Ramallah - Ma‘an - Some 400 demonstrators marked two years of non-violent struggle against Israel‘s illegal separation wall in the region of Bil‘in, west of the West Bank city of Ramallah, on Friday.
The demonstration in the village of Bil‘in, one of the largest in several months, faced violent force from the Israeli military, who used tear gas and stun grenades, a water cannon and live ammunition against the Palestinian, Israeli and foreign peace activists. Several Israeli activists were arrested, as were a number of Palestinian demonstrators.
Every Friday for the last two years, demonstrators from the Palestinian territories, Israel and abroad, have convened in Bil‘in to protest against the route of the wall and the annexation of Palestinian village lands by neighbouring Israeli settlements. The wall, which snakes through Palestinian West Bank land, was deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, yet its construction continues unabated.
The protesters are frequently confronted by new forms of weapons under trial by the Israeli forces stationed in Bil‘in on Fridays. Around 20 people were injured today, including an elderly Palestinian man targeted by the Israeli water cannon, which knocked the frail gentleman from his feet, raised stones around him and left him in a crumpled heap on the uneven ground.
An activist from the Christian Peacemeakers Team in Hebron was also shot with rubber bullets twice in the leg. Dozens of those present were affected by massive amounts of nerve agent tear gas used liberally by the Israeli military.
Last year, the villagers won a reprieve in the Israeli Supreme Court, which ordered a halt to the expansion of one of the three Israeli settlements which have so far annexed over 50% of Bilin‘s olive groves and agricultural resources.
The Oslo accords insisted that ‘no side take any action to alter the status of the occupied territories‘, yet, across the West Bank, Israeli settlements continue to expand, annexing Palestinian land and restricting movement of Palestinian citizens.
The Israeli daily Haaretz has reported that ‘the [Israeli] High Court of Justice ruled Thursday that it is permissible for the Israel Defense Forces to build security fences around West Bank settlements, even if the barriers cut into agricultural land owned by Palestinians.‘