Bil'in: 3 child prisoners released, more injuries in weekly protest
14/08/2010
Source : Stop the Wall
Photo: Hamde Abu Rahma
During the repression by Israeli Occupation Forces of the weekly protest against the Wall and Settlements in the village of Bil’inan international solidarity activist was injured and dozens of people had difficulty breathing as a result of inhaling tear gas. The demonstration included international solidarity activists.
Prior to the protest, delegations from Italy and Spain met with members of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in. They listened to a detailed explanation by the Popular Committee of the experience of Bil’in’s popular resistance during the last five and a half years, its achievements and the effective role that international solidarity plays in the popular resistance in Bil’in.
During the march the participants raised Palestinian flags, carried pictures of detainees of the popular resistance and chanted slogans that condemned the Israeli occupation. They also called for a halt to the policy of deportation, an end to arrests, the release of all the detainees and, in particular, the detainees of the Popular Resistance, as well as the lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip.
The demonstrators marched along the streets of the village chanting national slogans calling for unity and the rejection of differences. They also confirmed the need to adhere to the Palestinian concept of steadfastness, to resist the occupation and to demand the release of all prisoners. The slogans condemned the attacks against East Jerusalem Palestinians which include the policies of judaization, expulsion and deportation.
The protest headed towards the Wall, where the IOF were standing behind concrete blocks behind the Wall. The gate of the Wall was closed with razor wire and netting, and next to it a large military force stood, making a wall in front of the protesters. When the protesters tried to cross to the land owned by the people of the town behind the Wall, the army fired sound bombs, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas at them from all directions. They also harmed demonstrators, wounding an international solidarity activist, Tanya(29 years old), with a gas canister that hit her hand, and dozens of people suffered from tear gas inhalation.
The Israeli Occupation Forces have now released Motasem Mansour, Mahmud Samara and Majdi Bernat (all 14 years old) from Ofer Prison Children Center. They had been kept in detention for a week and were fined NIS 3500, charged with being near the wall.
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