Occupation forces attacked protestors in Niâlin with tear gas during the Friday demonstration. Two people were arrested on Friday, among them a local camera man and an Israeli activist.
Residents prayed on the fields heading toward the Wall, which isolates more than 2,500 dunums of agricultural land and olive groves. Protestors arrived at the gate and began to chant at the soldiers through their megaphone. Soldiers threatened to fire at the demonstrators if they refused to leave.
At this point, clashes broke out between youth and soldiers, with youth throwing stones and soldiers responding my attacking the demonstration with tear gas and pursuing protestors. Soldiers arrested Arafat Kanâan, a 16-year-old cameraman who has filmed the demonstrations for months. This is not the first time that soldiers have targeted Kanâan and his family, and in fact the family home has been raided before. Soldiers also arrested an Israeli activist while pursuing youth to the edges of the village.
Despite the intensification of the arrest campaign against Niâlin, residents have refused to end their demonstrations. Kanâan is the 22nd person to be arrested since January, when Occupation forces began the most recent series of arrests against the village.