Ramallah, 26-05-08: Scores of peaceful protestors – Palestinians, internationals and Israelis – have been injured in separate demonstrations in Bili’in, Hebron and Nil’in since Friday. Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi MP, Secretary General of the PNI, stated that "the daunting prospect of certain violence, no matter how non-violent the demonstration, is a carefully thought out policy to discourage solidarity on the ground and isolate the Palestinians, leaving them to face the Israeli military alone."
Three Palestinians were injured at last Friday’s non-violent protest in Bil’in when Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated bullets at them without provocation. On Sunday, one Israeli peace activist suffered fractures to her arm and bruises on several parts of her body after Israeli soldiers severely clubbed her, at a peaceful demonstration against a newly-installed Israeli military checkpoint in Al Sammoa’ village in the Hebron district.
Also on Sunday, a group of some 50 Palestinian, international and Israeli protestors peacefully demonstrating against the construction of the Apartheid Wall in Ni’lin in West Ramallah, came under violence by the Israeli military. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs as the demonstrators approached the site where two bulldozers are clearing the path of the Apartheid Wall, which is being built on some 2,500 dunums of land belonging to villagers.
“Don’t be afraid – we have no guns,” an Australian man called out to the soldiers. Yet they continued to fire tear gas and sound bombs at the crowd, which included children, women and elderly people, and to physically attack the demonstrators. Two Palestinian men were injured – one was hit by four rubber-coated bullets in his back and buttocks, while another was wounded when a sound bomb exploded in his face. A Scottish woman was also injured when a sound bomb was thrown directly at her by one of the soldiers, exploding on her hand.
Dr. Barghouthi explained that "Israeli soldiers are always violent, they routinely attack non-violent demonstrations with teargas, sound grenades, rubber bullets and rubber-coated steel bullets. They excel at provoking violence, but in fact always attack, even when the demonstrators do not react to their provocations."
Dr. Barghouthi pointed out that the recent casualties underline the Israeli military’s policy of directly targeting international and Israeli solidarity activists who support Palestinians and participate with them in non-violent demonstrations and actions.
International solidarity is essential to the Palestinian cause, and the presence of Israelis and internationals standing side-by-side with the Palestinian people is sometimes a matter of life or death. "The Israeli military acts with complete impunity against Palestinians, and this includes murder. There are no limits to what the Israeli military will do when facing non-violent Palestinians on their own. The mere presence of internationals and Israelis keeps them somewhat in check. This is a clear attempt to isolate Palestinians, to deter physical solidarity with us in our daily struggle against the occupation."