Ibrahim Amireh arguing with an Israeli soldier during the protest in west bank village of Ni'lin. photo credit: Ni'lin media center- Hassan Daboos.
This Friday, as every Friday in Ni'lin, protest took place after the Friday prayer in the field under the olive trees. A number of international and Israeli activists along side the people of Ni'lin headed toward the apartheid wall carrying Palestinian flags, chanting slogans against the wall and the continuous Israeli abuse and raids to the village on a daily basis.
The protest was stopped by a new unit of the Israeli army not as usual. This was not the usual troop because usually protests are met by a border poilice unit. The soldiers started to threaten the protesters and attempted to arrest several of them. One Israeli activist was arrested and soldiers started to shoot live ammunition in the air to scare the peaceful protesters and force them to retreat. Soldiers aimed their guns toward the protesters and shouted at them that they would if the demonstration didn’t leave the area.
The soldier worked their way closer to the houses in the southern parts of the village while chasing the protesters. The clashes lasted for an hour an dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation before the soldiers finaly retreated.
– The Israeli Army's behaviour during the last protests in Ni'lin is sending the message to us that there is no way for us to continue our unarmed struggle, said Ibrahim Amireh, the coordinator of Ni'lin popular committee after the protest. He continued:
– They push us violently and sometimes they hide behind the wall thinking that we are looking for them, but we don't see the soldiers as our goal. Our target is to reach the apartheid wall and tear it down, and we will never stop or give up no matter how voilent they get against us and no matter how long this struggle will take. We’ve already been struggling for eight years and we are ready to keep going another eight years and more, until our land is free.
Israeli soldiers continue to arrest young men of the village. Last week Mohammed Dabbous, 20 years old, and Ameer Alkhawaja, 19 years old, were arrested from their homes at midnight. Mohammed was released 3 days later but Ameer remains under interrigation and military court.