700 people demonstrated in Ni’lin village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah again on Thursday, in defiance of the Israeli army crackdown on protests organized against the illegal wall being built on the village land. Earlier this week, Ni’lin was subjected to a four day siege and curfew, which failed to break the ongoing popular action to stop the construction of the Wall on village land. Clashes started as the villagers converged on the site where the Wall is being built on village land. As villagers approached from all directions, Israeli forces stationed in small groups among the olive trees opened fire with tear gas and rubber bullets, before attacking with batons. At least 25 people were injured, three of them seriously. Among the injured is Jamal Juma’, coordinator of the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, who was shot with a rubber bullet in his knee. He told IMEMC: “It is clear that the occupation forces are adopting a strategy of escalating violence. Today, the military seemed to have orders to suppress the popular protest by force. However, faced with the isolation and land theft of the Wall, the people will continue to resist. We have no other choice.” The Campaign supports the mobilization and coordination of some 50 popular committees, such as the committee in Ni’lin. Ni’lin has been holding continuous protests against the Wall for over 50 days. Israel's Construction of the Wall on the western side of the village, and a military base on the southern side will strip Ni’lin of 2,500 dunums (1 dunum = 0.01 hectares) of land. The construction of a tunnel running under the segregated settler-only road to replace the main entrance of the village takes 200 dunums of land. This will leave the village with just 2,300 dunums, including the land on which the houses are built. The article was sourced by Stop the Wall campaign.
