Ramallah, 20-05-07, 15:40: Israeli soldiers assaulted Palestinian Minister of Information, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, today during a peaceful protest against the confiscation of Palestinian lands by the Israeli military near the village of Artas in the Bethlehem District.
Dr. Barghouthi, a veteran leader of the non-violence movement in Palestine, had been holding a press conference to draw attention to the illegal land-grab happening in Artas, which would benefit the nearby Efrat settlement and have dire consequences upon the economics, environment, and agriculture of the village.
Once the conference was over and once most of the press had left, approximately 50 Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene and began beating protesters with batons and with their fists. Dr. Barghouthi was beaten over the back with a baton while trying to protect a woman. International activists warned the soldiers that they were assaulting a government minister, to which the beating only intensified.
Ironically, only moments before, Dr. Barghouthi stated in his press conference remarks that though he is a minister, he was no different from the man standing next to him, and the army “…could beat us the same. We are all under military occupation here.”
Dr. Barghouthi declared during the press conference that “this confiscation is part of the Israeli strategy to take the land from the Palestinian people. It is illegal, like the construction of the Apartheid wall and the settlements. ” He continued, “the ICJ has ruled that the construction of the Wall in the occupied territories is illegal and Israel violates international law”.
He added, “We are here to show that whatever Israel does, the Palestinian people will not leave. A woman told me she was crying blood as she saw her trees uprooted. We are here to show we are determined to stop this violence.” “We will replant these trees”, affirmed Barghouthi.
While the Israeli Military claims that the land belonging to the village of Artas is being confiscated in order to construct another segment of the Apartheid Wall; the local Palestinians point that the true reason for the land confiscation is to expand the Efrat settlement, which was started illegally in 1980, was later approved by the Israeli Supreme court and remains illegal under international law.