Friday in Bil’in, friend and fellow activist, Emad Rezqa was hit in the forehead by an aluminum tear gas projectile shot directly at him by Israeli soldiers during the weekly anti-Wall demonstration. He suffered a fractured skull and brain hemorrhage, and is currently hospitalized at the Hadassa Ein Karem hospital in Jerusalem. The demonstration Rezqa was injured in concluded the three-day International Bil’in Conference on Popular Struggle, and was attended by hundreds of people. Several other demonstrators were injured from gas inhalation, direct hits by gas canisters, and falling
This is the man who fired the canisters:
I was later arrested along with Palestinian journalist Moheb Barghouti, two fellow Israelis and a Mexican activist, after staging a sit-in. (more details soon)
In Ni’lin, the absence of the committee is still very apparent and the violence continues.
In Sheikh Jarrah, a small victory; After long insistence of the police that the protest shift is illegal, they finally left the area and the demonstrators continued making their legal noise.
Also reported from Sheikh Jarrah in Indymedia Palestine, that a stranger, nobody recognizes has been asking around for information about people, once he was discovered, he ran to a car and disappeared. Man seemed to be armed and should be considered dangerous.
Saturday, Gazans practice nonviolent struggle and encounter live ammunition. Nidal Al Naji (18) was shot in the right thigh. Hind Al Akra (22) was shot in the stomach and is undergoing emergency surgery. Bianca Zimmit (28) from Malta was filming the demonstration when she was shot in her left thigh.
At Beit Umar, soldiers got lost in translation, when instead of “go away”, a soldier yelled “stop”. Explanations from the Hebrew speaking activists didn’t help much and the event quickly escalated into regular Israeli army riots with shock and gas grenades. Our helpful friends also got treated to some political slurs, when a soldier yelled “come here, you leftist son of a whore” and the settler behind the commander demanding they be photographed: “I want to see the Shabak here for arrests, bro! I want arrests now, bring one here!” (2:18) A chase ensues, when a soldier keeps on yelling: “Come here you rag [slang for a submissive person].” The army continued an incursion into the village and fired tear gas into homes. Holding up the fort: 7-15 year old boys with slingshots.
In Hebron, demonstrations are being held against settler tours of the Casbah.
On Sunday in Walage, Palestinians, Israelis, Internationals and Doctor Mustafa Barghouti try to stop a bulldozer:
P U L S E 