Israeli troops attack anti-Wall protest near Ramallah, injuring seven

Thursday June 16, 2011 05:06

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

According to local sources, Israeli forces attacked a non-violent action by Palestinian men, women and children trying to block Israeli bulldozers from bulldozing their farmland and orchards on Wednesday.

Israeli troops fire tear gas at anti-Wall protest (archive photo)

Eyewitnesses reported that the injured protesters were beaten by the soldiers with clubs and rifle butts, knocking two young men unconscious and sending seven to the hospital for treatment. The injured were not identified, but local sources report that they all appeared to be young men in their late teens and early 20s.

The protest was organized by villagers from Deir Qaddis, west of Ramallah, where Israeli forces have recently deployed in order to construct the Annexation Wall across village land. Around 80% of the Israeli Annexation Wall has already been constructed, effectively confiscating one-third of the West Bank. When the Wall is completed, the Palestinian people would be left with 13% of their original land, with the West Bank divided into at least three separate land reservations, and no access to Jerusalem.

In Wednesday’s protest, a group of demonstrators managed to reach the area where Israeli bulldozers were destroying their land, and were blocking the bulldozers and engaging in dialogue with the Israeli bulldozer drivers when Israeli military troops began firing high-velocity tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets at the protesters.

As the protesters began to disperse, Israeli troops rushed in and began beating the protesters with clubs and rifle butts, according to eyewitnesses.