Palestine Today 03 30 2010

Wednesday March 31, 2010 02:59 by Ghassan Bannoura - Audio Dept

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Welcome to Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday, March 30th 2010.

Israeli troops open fire at Protests marking lands day in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, killing one and injuring many more. These stories in details, coming up, stay Tuned.

The News Cast

Palestinians all over the Gaza Strip and West Bank marked on Tuesday the Land Day by organizing protests against the wall and settlements. In one of the protests people gathered at the Israeli-built wall near the Rafah international airport in the southern Gaza Strip. Troops opened fire at civilians killing 15-year-old Mohammad Al Faramawi. At the same time, another protest marking land day was organized in Khan Younis town, south east of Gaza Strip.

As protesters reached the buffer zone near the Gaza Strip borders, soldiers stationed there opened fire at the protesters injuring 16 civilians. Among those injured were nine-year-old Ra'ed Abu Namous who was critically injured when a live round hit him in the head, medical sources reported.

In similar protests in the central West Bank village of Budrus a number of civilians were injured, by Israeli military gun-fire including one journalist. Villagers along with international supporters gathered at the village after midday prayers at the local mosque and headed towards their lands where Israel is building the wall.

Villagers had with them olive trees they planed to plant in their lands instead of trees uprooted by the Israeli military while building the wall. As soon as the protesters reached their lands Israeli troops fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at them wounding a number of civilians.

In Beit Sahour, in the southern West Bank, hundreds of Palestinians flocked to to the Peace Park in Osh Ghrab site to mark the land day and planted around 150 olive trees in the land in risk of being confiscated by Israel to build a military installation and a settlement on the site. Similar activities were organized in Nablus and Salfeet in the northern West Bank to mark land day.

Palestinians mark the Land Day after events dating back to March, 30th 1976. Clashes erupted near the Palestinian town of Sakhneen, in response to the Israeli government's plans to expropriate thousands of Palestinian-owned acres of land. A general strike and protests were organized in Arab towns from the Galilee to the Negev, met with sever violence from the Israeli police killing six Palestinians and wounding hundreds.

Conclusion

Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem, you have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org. This report has been brought to you, by Ghassan Bannoura.

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