In Maasara, the demonstration was larger than usual, marking the 45th anniversary of the Fatah movement. Dozens of demonstrators from nearby villages & cities joined the Israeli & international supporters. The march from the village center to the wall counted approximately 300 participants. The army, in it's usual manner, blocked our way to the village lands & to the wall with barbed-wire at the entrance to Umm-Salamuna. For an hour the demonstrators chanted, called & carried speeches – promising to continue the struggle in spite the phone threats and interrogation summons the organizers lately received.

As the demonstration started dispersing, the soldiers began shooting rubber coated steel bullets at the demonstrators, who at the same time through stones at the soldiers. Fortunately enough, no one was injured. Realizing their escalation tactic only partially succeeded, the soldiers started shooting tear gas at the remaining demonstrators, while military jeeps invaded the village shooting tear gas at houses – trying to provoke more stone throwing. Again, the provocation did not yield the violence the army expected, and the jeeps eventually retreated from the village.

In Ni'ilin too, nearly 300 demonstrators gathered to commemorate the Fatah's movement 45th anniversary. After the prayer, the demonstrators went marching & chanting to the route of the wall. On arrival, the large number of youth divided to a few groups, each confronting the soldiers and the roaring jeeps at a different location. After an hour & a half of such confrontations, the soldiers invaded the village fields in large numbers – to be confronted with the tireless youth there. Today, in a "brilliant" maneuver, managed a group of soldiers to surprise a group of demonstrators standing on a hill watching, and stormed them whilst shooting rubber coated steel bullets directly at the fleeing demonstrators. This new method of crowd control leaded to two injuries – on young boy hit in his head with a rubber bullet, and one of the paramedics in his leg. Furthermore, one of the demonstrators failed to escape the storming soldiers and was arrested by them. Only till sunset did the last confrontations fade away. 

In Bil'in, some 30 Israelis and 25 internationals (including a group of Italian photography students) joined the weekly Palestinian demo against the land appropriation wall. This demonstration too also marked the Fatah anniversary, and included a prominent presence of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front.

Bil'in Weekly Demonstration, January 1 2010

When the demonstrators reached the gate, they found it open, and the soldiers wasted no time before they started flooding the area with tear gas. The wind made it difficult to maintain the demonstration at the gate area, and the soldiers, who slowly crept across the fence, put demonstrators who remained at the gate area in danger of arrest. The demonstration dispersed without injuries other than tear gas inhalation.

A few dozens of Sheikh Jarah Palestinians also welcomed the new decade with a demonstration protesting their ongoing expulsion from the neighborhood, and welcoming a 120 people solidarity parade from center Western Jerusalem. The Police & Border Police sealed the area near the occupied houses, and prevented any none-residents entry to the compound. This time, no confrontations with the police took place. The demonstration quietly dispersed at ~4PM, yet some 20 activists remained in the area in case the settlers provoke violence. Indeed, some settlers attacked Palestinian residents later in the evening. As usual when the provocation is initiated by settlers, the policemen present at the scene remained idle.

Sheikh Jarah Weekly Demonstration, January 1 2010