was so badly beaten that her leg is apparently sprained after she was pushed down on the floor and stepped on.

Security guard shooting live rounds at the demonstrators

A private security guard, hired by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, opened fire on unarmed Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators in Ni'ilin. The shooting began after protesters marched towards the bulldozers constructing the wall on the village's land, and despite the fact that no threat was posed to the guards or work crew. No one was hit by the bullets, but a number of demonstrators were hit by bits of stones that ricocheted as a result of the bullets' impact. This is a direct continuation of the recent murders of Ahmed Mousa and Youssef Amireh, and of the brutal violence used by the army in the last months. Eight were injured by rubber-coated bullets and teargas projectiles.

Video by Israel Puterman

About 100 people managed to get to the wall's construction site today at around 11:00, and disrupted the bulldozers' work, and one young Palestinian even managed to climb on one of the machines. Even before reaching the bulldozers the demonstrators were attacked with teargas and rubber-coated bullets, as well as kicks and punches. Seven were injured and three were arrested.

23 demonstrators were violently arrested in front of the house of Colonel Aviv Reshef, who is the army commander of the regiment stationed in the Ni'ilin region. The demonstrators were arrested while protesting the murder of two minors in Ni'ilin last week.  The two – Ahmed Mousa, 10 years old, and Youssef Amireh, 17 years old, were shot by the Israeli border police.

Youssef Amireh's funeral procession

Youssef Amireh, the second mortal victim of the military suppression of the Ni'ilin uprising, succumbed to his fatal wounds today after struggling for five days at the Ramallah hospital. Thousands attended his funeral procession, which was stopped in two different flying checkpoints, which were set up for no other reason but to delay it, on its way from Ramallah to the village. The people who waited to receive the procession at the entrance to the village were assaulted with teargas, concussion grenades and rubber coated bullets just in order to push them away from the entrance to the village into farther inside it.