On Friday, Israeli soldiers attacked the weekly nonviolent protest in Bil’in village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, as local residents along with Israeli and international supporters marched against the illegal Annexation Wall and settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Resident Samir Burnat, 35, was shot in his shoulder and foot by rounds of the “Tutu” ammunition that was outlawed by the Israeli court in 2001, but which the army nevertheless continues to use.
Burnat was moved to a Ramallah Hospital for treatment, the Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bil’in reported.
Residents Basil Mansour, 24, Mohammad Burnat, 22, were injured by cartridge fragments of the illegal rounds, and Fadi Al Khatib, 15, was wounded in the hand. Dozens more residents suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation.
The protest was organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in and a popular campaign for the release of imprisoned political leader, Marwan Barghouthi, and all Palestinians detained by Israel.
Many residents also came from nearby villages to participate in the weekly protest in addition to Abbas Zaki, member of Fateh’s Central Committee, Fadwa Barghouthi, member of Fateh’s Revolutionary Council, Ziad Abu Ein, undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees.
The protesters carried pictures of detained leader Marwan Barghouthi, and pictures of the Italian peace and solidarity activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, who was kidnapped and murdered by mercenaries in Gaza. They also carried banners calling for an end to internal divisions and an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
The protesters expressed their condemnation of the crime while calling for holding the killers accountable for their crime.
The Popular Committee expressed its strong condemnation of the crime against Arrigoni, a well-known supporter of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation.
“The march is one in a series of events in solidarity with prisoners and remembrance of the ninth anniversary of the kidnapping of Marwan Barghouti.
The demonstrators demanded the immediate release of Barghouti and all other prisoners held in Israeli jails. Slogans demanding unity and an end to division and occupation were chanted”, the Popular Committee reported.
Fadwa Barghouthi, a Palestinian lawyer and the wife of detained leader Marwan Barghouthi, conveyed a message sent by her imprisoned husband in which he saluted the popular movement and the youth for their relentless struggle to end the occupation and end to internal divisions among the Palestinian factions.
From his cell, Barghouthi also sent a message to salute the victories of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, stating that these revolutions are victories to Palestine, the resistance and steadfastness of the people.
He also called for the resumption of the comprehensive national dialogue on the basis of commitment to the implementation of the prisoner’s document of national reconciliation.
