Friday, May 13, 2011

Demonstration against the Wall, Al Ma'sara / Manif contre le Mur, Al Ma'sara, 13.05.2011






(c) Anne Paq/Activestills.org, Al Ma'sara, 13.05.2011.

Marking the Naka, Palestinians, Israelis and internationals walked in Al Ma'sara Palestinian village to demonstrate against the Wall and occupation, on 13.05.2011. They were met by Israeli repression and violence. The Israeli soldiers attacked the group by launching tears gas and sound bombs directly at the crowd. The Demonstrators kept coming back and advancing, demanding access to their lands and reasserting their right to protest. They were met with more violence. Two demonstrators were arrested, one Palestinian and one Israeli. The demonstration took place two days before the Nakba day (15.05.2011), where huge protests are planned. The nervousness of the Israeli soldiers was very tangible, the crack down on all Friday demonstrations was very high, including one serious injury in Nabi Saleh - an American suffers serious head injury after being hit by a tear gas canister in the head (see report below).

------FRANÇAIS-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marquant la Naka, un groupe de Palestiniens, Israéliens et internationaux ont marché une nouvelle fois au village palestinien de Al Ma'sara pour manifester contre le Mur et l'occupation,le 13.05.2011. Ils ont été accueillis par la répression et la violence de l’armée israélienne . Les soldats israéliens ont attaqué le groupe en lançant des grenades de gaz lacrymogènes et des bombes sonores directement sur la foule. Les manifestants revenaient sans cesse et ont continué d'avancer, revendiquant l'accès à leurs terres et leur droit de manifester. Ils ont été accueillis avec plus de violence. Deux manifestants, un palestinien et un israélien, ont été arrêtés,. La manifestation a eu lieu deux jours avant le jour de commémoration de la Nakba (15/05/2011), où des manifestations énormes sont prévues . La nervosité des soldats israéliens était très tangible, la répression de toutes les manifestations du vendredi a été très forte, y compris un blessé grave dans Nabi Saleh - un Américain qui a été frappé par une grenade lacrymogène a la tête (voir le rapport ci-dessous ).

+Teen Critically Injured as Israel Cracks Down on Nakba Demos-
by Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

17 year-old was critically injured from live fire in East Jerusalem. An
American protester suffered serious head injury after being hit by a
tear-gas projectile shot directly at him from close range.


Israeli military and police forces responded heavy handedly to
demonstrations commemorating 63 years to the Palestinian Nakba
(catastrophe) of 1948 today all over the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Morad Ayyash, a 17 year old from the Ras el-Amud neighborhood was shot
in the stomach with live ammunition. He has reached the Muqassed
hospital with no pulse and the doctors are now fighting for his life.

Tension also rose in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, where 19
protesters have been injured and 11 were arrested. During the evening
hours, large police forces raided houses in Silwan and carried out
additional arrests.

In the village of Ma'asara, south of Bethlehem, two protesters were
arrested during a peaceful demonstration that was attacked with tear-gas
for no apparent reason. One of those arrested is a member of the
village's popular committee. In Nabi Saleh - a regular target for
military aggression recently - soldiers and Border Police officers
injured no less than 25 protesters, including a Palestinian women in her
50s who was beaten up so badly that her wounds required her removal from
the Salfeet Hospital to the bigger and more advanced Rafidiya Hospital
in Nablus. A 25 year-old American demonstrator suffered a serious head
injury and an Israeli activist was diagnosed with two open fractures in
his hand. Both were injured by tear-gas projectiles shot directly at
them from short range, in violation of the Israeli Army's open fire
regulations. Four protesters were arrested in Nabi Saleh, including two
Palestinian women.

Violence in Nabi Saleh started today after Israeli Border Police
officers took over the village's main junction and tried to disperse the
demonstration while it was still well inside the village, The officers
began charging the peaceful protesters with batons, shooting large
amounts of tear-gas - partly shot directly at the demonstrators - and
carrying out arrests.

The Israeli military and police's violent and hysteric reaction to the
Nakba day demonstrations today is an example to the fact that Israel
cannot conceive handling Palestinian civil resistance to the Occupation
in any means but military means. As September looms, it seems as if
Israel chooses to tread not the path of democracy, but rather that of
neighboring regimes like Egypt and Syria, and shoot at unarmed
demonstrators.

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