WEST BANK: Protesters scuffle with Israeli forces during demonstrations as the U.S. pressures Israel to freeze construction

Record ID: 561239

  • Title: WEST BANK: Protesters scuffle with Israeli forces during demonstrations as the U.S. pressures Israel to freeze construction
  • Date: 8th August 2009
  • Summary: BILIN, WEST BANK (AUGUST 7, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PALESTINIANS AND PEACE ACTIVISTS APPROACHING FENCE NEAR CONSTRUCTION SITE OF BARRIER DURING WEEKLY PROTEST ISRAELI SOLDIERS SHOOTING TEAR GAS CANISTERS, PROTESTERS RUNNING AWAY PROTESTER SCRATCHING HIS EYES, AFTER INHALING TEAR GAS PROTESTER HURLING STONES TOWARDS SOLDIERS MORE OF TEAR GAS GRENADES SOLDIERS TAKING AWAY PHOTOGRAPHER WHO CROSSED THE FENCE TRUCK SPLASHING STINKING LIQUID ON DEMONSTRATORS NEAR HAR BRACHA JEWISH SETTLEMENT, WEST BANK (AUGUST 7, 2009) (REUTERS) PALESTINIAN AND ISRAELI PEACE ACTIVISTS MARCHING, HOLDING BANNER READING 'STOP ETHNIC CLEANSING' ACTIVISTS MARCHING IN FIELD, JEWISH SETTLEMENT HAR BRACHA IN THE DISTANCE JEWISH SETTLERS STANDING NEAR JEEP, OVERLOOKING PROTEST ARMED JEWISH SETTLERS POINTING WEAPONS TOWARDS PROTESTERS PROTESTERS STANDING UP FOR FRIDAY PRAYER IN FIELD ISRAELI SOLDIERS STANDING IN FRONT OF PROTESTER WHO IS WAVING A PALESTINIAN FLAG PROTESTERS HURLING STONES AT ISRAELI FORCES SOLDERS IN DISTANCE (AUDIO: SHOOTING) JEWISH SETTLER POINTING WEAPON TOWARDS PALESTINIANS AS HE APPROACHES THEM JEWISH SETTLER IN RED SHIRT ARGUING WITH PROTESTERS, AIMING WEAPON TOWARDS THEM, UNTIL MOVED BY ISRAELI SOLDIERS JEWISH SETTLER PUSHING AND YELLING AT CAMERAMAN, OTHER SETTLERS PUSHING CAMERA VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS FIRING TEAR GAS TOWARDS PROTESTERS PALESTINIAN SITTING DOWN HOLDING HIS FACE AFTER INHALING TEAR GAS SOUTH OF HEBRON, WEST BANK (AUGUST 7, 2009) (REUTERS) JEWISH SETTLERS AND ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES NEAR LOCATION WHERE SETTLERS PLANTED TREES ON PALESTINIAN LAND VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN LAND OWNER SPEAKING TO ISRAELI BORDER POLICEMAN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BADAWI RAJAB, RESIDENT OF THE AREA, SAYING: "They have planted this mountain with trees in order to claim ownership (over it)." ISRAELI MILITARY JEEP PREPARING TO LEAVE AREA
  • Embargoed: 23rd August 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA1CP3QIM5KRPF0POFQMB22ARIM
  • Story Text: Protesters held demonstrations in several locations in the occupied West Bank on Friday (August 7) against Israel's barrier and settlement building in land Palestinians want for a future state.
    Weekly demonstrations have become violent flashpoint between Palestinian, Israeli and international activists and Israeli forces.
    In the West Bank village of Bilin, scores of protesters marched to the barrier's construction site. Israeli soldiers used tear gas grenades and a truck spraying a smelly liquid to disperse protesters.
    Israeli army spokesperson said that the army used riot dispersal means in to order to break an illegal riot in Bilin and added that 100 demonstrators took part in the riot and hurled rocks at security forces.
    The barrier in the Bilin area cuts some 3 km (2 miles) into the village, separating some farmers from their fields.
    Five years ago, Israel's West Bank barrier was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Israel says the barrier helps stop attackers from entering Israel. Palestinians say that the barrier's route is a blatant land-grab meant to prejudge the borders of any future Palestinian state.
    Elsewhere in the West Bank, near the village of Burin, Jewish settlers from Har Bracha Jewish settlement and Israeli soldiers scuffled with Palestinian and Israeli activists, who held a demonstration protesting Israeli land grabs in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
    The protesters, holding signs reading 'stop ethnic cleansing', planned to hold a Friday prayer in a field between the Palestinian village of Burin and the settlement when they were confronted by Jewish settlers who were filmed aiming weapons at them.
    A Reuters video also showed a Jewish settler, wearing a red shirt, approaching the crowd and aiming his rifle towards them from a close range, with Israeli soldiers nearby. Later on, some protesters were seen hurling stones towards the forces, and the soldiers shot tear gas canisters at them.
    Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank is at the heart of a rift between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama.
    The World Court and European Union have deemed settlements as illegal under international law, including the Geneva Conventions.
    Israeli army spokesperson unit said that around 30 Palestinian and Israeli activists entered lands between Har Bracha and the Palestinian village of Burin. Israeli forces at the site showed them a decree declaring the area a 'closed military zone', and after they refused to leave the forces used crowd dispersal means. No injuries were reported and no arrests were made. The spokesperson unit was still checking the report about the presence of armed settlers during the incident.
    Also on Friday, Palestinian sources reported that several Jewish settlers planted trees on Palestinian land south of the West Bank city of Hebron.
    "They have planted this mountain with trees in order to claim ownership (over it)," Palestinian resident of the area told Reuters television while the land owner talked to Israeli security forces who arrived at the scene.
    Israeli army spokesperson unit said that several Jewish settlers were spotted during an "unauthorised assembly" near the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, close to Hebron. Israeli security forces arrived at the scene, but the crowd dispersed peacefully.
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