There has been an increase in the reports of Israeli soldiers’ assaults against protestors in nonviolent anti-wall actions.
Apparently there has been an increase in the anti-wall demonstration especially around Ramallah area in the West Bank due to the construction of the wall there.
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The villages of Bil’in and Budrus, West of Ramallah became a focus of frequent anti-wall protests in the past couple of months. Most of the areas where the wall will be constructed in these two villages, as well as most of the other West Bank villages, are agricultural land planted with Olive and other kinds of trees, which constitute the only source of income for most of the farmers.
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Therefore, the increase of protests against the construction of the wall can be described as a fight for living.
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This fight, in most cases, is nonviolent.  The residents of Bil’in have been very creative in the way they are resisting the wall. Additionally, Israeli and International activists are almost always present at the action which makes harder for the soldiers to use violence against the protestors.
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Soldiers reactions to the protests exceed what they do during the action, reports Yedioth Ahronot “YnetNews” website in English. Following a demonstration in which a kid threw a stone that hit an Israeli soldier in his eye, Israeli troops, apparently comrades to the blinded soldier went for revenge.
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Muataz Awad, a 16-year-old Palestinian from the village of Budrus, said that some Israeli soldiers broke into his family home on Wednesday night (June 8, 2005), YnetNews reported.
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“We heard loud banging at the door. The knocking almost broke the door. My father got up and asked who is it? The soldiers shouted ‘Soldiers, open up quick,’“ said Awad.
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 When the door was opened, the soldiers entered and asked for Muataz. According to the youth, an Arabic-speaking soldier yanked him outside and kicked him and beat him with a baton, reports YnetNews
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Then the soldier, called “Khaled” by his comrades, demanded that the Palestinian lick his boot.
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“I felt like the earth would swallow me up and make me disappear. The feeling was indescribable,” Awad said.
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“Khaled” told Awad to speak to him only in Hebrew, but the youth said he didn’t know the language – a statement that only earned him more punishment.
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The family of the boy has accused the Israeli soldiers of harassment and of seeking revenge for a recently blinded comrade.
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On the other hand, the Israeli army dismissed an officer for failing to fire rubber-coated bullets or tear gas at an anti-wall demonstration last march in Budrus.
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The officer said he did not shoot because there were children among the demonstrating Palestinians.
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Colonel Yoni Gadj, commander of Army’s Central Command, confirmed that the officer had been dismissed from his position because, ‘he should have been more resolute and used the means at his disposal to protect the fence space. This is an operative failure.’
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In another anti-wall demonstration in Bil’in lst May, undercover agents from the Prison Services Masada 
special unit mingled with the demonstrators and threw stones at the Israeli soldiers to create a provocation, Bil’in activists said.
special unit mingled with the demonstrators and threw stones at the Israeli soldiers to create a provocation, Bil’in activists said.ÂÂ
The demonstration organizers had decided to hold a non-violent protest.
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Gadj confirmed that the undercover men had thrown stones, but added that the men joined stone throwers and did not initiate the act.
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MK Jmal Zahalka, was in the protest and he said he saw the undercover men joining the protest.
Zahalka said, some youths started throwing stones at the soldiers, however the organizers stopped them.  However, the undercover agents did not stop throwing stones which uncovered them as infiltrators said Zahalka.
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Two Palestinians were arrested at that demonstration – A’alian Abu Rahma and Riad Barnat – on suspicion of attacking one of the undercover men.
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Attorney Tamar Peleg of Hamoked – Center for the Defense of the Individual, petitioned the military tribunal against the arrest. The tribunal ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove that the Massada unit was authorized to act in the area.
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‘Such operations require special authority, and in its absence, the units’ men are not considered public servants or policemen,’ the court said, releasing the two Palestinians on bail.
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Apparently, the Israeli army is facing a problem between being ethical and preventing nonviolent actions, says Ofer Shilah, the military analyst at YnetNews.
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According to Shilah, it is the police’s job to disperse demonstrations, he said, the army knows how to open fire only. However, the Israeli civil law does not regard the Palestinians as civilians; therefore, the civil law does not apply to them.  This gives the army authorization to operate against all kinds of protests carried out by Palestinians. ÂÂ
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The presence of internationals and Israelis creates a bigger problem.  The Israeli military is not authorized to arrest internationals or Israeli civilians, according to the civil law.  Therefore in most of the anti-wall demonstrations, police and the military try to be there to prevent the protests.
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