***image2***Around 200 protesters gathered yesterday to participate in the weekly Friday protest against the Apartheid Wall in Niâlin. After the prayer in the olive groves, the residents of Niâlin were joined by international and Israeli solidarity activists and marched to the Wall that Occupation authorities have built on the village land. The protesters carried banners and signs condemning the attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem and expressing their solidarity.
Protesters surprised the army by changing the regular location of the protest. They arrived before the army did and managed to cut through a big part of the fence. Protesters formed a one kilometer-line of people along the fence, chanting until Occupation forces arrived and launched an enormous amount of teargas canisters into the peaceful demonstration using a special launchers fixed to roofs of military jeeps. Protesters used mirrors to reflect the sun light into the faces of the soldiers, effectively thwarting the attacks of the soldiers on the protesters.
As the demo went on, soldiers fired high velocity tear gas canisters directly at youth, attempting to inflict injury. Youth challenged Occupation forces and charged close to the fence, in some places only a meter from soldiers. Angry youth who started their demonstration for their capital cut the fences and electronic cables that connect the sensors. They also hit the jeeps with stones and cans of the paint.
Later, Occupation forces opened the gates and more than 50 soldiers pursued protestors in the direction of the village, shooting tens of tear gas canisters. Youth stopped them from entering, and after half an hour soldiers pulled back to the Apartheid Wall, followed by youth who threw stones. During the four-hour demonstration, medical aid reported 15 injuries from the tear gas canisters.
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Report and photos Ahmad Mesleh – Niâlin Youth Center