Israeli soldiers attacked a peaceful protest against the Separation Wall in Bil’in village, west of Ramallah, and arrested 25 Israeli activists and nine internationals.
Eight protestors were injured, including one international who was injured in her head and transferred in a Red Crescent ambulance to a hospital in Ramallah.
Two Israeli soldiers were reportedly injured, according to Israeli military sources.
The army claimed that some youth hurled stones at the soldiers during the protest. Organizers of the protest said that it was one of the peaceful protests that are carried out weekly in the village.
A female Israeli soldier, who was among the protestors was also arrested by the army and transferred to military custody. The soldier, who was wearing her military uniform, wanted to express her rejection to the construction of the wall along with the Palestinian and international activists.
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According to Israeli military sources, this is the third time in which the soldier has participated in a protest against the Wall.
The protestors carried an effigy in the shape of guillotine with a hanged doll, representing the damage and losses the Wall causes to the Palestinian residents and their farmlands. Also, the protestors carried a miniature Wall and wrote on it “The Wall is a murder tool; its construction kills our lifeâ€Â.ÂÂ
The protestors wore shirts which carried dozens of numbers, including ‘2300,’ the number of dunams of farmland annexed in Bil’in, and ‘158,’ the number or protestors injured so far during the protests in the village.
The soldiers arrested Yonatan Polak, head of the “Anarchists Against the Wall†movement.
Yonatan’s brother, Shai Carmeli-Polak, records the protests against the Wall in Bil’in on video, for a movie that will be shown on Israel’s Cable TV Channel 8.
Video footage captured by Carmeli-Polak recently acquitted a Palestinian resident in an Israeli military court, and proved that the Israeli Border Guard Police is using excessive violence against the peaceful protest.
Army said that soldiers will return the press card of Carmeli-Polak after they confiscated it last month, when he used his video footage at the Israeli court.
Bil’in residents organize weekly protests against the construction of the wall on their land, in coordination with International and Israeli peace activists.
The protests, although non-violent, are always severely dispersed by the Israeli army and police.
Peace activists of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) has been organizing and conducting non-violent activities along with Palestinians thorughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the beginning of the second Intifada in the year 2000.
Israel tries to spot ISM activists upon arrival to the country either through Tel Aviv airport or Elenbi border-bridge, if spotted, they will be denied entry to Israel.
