Israeli troops attack nonviolent demonstration near Bethlehem

Friday August 10, 2007 12:13 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

About 100 Palestinian villagers, joined by international and Israeli peace activists, on Friday morning marched to the site of land scheduled for annexation for the purposes of the illegal wall, located in the village of Um Salamonah, south of the central West Bank City of Bethlehem.

Protesters carried placards condemning illegal land-annexation and commemorating the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki massacres.

As protestors arrived at the location of the Wall, soldiers attacked them with batons and rifle buts. While no injuries were reported, one Israeli peace activist was kidnapped and taken to an unknown location.

One of the organizers of the event, Sami Awad, the director of the Holy Land Trust, a Palestinian NGO that promotes non-violent resistance, told IMEMC that soldiers verbally abused demonstrators, shouting that this was Israeli and Jewish land.

The protest is scheduled to move next to of Al Walaja, east of Bethlehem, were a further demonstration against the Wall will be held.

When the protestors arrived at the village, Friday prayers were held on the land scheduled for confiscation and the Israeli army did not intervene in the subsequent demonstration.

The protest ended peacefully with activists promising to return the following week.

bethlehem | non-violent action | news report ghassanb at imemc dot org