This Friday some 400 protesters participated in a march from the center of Jerusalem towards the nieghborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem. The police did not grant a permit for the march and the participants hence decided to divide into smaller groups and regroup at the entrance to the nieghrbohood. Although the demonstration was (as per usual) non-violent, twenty seven protesters were arrested and detained for 24 hours.

Sheikh Jarrah

Ni'ilin

This Friday in Ni'ilin, some 150 Palestinian, International, and Israeli protesters, gathered in a demonstration against the annexation of the village's land and the wall surrounding it. The protesters marched towrad the the gate in the wall (through which soldiers enter when raiding the village), and urged the soldiers on the other side to refuse to serve, reminding them that they are standing on a stolen land. In response, the soldiers shot tear gas at the protesters, as well as  0.22 live bullets (two-two), hitting one protester in the hip.

While the Ma'asara demonstrators took this Friday off in light of the Muslim Eid al Adha, and the people of Ni'lin choose to postpone their demonstration by a day, Bil'in residents decided to celebrate their holiday by holding a festive demonstration...

As in so many weeks before, the three Friday demonstrations were also held today. The villages of Bilin, Ma'asara & Ni'ilin carry on their extraordinary struggle, holding on against huge forces trying to break it (& them).

Facing violent oppression, "legal" persecutions, media de-legitimization campaigns – the three weekly Friday demonstrations in Bilin, Niilin & Maasarah took place this weekend, and were also joined by a fourth Saturday demonstration in Deir-Al-Ghousson.

This Friday, mass demonstrations held in Bil'in, Ma'asara, and Ni'ilin, marked the 20th anniversary to the fall of the Berlin wall. In Ni'ilin, demonstrators brought down a section of the eight meters tall concrete wall that cuts through the village's land. This is the first time since Israel began the construction of the wall in 2002 that demonstrators succeeded in toppling down a part of the wall.