The Friends of Freedom and Justice Committee in Bil’in village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, reported Friday that dozens of residents and international supporters were treated for the effects of teargas inhalation after Israeli soldiers attacked the weekly non-violent protest against the illegal Annexation Wall and Settlements.The protest started after Friday midday prayers in the center of the village and headed towards lands that were liberated and returned to the residents following an extended legal battle in Israeli courts.
The protesters marched chanting slogans against the illegal Annexation Wall and illegal Israeli settlements built on privately owned Palestinian lands, depriving the residents access to their own land and olive orchards.
As the protesters reached the Abu Lemon Natural Reserve, Israeli soldiers, stationed behind the concrete Annexation Wall, fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets, and also sprayed the protesters with toxic waste-water mixed with chemicals leading to dozens of injuries among the residents along with the Israeli and international supporters; all of the wounded protesters were treatd by field medics.
The Israeli violation pushed local youths to hurl stones at the soldiers while the army also fired gas bombs and concussion grenades at the protesters and nearby orchards and dry lands setting the fields ablaze.
Bil’in holds its weekly protests against the Annexation Wall and Settlements in one of the most creative forms of nonviolent resistance, but these protests are met with excessive use of force by the Israeli army which has led to hundreds of injuries and several fatalities.
The army has also repeatedly kidnapped figures of non-violent resistance in the village, imprisoned them and imposed high fines on them in an attempt to stop them from planning and conducting these non-violent peaceful protests that have captured the attention of dozens of international and even Israeli media agencies.
