Breaking: Harsh Israeli response to protest in Palestinian village

By Joseph Dana July 30, 2011 | Edit

al-Walaje, occupied West Bank – A group of about 30 international, Palestinian and Israeli demonstrators demonstrated in front of Israeli construction equipment Sunday morning, in an effort to prevent the uprooting of olive trees to make way for the continued construction of the separate wall that is to surround this village located just south of Jerusalem.

Breaking: Harsh Israeli response to protest in Palestinian village

Tear gas being fired into Palestinian home (Photo: Joseph Dana)

Within 10 minutes of the start of the demonstrations, 1 Palestinian, 2 Internationals and 3 Israelis were arrested. Israeli protestors then negotiated with the army commander for their release. The commander responded to one Israeli by saying: “I’m keeping you here as long as I can so that one rock is thrown and then I can fuck up the village.”

As soon as he said that, one Palestinian from the village who was not part of the protest, started throwing stones, at which point the Israeli soldiers invaded the village, using tear gas. The nonviolent protestors pleaded with the Palestinians to stop throwing stones, but to no avail – they then decided to call off their nonviolent demonstration and sought refuge from the tear gas.

I’m dictating this from inside a Palestinian house with other international reporters, as tear gas is being shot into the house.

As soon as nonviolent demonstrators left, IDF soldiers took over positions in the village and began shooting tear gas as well as what some Israeli demonstrators claim is live ammunition. At this point, Mertz party council member Mossi Raz is trying to reach the West Bank southern commander for confirmation that live ammunition is being fired.

As this was being dictated the army has blocked the exit to the village and is arresting the internationals trying to leave. (12:21pm local time)

Walaje is normally a quiet village known for non-violent demonstrations, which started two years ago in connection with construction of the separation wall there, which is slated to encircle the entire village.

Settlement Wall in al-Walaje (Photo: Mairav Zonszein)

Report as dictated to, and with contributions by, Mairav Zonszein.

Joseph Dana was a contributing writer on +972 Magazine from August 2010 to December 2011. This is an archive of his work.

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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