Yesterday dozens of demonstrators were injured due to tear gas inhalation during the repression of the weekly protest in al-Nabi Saleh.
The village of al Nabi Saleh continues to face collective punishment for protesting against the confiscation of their land for the Halamish settlement. It is for this reason that demonstrators gathered on August 27, 2010. The demonstrators with the participation of residents from the neighboring villages and of international solidarity activists, started the protest from Martyrs Square in the centre of the village and marched towards the military area at the entrance of the village. When they arrived and tried to pass, the Occupation Forces prevented them from reaching their land, shooting gas canisters and sound bombs in their direction. The demonstrators responded by throwing stones at the IOF. During the confrontation three IOF soldiers were injured, while dozens of Palestinian and international demonstrators were injured due to suffocation from the intensive launch of gas canisters by the IOF.
The head of al-Nabi Saleh village council condemned the IOFâs daily practice of collective punishment against the village, including the refusal for the IOF to stop the night incursions which have actually increased, arresting youngsters for participating in human rights and anti-Wall activism, at times closing the entrance of the village, and setting up checkpoints to humiliate the residents. Despite all these attacks, al-Nabi Saleh will continue its resistance all costs and means.