Medical sources have reported that two Palestinians and two international peace activists have been injured, and many suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation, after Israeli soldiers assaulted the weekly nonviolent protest against the Israeli Annexation Wall and Settlements, in Bil’in village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah.Today’s protest also came in commemoration of the Palestinian Land Day, marked by the Palestinians every year on March 30.
The Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in said the soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades on the protesters who peacefully marched towards the Wall.
The soldiers also chased the nonviolent protesters into the village’s streets and alleys, before detaining a child, identified as Mahmoud Khaled Abu Rahma, 12 years of age. The army took the child out of the village, and released him after the weekly protest was concluded.
The Popular Committee said its coordinator Dr. Rateb Abu Rahma, 50 years of age, was shot by a rubber-coated metal bullet in his back, while Ismael Mohammad Abu Rahma, 18, was shot in the leg.
It added that an international peace activist who was shot by a rubber-coated metal bullet in the leg, was moved to the Palestine medical center, while a 78-year-old international supporter was also shot in the leg.
Scores of Palestinians, Israeli and international peace activists suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation as the soldiers showered them with gas bombs.
The Popular Committee said the protesters marched carrying Palestinian flags, and chanted for national unity and the liberation of Palestine, in addition to calling for ongoing resistance against the Israeli occupation, and the release of all detainees.
Today’s protest also came to mark the 39th anniversary of the Palestinian Land Day of 1976, and called on all Palestinian people in every part of Palestine to unite, and to continue their popular nonviolent resistance against the illegal Israeli occupation and its colonialist policies.
The Palestinian Land Day, (March 30), marks the day when Israel in 1976 illegally confiscated thousands of Dunams of Palestinian lands, mainly privately-owned, leading to ongoing protests and general strikes in various areas, from the Galilee to the Negev, extending to every part of occupied Palestine, while the army also shot and killed six Palestinians, in addition to wounding and kidnapping hundreds of residents.
The day became a historic event in every part of occupied Palestine, protesting Israel’s illegal apartheid policies, and crimes, against the Palestinian people, since its establishment in the historic land of Palestine in 1948 after destroying and depopulating hundreds of villages and towns.
