PALESTINIAN INJURED AS ISRAELI FORCES DISPERSE MARCH NEAR RAMALLAH

Ramallah, 7 Shafar 1436/30 November 2014 (MINA) – One Palestinian was injured and dozens of other Palestinian and international activists suffered from excessive tear-gas inhalation after Israeli soldiers violently dispersed a weekly protest march in the village of Bilin near Ramallah on Friday.

The march began at the center of the village in protest against the Israeli occupation and the separation wall, and in solidarity with Jerusalem and its holy sites.

Israeli forces, however, prevented protesters from marching toward their lands that have been confiscated to build the separation wall, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Sunday.

Soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets, tear-gas canisters, and stun grenades toward protesters, hitting one.

Sixteen-year-old Muhammad Abu Rahmeh was injured after a tear-gas canister fired by the soldiers hit his leg.

Protesters held Palestinian flags and chanted slogans calling for national unity, fighting the Israeli occupation, and freeing all Palestinian prisoners.Since 2005, Bilin villagers have protested on a weekly basis against the Israeli separation wall that runs through their village on land confiscated from local farmers.

Previous protests by Bilin activists have forced the Israeli authorities to re-route the wall, but large chunks of the village lands remain inaccessible to residents because of the route.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967. (T/P3/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)