Palestine-Israel, Ni'ilin, Bil'in, Um Salmuna - AAtW* and the joint struggle

mashriq / arabia / iraq | community struggles | news report Saturday August 16, 2008 15:51 by Ilan S. - AAtW / ainfos Tel Aviv

against the separation and occupation

During the week we participated "only" in two demonstrations in Ni'ilin. On Friday, there were the usual Ni'ilin, Bil'in (West of Ramallah) and Um Salmuna (south of Bethlehem). At Um Salmuna it is the quietest location due to topography and local considerations of both the local comity and the state forces.

During the week we participated "only" in two demonstrations in Ni'ilin. On Friday, there were the usual Ni'ilin, Bil'in (West of Ramallah) and Um Salmuna (south of Bethlehem). At Um Salmuna it is the quietest location due to topography and local considerations of both the local comity and the state forces.

BIL'IN

In Bil'in, the test field of demonstrations control weapons for Israeli state had another session of the "Skunk Spray" which backfired. Following a detailed report on the 182nd demo since February 2005: While marching with chanting, dancing, flags, and pictures of the late Palestinian poet Muhammad Darwish, we could see the water canon with the Skunk spray waiting at the gate in the separation fence leading to the western lands of the village.

Thus, instead of marching to the gate, we turned to the right through the olive trees to another section of the fence. There, the state force refrained from using the usual tear gas and rubber coated bullets to enable the experiment. However, the heavy car with the cannon took time to arrive, so the activists had the time to cut the external fence of the route of the separation fence and to converge near the electronic fence.

When the water cannon started spraying, most of the activist were already on the move towards the gate in the fence where the cannon was waiting for us... but no more there.

So, we converged there for a while till the water cannon returned, and then, just keeping 30 meter distance from it so it will not made the clothes and hairs smelly for few days. The plastic sheets some of us used for protection were redundant. The boasting of the state forces spokesperson during the week since its first use the previous Friday, that they developed the ultimate weapon to disperse the demonstrations against the separation fence, were found ridiculous again.

NI'ILIN

Ni'ilin - The cruelest choice by kobi snitz - a text by an AAtW* activist:
https://israel.indymedia.org/newswire/display/9456/inde...x.php

Activities against the separation fence and their suppression continued every day with joint demonstrations on Monday Thursday and Friday. On Monday http://awalls.org reports:

Live ammunition used again in Ni'ilin 11/08/2008

A private security guard, hired by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, opened fire on unarmed Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators in Ni'ilin. 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.

Picture: http://awalls.org/files/images/After.jpg
Border policemen pushing back demonstrators moments after the shooting. The guards can still be seen in the back

The shooting began only several minutes into the demonstration, as demonstrators got close to the heavy machinery, and despite the fact that some of the protesters held their hands over their heads. There was absolutely no threat posed to the guards or work crew. The shooting was not preceded by stone throwing or any other form of violence by the demonstrators. A border police force arrived at the scene very quickly and started using teargas and rubber-coated bullets. Eight were injured, including a seven year old who was hit in the back by a rubber-coated bullet and a French demonstrator who was shot in the head with a teargas projectile.

Picture: http://awalls.org/files/images/Border.Police.jpg
Border policemen shooting teargas at the crowd

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See media report on Thursday demonstration at: http://www.ainfos.ca/en/ainfos21255.html
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* The Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall initiative