Nonviolent Demonstration Leaves Six Injured


Villagers from Saffa, a Palestinian village west of Ramallah and 3km east of the Green Line, gathered early on March 16th, 2005 to march through their fields towards the bulldozers leveling their land in preparation for the apartheid wall. This was the village؟s second demonstration in less than a month directed towards publicizing and protesting the illegal expropriation and destruction of Palestinian land in the area and all over Palestine.

About 40 Palestinians, 5 Israelis, 3 internationals, and 4 members of the press walked in silence down the steep unpaved road to the land. The roar of the bulldozers grew as demonstrators approached, meanwhile soldiers lined up in front of the machines. As protesters came face to face with the soldiers, they sat down in silence as close as possible to the bulldozers. Soldiers yelled at them to leave and without waiting for a response threw several consecutive sound bombs into small sitting groups. Several protesters were injured, including one Israeli activist who was hit with an exploding sound bomb shell on her hip, and an old Palestinian man who fell off a rock during a blast and seriously cut his right hand. The latter was taken to a hospital in an ambulance.

After regrouping, the demonstrators sat down together again, most on the road. Three or four villagers perched on rocks beneath the bulldozer work until soldiers yelled and threw a series of consecutive sound bombs again, plus several rounds of tear gas. Several villagers were hit with the bombs, as well as terrified by the explosions. One Israeli cameraman emerged from the smoke with a bleeding cut in his head, which he said was inflicted by a violent soldier. He was one of six demonstrators reported wounded.

Amidst the chaos, one sole farmer decided to hike up to his land, north of the work. Two soldiers tried to stop him but he ignored them and sat down quietly. The soldiers left him alone, and he remained on his land in peace until he was ready to rejoin the group of protesters half an hour later.

By that point, the rest of the demonstrators were sitting, watching the bulldozer continue its path of destruction. Protesters mingled and interviewed one another. The men joined together and prayed. One brave boy crawled up the pile of rubble to stick a Palestinian flag into it while witnesses cheered. Only minutes later the bulldozer swept it away with the rest of the surrounding precious soil. When nobody was looking, the boy returned to the rubble, dug through it, and retrieved his precious flag, which he held close for the remainder of the demonstration.

Report by: Anna P.
from :
http://www.iwps-pal.org/en/articles/article.php?id=672


shadi odeh
vienna

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