[Onthebarricades] Palestine protests, Apr-Aug 2008

[Andy]

ON THE BARRICADES:  Global Resistance Roundup, April-August 2008
https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/onthebarricades
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance/

*  Apartheid wall protests "turn savvier"
*  Ongoing wall protests in Nilin village
    Child killed by soldiers during Nilin protests
    Controversy as soldier caught shooting protester
*  Israeli army attacks nonviolent protests in Bilin, Yatta
*  Protests target wall in several villages
*  Al Khader protest against wall
*  Three injured in weekly Bilin protest
*  Israeli army attacks protesters in Um Salamunah
*  Hundreds protest Gaza blockade at Rafah crossing
*  Gaza protests over Israeli siege
*  Boat flotilla defies siege to bring aid to Gaza
*  Mass protests mark anniversary of Palestinian displacement - Nakba
*  Peace activists protest attempts by settlers to claim abandoned military 
site
*  Journalists protest Israeli killing of cameraman
*  Media blackout in Gaza protests Hamas attacks on press freedom
*  Teachers protest Hamas control
*  Qaffin protest camp invaded by Israeli soldiers, boy arrested
*  Arab prisoners in Palestinian jails protest for Israeli amnesty
*  Peace Now to protest Peres in disputed town
*  Protests for prisoner swap near Israeli parliament

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/31/africa/ME-Palestinians-Protest-Primer.php

Palestinian protests against barrier turn savvier

The Associated Press
Published: July 31, 2008
NAALIN, West Bank: A Palestinian teen tracks Israeli troops with a camera to 
document any abuse.
A community organizer tours West Bank villages with a PowerPoint 
presentation on the art of creative protest.
Palestinians are using increasingly savvy methods to fight Israel's West 
Bank separation barrier - a campaign whose danger was driven home this week 
by the death of a 10-year-old boy.
Six years after Israel began building the barrier, Palestinian villagers 
march almost daily to try to halt construction work that threatens to 
swallow up thousands more acres of West Bank land. Many protests turn into 
confrontations between youths hurling rocks and Israeli troops responding 
with tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and at times live fire.
The aim is to slow construction, draw media attention and ensure that 
Israeli high court judges hearing challenges to the barrier route "will 
think twice before deciding such a high-profile case," said Michael Sfard, 
an Israeli lawyer representing Palestinian villages.
Israel's separation barrier - a mix of towering concrete walls topped with 
barbed wire and electronic fences - is two-thirds complete, and is expected 
to stretch about 500 miles (720 kilometers) when finished. Petitions to 
Israel's Supreme Court protesting the barrier's route have held up some of 
the construction.
Israel says the barrier is a temporary defense against Palestinian 
attackers. However, it extends into the West Bank, incorporating Jewish 
settlement blocs and seizing land from Palestinian villages, prompting 
Palestinian claims it's a land grab.
A new focal point of the anti-barrier campaign is the village of Naalin, 
which stands to lose its thousands of acres of olive groves to the barrier. 
On Tuesday, 10-year-old Ahmed Moussa was killed there in a confrontation 
between Israeli soldiers and boys hurling stones at Israeli forces, 
witnesses said.
A Palestinian autopsy found he was shot through the head by live fire - a 
charge the Israeli military was investigating. The boy was buried in Naalin 
on Wednesday.
Protests began in Naalin three months ago when bulldozers started clearing 
village land for the barrier.
On July 7, during one of the protests, 17-year-old Salam Kanaan, was 
watching the village's entrance from her living room window. She trained her 
video camera on a group of Israeli soldiers, capturing them shooting a 
bound, blindfolded Palestinian demonstrator in the foot, lightly wounding 
him.
An Israeli battalion commander was holding the man's arm. The Israeli 
military denounced the shooting as "grave," put the officer on forced leave 
and launched an investigation.
Kanaan said the film's impact made her more determined to keep her camera 
focused on troops. "This is a weapon for villagers like us, which an army 
can't defeat," she said.
Veteran anti-barrier campaigners from the nearby village of Bilin are 
teaching others how to keep the media interested, bulldozers idle and 
Israeli soldiers exhausted.
Bilin activists run workshops with PowerPoint presentations on how to 
protest - like tying demonstrators to trees. They also run 
question-and-answer sessions for other villages threatened by the barrier, 
and screen a documentary about Bilin's four-year struggle, backed by Israeli 
and foreign activists, to push the obstacle back.
Bilin scored a victory in Israel's high court in 2007, though Israel's 
Defense Ministry still hasn't complied with the ruling.
Mahmoud Abdullah said he attended a protest workshop before launching weekly 
protests against the barrier in his home village of Khader.
"They taught us how to tie ourselves to a tree and blind soldiers with 
mirrors," said Abdullah. "We are also meant to surprise soldiers by holding 
our protests in different places all the time, to confuse them."
Abdullah Abu Rahmeh, a Bilin activist, also worked with Bedouin tribesmen 
who complain of harassment by Jewish settlers.
"I explain to them what popular resistance means. I then show them a 
documentary of Bilin and I pause at the different strategies we have, like 
stuffing ourselves in barrels and rolling in front of bulldozers," Abu 
Rahmeh explained.
At one Naalin protest, Palestinian youths rushed down sloping olive groves, 
whooping as they climbed onto a bulldozer clearing land for the barrier. The 
startled driver was quickly chased away while other Palestinians lobbed 
rocks to divert the soldiers, who hurled back sound bombs and tear gas, 
leaving plumes of acrid smoke.
The bulldozer's work was held up for a couple of hours - a successful 
outcome, Palestinians say.
Although Bilin activists say they teach nonviolent forms of protest, they 
are reluctant to tell other Palestinians not to hurl rocks, saying it's a 
matter left for individual villages to decide.
Activists in other villages say throwing rocks is counterproductive. In 
Khader, demonstrators stick to peaceful protests, including holding Muslim 
prayers near the barrier construction site.
Sfard, the Israeli lawyer, said legal challenges are a key element of the 
campaign. The high court has ruled in three separate cases that the barrier 
must be moved away from Palestinian villages to reduce hardship.
However, the Defense Ministry has complied only with one of the rulings so 
far, citing budget problems.
Many Palestinians close to the planned barrier route say they're so 
persistent in their protests because their livelihood is at stake.
Livelihoods are already suffering in the village of Jayyous in the northern 
West Bank, where the barrier went up in 2003, putting village farmland out 
of reach for three-fourths of the village's farmers, said Mayor Mohammed 
Taher.
"People are now unemployed, their sons are leaving university because they 
can't afford tuition," Taher said.
In the meantime, Palestinians are honing their strategies.
"Now I tell the protesters, take a camera, take a camera," Kanaan said, 
holding her own

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/996604.html

28/06/2008

Palestinians say 17-year-old shot dead by IDF troops in West Bank By Yuval 
Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters Tags: Na'alin, West Bank
Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed a Palestinian teenager during a raid 
into the West Bank on Friday, local residents and medical workers said.

The residents said the 17-year-old was killed while confronting IDF troops 
who raided the village of Beit Umar, near the West Bank city of Hebron.

The military said that soldiers entered Beit Umar shortly before midnight 
Friday, in an operation to stop fire bomb attacks on Israeli vehicles on a 
nearby highway. The troops shot a militant who threw two molotov cocktails 
at them, a military spokesman said.
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Palestinians said the shots killed Mohammed Alameh, 17, one of a group of 
youths who fought the soldiers.

An IDF spokesman said he was looking into the incident, which could further 
disrupt a shaky ceasefire agreement between Israel and militant groups in 
the Gaza Strip.

The West Bank is not covered by a nine-day old truce between Israel and 
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip but on Tuesday, after troops in the 
West Bank city of Nablus killed two Palestinians, one of them an Islamic 
Jihad commander, Islamic Jihad in Gaza fired three rockets into Israel in 
response.

There was no indication that Alameh was formally a member of a militant 
group and no immediate sign of retaliation from Gaza Saturday morning.

14 protesters hurt in anti-fence demonstration
Fourteen protesters demonstrating against the separation fence were wounded 
in the West Bank village of Na'alin on Thursday.

An IDF soldier and a Border Police officer were also lightly hurt from 
stones thrown by protesters, 200 of whom were demonstrating against the 
route of the fence, which cuts off some of the village's residents from 
their lands.

The wounded protesters were hurt by the anti-riot tactics employed by the 
IDF and Border Police to disperse the demonstrators. Members of Anarchists 
against the Wall said that security forces opened fire after stones were 
thrown.

Protest activity against the fence in Na'alin has been on the rise in recent 
weeks. Demonstrators say that the separation fence effectively annexes 
thousands of dunams of Palestinian land to the settlement of Hashmonaim.

Roughly two weeks ago, a nine-year-old was wounded when security forces 
fired a rubber bullet that hit him in his head. Six additional demonstrators 
and Border Police officer were also hurt.

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6462509.html

Palestinian child killed in anti-wall protest in West Bank

+-09:40, July 30, 2008

A Palestinian child was shot dead on Tuesday afternoon by Israeli gunfire 
during a protest against the separation wall that Israel builds in the West 
Bank, witnesses and medical sources said.

The witnesses said dozens of Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers in 
the village of Na'lin on the west outskirts of the West Bank city Ramallah 
to protest the confiscation of Palestinianlands for constructing the 
separation wall.

Medics said Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated metal gunshotsa nd tear gas 
canisters at the demonstrators, adding that a Palestinian child was killed 
and 10 others wounded.

Mohamed Sorour, member of Na'lin Committee to resist the wall, told 
reporters that one Palestinian child was killed, and 10 others injured, 
three of them in moderate conditions.

Meanwhile, the Arabic service of Israeli Radio quoted Israeli army sources 
as saying that two Israeli soldiers were slightly injured by stones thrown 
by Palestinians during the demonstration in the village.

Hundreds of Palestinians organized what they described as a peaceful rally 
against the confiscation of land at the village to build the wall. Foreign 
peace activists also joined the protest, Palestinian witnesses said.

http://www.easybourse.com/bourse-actualite/marches/hundreds-protest-at-israeli-wall-near-west-bank-village-463502?PHPSESSID=b57e4313f0ce2609b0c5aba80e0f98bd

Hundreds Protest At Israeli Wall Near West Bank Village

Sunday June 1st, 2008 / 15h52

NILIN, West Bank (AFP)--Hundreds of Palestinians, Israelis, and 
international activists gathered outside the occupied West Bank village of 
Nilin on Sunday to protest against the extension of Israel's separation 
wall.
At least three people were wounded by rubber bullets and another eight were 
treated for tear gas inhalation when Israeli troops dispersed the protest, 
the organisers said.
The villagers say they mobilized last month when the Israeli army told them 
it would confiscate some 2,500 dunams (620 acres) of land for the separation 
wall, which Israel insists is necessary to prevent attacks from the 
territory.
Palestinians refer to the structure as an "Apartheid wall" and see it as 
part of a larger land grab aimed at slicing up the West Bank and preventing 
the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.
"We plan to hold many demonstrations against this," Salah Khawaja, one of 
the organizers of the protest told AFP, adding that villagers were also 
observing a general strike.
The Israeli military confirmed that troops had moved to quell "illegal and 
violent riots" in which protesters hurled rocks, and said Israel's high 
court was responsible for the route of the fence.
"We are basically following the court's decision on where to build the 
security fence and we are very sorry that in a democratic state such violent 
protests are taking place," a military official said.
"If there are olive trees there we will at our own expense of course remove 
them and plant them in an area with easy access to the Palestinians to whom 
they belong," she said, adding that villagers could appeal to the court.
Organizers have pledged to stage a series of demonstrations modeled on the 
weekly protests held in the neighboring village of Bilin where activists 
have clashed with Israeli troops almost every Friday for nearly three years.
The demonstrators scored a small victory in September when Israel's Supreme 
Court ruled that the section of the fence near Bilin should be rerouted, but 
they have kept up the protests saying the decision did not go far enough.
In 2004 the International Court of Justice issued a non-binding ruling that 
parts of the 650-kilometer barrier are illegal and should be torn down.

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2008/08/910958.shtml

Two Youth Murdered As Israel Tries To Suppress Ni'ilin Uprising
05 Aug 2008 20:06 GMT


For almost 4 months residents of Ni'ilin Village in the occupied West Bank, 
along with their Israeli and international supporters, have been trying to 
defend their lands through grassroots popular resistance, which includes 
almost daily demonstrations, attempts to block bulldozers and clashes. After 
losing much of its land in 1948 and due to the massive construction of 
settlements on its lands since 1967, Ni'ilin is now left with merely 7,000 
dunams (1,700 acres). 2,500 dunams (about 620 acres) of these lands are 
expected to be left isolated and effectively confiscated behind Israel's 
illegal segregation wall according to the current trajectory.

The Israeli army has employed severe and brutal violence in its attempt to 
suppress the Ni'ilin uprising, that has so far caused hundreds of injuries 
and has included arrests, the imposing of siege and curfew as collective 
punishment, the the shooting of a cuffed and blindfolded detainee, and most 
recently the cold blooded murders of ten year old Ahmed Mousa and 17 year 
old Ahmed Amireh who was mortaly injured on the eve of Mousa's funeral, and 
succumbed to his wounds five days later.

The village of Ni'ilin remains undeterred, and after three days of grieving 
over Ahmed Mousa, struggle struggle has already resumed. Villagers vowed to 
continue the struggle against the theft of their lands and their livelihood.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/990941.html

Last update - 00:04 09/06/2008

Eight leftists hurt in clash with police at rally against separation fence 
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service Tags: Bil'in, 
European Union, IDF
Eight left-wing activists protesting against the separation fence on Sunday 
were lightly wounded in clashes with police near the West Bank village of 
Na'alin.

Witnesses said a combined contingent of Israel Police and Border Police 
hurled tear gas grenades at a group of over 150 demonstrators who gathered 
to protest the planned construction of the fence in the area.

According to Channel 2, the Israel Defense Forces maintained that the troops 
did not use disproportionate force and that they only acted in response to 
protestors who threw stones at them.
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On Friday, the vice president of the European parliament, an Italian judge 
and a Northern Irish Nobel Peace prize laureate were among the five people 
injured at the weekly demonstration against the separation fence in another 
West Bank town, Bi'ilin.

The three dignitaries - Giulio Toscano, Luisa Morgantini and Mairead 
Corrigan Maguire - were visiting the Palestinian village as part of a 
three-day international conference on non-violent resistance, which ended 
Friday.

The other two casualties in the clashes between protesters and security 
forces were Palestinians.

http://www.awalls.org/niilin_razor_wire_barricade_dismantled_in_ahmed_mousas_memory_7_injured

Ni'ilin: Razor wire barricade dismantled in Ahmed Mousa's memory. 7 injured
01/08/2008
For the first time since the murder and mortal injury that shocked Ni'ilin 
this week, about 600 villagers marched to their lands accompanied by Israeli 
and international supporters. Villagers prayed on their lands, only a few 
hundred meters away from where Ahmed Mousa was murdered, and as soon as they 
were done, loudspeakers went on announcing in Hebrew and Arabic that the 
area is a closed military zone, and threatened everyone present that force 
will be used if people will not disperse. A large border police force was 
present on the overlooking hill, with a valley separating them from the 
villagers.

On hearing the border police message, demonstrators grew more and more 
angry, and their rage over the past days could be felt very strongly. At 
first, shouts were called towards the officers, denouncing them as murderers 
and calling them to go back to their homes. Very quickly however, 
demonstrators lost interest in the border police's provocation and turned 
towards the wall's construction site. There were no bulldozers at work, but 
everyone knew that the razor wire barricade that was erected to try and 
prevent protesters from disrupting construction still stands. The same razor 
wire Ahmed Mousa was trying to take apart before he was murdered on Tuesday.

The border policemen started firing teargas at the demonstrators, but there 
was no stopping them. The protesters' resolved, fueled by their outrage of 
the last few days' events was greater than the pain caused by the teargas. 
When a group of a few dozen border policemen came nearer to the crowd and 
started firing rubber-coated bullets, collective ire erupted into a hail of 
stones.
Clashes continued for about four hours. After two hours, the demonstrators 
were pushed away from the groves, and into the first houses of the village, 
but at around 17:00, the army retreated, and demonstrators went back to 
finish what they had started - dismantling the razor wire barricade in Ahmed 
Mousa's memory, and blocking the path of the wall with it. An hour later it 
all lied on the path of the wall, about 300 meters of it.
Five Palestinians and two international activists were injured by 
rubber-coated bullets.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&month=July2008&file=World_News2008072521239.xml

Nine injured in West Bank protest
Web posted at: 7/25/2008 2:12:39
Source ::: AFP

An Israeli soldier firing tear gas during a demonstration against the 
construction of the controversial Israeli separation barrier in the West 
Bank village of Nilin near Ramallah yesterday. (AFP)
NILIN, West Bank . Seven protesters and two soldiers were hurt yesterday 
near the occupied West Bank village of Nilin in the latest of regular 
demonstration against Israel's construction of a separation barrier, 
Palestinian medics said.
A photographer witnessed soldiers open fire on demonstrators with 
rubber-coated bullets and tear gas as they tried to approach the 
construction site, some of them throwing stones.
All of the demonstrators hurt were hit by the bullets, while an officer and 
a border guard were hit by stones, the medics said.
Earlier this month, demonstrators in Nilin and other locations marked four 
years since the International Court of Justice issued a non-binding 
resolution calling for parts of the barrier inside the West Bank to be torn 
down and for a halt to construction there.
Israel has ignored the ruling, as well as a similar order by its own High 
Court that nullified three sections of the wall, including one that runs 
near Bilin, a town near Nilin that has held weekly protests for more than 
two years.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=93952

Troops clash with protesters near wall around West Bank
'What do they expect from farmers who see their trees uprooted?'
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Joseph Krauss
Agence France Presse
NILIN, Occupied West Bank: Palestinian and international protesters clashed 
with troops in the Occupied West Bank Wednesday in one of several 
demonstrations marking four years since the World Court called for the 
demolition of parts of Israel's separation barrier. Soldiers fired tear gas 
and rubber-coated bullets as teenagers hurled stones in running clashes 
among the terraced olive groves and cactus walls outside the village of 
Nilin, where residents stage weekly demonstrations against a nearby 
expansion of the barrier.
About 200 Palestinian and international activists had marched to the 
construction site, a wide gravel gash running down a hillside, before 
several young men climbed onto an earthmover and broke its windows.
Soldiers in several jeeps rushed to the scene and fired tear gas as the 
youths took cover among the olive trees and threw rocks at them.
"Down with the occupation, down with the occupation!" schoolteacher Hassan 
Moussa, 33, yelled as he waved an olive branch and a Palestinian flag in 
front of a group of soldiers.
"This is Abu Ghraib, Nilin will be a prison like Abu Ghraib!" he said, 
referring to the notorious prison in Iraq where US troops tortured 
prisoners, before soldiers set off tear-gas bombs and wrestled him to the 
ground.
"I want peace, I want peace!" Moussa shouted as he was dragged to a waiting 
jeep. Three other people were also detained, witnesses said.
Organizers said at least seven people, foreign activists among them, were 
wounded by rubber-coated bullets and dozens suffered from tear-gas 
inhalation.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said "violent and illegal riots" had taken 
place outside the village and that a soldier, a border policeman and a 
maintenance worker were hit by rocks and injured.
Other protests were held in Deir al-Ghuzzun, near the northern town of 
Tulkarem, and in Azzum Atma near the town of Qalqiliya, which is almost 
completely surrounded by the wall.
The demonstrations marked four years since the International Court of 
Justice issued a nonbinding resolution calling for parts of the barrier 
inside the West Bank to be torn down and for a halt to construction there.

Israel has ignored the ruling, as well as an order by its own High Court 
that nullified three sections of the wall, including one running near Bilin, 
a town near Nilin that has held weekly protests for more than two years.
"Our goal is to stop the bulldozers," said Salah Khawaja, one of the 
organizers of the recent Nilin protests at which dozens of Palestinians, 
international activists and some Israeli security forces were wounded.
He said the protests were intended to be peaceful while admitting that there 
had been incidents of rock-throwing.
"What do they expect from farmers who see their trees are being uprooted? 
They want to live, they want to send their children to university," he said.
Earlier this week, Israel imposed a 24-hour curfew in the village in a bid 
to halt the demonstrations but organizers have vowed to continue.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad issued a statement condemning what 
he called Israel's "barbaric military campaign" against Nilin.
Israel says the barrier is needed to stop potential attackers from 
infiltrating Israel and illegal Jewish colonies in the Occupied West Bank, 
but Palestinians say it is a land grab aimed at undermining the viability of 
their promised state.
To date Israel has built 57 percent of the projected 723-kilometer barrier, 
according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
When complete, 87 percent of the barrier will be built on West Bank 
territory which Israel occupied in 1967, according to the OCHA.
Before the protest began, Moussa, who came with his 7-year-old son, said: 
"The building of the wall affects everyone's life. They want to expel us 
from our land."
Placing his hand on his son's head, he added: "He will come with us because 
I want him to live in peace, just like I want their [Israeli] children to 
live in peace, without this occupation."

http://www.worldpress.org/feed.cfm?http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/149600

Left-Wing Protests Near Naalin

(IsraelNN.com) Some 300 Arabs and left wing extremists are rioting against 
construction of the security fence near the village of Naalin, northwest of 
Jerusalem.The rioters allege they have stopped construction meanwhile. IDF 
and Border Guard units are responding. The rioters damaged construction 
equipement at the site.

Previously, the construction site at Naalin was subject to a four-day curfew 
placed on the area by the IDF. IDF sources indicate that the riots are a 
severe violation of agreements between the IDF and village residents two 
days ago.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/bound-palestinian-protester-shot-by-soldier-873874.html

Bound Palestinian protester shot by soldier
By Diaa Hadid, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
A human rights group has released a video that shows an Israeli soldier 
firing a rubber-coated bullet from close range toward the feet of a bound, 
blindfolded Palestinian man.
The video, taken two weeks ago, has sparked an investigation by the Israeli 
military, which described the shooting as a "stark violation" of army rules.
The Palestinian man, Ashraf Abu Rahmeh, said yesterday he was injured in his 
left toe and treated at the scene. During an interview, Abu Rahmeh, 27, took 
off his shoe and showed a large blister on his toe, with bruising 
underneath. He said for several days after the shooting, the toe was 
swollen.
The shooting took place on July 7, on the outskirts of the West Bank village 
of Naalin, said Abdullah Abu Rahmeh, a relative of the injured man. At the 
time, several dozen Palestinians participated in a protest against Israel's 
separation barrier, which is under construction near Naalin and will 
eventually cut off the village from hundreds of acres of its land.
In recent weeks, Naalin has been the site of frequent clashes between 
Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops. In the incident two weeks ago, 
soldiers imposed a curfew and then fired tear gas, stun grenades and 
rubber-coated steel pellets to disperse protesters marching toward the 
village, said Abdullah Abu Rahmeh, who was at the scene.
Toward the end of the clashes, Ashraf and another Palestinian man were 
detained by troops, Abdullah Abu Rahmeh said. Ashraf was led to an army 
jeep, blindfolded and handcuffed, said Abdullah Abu Rahmeh. Ashraf was held 
in this way for about three hours, his relative said.
A Palestinian girl filmed the scene near the jeep from her home, according 
to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, which obtained the footage.
The video shows Ashraf standing with the back to the camera, facing the 
jeep, while an Israeli army officer holds his arm. Another soldier slowly 
takes aim from a yard away and shoots toward Ashraf's feet. With the sound 
of the shot, the camera loses focus, and the next clear frames show Ashraf 
lying on the ground as Israeli soldiers lean over him.
B'Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli demanded that the military take steps 
against the soldier seen holding Abu Rahmeh's arm.
The army said military police are investigating.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/World/2008/08/15/6459566-sun.html

10 wounded in West Bank protest
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian residents of a West Bank village say 10 
people have been lightly hurt by Israeli troops who dispersed a 
demonstration against Israel's separation barrier yesterday.
Israel says troops fired tear gas and rubber pellets to break up the 
demonstration in Naalin. Residents are worried the barrier will cut them off 
from their farmlands.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=228713&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17

Israel extends curfew to curb barrier protest
Published: Tuesday, 8 July, 2008, 08:11 AM Doha Time

A Palestinian youth throws a stone towards Israeli troops near the West Bank 
village of Nilin yesterday. Israeli soldiers fired teargas and stun grenades 
to stifle protests against the West Bank barrier
OUTSIDE NILIN, West Bank: Israeli soldiers fired teargas and stun grenades 
yesterday to stifle protests against a West Bank barrier, declared illegal 
by the World Court four years ago this week.
The army kept a curfew on the Palestinian town of Nilin for the fourth day, 
using force to keep a small group of protesters and journalists from 
approaching the cordoned-off town of 5,000 from an overlooking hilltop.
Ayman Nafi, the town's mayor, said vegetables, dairy products and some 
medicines were in short supply and the local pharmacy had not been allowed 
to open.
"They want to send a message: resisting the construction of the wall will 
inflict suffering and damage upon you," Nafi said by telephone. "Their 
policy will increase our determination to prevent them from erecting this 
racist wall."
The army imposed a curfew on Nilin, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, on 
Friday after violence erupted during protests at a barrier construction 
site. An army spokesman said eight security personnel and two workers were 
hurt in protests in the area over the past month.
Israel says the network of razor-wire fences and concrete barricades helps 
to keep out Palestinian suicide bombers.
Palestinians say the barrier, which loops around Jewish settlement blocs, 
cutting off Palestinian villages from swathes of agricultural fields, is a 
land grab that could deny them a contiguous and viable state.
Khalil Amira, a farmer walking to his home near Nilin, said the army denied 
him access to 25 acres of his land last month because of plans to extend the 
barrier, depriving him of the olive groves that provide his family's 
livelihood.
"They want to remove us from our land - it's illegal," Amira, 61, said. "The 
land means I am still here and still alive. Without my land, I'm nothing. 
What do I do?"
Mohamed Khawaja, a bank worker, said by telephone from Nilin that soldiers 
had arrested people who ventured outside.
"When soldiers came to search my house early this morning, I asked one of 
them, 'What are you doing to Nilin,'" Khawaja said. "The soldier replied, 
'No matter what, the wall will be erected at the end of the day'. I asked 
him, 'Why do you take our land? Take land from the settlements.'"
On July 9, 2004, the World Court in The Hague ruled that Israel's 
construction of the 720km barrier on occupied land was illegal. The UN says 
Israel has ignored that ruling.
Saeb Erakat, a Palestinian peace negotiator, said: "We condemn the Israeli 
atrocities in Nilin and call for the immediate cessation of all wall and 
settlement construction."
Salah Khawaja, a local resident and spokesman for the Nilin Committee for 
Resisting the Wall, said townspeople were able to go outside for about two 
hours when the soldiers briefly left on Sunday night.
He said the army left leaflets saying the closure would remain in place as 
long as the violence continued.
lJewish settlers tied a Palestinian to a pole in the occupied West Bank and 
beat him before he was rescued by Israeli soldiers, the man and an Israeli 
human rights group said yesterday.
Ta'ayush, a Jewish-Arab group, released a video of the incident on Saturday 
in which a settler dressed in white is seen kicking a bound man in the 
abdomen as Israeli soldiers stand by. One of the soldiers is then seen 
restraining the settler.
Midhat Abu Karsh, 30, a Palestinian teacher who lives near the West Bank 
city of Hebron, said he was attacked by settlers who falsely accused him of 
setting fire to fields near the settlement of Eshael. Karsh denies any 
wrongdoing.
An Israeli police spokesman said: "Two settlers from Eshael were arrested on 
suspicion of assaulting a Palestinian man."
Karsh said he was working in his wheat field near Eshael when he spotted a 
fire and rushed over to douse the flames.
"They tied me to the pole and I thought I was going to die," he said, adding 
that settlers in the area had in the past threatened to kill him if he did 
not stop coming to the field.  -  Reuters

http://www.dawn.com/2008/07/10/int1.htm

Palestinians clash with Israeli troops: Wall protest

NILIN (West Bank), July 9: Palestinian protesters clashed with troops in the 
occupied West Bank on Wednesday in one of several demonstrations marking 
four years since the world court called for the demolition of parts of 
Israel's separation barrier.

Soldiers fired tear gas as teenagers hurled stones in running clashes among 
the terraced olive groves and cactus walls outside the village of Nilin, 
where residents stage weekly demonstrations against a nearby expansion of 
the barrier.

About 200 Palestinian and international activists had marched to the 
construction site, a wide gravel gash running down a hillside, before 
several young men climbed on to a parked earthmover and broke its windows.

Soldiers in several jeeps rushed to the scene and fired tear gas as the 
youths took cover among the olive trees and threw rocks at them. "Down with 
the occupation, down with the occupation!" Hassan Musa, a 33-year-old 
schoolteacher yelled as he waved an olive branch and a Palestinian flag in 
front of a group of soldiers.

"This is Abu Ghraib, Nilin will be a prison like Abu Ghraib!" he said, 
referring to the notorious prison in Iraq, before soldiers set off tear-gas 
bombs and wrestled him to the ground.

"I want peace, I want peace!" Musa screamed as he was dragged to a waiting 
jeep. Another three people were detained, witnesses said.

At least seven people, international activists among them, were wounded by 
rubber bullets and dozens suffered from tear-gas inhalation, organisers 
said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said "violent and illegal riots" had taken 
place outside the village and that a soldier, a border policeman and a 
maintenance worker were hit by rocks and injured.

Other protests were held in Deir al-Ghuzzun, near the northern town of 
Tulkarem, and in Azzum Atma near the town of Qalqiliya, which is almost 
completely surrounded by the barrier.

The demonstrations marked four years since the International Court of 
Justice issued a non-binding resolution calling for parts of the barrier 
inside the West Bank to be torn down and for a halt to construction there.

Israel has ignored the ruling, as well as a similar order by its own High 
Court that nullified three sections of the wall, including one that runs 
near Bilin, a town near Nilin that has held weekly protests for more than 
two years.

"Our goal is to stop the bulldozers," said Salah Khawaja, one of the 
organisers of the recent Nilin protests at which dozens of Palestinians, 
international activists and some Israeli security forces have been wounded.

He said the protests were intended to be peaceful while admitting that there 
had been incidents of rock-throwing.

"What do they expect from farmers who see their trees are being uprooted? 
They want to live, they want to send their children to university," he said.

Earlier this week, Israel imposed a 24-hour curfew in the village in a bid 
to halt the demonstrations but organisers have vowed to continue.

Meanwhile, Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad slammed in a statement 
what he called Israel's "barbaric military campaign" against Nilin.

Israel says the barrier is needed to stop potential attackers from 
infiltrating Israel and Jewish West Bank settlements, but Palestinians say 
it is a land grab aimed at undermining the viability of their promised 
state.

To date Israel has built 57 per cent of the projected 723 kilometres of 
steel and concrete walls, fences and barbed wire, according to the UN Office 
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

When complete, 87 per cent of the barrier will be built on West Bank 
territory which Israel occupied in 1967, according to the OCHA. Before the 
protest began, Musa, who came with his seven-year-old son, said:

"The building of the wall affects everyone's life. They want to expel us 
from our land." Placing his hand on his son's head, he smiled and said: "He 
will come with us because I want him to live in peace, just like I want 
their children to live in peace over there (in Israel), without this 
occupation."-AFP

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=368776

Palestinian villagers protest demise of Nilin

(Op-ed) Seth Freedman - The Guardian     Monday 9th June, 2008
Scrambling up the rock-strewn hillside in the baking midday sun, we stumbled 
across two middle-aged men taking shade under an olive tree.

As they bade my guide "Salaam aleikum", their eyes scanned my face for a 
hint of recognition. Finding none, one of the men ventured a tentative 
greeting in English and, when I responded in kind, proffered two items in my 
direction.

One was a surgeon's mask; the other a strip of alcohol-saturated prep pads: 
"You'll need them for where you're going", he assured me. As we edged closer 
to our destination, it was clear we had been well advised. Plumes of tear 
gas criss-crossed the air, trailing the canisters fired by the border police 
towards the scores of demonstrators. The pungent, acrid fumes filled our 
nostrils and mouths, while our ears resonated to the sporadic bursts of 
rubber bullets being shot in our direction.

>From our vantage point atop the hill, we had a perfect view of the operating 
table that lay beneath us, and our surgical accessories added to the sense 
of theatre that we were witnessing. As we looked on, we watched the 
obligatory rocks flung at the troops from youths wielding slingshots; the 
equally standard opening of fire by the police in response and the all-too 
familiar sight of wounded protesters being rushed by stretcher to waiting 
ambulances.

There was nothing we onlookers and reporters could do but record the events 
in our notebooks and cameras; our roles no different to that of medical 
staff witnessing the slow deaths of terminally ill patients. In this case, 
the patients were the villagers of Nilin, the disease they were vainly 
fighting was the ever-spreading cancer of Israeli settlements across the 
corpus of their ancestral land.

In 1948, the first symptoms of Nilin's impending malaise took the form of an 
expropriation of 40,000 dunams of land by the newly formed Israeli army. 
While crushed by the weight this blow dealt to their livelihoods, the 
townspeople believed the tumour had gone into remission, only for a second 
attack to strike during the six day war, when several thousand more dunams 
were invaded.

Since then, they have realised that the malignant growth is spreading 
further: yet more of their land has been sequestered by the Israeli 
authorities and the detested security wall erected in the midst of their 
olive groves.

Attempts to halt the cancer's progress have failed; the Israeli government 
appearing resistant to any of the balm which the villagers have fought to 
apply, whether in the form of legal action, international pressure, or the 
intervention of local peace activists. Faced with what could well prove a 
fatal blow to the entire town, the residents have been forced to take 
drastic measures to try to keep the tide at bay. Now, on an almost daily 
basis, dozens of youths take to the hills to impede the wall's construction; 
their medieval arsenal of sticks and stones no match for the heavily armed, 
heavily fortified troops who surround them on every side.

Talking to the locals is akin to visiting the terminally ill in a hospice; 
all one can do is offer words of comfort and try to placate them as the 
inevitable decline continues. "In the end, they will win - and we know it," 
said Khaled Mesleh, a 58-year-old grandfather whose family has lived in 
Nilin for more than 800 years. "We might succeed in holding up the building 
of the wall for a matter of days or weeks, but ultimately they will achieve 
their aims."

Those aims, according to Mesleh, are to crush the villagers into submission 
once and for all. "The Israelis take our land, refuse us permission to 
expand the village, prevent us being able to work inside Israel . so that 
eventually we will simply say 'we've had enough' and leave. There are 6,000 
residents of Nilin and none of them are happy; it's impossible to be happy 
in such conditions."

As the border police continued to pick off protesters with rubber bullets 
and live ammunition, we returned to his modest house to continue our 
discussion out of the line of fire. Children and grandchildren swarmed round 
the living room and kitchen; "They all live with me," said Mesleh. "Where 
else can they go?" With the town's borders continually narrowing, those of 
his offspring who have married and had children of their own are forced to 
continue living in the family home, or else to leave the village for good.

In the meantime, Hindi, one of his sons, has taken it upon himself to help 
organise the protests against the wall's erection. Breathless and bathed in 
sweat, he returned to the house enraged by what he'd seen. A freelance 
photographer and camera operator by trade, he had plenty of evidence of the 
scale of the injustices being dealt to his fellow villagers. He showed us 
footage of a border police officer letting off rapid-fire bursts of rubber 
bullets in random directions, as well as clips of the wounded being rushed 
away from the scene by panicked medics.

Hindi is just as resigned to the reality as his father: "At least by 
protesting we can try to prevent them taking even more of our land, but we 
[are in no doubt] that the wall will still be built." All that the locals 
can do is keep placing themselves in the firing line, in the vain hope that 
their actions will do more good in the long run than the harm caused by the 
tear gas and rubber-coated missiles fired into their bodies.

In Nilin specifically as well as in the West Bank as a whole, one thing is 
certain: the drugs don't work. The idea of international intervention is 
laughed at sorrowfully by Khaled and his peers. Similarly, the aid of the 
Israeli courts: "An Israeli judge banned them from continuing to build the 
wall here," said Khaled, "but they [the army] couldn't care less. They're 
still here - and if the courts can't stop them, who can?"

The answer - as he, his son and the rest of the villagers know all too 
well - is that no one can. The eyes of the world look on either benevolently 
(in the case of Israel's backers in the US and elsewhere), or impotently; 
too cowed to act, too diplomatic to intervene. Time is not on the 
Palestinians' side. Just as Nilin appears in its death throes today, so too 
will another village tomorrow, then another, then another. As the life of 
the Palestinian nation ebbs away, the best treatment on offer is merely 
palliative; and even that is proving too weak to soothe their never-ending 
anguish.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3553165,00.html

West Bank: 2 injured, 4 arrested in protest against fence
Protest against security fence being constructed near Na'alin turns violent 
as Israeli, Palestinians, foreign nationals clash with IDF troops
Ali Waked
Published: 06.08.08, 14:28 / Israel News

A reported 150 people participated Sunday afternoon in a demonstration near 
the West Bank village of Naalin, west of Ramallah to protest the security 
fence being built in the area. The protestors accused IDF soldiers of using 
tear gas to disperse them while the latter claimed that rocks were thrown in 
their direction.

West Bank Clashes

IDF, leftists clash during anti-fence rally in Naalin  / Ynet

Army's use of crowd-control measure to break up rally against security fence 
leads to Left reports of a dozen casualties. IDF denies claimed, says 
protestors violated restricted area order, stoned troops

The demonstrators - Left-wing Israeli, Palestinian and foreign nationals - 
have gathered on land due to be confiscated to allow for a fence to be built 
around the Hashmonaim settlement.

The protestors reported two people were injured in the confrontation with 
security forces and said an Israeli reporter had documented the incident.

They also said IDF troops were shooting directly at them with tear gas 
projectors in an attempt to force them to disperse.

Four protestors were detained by security forces.

The army said the protestors were in violation of an order declaring the 
area a closed military zone and that troops responded with non-lethal means 
of riot dispersal.

The IDF and the Civil Administration, the governing body in the West Bank, 
decided in the last few days that due to the construction of the fence they 
will transfer 440 olive trees belonging to the inhabitants of Naalin to a 
nearby area.

This way, the trees will be left in the hands of their owners. The 
Palestinians are protesting this decision and claiming that moving the trees 
will negatively affect their income.

The IDF plans on moving the olive trees under the supervision of the Civil 
Administration's officer but the Naalin residents are not willing to 
cooperate since they reject any activity surrounding the fence.

"They are moving the trees but what about the soil? Our experience with 
Israeli occupation isn't positive," said one of the villagers and noted that 
they will fight this decision and demonstrate against the building of the 
security fence.

Efrat Weiss contributed to this report

http://rss.xinhuanet.com/newsc/english/2008-06/26/content_8446234.htm

21 Palestinians wounded in anti-wall protest in West Bank

    RAMALLAH, June 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 21 Palestinians injured on 
Thursday by Israeli rubber shots fired by Israeli soldiers during a 
Palestinian protest against building a separation wall in the West Bank, 
witnesses said.
    Dozens of Palestinian and foreign protestors demonstrated early on 
Thursday in the village of Ne'leim near the West Bank city of Ramallah 
against the Israeli confiscation of Palestinian-owned lands in the village.
    Majdi Sallah O'meira, one of the Palestinian protestors told reporters 
that dozens of protestors gathered in the village and demonstrated against 
confiscating Palestinian lands to build the separation wall.
    Israel has been building into the West Bank a separation wall, described 
by the Palestinians as an apartheid separation wall. Building the wall 
confiscated Palestinian lands, uprooted fruitful trees and divided villages 
in the territory.
    O'meira said that Israeli soldiers opened fire at the demonstrators and 
wounded at least 21 people by rubber gunshots, adding that dozens of tear 
gas canisters were also fired at the protestors.
    The Palestinian protestors managed to prevent the Israeli bulldozers 
from working in the village, O'meira was also severely beaten by the 
soldiers when he stood on the top of an Israeli bulldozer.
    The Israeli soldiers dispersed the demonstrations by rubber gunshots and 
tear gas canisters, witnesses said, adding that Israeli soldiers stormed 
several houses in the village and detained several people.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3549659,00.html

IDF, leftists clash during anti-fence rally in Naalin
Army's use of crowd-control measure to break up rally against security fence 
leads to Left reports of a dozen casualties. IDF denies claimed, says 
protestors violated restricted area order, stoned troops
Ynet
Published: 05.29.08, 20:43 / Israel News

IDF forces were called to the Arab township of Naalin, near Modiin, 
Thursday, to disperse some 100 Palestinian demonstrators, left-wing 
activists and foreign peace activists, protesting the building of the 
Israel's separation fence.

The IDF claimed the protestors were in violation of a military restricted 
area order and that they tried to damage the fence and hurled stoned at the 
soldiers. None of the soldiers were harmed.

The protestors, however, claimed that 12 people were hurt after the IDF used 
rubber-coated bullets and stun-grenades against the crowd.

Variety of version. The demonstration at Naalin (Photo: Ruters)

"We have been protesting the fence in the Naalin area for the past two 
weeks," Jonathan Polak, one of the left-wing activists present at the rally 
told Ynet. "Today's rally wasn't the first and it won't be the last. We had 
200 Palestinians and 15 Israelis attend today's rally and 12 people were
Some of the land annexed by Israeli authorities in the area, he added, will 
be used to build a cemetery which will serve the adjacent Jewish 
communities. He and his friends, he added, were trying to keep construction 
from beginning.

The IDF denied any knowledge of casualties.

http://www.worldpress.org/feed.cfm?http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/151011

Left-wing Activists Arrested in Protest Over Ni'lin

(IsraelNN.com) Some 20 protesters were arrested Tuesday after they refused 
to stop their unauthorized demonstration outside the Zichron Yaakov home of 
IDF Binyamin Brigade Commander Col. Aviv Reshef.
The group was protesting the deaths of two Palestinian Authority Arab boys 
in Ni'lin, where demonstrations against the construction of the 
Judea-Samaria security barrier have escalated into violence by rioters and 
crowd dispersal methods -- including the use of rubber-coated bullets -- by 
government security forces.

http://www.imemc.org/article/55280

The Israeli army attacks a peaceful protest near Ramallah: two injured one 
kidnapped
Wednesday June 04, 2008 12:59 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News
Two Palestinian civilians were injured and another one kidnapped when the 
Israeli army attacked a peaceful protest organized by the villagers of 
Na'alen west of the central West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday midday.

File - 2007
The villagers of Na'alen along with international and Israeli protesters 
marched against the illegal Israeli wall the army is building on the village 
lands.

The protesters said that the army attacked them with tear gas and 
rubber-coated-steal bullets, two were injured and Mohamed Amera, a local 
activist was kidnapped by the army.

Israeli army sources said that the protesters hurled stones at the soldiers 
first, witnesses said that troops opened fire without a reason, and that the 
protest was peaceful.

http://capetimes.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4518659

Israeli police question soldier after he shoots Palestinian protester
July 22, 2008 Edition 2
TEL AVIV: Israeli military police yesterday questioned an Israeli soldier 
who was filmed shooting in the foot with a rubber- coated metal bullet a 
Palestinian protester, who was under arrest, handcuffed, blind-folded and 
standing next to him two weeks ago.
A 14-year-old Palestinian girl, a resident of the Palestinian village of 
Nil'in, filmed the incident, and an Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, 
published the video clip on Sunday, demanding the soldier be brought to 
justice.
The video clip has caused shock and outrage both in Israel and in the 
Palestinian areas.
In it, the Palestinian protester, Ashraf Abu Rahma, 27, is seen standing 
blindfolded, his hands tied behind his back, behind an Israeli military jeep 
after being arrested.
An Israeli soldier standing about 1.5 metres away is seen aiming his weapon 
and firing a rubber-coated metal bullet at the Palestinian's foot. The 
camera shakes, and the protester is then seen lying on his back on the 
ground in pain.
Israeli military police arrested the soldier late on Sunday. The soldier was 
quoted by Israeli media as telling his interrogators that he shot at the 
arrested Palestinian because he believed he had heard his commander give him 
the order to shoot.
The commander, a lieutenant-colonel, who was also questioned, said he gave 
no such order, but said he took responsibility for the incident because his 
subordinate may have "misunderstood" his instruction. The Israeli military 
said that the Palestinian was sent home after having been examined and was 
only lightly hurt. - Sapa-dpa

http://www.imemc.org/article/56438

The Israeli army attacks the nonviolent protest in Bil'in village
Friday August 08, 2008 15:29 by Rula Shahwan - IMEMC News
The Israeli army dispersed the weekly nonviolent protest located in Bil'in 
village north of the West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday midday with gas, 
guns and grenades.local sources reported.

Israeli Troops attack peace activists in Billin
After the weekly Friday prayer, a group 300 internationals and peace 
activists marched a nonviolent protest in solidarity with the people of 
Bil'in village. The protest was against the illegal wall being built on the 
village lands.

The protestors were demonstrating against the Israeli killings of local 
civilians as well as the illegal closures and confiscation of lands and 
property. The protestors walked towards the wall with the intention of 
reaching the villagers lands behind it.

Israeli troops shot CS gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, and 
concussion grenades at the protesters. A number of civilians reported 
suffering from gas inhalation and for the first time Israeli troops threw 
smelly manure at the protestors.

http://www.worldpress.org/feed.cfm?http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/148782

5 Border Guard Officers Hurt in Anti-Wall Arab Protests

(IsraelNN.com) Five Border Guard police officers were lightly injured late 
Tuesday afternoon in a violent protest by at least 100 Arabs and foreign 
nationals in the village of Bili'in.
The demonstration, which began earlier but which turned violent as the day 
wore on, was held to protest construction of the Judea-Samaria 
counterterrorism separation barrier.
The officers were treated by Magen David Adom medics at the scene, according 
to the HNN website.

http://www.imemc.org/article/56315

The Israeli army attacks a non violent protest in Yatta village
Saturday August 02, 2008 16:24 by Rula Shahwan - IMEMC News
Israeli troops attacked on Saturday a nonviolent protest against the wall in 
Yatta village near the southern West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday midday, 
local sources reported.

The Wall
The sources added that a group of Palestinian and international peace 
activists were demonstrating against wall and carried signs condemning the 
ongoing Israeli attacks, and closure in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Soldiers fired teargas and sound bombs at the protesters; a number of 
protesters were treated locally after inhaling gas fired by the soldiers.
 "The Wall is built on part of the village's land, our lands are the main 
sources of income for us," said Mohammad one of the demonstrators.
"The international court of justice ruled that the wall is illegal, the 
world must act to remove this wall since it is stealing our land, water and 
making our life hard," he added.

http://www.imemc.org/article/56066

Israeli Annexation Wall:

Israeli forces have continued to construct the Annexation Wall inside West 
Bank territory. During the reporting period, Israeli forces used force 
against peaceful demonstrations organized by Palestinian civilians and 
international and Israeli human rights defenders in protest of the 
construction of the Wall in Bil'in and Ne'lin villages, west of Ramallah; 
and Deir al-Ghossoun village, north of Tulkarm. These demonstrations 
coincided with the 4th anniversary of the Advisory Opinion issued by the 
International Court of Justice, which considers the construction of the Wall 
illegal.

At approximately 11:00 on Wednesday, 9 July, dozens of Palestinian civilians 
gathered in the west of Deir al-Ghossoun village, north of Tulkarm. They 
moved towards the Wall. Immediately, Israeli forces fired rubber-coated 
metal bullets and tear gas canisters at the demonstrators. As a result, a 
number of demonstrators, including two journalists, suffered from tear gas 
inhalation.

On 11 July, scores of Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli 
human rights defenders demonstrated in Bil'in village, west of Ramallah, in 
protest to the construction of the Wall. The demonstrators moved towards the 
Wall, but Israeli forces closed all gates designed for crossing the Wall. 
The demonstrators then set fire to tires in protest at the closure of gates. 
Immediately, Israeli forces fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas 
canisters at the demonstrators. As a result, dozens of demonstrators also 
suffered from tear gas inhalation.

Two protests were held this week in Ne'lin village, west of Ramallah. The 
first was on Friday July 11th, during which Israeli forces fired 
rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at the demonstrators, 
injuring five. Four demonstrators were abducted by Israeli forces. The 
second protest this week in Ne'lin was on Tuesday, 15 July, when dozens of 
Palestinian civilians and international and Israeli human rights defenders 
gathered to march to the area where Israeli forces were razing land to 
construct a section of the Wall in the village. Immediately, Israeli forces 
fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at the 
demonstrators. As a result, 2 demonstrators were wounded.

http://www.imemc.org/article/54467

The Village of Al Khader stage a nonviolent protest against the Israeli Wall
Friday April 25, 2008 16:28 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News
Around 100 villagers from Al Khader village located near Bethlehem city in 
the southern part of the West Bank supported by a small number of 
international and Israeli peace activist protest the illegal wall Israeli is 
building on the village land.

Israeli troops stopping Palestinians protesters near the illegal Wall 
between Bethlehem and Jerusalem -Photo by IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura 2008
The protest took the form of holding the Friday prayer in the street at the 
presence of around 30 Israeli soldiers. The protest ended after speeches by 
the local committee against the wall and settlement construction was 
delivered.

Samer Jaber, told IMEMC that Friday's protest comes as part of the ongoing 
efforts to protest the wall and protect the lands of Al Khader. He added 
that the Israeli troops manning the checkpoint near the village did not 
allow the Israeli activists to come inside the village to join the Friday 
activity, so they had to get to the village from a different rout.

http://www.imemc.org/article/55814

The Khader village protests the Israeli wall
Friday July 04, 2008 16:43 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News
The village of Al Khader, located near the southern West Bank city of 
Bethlehem, organized on Friday midday a nonviolent protest against the 
illegal Israeli wall being built on the village land.

Israeli troops stopping Palestinians protesters near the illegal Wall 
between Bethlehem and Jerusalem -Photo by IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura 2008
At least 150 Palestinians from the village of Al Khader along with 
international supporters staged the protest at the nearby settlers' road. 
The march started with midday prayers held near the army checkpoint there, 
and then speeches were delivered by local organizers. Israeli soldiers 
arrived at the protest and announced the area as a closed military zone then 
asked the protesters to move away.  Protesters stood their ground and staged 
a protest for another hour or so. In his speech Samier Jaber, an organizer, 
in Al Khader said that "in this special day for Americans who are 
celebrating their independence, Palestinian are calling for that right".

http://www.imemc.org/article/55689

Al Khader near Bethlehem village stage a protest against the Israeli Wall
Friday June 27, 2008 15:22 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News
The village of Al Khader, located near the southern West Bank city of 
Bethlehem, organized on Friday midday a nonviolent protest against the 
illegal Israeli wall being built on the village land.

.At least 100 Palestinians from the village of Al Khader along with Israeli 
and international supporters staged the protest at the nearby settlers road. 
The march started with midday prayers held near the army checkpoint there, 
then speeches were delivered by local organizers.

The protest ended shortly after the speeches were finished. Samier Jaber an 
organizer in Al Khader village said that Israeli troops arrived at the area 
but did not do anything.

http://www.breitbart.com/image.php?id=iafp080812063927.bs004yeup1&show_article=1

Israeli soldiers keep watch during a protest in the West Bank village of 
Maasarah

Israeli soldiers keep watch as Palestinian children join foreign and Israeli 
demonstrators during a protest in the West Bank village of Maasarah. Israeli 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has offered the Palestinians a peace plan giving 
them 93 percent of the occupied West Bank, the Haaretz newspaper reported on 
Tuesday.

http://www.imemc.org/article/55813

Two international activists and a Palestinian injured in Bil'in Weekly 
Protest
Friday July 04, 2008 16:12 by Abdullah Abu Rahma - IMEMC News
Three activists were injured by Israeli forces on Friday in the weekly 
protest against the separation wall in Bil'in; near the West Bank city of 
Ramallah: two of them are French activists and the third one is Mohamad Ali 
Abo Sa'di 65 years old, in addition to the dozens of protesters were treated 
for tear gas inhalation.

Bil'in protest - file 2008- Photo By IMEMC's Haithem El Khatib
Villagers from Bil'in marched together with international and Israeli 
solidarity activists after Friday prayers, carrying Palestinian flags and 
banners demanding the removal of the Israeli wall and settlements, while 
calling on the international community to lift the siege on Gaza and help 
Palestinians retain Jerusalem.
Participants also demanded that the Israeli army stop killing Palestinian 
civilians and end the use of live ammunition against non-violent protesters.
As protesters approached the separation wall, Israeli forces prevented the 
villagers from reaching the gate that is supposed to provide access to their 
lands, and opened fire on them with tear gas canisters, sound bombs, and 
rubber-coated metal bullets.
Three were injured and scores of protesters were treated for gas inhalation, 
In related news, the Israeli force released on Thursday afternoon Ali 
Hamadan Abo Rahma 17 years old, who were arrested four day before when the 
army invaded the village and attacked the houses of Mohammad Ali Yassin and 
Hamadan Ali Abo Rahama and terrorized the resident of the two homes while 
arresting Ali.

http://www.imemc.org/article/55815

The Israeli army attacks protesters in Um Salamunah
Friday July 04, 2008 16:49 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News
The Israeli army attacked a peaceful protest organized by the villagers of 
Um Salamunah located near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem on Friday 
morning; three protesters were kidnapped by the army.

Israeli troops kidnaping protesters in Um Salamunah on Friday - photo by 
Anne Paq - activestilles
Local sources said that scores of villagers supported by Israeli and 
international peace activists marched from the main entrance of the village 
heading towards the lands that are in danger of being confiscated due to the 
construction of the Wall.
The participants held Palestinian flags and banners condemning the Israeli 
actions of building of the wall and also calling for the unity among 
Palestinians.
Soldiers attacked the protesters and kidnapped three activists, one Israeli, 
and two Palestinian, and when other protesters tried to stop the jeep from 
taking them away troops forced the activists away, using riffle-butts and 
batons.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3580202,00.html

Hundreds of Palestinians protest at Rafah crossing
Published: 08.10.08, 11:23 / Israel News

Hundreds of Palestinians and Hamas supporters protested near the Rafah 
crossing in the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning. The demonstrators, including 
Palestinian Legislative Council Deputy Speaker Ahmad Bahar, called upon 
Egypt to open the crossing.

In the past few days, a few Palestinians have died because they were not 
able to cross the border and receive medical treatment. (Ali Waked)

http://www.mathaba.net/rss/?x=590176

Thousands of Gazans protest over Israeli siege
Posted: 2008/04/26
There were protests in the north and south of the strip near border 
crossings into Israel and Egypt on Friday, after Israel dismissed Hamas's 
proposal of a six-month truce as ''not serious''.
(Aljazeera)

Thousands of Gazans have protested at Israel's refusal to accept a 
Hamas-proposed truce in exchange for Israel lifting its blockade of the Gaza 
Strip.

There were protests in the north and south of the strip near border 
crossings into Israel and Egypt on Friday, after Israel dismissed Hamas's 
proposal of a six-month truce as "not serious".

In Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, about 5,000 people waved Hamas flags and 
banners proclaiming "No to the siege".

Yussef al-Shrafi, a Hamas official, told the crowd: "Hamas is working in a 
positive manner to end the siege and achieve a truce."

In Rafah, about 1,000 people called for Egypt to open its border crossing, 
the only one that bypasses Israel.

"We do not represent a threat to Egypt's security, but we ask our brothers 
to open Rafah and break the siege," said Abu al-Sibbah, a Hamas leader.

Pressure on Israel

Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from Gaza, said the protests were an 
attempt by Hamas to put pressure on Israel to lift its blockade.

"In a way, Hamas is showing its power - it's moved thousands of people to 
two of the crossing points, one by Israel and one by Egypt," he said.

"And I suppose, behind it is the threat that once against they will attempt 
to storm these crossing points if and when the Israelis decide they are not 
going to change their attitude and lift the suffocating siege of the Gaza 
Strip."

Reports on Friday said Egypt had sent hundreds of police officers to the 
sealed Rafah border crossing to boost security in case of an attempt by the 
Palestinians to breach the border.

Speaking of the protesters themselves, many of whom were women, Chater said: 
"These people just can't believe the world is standing by and turning a 
blind eye towards them. They feel this protest at least was a way of showing 
their suffering and becoming more visible."

'Suffocating siege'

Israel imposed its blockade on the Gaza Strip after Hamas seized power in 
the territory last June.

On Thursday, UN agencies suspended aid distribution to Gaza, saying they had 
run out of fuel.

The last shipment of fuel to Gaza by Israel - the sole distributor of it to 
the territory - came before Palestinian fighters attacked an Israeli fuel 
depot on April 9.

An emergency shipment of fuel for UNRWA lorries from within Gaza was 
reportedly intercepted on Thursday by strawberry farmers who needed the 
supplies for irrigation and refrigeration.

Hamas earlier offered to halt cross-border rocket attacks if Israel opened 
crossing points into the Gaza Strip and ended its military incursions.
Israel dismissed the proposal.

David Baker, an Israeli government spokesman, said on Friday: "Hamas is 
biding time in order to rearm and regroup. There would be no need for 
Israel's defensive actions if Hamas would cease and desist from committing 
terrorist attacks on Israelis."

Possible ceasefire

But an official close to Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, suggested 
that the two sides could still decide to hold their fire without a formal 
accord being agreed.

"We don't rule out a tacit agreement, on condition it is done in stages," he 
told the AFP news agency.

"In a first stage we demand all groups stop firing rockets. Israel would 
then be willing to reduce its operations if the calm continues."

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has voiced cautious support for 
the truce initiative.

Nimer Hammad, an aide to Abbas, said: "We hope that this proposal is a 
serious one, and we hope it will be taken seriously by Israel."

Also on Friday, Israeli security forces were hunting for Palestinian 
fighters after two security guards were shot dead at an industrial complex 
near the West Bank.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad have jointly claimed the attack.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=115761

Israeli troops open fire at Palestinian protesters Israel destroyed 200 West 
Bank buildings last year: UN; Abbas, Olmert to meet next week

Saturday, May 31, 2008
SUFA, Gaza Strip/OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Several Palestinians were wounded on 
Friday, when Israeli troops opened fire on protesters in the Gaza Strip as 
they neared the border fence, medics in the besieged territory said.

Thousands of people joined the demonstration called by Hamas to demand that 
Israel lift its crippling blockade of the impoverished enclave.

The protesters marched from the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunes in southern 
Gaza towards the Sufa border crossing, waving banners calling for the end of 
the 'Holocaust' Israel is committing in the Gaza Strp.

They also chanted praise for Hamas, the Islamist movement that seized 
control of the densely populated sliver of land last June.

Gaza emergency services said several people were wounded when Israeli forces 
fired on the protesters who approached the frontier fence.

A military spokesman said Israeli forces would "operate in all strength to 
prevent anybody from damaging the fence or the crossing or entering" the 
country.

Israel has imposed a crippling embargo on Gaza in what it says is an effort 
to force Hamas to end rocket and mortar fire into the Jewish state.

Meanwhile, Israel demolished 208 buildings in the occupied West Bank last 
year, a UN agency said on Friday, adding that the Defence Ministry corrected 
its previous figure of 107.

Most of the houses were torn down under demolition orders issued because 
there were no construction permits, which Israeli authorities only seldom 
grant to Palestinians.

The buildings are located in the so-called Area C, which makes up more than 
60 percent of the West Bank and is under full Israeli control. "We have been 
informed that according to the records of the Israeli Ministry of Defence 
the number of structures demolished in Area C of the West Bank in 2007 is 
not 107, as reported earlier, but 208," the UN Office for the Coordination 
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

In the first quarter of this year, Israeli authorities demolished 124 
structures in the West Bank, the UN agency said.

In a related development, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet on Monday to discuss peace talks, which 
are threatened by a major political crisis in Israel, officials said on 
Friday.

The meeting will take place at Olmert's al-Quds residence, senior 
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said.

A senior Israeli government official confirmed the two leaders would meet 
before Olmert leaves on Monday night to Washington for talks with President 
George W Bush.

The meeting "will focus on the ongoing negotiations, the situation on the 
ground and the truce talks" between Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement 
in Gaza, which are being mediated by Egypt, Erakat said.

Peace talks between the two sides have made virtually no apparent progress 
since they were formally relaunched in November at a US-hosted conference in 
Annapolis, Maryland.

They are facing a new hurdle with Olmert now hit by a chorus of calls to 
resign over suspicions he unlawfully took large sums of money from a US 
millionaire before becoming premier.

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.2210757459

Middle East: Thousands protest against Israel in Gaza

Rafah, 30 May (AKI) - Israeli forces fired at a crowd of Palestinian 
protesters and injured at least seven during a demonstration against the 
Gaza blockade on Friday.

Over 10,000 protesters took part in the demonstration organised by the 
Islamist Hamas movement at the Sufa Crossing, near Rafah in the southern 
Gaza Strip.

Israeli and Palestinian news sources said several people were seriously 
injured in the shooting.

Thousands of protesters waved Hamas flags, burned tires and chanted 
anti-Israel slogans.

On Thursday, Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu condemned Israel's blockade 
of the Gaza Strip calling it an "abomination".

He also attacked what he called international complicity over the blockade.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert requested an emergency meeting 
with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, before leaving on a visit to the 
United States on Monday.

Abbas recently expressed concern that uncertainty about Olmert's future 
might derail ongoing peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

New York businessman Morris Talansky this week told the Jerusalem District 
Court that Olmert accepted 150,000 dollars in donations from him for his 
election campaigns in the past decade.

While acknowledging the donations, Olmert has said did nothing wrong and has 
refused to step aside while investigations continue.

Israel's Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, a senior member of the ruling Kadima 
party, said on Thursday the party should prepare for any scenario, including 
early elections.

Defense Minister and Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak on Thursday called on 
Olmert to step aside over corruption allegations or resign.

He said if Olmert did not quit, the Labor Party would move towards early 
elections.

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90854/6484988.html

"Free Gaza" boats arrive in Gaza in protest against Israeli siege

+-13:36, August 24, 2008

"Free Gaza" boats arrive in Gaza in protest against Israeli siege

Thousands of Palestinians started whistling and screaming on Saturday 
afternoon when two "Free Gaza" boats with peace activists arrived at Gaza 
City's fishermen harbor in protest against Israeli siege.

Flags of different countries, including Turkey, Germany, France, Cyprus, 
Britain, Lebanon and Greece, were seen fluttering on the two boats, which 
set off Friday from Cyprus. Slogan "Freedom for Gaza" and "We are coming" 
are written on one of the boats.

An international peace activist waves to Palestinians as they arrived in 
Gaza in protest against Israeli siege. Thousands of Palestinians started 
whistling and screaming on Saturday afternoon when two "Free Gaza" boats 
with peace activists arrived at Gaza City's fishermen harbor in protest 
against Israeli siege. (Xinhua Photo)

While approaching Gaza beach, the two boats released 5,000 balloons of four 
colors of black, red, green and white, which are the colors of the 
Palestinian flag.

Each of the balloons bears the slogan of "Free Palestine" and a drawing of 
the pigeon of peace, while several Palestinian flags fluttered on the two 
boats.

Several peace activists, a Holocaust survival and the sister-in-law of 
former British Prime Minister Tony Blair are on board. The two boats also 
carry medical hearing aids for deaf Palestinian children.

The cheerful Palestinians warmly welcomed the "Free Gaza" boats after Israel 
finally decided to let them cross into Gazanwater.

Thousands of Palestinians started whistling and screaming on Saturday 
afternoon when two "Free Gaza" boats with peace activists arrived at Gaza 
City's fishermen harbor in protest against Israeli siege. (Xinhua Photo)

Several local Gaza fishing boats received the two "Free Gaza" vessels, and 
dozens of children and adults jumped into the two vessels to welcome the 
visitors.

Jamal al-Khodari, head of the Popular Committee to end the siege, got on one 
boat to receive the visitors. He said "Welcome to Gaza and thank you for 
breaking the blockade."

He told reporters, "This is a great moment to see people supporting our 
cause to show solidarity with us and to tell the world a message that the 
unfair siege imposed on the Gaza Strip should end very soon."

An international peace activist waves to Palestinians as they arrived in 
Gaza in protest against Israeli siege. Thousands of Palestinians started 
whistling and screaming on Saturday afternoon when two "Free Gaza" boats 
with peace activists arrived at Gaza City's fishermen harbor in protest 
against Israeli siege. (Xinhua Photo)

The visitors on the two boats are expected to be received by deposed Hamas 
Prime Minister Ismail Haneya as well as leaders of Hamas movement that has 
been ruling the Gaza Strip since mid-June last year.

Haneya also called on Arab leaders to send boats and vessels through the sea 
to Gaza to break the Israeli blockade, which has been imposed on the strip 
since Hamas took control of the enclave.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently in Ramallah in the 
West Bank, also telephoned the visitors and praised that the visit to Gaza 
is a first step to end the blockade on the Palestinian territories.

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/150666

US-Based Group To Sail to Gaza to Protest 'Siege'

(IsraelNN.com) A US group calling itself the Palestinian Popular Committee 
Against the Siege plans to sail to Gaza from Cyprus to protest what they 
call an Israeli 'siege' of the area.
A ship, named "Free Gaza", is to set sail from the Mediterranean island with 
medical supplies, and organizers expect the ship to be detained by the 
Israeli navy.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society of Gaza is expected to welcome the 
ship. Jamal al-Khodari, chief of the PPCAS, says, "in case Israeli naval 
forces block the vessel to head for Gaza waters, it won't return."

http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/751/38808

Largest Palestinian protest since start of intifada

17 May 2008

Below is an abridged statement by the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid 
Campaign.
Over 50,000 people filled the streets of Ramallah today, marking the 60th 
anniversary of al Nakba ("the catastrophe", the Palestinian term for the 
ethnic cleansing that accompanied the founding of Israel) with the largest 
protest since the start of the second intifada (uprising) in September 2000.

The Palestinian Nakba of 1948 saw more than 750,000 people expelled from 531 
localities by Zionist forces. Hundreds of these villages were razed while 
Palestinian land and properties were seized.

Other actions were held across Palestine and in Palestinian communities in 
Jordan and Lebanon.

In Ramallah, crowds marched to the central Manara square, accompanied by 
marching bands, bringing traffic to a standstill. At the central rally, 
speakers called for the return of the Palestinian refugees and an end to the 
ongoing attacks on Palestinian communities.

Black balloons were released, part of mass release of balloons across 
Palestine - 21,915 in total, one for each day since al Nakba.

The demonstration was organised by the National Committee to Commemorate al 
Nakba, who released a statement calling for national unity to move forward 
with the campaign against the occupation.

Other mass demonstrations took place across Palestine, in the West Bank, 
Gaza and inside the "1948 lines" (Israel). Palestinians in the refugee camps 
of Lebanon and in Amman also mobilised to call for their rights.

Sixty years on, the Palestinian call for their return echoes louder than 
ever.

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-05/2008-05-15-voa25.cfm?CFID=23733309&CFTOKEN=37629640

Palestinians Express Anger on 60th Anniversary of Israel's Creation
By Jim Teeple
Jerusalem
15 May 2008

Teeple report - Download (MP3)
Teeple report - Listen (MP3)
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Thursday marked 
the 60th anniversary of the 1948 war that followed Israel's independence, 
when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled into exile.  VOA's Jim 
Teeple reports the observances took place as President Bush spoke to the 
Israeli Knesset, or parliament, saying he envisioned a future Palestinian 
state living side-by-side with Israel in peace.

Palestinian protestors carry boy who was wounded by Israeli military gunfire 
during a "Nakba" rally at the Erez crossing with Israeli in the northern 
Gaza Strip, 15 May 2008
Thousands of Palestinian schoolchildren gathered at Manara Square in 
downtown Ramallah to release black balloons over the city to commemorate 
what Palestinians call the Nakba, or the catastrophe, when Israel was 
founded 60 years ago.
Many Palestinians like Maha, who declined to give her last name, said they 
were angry with President Bush for not visiting the Palestinian territories 
as he did in January during his last visit to the region.
"Yes it means a lot.  How come he celebrates the establishment or the 60th 
anniversary of Israel and does not look at the other side of the coin, the 
other face of the coin?" Maha asked.
In his annual Nakba speech moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas 
called for reconciliation and unity among Palestinians - divided since last 
year's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas militants.  Tensions were 
high in Gaza after Hamas security forces stopped Fatah allies of President 
Abbas from holding a Nakba rally.
In his Nakba speech to Palestinians President Mahmoud Abbas said he would 
continue peace talks with Israel, aimed at reaching some sort of framework 
peace agreement by the end of this year.  Mr. Abbas will meet with Mr. Bush 
this Saturday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Issam Arruri who directs the Jerusalem Legal Aid Center in Ramallah says 
many Palestinians are skeptical that Mr. Abbas can achieve anything in the 
talks.
"I think the whole issue has become a sort of PR (Public Relations) game," 
Arruri said. "Most Palestinians are not confident that this process lead to 
any progress in the peace process.  They see it just being used for 
political reasons, and there will not be real progress on the ground."

Palestinians raise black balloons during a demonstration marking Israel's 
60th anniversary,  West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, 15 May 2008
The mood in Ramallah was in stark contrast to the mood in Israel just a few 
kilometers away.   During the past week, Israelis have been holding gala 
celebrations and conferences commemorating their 60th anniversary.  For many 
Palestinians the memory of their lost homes in what is now Israel is a 
60-year source of frustration.
Longtime PLO activist Dr. Alfred Tobasi who spent the first 20 years of his 
life in the port city of Jaffa says he remembers Jaffa every day.
"It is very difficult to forget the memories," Tobasi said. "I cannot stop 
thinking about my 20 years in Jaffa, I cannot stop thinking."
Dr. Tobasi says like many upper-middle class Palestinians most of his family 
is now scattered around the world.  He says he hopes they will not have to 
wait another 60 years to live together again, in an independent Palestinian 
state of their own.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/08/africa/ME-GEN-Israel-Arabs-Clash.php

Arab protesters clash with Israeli police while marking Palestinians' 1948 
displacement

The Associated Press
Published: May 8, 2008

JERUSALEM: Hundreds of Arab protesters have clashed with police in northern 
Israel.
Thursday's clash followed a march marking the uprooting of hundreds of 
thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 war over Israel's creation. 
Palestinians call the displacement their "nakba," Arabic for catastrophe. It 
coincides with Israel's independence day celebration.
Thursday's incident began when hundreds of Arabs marched to commemorate the 
nakba. Police say some protesters hurled rocks at police and cars after the 
march. Protesters say they were provoked by right-wing Israelis yelling 
"death to the Arabs."
Police say five people were arrested. Five policemen and six protesters were 
hurt. Among the injured was an Arab member of parliament.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=984991&contrassID=1&subContrassID=7

Last update - 19:46 19/05/2008

Rights groups accuse police of brutality during Nakba protest By Yoav Stern, 
Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Nakba, police, Israel
Activists and Arab rights organizations are accusing the Israel Police of 
brutality against protesters during a procession marking Nakba day 10 days 
ago in a pilgrimage to the abandoned village of Saphoria in Tzipori.

Nakba day, meaning "day of the catastrophe" is an annual day of 
commemoration for the Palestinian people of the anniversary of the creation 
of Israel in 1948 (on the same day Israelis celebrate independence), which 
resulted in their displacement from their land.

At a press conference held Monday, the activists presented video footage and 
photographs showing police officers beating journalists and even smashing 
the head of one of the protesters who was already handcuffed and sitting on 
the ground.

The police officers and the protesters clashed toward the end of the 
procession. Officers fired tear gas grenades into the crowd, which, in turn, 
hurled stones at the officers and passing vehicles.

According to the Arab organizations, the conflict began when the police 
officers tried to steer the protesters, who were carrying Palestinian flags, 
away from the shoulder of the road. Eye witnesses told Haaretz that this 
occurred after several verbal requests to stay away from traffic went 
unheeded.

Thirteen Israeli Arab citizens were arrested in connection to the clashes at 
the demonstration, and they were all later released without charges. In the 
remand hearing of the one of the detainees, the court rejected police 
allegations that Saada Abu Hatoum hurled stones at police officers before he 
was arrested, saying that a video tape presented by Abu Hatoum's 
representatives disproves the police claims. "This tape refutes the version 
presented by the petitioners and therefore I don't think that there is 
sufficient suspicion to justify his arrest," the judge wrote.

The tape revealed that Abu Hatoum, a news editor for "Shams" radio and a 
volunteer with Arab human rights organizations, videotaped an incident in 
which a police officer kicked another detainee in the face. After that, 
officers chased him to arrest him, ignoring his calls that he was a 
journalist. The video footage that he filmed was erased by the police when 
they confiscated his cell phone, Abu Hartoum said Monday.

Additional photographs and video footage filmed at the scene revealed that 
other photographers and journalists were attacked by police officers, 
including the CNN correspondent in Israel.

The Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and the Arab 
Association for Human Rights are planning to submit a report on the incident 
and demand that the Police Investigations Department look into the events.

Attorney Fahim Daoud of the association said at Monday's press conference 
that "I thought that the military regime was behind us, but I was wrong. The 
police have the same attitude toward Arabs as back then, and act like a 
political party."

The Northern District police rejected the allegations that the violence was 
premeditated and issued a statement that preserving the public's freedom of 
expression is the police's highest priority.

According to the police, the organizers of the procession were unable to 
comply with the police guidelines, despite their efforts, and could not 
control the protesters who began to act out while spilling into traffic on 
the road. The police added that the unruly crowd forced them to close off 
the road, in order to protect the drivers.

The police also responded to the allegations by declaring that the 
protesters hurled stones at the police forces, wounding several officers, 
among them a district commander. Several of the officers required 
hospitalization, the police said.

The police maintained that the crowd dispersal methods they used to subdue 
the unruly protesters were used within the confines of the law, but added 
that the protesters had every right to ask the Police Investigations 
Department to investigate the incident.

http://www.imemc.org/article/55354

Peace activists protest settlers' attempts to retake a vacated military camp 
near Bethlehem
Saturday June 07, 2008 03:55 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
Dozens of peace activists and representatives of several factions and 
institutions in Bethlehem organized on Friday a protest at the location of 
an evacuated military camp east of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, as Israeli 
settlers are attempting to occupy the space and turn it into an outpost.

File - Abu Ghneim illegal settlement
Since more than four weeks, dozens of extremist settlers and members of 
Knesset of the Mafdal and Yisrael Betenu parties broke into the site every 
Friday in an attempt to place the cornerstone of an illegal outpost.
The protesters, including the Mayor of Beit Sahour, Mr. Hani Al Hayek, 
expressed their rejection to these violations and expressed their 
determination to stop the settlers and their plans.
The location of the evacuated camp is approximately 1000 Dunams, it was used 
as a military base for the Israeli army until the army evacuated the camp 
nearly two years ago. The lands in questioned are originally owned by 
Palestinian residents.
After the camp was evacuated, several institutions including the American 
Development Agency started constructing vital projects on the site, 
including a hospital for children, a public park and other public 
facilities.
After the implementation of these projects was initiated, Israeli settlers 
carried repeated attempts to reoccupy the area which is totally surrounded 
by Palestinians neighborhoods. The army did not carry decisive measures to 
stop the settlers which encouraged them o repeat their attempt to control 
the area.
Palestinian residents who live near the area in question said that they fear 
that the settlers are planning to create an outpost which will act as the 
hub which links it with Abu Ghneim (Har Homa) illegal settlement, and other 
settlements in the area such as Efrat, Maali Amous, Tiqoua, and Nikudim.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/24/africa/ME-GEN-Palestinians-Road-Protest.php

Palestinians briefly open road closed by army, plant their flag on Israeli 
position

The Associated Press
Published: April 24, 2008

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Two dozen Palestinian and Israeli protesters scuffled 
Thursday with Israeli troops at an abandoned army post in the West Bank.
The protesters said Jewish settlers have taken over the site and are setting 
up an illegal outpost there. The military said soldiers remove settlers 
whenever they try to reach the area.
The incident incident began when Palestinians using a bulldozer near the 
post pushed aside two cement blocks they say have been blocking the road 
linking a West Bank village to the city of Ramallah. The protesters also 
climbed on a green shipping container. They tore down an Israeli flag and 
replaced it with a Palestinian one.
Troops tried to carry away the protesters and pushed several of them to the 
ground. The military said two protesters were detained for questioning.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208422643377&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Apr 20, 2008 14:26
Palestinian journalists march to protest killing of Gaza TV cameraman
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
RAMALLAH,West Bank
Several dozen Palestinian journalists have staged a march to protest the 
killing of a TV cameraman in an Israeli strike in Gaza.
Sunday's protest was led by a group carrying a camera and a tripod on a blue 
stretcher. They carried a banner reading "The occupiers are responsible for 
the blood of our colleague."
Palestinian information minister Riad Malki joined the protest.
Fadel Shana was a cameraman for the Reuters news agency. He was killed in an 
Israeli tank strike on Wednesday. The group Human Rights Watch says its own 
investigation suggests an Israeli tank crew fired either recklessly or 
deliberately at Shana and others standing near him. The cameraman was not 
close to battles going on that day between Israeli forces and militants.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=5175465&page=1

Journalists Protest Israeli Actions in Gaza
Journalists Campaign for Answers After April Killing of Reuters Cameraman by 
Israel Defense Forces
By SARA SORCHER
JERUSALEM, June 16, 2008
Journalists in the Gaza Strip symbolically and literally laid down their 
cameras Monday, refusing to cover any Israel Defense Forces military 
operations taking place in Gaza for the day. They are demanding the Israeli 
government release the results of the investigation into the death of a 
Reuters journalist killed in Gaza exactly two months ago.
A Reuters cameraman was killed in April by an Israeli strike.
On April 16, an Israeli tank shell killed Reuters video photojournalist 
Fadel Shana, 24, and injured his soundman, 25-year-old Wafa Abu Mizyed.
According to Reuters Deputy Bureau Chief Julian Rake, Shana had been 
operating according to standard press procedure. When he was killed, he had 
been wearing a flak jacket clearly marked with press symbols and his car was 
marked with press stickers.
"Fadel Shana was operating cautiously. He was doing everything right, which 
makes it all the more troubling that this happened," Rake told ABC News in a 
telephone interview from Gaza.

http://www.imemc.org/article/56573

Gaza reporters protest against Israel's decision to clear soldiers who 
killed their colleague
Friday August 15, 2008 23:59 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News
Dozens of Palestinian reporters in the Gaza Strip held a protest on Friday 
in protest to an Israeli court decision to clear the soldiers who shelled a 
Reuters vehicle and killed Reuters Cameraman Fadel Shana'a, 24, in April 
2008.
The protesters chanted slogans rejecting the Israeli decision and some of 
them placed tapes on their mouths in a symbolic move to show their rejection 
to all Israeli attempts to silence the reporters and the press.
The mother of Shana'a participated in the protest and said that she could 
not protect her son from the Israeli aggression, and that this Israeli court 
ruling "is considered that knife that threatens to stab my other sons".
Khalil Abu Shammala, head of Ad Dameer Institution for Human Rights, said 
that the soldiers who are responsible for killing Shana'a should be 
prosecuted and punished for their crime, and added that the Israeli 
occupation always endangers the lives of Palestinian reporters.
Army clears soldiers who killed Reuters cameraman
Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News, Thursday August 14, 2008 02:23Saed
The Israeli Military Prosecutor cleared the Israeli soldiers who killed 
Palestinian reporter Fadel Shana'a in Al Boreij refugee camp, in the Central 
Gaza Strip, in April 2008. Soldiers fired a tank shell at a crowd of 
Palestinians killing nine of them, including Shana'a.  Shana'a worked as a 
cameraman for Reuters.
The prosecutor claimed that the tank crew acted according the field rules 
and "could not have specified whether Shana'a was carrying a gun or a 
 camera".
In a letter the prosecutor sent to Reuters, he said that the vest that Shana'a 
was wearing is very similar to vests that fighters wear. But Reuters said 
maintained that Shana'a was wearing and blue flaked jacket market with 
"PRESS" and that the vehicle was also clearly marked.
Reuters added that fighters in Gaza are rarely seen wearing flak jackets.
Reuters also said that it is troubled by the decision as it gives the 
Israeli army a free hand to kill without being sure of their target and 
without being sure if reporters are in the targeted areas.
David Schlesinger, Reuters Editor-in-Chief, said that he is extremely 
disappointed by this Israeli decision since is condones disproportionate use 
of force by the army.
Shana'a and the Reuters crew were heading to an area that was shelled by the 
army and several Palestinian civilians were killed. Israeli war jets fired 
several missiles at residents who gathered near a mosque in Juhr Al Deek 
area killing twelve and wounding 18 others.
The Reuters vehicle was directly hit by a tank shell; Shana'a as well as 
five other Palestinians were killed in the shelling.

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2008/me_hamas0078_04_22.asp

Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Hamas suppressing Fatah protests, media
GAZA CITY - The Hamas regime has continued its crackdown on the opposition 
Fatah movement.
Palestinian sources said Hamas has increased restrictions on Fatah in the 
Gaza Strip. The sources said Hamas has banned demonstrations as well as 
Fatah publications and news coverage.
On April 18, Hamas police prevented a Fatah protest in the southern Gaza 
town of Rafah, Middle East Newsline reported. The Palestinian Center for 
Human Rights said police officers beat demonstrators and fired into the air. 
The human rights group said the Fatah protest, called to commemorate 
Palestinians detained by Israel, had been peaceful.
"Dozens of police officers deployed in the area prevented supporters of 
Fatah movement from organizing their demonstrations," PCHR said on April 20. 
"The police beat them and opened fire into the air to disperse them. They 
also arrested two supporters of Fatah movement, but released them later 
following the intervention of other parties."

Palestinian sources said Hamas has succeeded in preventing nearly all Fatah 
activities in the Gaza Strip. They said the lion's share of Fatah operatives 
have been driven underground or left the area.
PCHR also reported that the Hamas regime prevented a Palestinian television 
camerman from working in Rafah. The group said the cameraman, identified as 
Imad Ajrami, represented the Al Alam satellite channel at the Fatah protest.
"A number of individuals wearing civilian clothes came to me when I was in a 
civilian car," Ajrami recalled. "They introduced themselves as members of 
the Criminal Investigation Bureau. They forcibly confiscated my camera.
Immediately, I went together with Mustafa Abul Hadi, correspondent of Al 
Arabiya satellite channel, to the police station in the town. There, an 
officer ordered us not to photograph the demonstration and gave us [back] 
the camera."
The human rights group said Hamas routinely beats protesters and condemned 
what it termed the regime's "inhumane treatment." PCHR also called on the 
Islamic regime to end its ban on attorney visits to their clients in 
detention.
"The center is concerned that this ban is motivated by the perpetration of 
illegal actions such as torture and other forms of cruel and inhumane 
treatment against prisoners," the group said.

http://www.imemc.org/article/56330

Palestinian factions in Gaza stage a protest against media blackout
Sunday August 03, 2008 15:40 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies
Representatives of various Palestinian factions in Gaza, excluding the 
ruling Hamas party, staged a protest on Sunday in Gaza city, against what 
they are calling 'a media blackout', the Hamas government has been 
practicing towards local media outlets.

The demonstration came following the Hamas interior ministry closure of the 
People's Voice Radio Station in Gaza, which is linked to the Popular Front 
for the Liberation of Palestine.

Zoelfaqqar Swairjo, head of the radio station, expressed astonishment in a 
press conference during the protest of the Hamas decision, calling for an 
immediate halt of all such practices against media outlets.

>From his part, the PFLP's representative, Jamil Mezher, condemned the action 
, saying it's a repression of freedoms and a media blackout.

Khaled Al-Batch, representative of the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza, urged 
the rival Hamas and Fatah parties to return to national dialogue swiftly, 
considering the 'critical moments' the Palestinian people are going through.

Scores of Hamas-led police forces broke yesterday into the premises of the 
People's Voice Station and ordered its closure.

An interior ministry's statement read that the closure was due to what the 
statement considered 'unfair reporting of Saturday's clashes between the 
police and a Gaza clan,' which is linked to the Fatah party.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014728.html

24/08/2008

School year off to a shaky start in Gaza, as teachers protest Hamas control 
By Haaretz Service Tags: gaza, palestinian authority
The Palestinian Authority education system opened the 2008-2009 school year 
on Sunday, with approximately 250,000 children expected to attend classes.

In Gaza, the new school year got off to a shaky start, as teachers loyal to 
President Mahmoud Abbas declared a five day work-stoppage.

Teachers' Union Secretary-General Jameel Shehada said the strike was to 
protest "the actions Hamas took against the teachers."
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He said Hamas police took over the building belonging to the Palestine 
Liberation Organization-affiliated Teachers' Union, fired some employees of 
the education ministry, and transferred some teachers to remote schools.

Hamas interior ministry official Mohammed Abu Shuqair said in reply that the 
takeover of the building was not connected to the
"education process," while the teachers were moved because of a
"legal procedure."

Hamas is expected to appoint its own teachers to replace those who went on 
the strike. The movement has already appointed Hamas loyalists as 
headmasters in most schools.

Students in Gaza last week also learned that there is a shortage of school 
supplies in the coastal Strip. Despite the Egyptian-brokered truce between 
Israel and Hamas that went into effect in June, few goods, apart from 
humanitarian necessities, have been allowed to enter Gaza.

On June 19, 2008, pursuant to the truce, Israel decided to expand the list 
of goods allowed into the Strip. But since no formal government decision was 
ever made about which items would be sanctioned, items that pose no apparent 
security risk are still prevented from entering the Strip .

Anwar al-Qazaz, 41, had sent one of his sons to the market to buy school 
supplies for his younger sisters. "He returned home with his sisters and 
told me there was nothing. No pens and pencils, no notebooks, and no school 
uniforms," Qazaz told Haaretz last week. He added that he could buy the 
necessary products from Egypt, but that would significantly increase the 
cost.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) also runs schools within 
the Palestinian Territories, and classes there are scheduled to begin in 
September.

http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=14488

Palestine: Israeli army invade the protest camp in Qaffin, detains 13 year 
old boy
29-06-2008
(ISM):

The Israeli army invaded the protest camp established in the village of 
Qaffin early this morning (29th June), detaining the 13 year old son of the 
Mayor of the village. The soldiers said that they would release him only if 
the mayor agreed to close down the camp.

At 3am, 30 Israeli soldiers attacked the protest camp that has been 
operating for 1 month.

The camp is situated over 200 hundred metres from the apartheid wall. The 
soldiers immediately detained the son of the Mayor of Qaffin, threatening to 
arrest him.

As the Mayor, Said Arashid, approached the camp looking for his son, he was 
told that it was now a closed military zone, despite no papers being shown. 
The soldiers then informed the mayor that they would release his son if he 
closed the camp.

The protest camp was established at the start of June in opposition to the 
wall that prevents many Qaffin farmers from reaching their land.
It was recently adapted so as to be a site for a children's summer camp.

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led non-violent 
resistance movement committed to ending Israel's illegal occupation of 
Palestinian land. We call for full compliance with all relevant UN 
resolutions and international law.

http://www.worldpress.org/feed.cfm?http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/151318

Arab Prisoners in PA Jail Protest for Israeli Amnesty

(IsraelNN.com) Arab prisoners in a Palestinian Authority (PA) jail in 
Shechem Monday set fires to their possessions to protest what they said is 
Israel's ignoring them as part of an amnesty arrangement. Prime Minister 
Ehud Olmert agreed last year to grant amnesty to nearly 200 Arab terrorists 
if they promised to give up their weapons and not return to terrorism after 
remaining in PA jails for a period of time.
No one was injured in the incident, according to the Bethlehem-based Maan 
news agency.

http://www.worldpress.org/feed.cfm?http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/147574

Peres to Speak in Ariel; Peace Now to Protest

(IsraelNN.com) President Shimon Peres will speak in the city of Ariel in 
Samaria on Wednesday in honor of the town's thirtieth anniversary. Peres 
will congratulate residents of the city on their success in creating a 
modern and thriving community. The event will take place at 8 p.m. in Park 
HaNa'al.
Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman expressed satisfaction Monday, saying the president's 
planned visit shows that Ariel is part of the "consensus," that is, a city 
that politicians agree will be annexed to Israel under a future peace deal 
with the Palestinian Authority. Members of Peace Now have received police 
permission to protest Peres's speech, which they say is inappropriate 
because Ariel is located in Samaria, which the PA claims as Arab territory.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1214492530125&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Jun 29, 2008 9:58
Dozens of people protesting near Knesset in support of prisoner swap
By JPOST.COM STAFF

Dozens of people are protesting near the Knesset at the hour to express 
their support for a prisoner swap deal which is expected to be voted on 
during the weekly cabinet meeting, set to begin on Sunday morning.
According to reports, despite reservations exhibited by Prime Minister Ehud 
Olmert, there is wide cabinet support for the deal with Hizbullah which 
would return kidnapped IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.