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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Soldier among injured as hundreds protest wall |
| 2009-10-31 |
| [Ma'an] Ma'an - At least two protesters and one Israeli soldier were injured during an anti-wall rally in the West Bank village of Bil'in on Friday, according to Palestinian activists and Israeli media. Protesters told Ma'an that two Palestinians were injured and dozens of other internationals, including several Israelis, choked on tear gas fired by forces manning the still-under-construction barrier there. An Israeli soldier was lightly injured when a stun grenade exploded in his hand during the event, according to several Israeli newspapers. Ma'an could not independently confirm those reports, although stun grenades are commonly used on the mostly nonviolent protesters each week. The Popular Committee Against the Wall reported that protesters demonstrated on behalf of Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a Palestinian jailed since 10 July presumably for his participation in the weekly rallies. This week's demonstration was "devoted to calling for the release of Abu Rahmah, as well as to protesting the ongoing attempts to eliminate the village's resistance," the statement said, referring to Israel's ongoing night raids during which protesters or suspected protesters are rounded up and taken to detention facilities. Abu Rahmah, who has been detained for over three months, is not actually suspected of physical violence, the statement said, but was indicted with a blanket charge of incitement to violence, "which was very liberally interpreted in this case to include the organizing of grassroots demonstrations." A judge had initially ruled that Abu Rahmah be released with restrictive conditions, but an appeal filed by the military prosecution had the decision overturned, and he was remanded until the end of legal proceedings. Since the arrest, the defense has appealed this decision four times. Trials often last up to a year and Abu Rahmah is the sole provider for a family of 11, the statement said. Abu Rahmah's arrest came amid an Israeli arrest campaign that began concurrently with preliminary hearings in a Bil'in lawsuit against two Canadian companies responsible for construction of the illegal Modi'in Illit settlement. In almost five years of protests, some 75 Bil'in residents have been arrested in connection with demonstrations against the wall. Of them, 27 have been arrested in the recent, ongoing campaign. Israeli forces have been regularly invading homes and forcefully searching for demonstration participants, targeting the leaders of the Popular Committee, as well as teenage boys accused of stone-throwing. On 23 June 2009, a Canadian court heard the preliminary arguments for a suit brought by Bil'in against two companies registered in Canada (Green Park International and Green Mount International). The village is seeking an end to settlements on its lands under the 2000 Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Statute, which incorporates international humanitarian law into Canadian federal law. Some of the people arrested in the latest wave of arrests have reported being questioned in regard to this suit during their interrogations. Sixteen currently remain in detention, nine of them minors. In the nearby village of Ni'lin, Israeli forces held a large-scale invasion, according organizers. They said some four dozen military jeeps entered the heart of the village at around 9:30am and imposed a curfew on residents. Israeli forces fired rubber-coated bullets at the villagers, closed shops and forced people to stay in their homes, a separate statement said. Those able to participate in the Friday protest marched to the threatened land, but were met by soldiers and prevented from reaching the bulldozers. In any event, locals insisted that Israel's heavy-handed measures had failed to break Ni'lin's resolve, "and the strength of the local solidarity between Ni'lin and the surrounding villages continues to grow," their statement added. "[T]he public struggle the only way for getting our freedom back," local organizer Ibrahim Ameera told WAFA, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency, vowing to continue the protests. Residents of nearby Al-Midya and other villages have been active, as well. Last Tuesday, for example, people in villages around Ni'lin voluntarily closed their shops and joined in the protest. |
| Posted by:Fred |