[Onthebarricades] PALESTINE: Protests Sept-Oct 2007 - anti-wall, anti-incursion etc

[Andy]

*  Anti-wall protests in Bilin, Walaja
* Protest in Qusin
* Army incursion resisted al Al-Aym near Nablus
*  Anti-wall protest in Walaja
*  Bilin vows to continue struggle
*  Qusin protesters oppose roadblocks, march through checkpoint
*  Tens of thousands rally at Egyptian border demanding reopening - 1 killed
*  Peace activists arrested for blocking roadblock
*  Peace activists abducted at mobile checkpoint protest
*  Human rights activists act on Israeli inaction over settlement
*  Successful roadblock removal in Sarra
*  "Victory demonstration" in Bilin
*  Bilin "a victory for the anarchists" - Haaretz
*  Jayyus village protest land grab
*  Palestinians resist incursion in Jenin
*  Four injured in new (October) protest in Bilin

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/30/anti-wall-protests-army-violence-in-bilin-relative-restraint-in-walaja/

Anti-wall Protests: army violence in Bil`in, relative restraint in Walaja
September 30th, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Bil'in Village, Video, Bethlehem 
Region
By Ghassan Bannoura/John Smith
IMEMC
September 28, 2007
www.imemc.org/article/50679
www.imemc.org/article/50677
Video coverage Bil`in at mishtara.org/blog/?p=250
Nine injured in the weekly non violent protest at Bil`in
At the weekly non violent protest at the village of Bil`in, located near the 
central West Bank city of Ramallah, nine civilians were injured due to 
Israeli army attacks on the protest.
Villagers, Internationals and Israelis marched after conducting the Friday 
prayers in the village towards the wall which Israel is building on the 
stolen village land.
Regardless of the fact that the Israeli high court of Justice, at the 
beginning of the month, ruled that the section of the wall built in Bil`in 
is an illegal structure and should be removed. The Israeli army nevertheless 
attacked the civilian protesters with batons, sound bombs and tear gas 
injuring nine of them.
Among those injured were Mustafa Al Khatib, Abdullah Abu Rahmah and Mohammed 
Khalil.
==============================================================
Peaceful demonstration at al-Walaja village
One hundred Palestinian villagers, alongside Israeli and international 
supporters, on Friday conducted a non-violent protest at the construction 
site of the illegal Israeli Wall that is destroying the village lands of 
al-Walaja.
At Friday mid-day, the protestors gathered for prayers, shortly after which 
the demonstrators marched towards the wall`s construction site, holding 
flags and banners calling for the Wall to be torn down.
Israeli soldiers surrounded the demonstration, marching with it, but not 
intervening in protest`s progress.
Protestors remained at the site for one-and-a-half hours, while speeches 
were delivered by local organizers, shortly after which the demonstration 
peacefully dispersed.

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/19/action-alert-non-violent-demonstration-in-qusin-on-friday-despite-previous-army-repression/

Action Alert! Non-Violent Demonstration in Qusin on Friday despite previous 
Army repression
September 19th, 2007 | Posted in Press Releases, Nablus Region, ISM Media 
Alerts, Action Alert
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2007
The villages around Nablus have recently seen a rise in demonstrations 
against roadblocks. In Sarra, and now in Qusin, people are standing up to 
the bars and cages the Israeli army has erected around the villages. It has 
not been easy: people have been arrested, gassed, and shot.
Despite this, the villagers of Qusin refuse to give in to this assault on 
non-violent protest. Villagers from Qusin along with Israeli and 
international activists will meet at the village mosque, in Qusin, before 12 
noon. They will leave after the noon prayer and demonstrate at the site of 
the roadblock. Also, following a recent victory in their own battle in the 
Israeli High Court, the Popular Committe Against the Wall in Bil'in and 
other Palestinian activists from that village will join the Qusin struggle 
this week.
The roadblock in Qusin turns a simple five minute trip to Nablus into nearly 
an hour's journey. This situation is mirrored in the villages around.
Following demonstrations in the nearby village of Sarra the military has 
invaded, shooting at water tanks and shop fronts, entering houses and 
harassing the people inside, including stealing their possessions.
The Israeli army has also responded to the non-violent demonstrations with 
extreme levels of violence and repression. Last Saturday, the 15th of 
September, five Israelis, six internationals, and two Palestinians were 
taken prisoner after a non-violent demonstration against the roadblock in 
the village. Five Palestinians and two internationals were injured from the 
soldier's brutality. One of the internationals had the end of her finger 
shattered from a rubber bullet.
For more information on the Sept. 15 demo., including video see here:
www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/15/urgent-media-alert-demonstrators-shot-and-arrested-in-qusin/

Or contact the ISM Media Office at:
02 2971824 or 0599943157

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/15/urgent-media-alert-demonstrators-shot-and-arrested-in-qusin/

Qusin Demo Video and Report
September 15th, 2007 | Posted in Press Releases, Reports, Nablus Region, 
Video
Saturday, September 15th, at 12pm, international and Israeli activists 
joined Palestinian activists and villagers in the village of Qusin to 
protest the system of control imposed upon them by the Israeli army. The 
region has seen a rise in demonstrations of this sort recently, with 
roadblock removal demonstrations happening also in the nearby town of Sarra.
There is a road that connects both of these towns, and others, to Nablus, 
and to the Nablus-Tulkarem road. This road has been deemed usable only by 
Israelis, it turns what is normally a five minute journey to Nablus into at 
least one hour. This constitutes daily harassment for people going to work, 
going to school, or even just visiting family.
People gathered together in the village of Qusin and marched towards the 
roadblock that prevents them from accessing this road, in Qusin it takes the 
form of a yellow gate chained shut. Villagers with international and Israeli 
support rallied at the gate, singing, chanting, and opened it for general 
use.
After some celebrations at the newly opened gate this non-violent 
demonstration decided to return to the village, but soldiers from an army 
base nearby spotted them and ran down the hill, preventing them from going 
back peaceably to their homes. Soldiers began to push the people gathered 
there, threatening them all alike. The press were threatened and assaulted 
as much as the demonstrators, with one journalist saying the commander told 
him "stop filming or I will break your camera!". The soldiers did not want 
any evidence of what was going to happen next.
Tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets began to shoot off into the crowd, 
the demonstrators scattered, unable to reach their home and faced with 
extreme army violence. People ran down a hill into a field, trying to find 
an alternative way of reaching their village. The army stood on the road, 
firing more tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets at moving targets 
below. Some of the soldiers chased people into the fields, and were seen 
beating Palestinians. They were also caught pointing their guns at people at 
point-blank range and threatening to fire.

One international was shot in the hand at a distance of 10 meters by a 
rubber-coated steel bullet and required medical attention, with blood 
shooting from her hand "like a geyser" as one witness reported. Under Israel's 
own military law, it is illegal to fire rubber coated steel bullets from a 
distance closer than 40 meters. The soldiers were therefore in direct 
violation of their own military law when undertaking these actions today. 
Another international and five Palestinians were also shot but did not need 
to go to the hospital. While most people had scattered, many international 
and Israeli observers were on the road asking the military to calm down and 
use less violence.

After it was clear the demonstration was over, these people were all 
arrested. In the end six Israeli activists, five international activists, 
and two Palestinians were arrested. The Palestinians were handcuffed and 
blindfolded and no information about their status has been confirmed. Three 
of the international activists and one Israeli are being charged with the 
false allegation of assaulting an officer while being arrested. Although 
these claims are entirely baseless lies, journalists were kept away from the 
scene of the arrest to prevent demonstrators from having proof of their 
innocence and it will be a case of one person's word against the other.
***UPDATE*** As of September 19th, all the demonstrators have been released. 
Those injured and hospitalized have returned to their homes and are 
recovering. We are still trying to raise money for the Palestinian 
demonstrators, 8,000 shekels (around 2,000 dollars) are urgently needed to 
pay for the bail costs for both men. It is extremely important to support 
the villagers of Qusin who have only begun to wage nonviolent struggle 
against an illegal and brutal Israeli occupation.
Checks of any amount may be made out to "ISM-USA" and sent to:
ISM-USA
PO Box 5073
Berkeley, CA 94705
If you wish to make a tax-deductible donation, please make your checks of 
$50 or more payable to ISM-USA's fiscal sponsor: A.J. Muste Memorial 
Institute, (with "ISM-USA" on the memo line of the check), and send to the 
same address above.
You may also use your credit or debit card and use our PayPal account
through www.palsolidarity.org/main/donations/
Donations sent through PayPal are not tax-deductible.

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/21/army-incursion-in-al-ayn-refugee-camp-nablus/

Army Incursion in Al Ayn refugee camp, Nablus.
September 21st, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Nablus Region, Video, Photos
Tuesday, September 18th:Israeli occupation forces (IOF) assaulted Al Ayn 
refugee camp in Nablus. The IOF attacked the camp and were met with fierce 
resistance from inside the camp. One soldier and one resistance fighter was 
killed.
The camp was closed off and a curfew was put in place. A road block of earth 
was set up to stop people and vehicles from entering the camp. Ambulances 
gathered on Jamal Abdel Nasser street, the main entrance to the camp. They 
then dropped tear gas upwind of the ambulances, causing the crews to leave 
the area or seek shelter in their vehicles.
An injured 17 year old was taken to the roadblock and put into an ambulance. 
The soldiers took the keys out of the ignition, forcing the ambulance to 
wait until an army medic had declared 'whether he was dead or not'. The 
family of the gunshot victim were forcibly removed from the ambulance. 
Nervous soldiers were very aggressive with the press throughout.
An ISM Human Rights Worker (HRW) was filming an army jeep when the soldier 
in the back of the jeep attempted to throw a tear gas grenade at the HRW. He 
set it off in the back of his own jeep instead. Soldiers piled out of the 
jeep choking on their own tear gas. It seemed they threw a sound bomb at the 
HRW and ambulance crews who had witnessed the mistake out of embarrassment.
Excessive repression was carried out all day against youths throwing rocks 
at army jeeps, humvees and bulldozers. HRWs and Palestinian ambulance crews 
repeatedly tried to enter the camp. Urgently needed water, bread and medical 
supplies were not allowed in by the army. All negotiations with the IOF 
failed, both with the soldiers on the ground and the local DCO "humanitarian 
office".
Wednesday, September 19th:
The lock down of Al Ayn refugee camp continued. After two nights of curfew 
and no medical teams entering, ambulance crews were anxious to get in and 
tend to the wounded. The IOF responded to the requests of the medics by 
firing rubber coated steel bullets at them. The ambulances were hit 
repeatedly, and after sustaining damage to windscreens and the vehicle 
bodies, were made to leave the area. At 10:20am ambulance crews and two ISM 
HRWs tried to gain access to the medical clinic but were forced back by 
concussion grenades and rubber coated steel bullets.
At mid-day a large, colourful, non-violent protest march approached the 
camp. There were around 200 Palestinians waving flags and chanting songs. 
The army fired tear gas at the back of the procession, into a large group of 
women. They then fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the rest of the 
protesters. In the ensuing chaos people were hit by grenades and rubber 
bullets. The army fired indiscriminately into the crowd to create as much 
pain and havoc as possible.
One HRW and an ambulance crew bravely broke the curfew. They ran past 
soldiers taking desperately needed medical supplies into the camp. They 
stayed for the rest of the evening giving out food and medicine to the 
trapped occupants of the camp. At around 6pm one ambulance with medicines 
supplied by an ISM HRW was allowed into the camp, bringing much needed 
relief to families trapped in the nightmare of the IOF invasion. During the 
curfew on this day, a 38 year old handicapped man in a wheelchair was shot 
while he was looking out his window. The situation continues with ambulance 
crews and HRWs on stand-by all through the night waiting for the next 
opportunity to gain access to the terrified inhabitants of the camp.
Thursday, September 20th:
ISM HRWs came to the camp at 8:30am and saw the UN and the Red Cross among 
other NGOs on the scene for the first time.
A couple of ambulances were allowed into the camp at 9:00am to bring much 
needed relief and aid to the camp inhabitants. At around 10:30am two people 
were arrested and taken from the mosque in handcuffs, into an armoured 
personnel carrier. One medic was arrested from the clinic on Jammal Abdel 
Nasser street. The IOF entered the clinic and checked everyone's IDs. The 
medic was released late in the evening after being badly beaten with sticks 
during his incarceration.
A peaceful demonstration was held in solidarity with the besieged camp. 
After speeches were made in the centre of Nablus the march began at 11:10am. 
There were colourful banners waved as the city's people showed their support 
for the inhabitants on the streets for the second day running. As the 
marcher approached the camp, they were subjected to a hail of sound grenades 
and tear gas. The tear gas turned the crowd of peaceful demonstrators into a 
scene of fear and chaos.
Along with a Palestinian medical crew three ISM HRWs gained access to the 
inside of the camp. After sneaking over rough ground, the group stopped when 
faced with an IOF jeep standing in their way. The group gathered their 
courage and had the internationals in the front as they walked past the 
jeep. Around the corner were three or four more IOF vehicles forcing the 
medics and HRWs to dash down an alley and into the camp.
Urgently needed medical supplies were distributed to the grateful residents 
in their homes. Danger was always wearing a uniform as the medics moved 
around the camp. HRWs led the way calling out 'volunteer' so any 
trigger-happy soldiers knew they were a medical crew. A student from 
Tulkarem had been trapped in the camp since Tuesday morning. One HRW gave 
her his high-visibility jacket so she could leave with the team and return 
home. While exiting the camp the medics and activists were attacked by the 
IOF with sound bombs. All they wanted was to bring more supplies in to the 
needy people but were threatened with being shot by soldiers.
At 5pm a building which housed around fifty children, recently visited by 
the medics and activists in the camp, was blown up by the IOF. This illegal 
act of collective punishment was because a cousin of one of the residents 
was wanted by the Israeli Army. Later in the evening the IOF set off a 
series of large explosions in the camp. The explosions lasted for around 20 
minutes and many homes were destroyed. The city shuddered as the IOF 
continued its operations in Al Ayn refugee camp. .
Friday, September 21st:
After a three day siege of Al-Ain Refugee camp, IOF left the camp around 5am 
this morning. Residents were able to leave their homes for the first time 
since it began. At least two Palestinians were killed and an unknown number 
of people are injured. 49 residents of the camp were also arrested. Many 
homes in the camp showed signs of extensive damage.
The IOF blew many doors off their hinges and bullets and tear gas canisters 
could be found on the ground in many places throughout the camp. At least 
one house, which had been the residence of fifty children, was completely 
destroyed by explosives. Several other houses had gaping holes in walls and 
showed signs of attempted demolition. Today, children sat in the rubble 
where their house once stood.
International activists spoke with several residents of the camp, who 
described experiences of being without food, water and medicine. One woman 
spoke of being beaten by IOF soldiers outside of her home. A member of a 
Palestinian relief organization told activists that three medics had been 
arrested over the course of the invasion, with one still being held captive.
The bodies of the two Palestinians killed during the invasion were carried 
through the streets by hundreds of mourners who remembered with rage the 
brutal treatment they have endured by the IOF.

*Non-violent protest near Bethlehem* <http://www.imemc.org/article/50542>
On Friday at midday, the residents of Al Walaja village to the north of the
southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, joined by International and Israeli
supporters marched against the building of the illegal Israeli wall on
village land.
http://www.imemc.org/article/50542

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0924/p06s02-wome.html

Nonviolent protest gains in West Bank
A Supreme Court decision in favor of one protesting village has inspired 
others.
By Joshua Mitnick | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the September 24, 2007 edition

Al Walajeh, West Bank - "All those who love the prophet should lend a hand!"
Ten shouting Palestinians were pushing against one boulder, but the 
primitive Israeli roadblock cutting off the tiny Palestinian village from 
Bethlehem was not budging. Then, with the help of two giant crowbars, an 
Israel protester, and a Japanese backpacker, the group heaved the stone 
aside, opening the road for the first time in three years.
"Tomorrow they'll bring a bulldozer and move it back," sighed Sheerin 
Alaraj, a village resident and a demonstration organizer. "Then next week 
we'll come back again to protest."
Inspired by the experience of other Palestinian villages, the Al Walajeh 
demonstrators are part of a small but growing core of protesters combining 
civil disobedience with legal petitions to fight Israeli policies.
Earlier this month, the village of Bilin, which has held weekly protests 
since 2004, garnered widespread attention and praise in the Palestinian 
press when the Israeli Supreme Court ordered a part of the military's 
separation barrier near Bilin to be dismantled. Increasingly, other 
Palestinian villages are following Bilin's lead, though it remains to be 
seen whether this kernel of nonviolence will grow into a full-fledged 
movement.
"Before Bilin, people never had faith it would achieve anything, neither 
nonviolence, nor the legal system," says Mohammed Dajani, a political 
science professor at Al Quds University. "Maybe this will be a response to 
the skeptics, that, 'Look, it works.' "
Nonviolence means more attention
While Palestinian militants dominate international headlines through suicide 
bombings and firing rockets on Israeli towns, residents of Bilin and a 
handful of other tiny farming villages like Al Walajeh have eschewed the 
armed struggle. Instead, they have linked arms with Israeli peace activists 
and chained themselves to trees to delay Army bulldozers cutting a swath for 
an electronic fence severing the villagers from their land.
Though Palestinians glorify the armed militiamen and those killed in battle 
with Israel, protest leaders say the nonlethal tactics have one crucial 
advantage: it attracts Israeli and international peace activists, who in 
turn bring sympathetic media coverage.
The leaders sound like a Palestinian version of Martin Luther King Jr., and 
their voices have become more prominent in the ongoing debate about whether 
peaceful or military actions will win their statehood.

"We use nonviolence as a way of life.... We learned from many experiences: 
like India, Martin Luther [King], and South Africa," says Samer Jabber, who 
oversees a network of activists in the villages surrounding Bethlehem.
Every Friday in Bilin for the past three years the protesters have faced 
tear gas, rubber bullets, and beatings that have caused hundreds of 
injuries. Demonstrators sometimes threw rocks, one of which caused a soldier 
to lose an eye. (While leaders say they're against such violence, followers 
don't always hold the line.)
"The belief in one's rights is more important than anything else. If I am 
confident about my rights, nothing will make me despair," says Iyad Burnat, 
a Bilin resident and one of the protest leaders. "When you resist an Israeli 
soldier by peaceful means, their weapons become irrelevant."
The strategy paid off when the Supreme Court ruled that the current path of 
the fence around Bilin offered no security advantages. Villagers will now be 
able to reach their crops without having to pass through gates in the fence 
manned by soldiers.
In Al Walajeh, Ms. Alaraj says the protests would be meaningless without a 
challenge in the Israeli courts. Villagers fear that the construction of the 
separation wall - set to be more than 400 miles long total, affecting 92 
Palestinian communities - will leave the hamlet completely surrounded.
Praise from the Palestinian press
Even though the Bilin ruling was not the first time the court ordered a 
portion of the barrier moved, it has resonated widely among Palestinians.
"It has become obvious that popular civil resistance has become the best way 
for national resistance from the occupation," wrote Waleed Salem in an Al 
Quds newspaper op-ed.
The civil disobedience taps into Palestinian nostalgia for the first 
intifada in the late 1980s, marked by grass-roots participation and 
stone-throwing.The current uprising is led by a network of underground 
militias, most of which have ties to political parties.
A way to heal Palestinian rifts, too
Just three months after Palestinians watched Hamas's violent takeover of the 
Gaza Strip from the Fatah-run militias, nonviolent protest against Israel is 
being seen as a way to heal rifts among Palestinians.
"Armed struggle has a side effect on the occupied people. Palestinians start 
to use this tool against the occupation, but in the end they use it against 
themselves," says Jabber. "Violence has become part of the culture. We 
realize that we have to reform."
In 2002, an open letter by Palestinian intellectuals against the use of 
suicide bombing failed to trigger a change in the uprising. Now, the 
demonstrations draw, at best, several hundred protesters - possibly because 
the protests are taking place in poor and isolated villages.Last Friday, 
only several dozen came out to move the boulders in Al-Walajeh. Palestinians 
say that after seven years of daily conflict, people are exhausted. "It's 
because of frustration," says Alaraj. "There's been real poverty in the last 
two years. And when you're not eating, then you don't think of anything 
else."
The opening of the road, organizers hope, will encourage more people to join 
the protests. "If everyone moves forward toward that objective it will be 
most effective," says Abdel Hajajreh, a demonstrator. "Don't forget, Gandhi 
liberated an entire country."

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/story-092207142352.htm

Our West Bank Village Will Continue the Struggle

Our achievements are due to our persistence, the worldwide media attention 
we attracted, and the support we gained from committed Israeli activists.

By Mohammed Khatib
On September 4, after nearly three years of nonviolent protests by our 
village of Bil'in, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Israel's wall here 
must be moved further west, returning 250 acres of our farmland. In Bil'in 
we celebrated, along with our Israeli and international supporters.
But Israel's Supreme Court demonstrated both the power of nonviolent 
resistance to Israeli occupation, and its limits. On September 5 the court 
rejected our petition to stop the construction of another Israeli 
settlement, Mattiyahu East, on our land even further to the west. Israel, 
with US support, appears determined to retain major West Bank settlement 
blocs, including one west of Bil'in, that carve the West Bank into 
bantustans.
Bil'in is a West Bank agricultural village with 1600 residents located just 
east of "the Green Line", the pre-1967 border between the West Bank and 
Israel. In Bil'in, as in tens of Palestinian villages, Israel exploited 
security justifications to build a wall deep inside the West Bank and seize 
Palestinian land for illegal settlements. Israel trapped 60% of our land 
behind the wall, mostly olive groves that we depend on.
In December, 2004 when the Israeli army started bulldozing our land and 
uprooting olive trees to build the wall, we went to our fields to protest. 
We learned from other West Bank villages that nonviolently resisted the 
wall, and we studied Gandhi, King and Mandela.
We developed creative activities for our weekly protests. One Friday, 
activists locked themselves inside a cage, representing the wall's impacts. 
Another time, we built a Palestinian "outpost" on our village's land located 
behind the wall and next to an Israeli settlement, mimicking the Israeli 
strategy of establishing outposts to expand settlements.
Another Friday we handed the Israeli soldiers a letter saying, "Had you come 
here as guests, we would show you the trees that our grandfathers planted 
here, and the vegetables that we grow. There will never be security for any 
of us until Israelis respect our rights to this land."
We hosted two international conferences on nonviolent resistance, and many 
Israeli and international activists responded to our call to join us in a 
"joint struggle." Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners suffered patiently 
together as the soldiers met our nonviolent actions with teargas, 
rubber-coated steel bullets, and clubs. Over 800 activists were injured in 
200 demonstrations. An Israeli attorney and a Bil'in resident both suffered 
permanent brain damage from rubber-coated steel bullets shot from close 
range. Another Palestinian lost sight in one eye. 49 Bil'in residents, 
including some protest leaders, were arrested. Some spent months in prison.
Our achievements are due to our persistence, the worldwide media attention 
we attracted, and the support we gained from committed Israeli activists.
We never expected much from the occupier's courts. The Israeli official who 
planned the wall told the Washington Post last month that he lost only three 
legal challenges to the wall's path, out of 120 appeals filed, this though 
the wall isolates 10% of the West Bank and was ruled illegal where it is 
built inside the West Bank by the International Court of Justice.
All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Still, Israel's 
Supreme Court legalized the settlement of Mattiyahu East on our land, even 
though Mattiyahu East appeared to violate even Israeli law because it lacked 
an approved building permit.
The rush to build followed President Bush's April, 2004 letter to then 
Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon stating that, "new realities on the 
ground, including already existing population centers" make it unrealistic 
to expect Israel to withdraw completely to the Green Line. Israel responded 
by expanding "existing population centers", building huge apartment 
complexes, like Mattiyahu East, for hundreds of thousands of people, and 
calling them neighborhoods in existing settlements.
These expanding settlement blocs fall conveniently on Israel's side of the 
wall. Strategically situated, the settlement blocs divide the West Bank into 
four isolated regions. Therefore, their annexation to Israel will render any 
Palestinian state unviable. Yet annexation of the settlement blocs is 
reportedly central to new Israeli government peace proposals to Palestinian 
President Abbas.
We will continue to challenge these expanding settlements because they 
threaten the futures of Bil'in and the Palestinian people. And we will put 
our experience at the service of other communities struggling against the 
wall and settlements. From Bil'in, we call on Israeli and international 
activists to join us as we renew our joint struggle for freedom.
-Mohammed Khatib is a leading member of Bil'in's Popular Committee Against 
the Wall and the secretary of Bil'in's Village Council.

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/22/five-children-targetted-after-non-violent-demonstration/

Five children targetted after non-violent demonstration
September 22nd, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Nablus Region
Today, the 21st September, on the outskirts of Nablus at Qusin village, a 
demonstration against their roadblock took place. The roadblock makes a 
simple five minute journey to Sarra a minimum one hour ordeal through Beit 
Eva checkpoint. Similarly the barrier blocks travel from Qusin to Nablus. 
This forces residents, workers, students through a unnecessarily more 
arduous journey.
Despite last week's violent outcome by part of the IOF where the 
demonstration ended in mass arrests, approximately 75 local Palestinians 
joined by a dozen ISM activists marched peacefully through the roadblock. 
Additionally 5 members of the Bil'in committee joined the demonstration to 
show their support. Unfortunately a large number of Israeli activists were 
followed by the IOF, police, and Shabbat; thus preventing them from 
attending the peaceful demonstration. The march started at 1 pm with the 
participants waving flags and chanting in good humor. The demonstration 
crossed the roadblock in the absence of any incident due possibly to the 
imminent Jewish festivity of Yom Kippur and the gate already having been 
smashed at last week's demonstration.
Once the march reached Sarra, symbolically joining the two villages, the 
participants headed back towards Qusin. Throughout the march's return an IOF 
jeep followed the procession attempting to provoke rock-throwing from the 
large number of youth attending the demonstration. In the proximity of the 
village the jeep was reinforced by two military vehicles. Their aggressive 
stance reached the extent of driving at an ISM activist. The IOF then 
speeded through the village once again attempting to provoke rock-throwing 
from the children. Nevertheless the children restrained themselves; 
therefore making the demonstration as a whole truly nonviolent.
At the end of the march the mayor of Qusin invited the ISM activists to the 
municipal hall and truly thanked them for their strong presence throughout 
the demonstration. The positive outcome of the march has encouraged the 
villagers of Qusin to pursue a continuous nonviolent campaign to remove the 
infamous roadblock.
Later that day at around 5:30 pm, once the ISM activists had left the 
village, the IOF invaded the village of Qusin. The IOF went to the 
municipality and threatened to arrest every man of the village between 18 to 
40 years old unless two under 18 youths were handed over. Even after 
apprehending the two youths, the IOF returned to the village using live 
ammunition. On this occasion the IOF directly arrested three more youths at 
around 9:30 pm. Still today 22nd September 2:30 pm they haven't been 
released or been charged.

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/899609.html

Teenager killed in Hamas protest at Rafah crossing

By Haaretz Service and News Agencies

Hamas gunmen opened fire at pro-Hamas protesters at a rally on the 
Gaza-Egypt border Saturday, killing a teenager, hospital officials said.

Tens of thousands of flag-waving Hamas supporters gathered at the Rafah 
border crossing with Egypt to demand it be reopened. The border, Gaza's only 
gateway to Egypt, has been shut since Hamas' bloody takeover of the Gaza 
Strip in June. Hamas charges that the government of Palestinian Authority 
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas does not want the crossing opened because that would 
help the Islamic group hold on to power in Gaza.

Hamas gunmen fired in the air as hundreds of protesters tried to rush the 
border terminal and attempted to infiltrate into Egypt. Mohammed Qdaih, 17, 
was hit by a bullet, pronouned brain dead by doctors and died soon 
thereafter.

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"This is a peaceful protest to voice our message that we are looking for 
freedom," said Issa Mashar, a top Hamas leader in Rafah. "We came to send a 
message from the people who are suffering."

But when hundreds of Hamas supporters tried to storm the crossing, Hamas 
militiamen staved them off by firing in the air.

Ashraf Abu Daya, one of the rally's organizers, appealed for calm from the 
crowd.

"There is no need to break into the crossing. The crossing is no longer 
under the occupation. The crossing is under the control of the Hamas 
Executive Committee," he said.

The Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June triggered the closure of the 
border crossing, which had been run by Palestinian security with European 
supervision and Israeli security in the background.

Ihab al-Ghusain, a Hamas security spokesman, said its forces tried to 
prevent a few of the demonstrators from approaching the border with Egypt.

"A child was injured and he is in critical condition. We are investigating 
the incident to determine where the shot came from," he said.


http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/01/peace-activists-under-arrest-for-preventing-the-rebuilding-of-military-roadblock-in-palestinian-village/

PEACE ACTIVISTS UNDER ARREST FOR PREVENTING THE REBUILDING OF MILITARY 
ROADBLOCK IN PALESTINIAN VILLAGE
September 1st, 2007 | Posted in Press Releases, Nablus Region, Video
PEACE ACTIVISTS UNDER ARREST FOR PREVENTING THE REBUILDING OF MILITARY 
ROADBLOCK IN PALESTINIAN VILLAGE
For Immediate Release Contact Molly, ISM Media 059943157
September 1, 2007
Yesterday in Sarra village near Nablus, four human rights defenders from 
Germany, the United States, The United Kingdom and Canada were arrested for 
blocking Israeli military bulldozers from rebuilding a roadblock between the 
village and the city of Nablus. Israeli activists were also arrested at the 
same demonstration. The activists spent the night at Ariel police station 
and are currently awaiting arraignment. Two of the activists, women from the 
UK and Canada, were forced to spend the night handcuffed and shackled at the 
ankles in the hallway of the police station. The protest was held after 
Israeli authorities had broken their promise to remove the roadblock 
permanently. Israeli soldiers arrived at the village last Saturday, forcing 
a Palestinian villager to use his tractor to close the roadblock, despite 
Israeli promises that the roadblock would be permanently opened. When 
residents removed the roadblock once again, soldiers returned during the 
night, retaliating against them for having taken non-violent direct action. 
The soldiers shot out water tanks, roughed up residents and interrogated 
them.
This incident comes only days after Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Haaretz 
newspaper haaretz.com/hasen/spages/898487.html that he plans to replace 
roadblocks in the West Bank with mobile checkpoints to ease restrictions on 
Palestinian daily life. The Sarra roadblock is one of hundreds of barriers 
that the Israeli authorities have erected to prevent travel between 
Palestinian communities. According to Btselem, the Israelis have constructed 
217 dirt piles at entrances to villages or to block roads, 86 fences along 
roadways, 12 trenches that prevent vehicles from crossing, 93 locked gates 
at entrances to villages, with the keys held by the army. These physical 
barriers accompany the hundreds of permanent and surprise checkpoints which 
the Israeli army maintains inside the West Bank, limiting freedom of 
movement for the occupied Palestinian population.
According to a May report released by the World Bank, "freedom of movement 
and access for Palestinians within the West Bank is the exception rather 
than the norm.the restrictions arising from closure.create such a high level 
of uncertainty and inefficiency that the normal conduct of business becomes 
exceedingly difficult and stymies the growth and investment which is 
necessary to fuel economic revival."
Full World Bank report HERE: 
siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/WestBankrestrictions9Mayfinal.pd
The village plans to continue to use non-violent means to resolve this 
issue.
###
*
Israeli army kidnaps seven Israeli peace
activists<http://www.imemc.org/article/50185>
*
as they protested against a flying checkpoint placed at the entry of a
Palestinian village in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Friday
afternoon. Palestinian sources reported that the army set a flying
checkpoint at one of the entrances to Surra village. The village's main
entrance was closed five years ago. This protest was managed by Surra
village residents and has ran for two consecutive weeks.
http://www.imemc.org/article/50185

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/01/international-human-rights-workers-try-to-enforce-israeli-court-order-when-the-military-will-not/

International Human Rights Workers Try to Enforce Israeli Court Order When 
the Military Will Not
September 1st, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Hebron Region
Shortly after 8:00am an international human rights worker (HRW) rode his 
bicycle past an area where three settlers were working. The area in question 
was declared a closed military zone by the army on August 18th which forbade 
all but one settler man, Musi Doyts, from entering, or working on the 
property.
The international took some pictures until another HRW arrived with a video 
camera and began to film the settlers as they worked.
The settlers, Musi Doyts, one Thai worker, and one 16-17 year old boy, were 
busy erecting a fence on the land, and digging the ground in order to keep 
the fence level. They also attempted to move large stones that were in the 
way of the fence off the land, but the internationals intervened by entering 
the property and sitting on these large stones.
The international human rights workers also intervened by sitting on the 
fence, which was unrolled on the earth, so that the settlers could not erect 
it. At 8:46am a military jeep of soldiers arrived, and first began to speak 
with Musi Doyts and were then approached by the internationals who told them 
that the settlers were not allowed to work on the land as it was declared a 
closed military zone some time before. The soldiers however did not even 
leave the jeep, and remained inside until the police arrived some time 
later. The soldiers told the internationals that they knew nothing of the 
closed military zone order, instead asking them arbitrary questions like 
"where are you from," and "why are you here." The internationals then gave 
up with speaking with the soldiers and resumed filming the settlers who were 
still working.
After twenty more minutes, with the internationals continuing to intervene, 
an older settler man with a white beard arrived and immediately approached 
the internationals: yelling at them to leave the land. He attacked one of 
the internationals, and tried to break the video camera. The soldiers 
present did nothing during this attack, which lasted about four minutes.
Finally the violent settler left because the internationals refused to let 
him intimidate them and a police jeep finally arrived.
The internationals told the police of the military order, but the police 
said they knew nothing about it and refused to intervene and remove the 
settlers from the land.
A Palestinian man who works with the internationals began to film the 
encounter as he had documents from B'tselem allowing him to film without 
police or military harassment. He was able to translate much of what was 
said by the police, soldiers, and settlers.
The police began to take the statement of Musi Doyts who accused the 
internationals of damaging property, trespassing, and throwing stones. He 
also accused the Palestinian man of trespassing though he had never entered 
the land.

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/03/succesful-road-block-removal-ends-in-arrests/

Succesful Road Block Removal ends in Arrests
September 3rd, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Nablus Region
31.08.2007, Sarra - Nablus Region
On Friday, 31.08.2007, International and Israeli Human Rights Activists 
joined the people of Sarra village in another demonstration against a 
roadblock that for years has obstructed direct access into Nablus city.
For the last five years the people of Sarra have had a trip of five minutes 
from their town to Nablus turn into circuitous journey taking nearly an 
hour. The Israeli Occupation Forces have closed their road with the help of 
one meter squared cement blocks. There have been repeated attempts by the 
town to get this roadblock removed, as it needlessly damages the lives of 
the people inside, when they need to go to work, or to school, or to visit 
family. Though they have tried to work through government channels, speaking 
to the DCO and lawyers, it has come to no avail. Last week they were told 
that the army would open the roadblock, what the army did was invade and 
shoot up their village. Members of the village have become frustrated and 
impatient waiting for the government to act. Nothing has been done to help 
their situation and they have been lied to or ignored when they voice their 
complaint. In the end it has come to this; the people have taken their 
situation into their own hands, they are waiting for no one. They gathered 
on friday to demonstrate non-violently against the continued presence of a 
cage around their town, part of the cage around Nablus.
Around 300 people came together at the village mosque after friday prayer 
and made their way down the road towards the road closure. People's spirits 
were high while marching down, waving Palestinian flags, chanting, cheering 
each other on. When they arrived, several soldiers could be seen with sniper 
rifles hiding behind trees on the hill right behind the roadblock. People 
were standing around the stone blocks, chanting slogans for some time. As 
the sprit of the people increased they began to drag barbwire, left on the 
side of the road by soldiers, across the road which leads to an army 
watchtower. People found old tires on the side of the road also, dragging 
them into the middle of the road and setting fire to them. Soon after a 
couple of army and police vehicles approached. Part of the group then walked 
towards the jeeps on the military road, attempting to prevent them from 
reaching the roadblock. They sat down in a row right in front of the 
vehicles and managed to stop them where they had parked. Some people from 
the group went to try and talk to the soldiers, negotiating about the 
presence of the roadblock. Several times the army drove closer towards the 
people blocking them in and attempting to threaten them. The Israeli 
military managed to capture and detain two of the Israeli activists, for 
being in a closed military zone, taking them away in a jeep.
The people who had stayed around the roadblock then started to move the 
stones off the road with the help of ropes. Soldiers increased their 
harrassment of the village, throwing several sound bombs and tear gas 
canisters into the crowd. Nonetheless, after dispersing for a moment, the 
people regathered, and continued to move all of the concrete road blocks out 
of the way.
People were cheering and continued chanting slogans, no more violence was at 
this point used by the army. The activists who had blocked the army vehicles 
then started retreating towards the other group around the roadblock. Some 
more discussions between the villagers and the DCO followed, another promise 
to look into the matter of the roadblock followed, which proved to be an 
empty promise once again.
The villagers and activists retreated back into the village, the 
internationals gathered in a house right next to where the roadblock was 
placed. All the people seemed to be very satisfied about the course of 
action that day.
Approximately two hours later however, the Israeli army came back with a 
bulldozer to re-close the just opened road. As the internationals saw them 
arriving, they rushed to the place and sat down on the cement blocks on the 
side of the road to prevent the army from moving it back in place. They were 
able to stop them for some time, and soldiers approached them and tried to 
make them leave the area. The internationals however refused, insisting on 
defending their just accomplished success. Unfortunately they were only 
five, as Palestinian and Israeli activists had already left the area. Like 
this they could not resist being taken away and arrested by the soldiers.
The army with its bulldozer closed the road again, putting the stones in 
place and after tore up the village's land nearby, covering the cement 
blocks with a mound of dirt. The street is closed once again, but the people 
of Sarra don't talk of giving up.
The two Israeli activists captured by the Israeli army were held until 10 
pm, until they signed conditions stating they would not enter Sumeria for 15 
days.
The international human rights workers arrested that day stayed in jail two 
more days. The men were given dingy cells and denied food beyond a few 
pieces of fruit the first night, the women were chained to a bench in a room 
with a television blaring all night. The women were not given blankets, and 
were ignored or mocked by the policemen on duty. They were forced to use the 
toilet chained to each other, and watch movies which bordered on 
pornography, while the policemen laughed at them. One was released the next 
day after nearly 24 hours in detention, the further three were dragged into 
court to be charged. The first activist released was made to sign a 
condition forbidding her from entering Sumeria for 15 days. The police 
wanted to ban the others from the West Bank for 30 days. The judge however 
simply asked them where they had friends in the West Bank; they replied 
Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Nablus. The judge then banned them from entering 
those cities for 30 days, fining them a total of 7,500 NIS each if they 
break their conditions. The other three activists could not readily find 
identification and so were thrown back in jail another night. The next day 
they returned to court, at which point their passports arrived in Tel Aviv 
and conditions of their release were confirmed.
All activists detained that day have all now been released, they would like 
to say a big thank you to everyone that supported them during their ordeal 
and assisted in obtaning their release.
For additional information relating to Sarra including video footage of the 
documented events please click onto Nablus Region Reports for a full outline 
of history and footage.

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1189205371

Saturday 08/09/07
VICTORY CELEBRATION IN BIL'IN

photo gallery
"A demonstration without tear gas and stun grenades is no demonstration," 
joked one of the demonstrators.
And indeed, for a long time Bil'in has not seen such a relaxed 
demonstration. The Border-policemen stood at readiness along the fence. 
Their commander stood on the roof of an armored jeep, arms folded on his 
chest, not moving for more than two hours - at one meter's distance from the 
demonstrators, who were waving Palestinian flags in his face.
The demonstration had a double purpose. First of all, it was a victory 
celebration. The veteran demonstrators felt that their 135 consecutive 
demonstrations in the village have achieved their purpose and had an impact 
on the decision of the Supreme Court to move the "separation fence" to the 
west, returning to the village a part of its stolen land. But the 
demonstration was also designed to express the resolute determination to 
continue the struggle until the fence will be removed altogether or moved to 
the Green Line.
About 250 Israeli demonstrators from all over the country came to celebrate 
the victory together with the villagers and international solidarity 
activists.
After the Friday prayers, the demonstration started on its way towards the 
fence, in the blazing sun, headed by a car carrying ear-splitting 
loudspeakers playing merry tunes and struggle songs. A sea of Palestinian 
flags were waving over the heads of the marchers, and among them could be 
seen the two-flag emblem of Gush Shalom. Among the marchers were the 
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad and several of his ministers.
When the procession reached the fence, its way was barred by a large unit of 
the Border Police, which was waiting behind razor wire barricades. 
Apparently, the policemen had received strict orders to abstain this time 
from violence and stood by passively while some demonstrators waved flags a 
few centimeters in front of them. Only once violence threatened to break 
out, when a boy threw a stone at the policemen. The local leaders stopped 
him before the police could respond with fire.
The demonstrators greeted each other with "mabruk" ("blessed"), the 
traditional Arab greeting on joyful occasions. In front of the stone-faced 
policemen, they started to dance happily, carrying the leaders of the 
struggle on their shoulders. Many of the villagers were accompanied by their 
wives and festively dressed children, who waved their flags with much 
enthusiasm.
Many smiles and embraces were exchanged between the Israelis and 
Palestinians, comrades in the struggle.
http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/video/1189589929
VIDEO OF THIS EVENT

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/07/tear-gas-and-sound-grenades-replaced-with-music-and-dancing-bilin-celebrates/

Tear Gas and Sound Grenades replaced with Music and Dancing: Bilin 
Celebrates.
September 7th, 2007 | Posted in Press Releases, Reports, Bil'in Village

To view the CNN report on the BIl'in victory celebration see: 
www.americanhummus.com
On Friday, September 7th, the villagers of Bil'in were joined by 
international and Israeli comrades. Normally they come together every Friday 
to express their outrage of the unacceptable Apartheid Wall. Normally the 
day is filled with military violence, tear gas, sound bombs, and billy clubs 
are common. Once the military begins to fire gas into the crowds, the 
non-violent protesters tend to back off eventually leaving only the 
Palestinian children throwing rocks in anger. A mild response in comparison 
to the rubber coated steel bullets used against them.
This day was different, one can say it was not a demonstration, but a 
celebration. There was still a reason to demonstrate, the Israeli Occupation 
Forces were still standing en masse behind the gate, guns ready and cameras 
recording. The wall was still there and though due to be moved, it will 
still be re-located onto Palestinian land, blocking the area to the illegal 
Matityahu East settlement, also on Palestinian land. There is also the 
knowledge that though this is a clear victory, it is also a rare victory. 
Around 120 cases have been brought to court about the Apartheid Wall and the 
its devastating effects on Palestinian land, water, economy, and culture, 
but only four have not been rejected.
But this was a victory, and a day to be victorious. Of the now four cases of 
success in Israeli courts, three of them have been fought with joint 
non-violent struggle. Activists, demonstrators and participants gathered at 
the International House in Bilin where baklava, a traditional Palestinian 
sweet, was served to the guests passing through. At the entrance was an 
arrangement created out of tear gas canisters collected over the many 
demonstrations laid out to acknowledge the brutality that has been faced by 
the village and the demonstrators over the three years it has been going on.
The villagers and their supporters marched towards the wall today, committed 
to non-violence, stopping people before the gate and telling them not to 
speak, provoke, or argue with the soldiers. This was not a day to run from 
tear gas, but to speak, listen, and dance freely.
During the celebrations speeches were given, songs sung and music and 
dancing ensued. In the midst of this, the appointed Palestinian Prime 
Minister, Salam Fayyad made an appearance, undertaking a speech and further 
walking up to the gate where Israelis held their position on the other side.
The celebration lasted around two hours, at the end of which a couple of 
children threw a few stones. The organizers, keen to ensure the 
demonstration would not escalate into aggression and violence, quickly 
called off the celebrations and told everyone to return to the village. They 
stopped the children they could while the army gathered to pass through the 
gate once more into the village land. Only a few stones were thrown and the 
villagers put a stop to it as quickly as they could. Celebrations continued 
back at the village.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/901786.html

A victory for the anarchists

By Meron Rapoport

"I remember the moment I marched among a crowd of Palestinians," said one of 
the Israeli activists who participated in the ongoing demonstrations near 
the village of Bil'in, this week. Those demonstrations led to a High Court 
decision a few days ago ordering the rerouting of the separation fence near 
the village. "I served in the army, and my first instinct was to look for 
the signal operator and to check if we were marching properly spaced. The 
Palestinians shouted 'Allahu Akbar,' which is supposed to be the nightmare 
of every Israeli soldier, but I suddenly realized that I was with them, that 
they weren't my enemies."

One must understand. Anyone who went to demonstrate in Bil'in knew that he 
stood more than a small chance of getting hurt somehow by "his" army: by 
clubs, tear gas, rubber bullets. Undoubtedly, there were a few who sought 
out this violence, but it also befell those who did not seek it out. It was 
part of the deal. The violence that the soldiers and Border Police officers 
employed against the Israeli demonstrators on an average Friday in Bil'in 
surpassed that used against the settlers during the entire evacuation of 
Gush Katif. Nevertheless, a few hundred Israelis made this trip every 
Friday, without fail, for the last two and a half years. Not all of them at 
once. Sometimes five, sometimes 50, sometimes 100. But they came.

Most of these people were young, sometimes very young, and they gathered 
under the rubric of "Anarchists Against the Fence." The Zionist left had no 
presence there. Not Peace Now and not Meretz (some Meretz MKs sometimes 
assisted the arrestees, but no more than that) - and certainly not Labor. 
Older organizations from the non-Zionist left were supportive, and provided 
logistical assistance, but the initiative still came from the anarchists. 
They led the struggle.

Without question, it was a rather small group. Not everyone, even the most 
devout leftist and vigorous opponent of the occupation, is prepared to come 
and take a beating, to run up and down hills, to breathe tear gas, to be 
arrested. But it wasn't an insignificant number either, this group of people 
prepared to come to blows with the establishment. In Bil'in their goal was 
simple and tangible: to restore the lands to the Palestinians.

It will be interesting to see what their next goal is.

http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/09/10/jayyus-village-demonstrate-against-theft-of-land-life-and-culture/

Jayyus Village Demonstrate Against Theft of Land, Life, and Culture
September 10th, 2007 | Posted in Reports, Qalqilya Region
Jayyus, September 8th
On Saturday, the 8th of September, 50 villagers from Jayyus and the 
surrounding area met together with an equal number of Israeli and 
international activists to demonstrate non-violently against the Apartheid 
Wall. They gathered at one of the gates in the wall which local farmers have 
to go through to reach their land. Only those farmers lucky enough to have 
permits are allowed to reach their land, and as demonstrators learned later 
from the speeches given, often times the permits are issued for members of 
family who are not able to work, or are not in the country, or are dead, or 
are under the age of 15, or older than 50. In a village of around 4,000 
people, 85% of which depend on their farmland for survival, only 90 are 
today able to access their land with permits.
When permits are given, farmers are allowed to enter one of three gates to 
access their land. The gate that a farmer is allowed to enter from is 
usually the gate farthest from his land, making his work more arduous and 
time consuming. Gates are officially open only for one hour in the morning 
and one hour in the evening, sometimes an hour around midday. However, in 
practice this depends more on the whim of the soldiers, who can open the 
gates only for fifteen minutes if they wish, and turn all others away for 
being late.
Villagers spoke about the lack of available water resources to the land on 
the other side of the wall. One farmer said the people of the village are 
able to take tanks for water to a reservoir, which is situated on his land, 
however they are unable to bring those tanks back to their houses. Attempts 
to bring water tanks back to the village have been halted by the army and 
the locals now see it as a waste of time and resources to attempt to collect 
water in this way. Additionally he stated that there was a court decision to 
allow pipes to be built connecting the reservoir on this farmer's land, to 
the reservoir in Jayyus. However despite this order being given in 2003, the 
army has failed, to this very day, to give the needed permits to actually 
build the pipes, thus leaving the reservoir on this farmer's land 
inaccessible.
The villagers are tired of waiting for the army to carry through the 
decisions of the court, they are tired of waiting while more and more of 
them are unable to reach their land, unable to continue the work of their 
fathers, and their father's fathers. They came together to demonstrate, 
non-violently, that they would not be quiet while the Israeli military 
forced them into starvation as a tactic to encourage emigration and further 
establish the myth of Israel stealing a land without a people. Though the 
villagers were angry, and justly so, the demonstration ended without 
violence. Though the army stood at the gate to the land of Jayyus village 
with guns ready, the farmers did not respond to their provocation. People 
went back to the village, without arrests, without injuries, with the 
knowledge that they would return.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25620

Invading Israeli forces clash with Palestinian activists near Jenin
Date: 30 / 09 / 2007  Time:  12:12

Jenin - Ma'an - More than twenty Israeli military vehicles on Sunday invaded 
the town of Kafr Dan, west of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and 
stormed several homes allegedly in search of 'wanted' Palestinians.

Palestinian activists attempted to block the invading forces.

Local resident Nadir Salah told Ma'an's reporter that the Israeli troops 
ordered Palestinians, through loudspeakers, to evacuate their homes and 
gather in the streets.

The soldiers separated men from women and interrogated the men about the 
location of so-called 'wanted' Palestinians.

Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli troops besieged the home of Islamic 
Jihad activist twenty-two-year-old Ala' Mas'ud and seized him.

Confrontations erupted between Palestinian youths and the invading soldiers.

Palestinians pelted Israeli troops with stones and the soldiers retaliated 
with sonic bombs, tear gas and rubber bullets. One Palestinian youth was 
reported to have choked on the tear gas.

A spokesperson of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades announced that its fighters 
clashed with the Israeli forces. No casualties were reported.

http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=25706

Four injured at demonstration against Israeli separation barrier in Bil'in
Date: 05 / 10 / 2007  Time:  15:57

Ramallah - Ma'an - Four people were injured during a demonstration in the 
West Bank village of Bil'in, near Ramallah on Friday.

After the noon prayer, a large group of Palestinian, Israeli and 
international protesters marched to the Israeli separation barrier.

Isareli forces prevented them from reaching the barrier, deploying tear gas.

In early September the Israeli Supreme Court ruled against the route of the 
barrier, which currently separates Bil'in residents from their farmland. 
Weekly demonstrations have continued in the village, demanding a swift and 
complete implementation of the decision.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets in Bil'in every Friday for over two 
years. 
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