16 injured, 4 detained, wall damaged in Bil'in

14/04/2007

Source : Awalls

Prisoner’s Day, that will be on the 17th, was marked in this week’s Friday demonstration, as Israeli and international activists, as well as Palestinians from the area joined the village. The demonstrators, who pointed to the links between the 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails to the prison wall Israel is building in the West Bank, were attacked by the army from a distance, before the demonstration even reached the anywhere near the soldiers or the wall.

16 people were injured by the army’s assault. In an attempt to prevent the media from reporting four journalists were detained only to be released once the demonstration ended.

Protesters carried a mock jail cell as solidarity with political prisoners and to symbolize the village’s imprisonment by the wall, while others marched in and next to it with their hands tied. Villagers carried pictures of their imprisoned family members, as well as of famous prisoners such as Sheikh Hassan Yussef and Marwan Barguthi.

Soldiers, who were present in much larger numbers than usual, were waiting in several groups between the village and the gate in the wall, where a water cannon was also stationed. While still half a kilometer away from the wall or the soldiers, the demonstration was attacked with absolutely no reason by massive volleys of teargas and rubber coated steel bullets.

Small groups of demonstrators taking cover behind terraces and olive trees would be shot at as soon as they would move, whether they were trying to advance or retreat. Amongst the 16 injured were also a paramedic who was shot in the stomach with a rubber bullet, an Al Arabia cameraman, an American who was shot in the back and an Israeli who was shot in the arm.

Amidst the clashes, which lasted for several hours as demonstrators tried to regroup and advance towards the wall only to be shot at again, a group of enraged demonstrators moved to the valley north of the village and attacked the wall in two places, cutting it with bolt cutters and causing damages to the expensive electronic equipment on it.