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Bi’lin, 20-01-06: Independent Palestine candidate, Amal Khreish, was injured by Israeli soldiers at a peaceful demonstration held today against construction of Israel’s Separation Wall in Bi’lin village, west of Ramallah.
Ms. Khreishe was attending the demonstration along with fellow coalition members, Nassif I-Deek and Thoraya Al-Ayyan, as part of Independent Palestine’s ongoing support to non-violent protests against the Wall.
She was at the head of a group of hundreds of Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators who were marching from Bi’lin village to the ‘Centre for Joint Struggle’, a Palestinian ‘outpost’ constructed by villagers beyond the Separation Wall in December 2005, when the group was prevented from reaching the site by the Israeli army.
Ms. Khreishe tried to negotiate with soldiers in order to facilitate the passage of demonstrators to the Centre, but her peaceful attempts at dialogue were met by the firing of tear gas by Israeli soldiers without provocation.
Ms. Khreishe fainted after inhaling the gas, and was taken from the scene by ambulance.
She later described the behaviour of Israeli soldiers as ‘barbaric’, saying that it revealed the true face of the Occupation. She resolved that such incidents would not prevent the continuation of the peaceful struggle against the Wall, and that she would continue to attend demonstrations as she has done consistently since they began in 2004.
Approximately half of Bil’in’s lands are being isolated from the village by the Wall, and the village stands to lose at least 1,950 dunams if the Wall is not removed. While the Israeli government argues that the route of the wall in Bil’in was determined purely for security reasons, an investigation by Haaretz Newspaper has revealed that the route was designed in order to allow for the expansion of the nearby, illegal Israeli settlement of Modi’in Illit. [1]
Independent Palestine head, Mustafa Barghouthi, condemned the attack and pledged to continue the struggle against the Wall from within the Palestinian Legislative Council.
He was speaking from Gaza where he and fellow Independent Palestine candidates Talal Sharif, Mohammad Abu Mihadi, Mohammad Dahman and Kamal Zeid, were continuing their tour of the Strip with visits to Gaza City’s main marketplace, and meetings with representatives of Beit Lahiya’s most prominent families.
[1] Akiva Eldar. Documents reveal illegal West Bank building project. Haaretz, 3 January 2006.