Today, like the past 2 years, the demonstrations in Be'lin started
after Friday prayers with participants including residents of the
village, Internationals and Israeli activists participating. This week
there was a high percentage of International demonstrators, in which
the majority came from the countries of Poland and Spain.
In addition to marching against the illegal Israeli wall this week, protestors carried signs demanding the Palestinian Authorities stop the infighting between the Palestinian factions, which was the main slogan for this week's march.
Israeli soldiers took control of the homes of the villagers lining the streets of the protest march. As the protestors marched down the street, soldiers occupied the homes and stationed themselves on the rooftops while herding the families into small rooms where they were guarded. The soldiers, situated on the rooftops, then shot tear gas and launched sound grenades into the protestors to impede their progress.
The demonstrators made it to the gates of the illegal Israeli apartheid wall where once again the soldiers attempted to stop their progress. The protestors tried to remove the razor wire to pass through the illegal wall and gain access to the stolen farm lands on the other side. Once again the Israeli soldiers used tear gas and sound grenades to stop their progress.
During the protest the Israeli army surrounded the village of Be'lin, where they clashed with local youth using tear gas, sound grenades and rubber bullets on the young village residents. During the clash, four of the youths were injured sufficiently to require medical attention and were then removed to local hospitals in the nearby city of Ramallah.
The demonstration ended after an hour with protestors promising, once again, to return next week to help free the farm lands on the other side of the illegal wall, which were stolen from the local villagers.
