After being here a couple of days I went to my first demonstration at Bil’in, a small village near Ramallah. Israel has annexed more than 60% of the village land for illegal settlements and the Israeli ‘security’ Wall. The Wall which in Bil’in consists of a large military road with electrified fences on either side cuts right through village lands. Every week a demonstration is held by Palestinians, Israelis and internationals against the Apartheid Wall, which separates privileged settlers who live illegally on Palestinian land from villagers who now have no access to the land which they depend on as their only source of income.
There were about 100 people involved in the demonstration last week, these included villagers of Bil’in, internationals and around 35 Israelis. We walked from the village down to a section of the Wall. On the other side of the Wall we could see the illegal Israeli settlements and also a number of bulldozers and cleared land where the settlements are obviously being expanded. There were also about 5 military jeeps waiting for us.
As we crossed the fields and came within about 100 metres of the wall the Israeli soldiers began firing tear gas at us. This was my first experience of tear gas and it was not pleasant, to call it ‘tear’ gas seems a little misleading if not wholly incorrect.
There were about 100 people involved in the demonstration last week, these included villagers of Bil’in, internationals and around 35 Israelis. We walked from the village down to a section of the Wall. On the other side of the Wall we could see the illegal Israeli settlements and also a number of bulldozers and cleared land where the settlements are obviously being expanded. There were also about 5 military jeeps waiting for us.
As we crossed the fields and came within about 100 metres of the wall the Israeli soldiers began firing tear gas at us. This was my first experience of tear gas and it was not pleasant, to call it ‘tear’ gas seems a little misleading if not wholly incorrect.
My eyes began to sting violently and my nose and throat burnt to the point that I felt I could not breathe. Immediately the demonstrators dispersed and retreated, from that point it became impossible to regroup and begin, let alone continue, our non-violent demonstration as the army continuously launched tear gas and sound bombs at us. A few brave demonstrators reached the wall and stood beside it holding a Palestinian flag aloft despite being bombarded with tear gas and sound bombs.
The protest continued like this for around 2 hours. After an hour and a half, myself and my housemate returned to the village. It was only later that we heard that towards the end of the demonstration, the Israelis had used live ammunition against the demonstrators gathered at the
wall. One of them was shot 3 times in the thigh. He is currently in a critical condition in hospital in Ramallah after losing a large amount of blood. One other Palestinian and an Israeli activist were also injured.
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