ISRAELI FORCES SUPPRESS WEEKLY BILIN MARCH

Ramallah, 23 Jumadil Awwal 1436/14 March 2015 (MINA)–  Dozens of Palestinians suffered from tear-gas inhalation Friday during the weekly protest march in Bilin, locals said.

Israeli soldiers fired tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets at activists, witnesses said.

The march set off from the village center as activists waved Palestinian flags and pictures of 15-year-old prisoner Khalid Hussam al-Sheikh, who has been in Israeli custody for two years, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Marchers demanded the release of minors held in Israeli prisons, and called for intervention by human rights institutions for their release.

Protesters held pictures of American activist Tristan Anderson who was critically injured after being directly hit by Israeli soldiers with a tear-gas canister in the head in the Nilin village in 2009.

Pictures of activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by Israeli bulldozers demolishing a home in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, were also carried during the march to commemorate 12 years since her death.

This year marked the tenth consecutive year of weekly marches against the Israeli separation wall in Bilin, which was constructed on Palestinian land in 2005.

Two members of the Abu Rahmeh family have been fatally injured by Israeli soldiers during non violent marches in Bilin, Bassem Abu Rahmah, who was hit in the chest with a tear gas canister in 2009, and Jawaher Abu Rahmah, who died from excessive teargas inhalation in 2010. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)