One person was injured Friday afternoon in Bil’in, west of Ramallah, after Israeli soldiers fired sound bombs and tear gas at demonstrators, Abdullah Abu Rahma, coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in, told the IMEMC on Friday.
Three hundred people, 250 Palestinians, and 50 internationals and Israelis, marched to the Annexation Wall today, Abu Rahma explained, where they were met by Israeli soldiers. “They told us that it was a closed area and that we had to return to the village. But we stayed near the gate and began singing. I told the soldiers about the situation in Lebanon and about the wall,” said Abu Rahma.
The demonstration, held every week, demanded that Israel tear down the 2km Annexation Wall in Bil’in, that Israel stop its attack on Lebanon, and stop killing innocent civilians in Lebanon and in the Gaza Strip.
“At our action today, we, Palestinian, Israeli and internationals, raised Palestinian flags, Lebanese flags and black flags, and went to demonstrate at the wall,” said Abu Rahma
Bil’in is a village of 1800 residents where weekly demonstrations have been held every Friday, since February 20th 2005, demanding that Israel stop the construction of the Annexation Wall. Since the construction of the wall, the residents of Bil’in have lost 2300 dunams of their land to Israel, which has severely affected the economic situation in the village.
“They are cutting the olive trees and destroying the fields and building homes for the settlers on this land,” said Abu Rahma, “Now they finished the wall but it’s difficult for us to build new houses for our children, to live here in peace and to live in a good situation with this wall.”
