FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Man shot with live ammunition at Bil`in wall protest
international |
rights, freedoms and repression |
news report
Friday September 24, 2010 14:23
by Iyad Burnat - Bil'in Popular Committee
ibel3in at yahoo dot com
24 September 2010 Bil`in, West Bank-Ashraf Al-Khatib was shot in the leg with a 0.22” caliber live bullet at the weekly demonstration against the illegal apartheid wall. An international nonviolent activist was also hit in the shoulder with a low-flying tear gas canister. The hundreds of other participants were attacked with huge quantities of tear gas.
The weekly protest is against land theft by the illegal apartheid wall and the Israeli occupation in general.
Irish activists at Bil'in Demonstration against Apartheid wall
This week, the marchers also expressed solidarity with Palestinians in East Jerusalem (al-Quds) where a Silwan resident was shot dead by an Israeli settler security guard on Wednesday morning.
Two hundred Palestinians accompanied by around thirty international and Israeli activists assembled at the village’s Mosque after noon and marched towards the apartheid wall, chanting “no, no, to the wall” and “Free! Free! Palestine.” Around forty Israeli soldiers ran out of the gate to the settlement as they saw the march approaching, blockading the road.
Protesters marched up to the soldiers and confronted them, demanding to be allowed to walk on the village’s land, which even the Israeli High Court conceded was Palestinian in 2007. The soldiers did not allow anyone through, using their shields to aggressively push back the peaceful demonstrators. One Palestinian activist tried to fasten a poster to a soldier’s shield saying “Free Adeeb Abu Rahma,” referring to one of Bil`in’s four political prisoners held by Israel for organizing the weekly protests. The commander was seen indicating to his soldiers that he wants them to target Ashraf Al-Khatib.
The group remonstrated with the soldiers for thirty minutes until a youth threw a stone and the soldiers responded by firing huge quantities of tear gas at the peaceful crowd, many of whom proceeded to suffer breathing difficulties. One international activist was hit in the shoulder with a low-flying tear gas canister. A group of youths began throwing stones towards the soldiers, and three photographers stood next to the soldiers were hit.
Ashraf Al-Khatib, a Bil`in resident aged 31, was shot with 0.22” caliber live bullet which hit him in the lower leg. No warning shots were heard beforehand. Unable to stand, he was hurriedly carried by Palestinian and international demonstrators towards the village as he bled heavily from his calf. When Al-Khatib first fell, all of the soldiers ran forwards in an attempt to arrest him, but the demonstrators were able to successfully load him into a car before the soldiers caught them. As the car drove away the soldiers retreated, and the demonstrators walked back to the village, the demonstration lasting around one hour in total.
Upon Al-Khatib’s arrival at hospital, it was found the 0.22” caliber round had smashed the bone in his leg.
Woman handed palestine flag at Bil'in Demonstration against Apartheid wall
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Comments (8 of 8)
Jump To Comment: 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Those warmongering bastards, throwing rocks at our occupation tanks.
Next thing they'll be flying sharp-pointed paper planes into the flight-paths of our peaceful F-35s and trying to blind our pilots as we innocently cast a little lead so as to spread the wealth around and practise our customary inclusivity.
voltaire throwing a rock at a heavily armed soldier with helmets and other bullet proof protection etc cannot in any way be described as trying to kill. Also how does an individual or a number of individuals throwing stones make other people non-peaceful.
This apartheid wall is an abomination that should be razed to the ground. Th einternational community should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this scandal continue
I trust the basic facts of the story because the author has such an incredible bias against Israel, he doesn't appear to realize how his report undermines the point he's trying to make.
He reports a youth threw a "stone" (these things are usually baseball sized and can kill a person) and says the Israelis responded with tear gas against "the peaceful crowd." I'll try to keep with the comments guidelines of "Play the ball and not the player" but it's hard to find the right non-insulting description for someone who would fail to recognize that once you attempt to kill someone with a rock, you cease to be peaceful.
At that point, security forces have a right to disperse a crowd. Oh, sorry, "a peaceful crowd" that managed to hit 3 photographers with rocks.
You might give slimy Israeli PR mouthpiece Mark Regev ideas!!
Comment No. 3 by Avi on Mondoweiss
The Palestinian Alternative Information Center is reporting: Ashraf Khatib was hit with an 0.22" caliber bullet, which was prohibited for crowd control use by the military's Judge Advocate General. Two demonstrators - 14 year-old Az a-Din al-Jamal in Hebron and Aqel Srour in Ni'lin - have already been killed by these bullets in 2009, despite the JUG's prohibition of their use.
Recently, a military officer who was in charge of operations in the Israeli Army's Binyamin Brigade said in military court that he is not familiar with the JUG directives and that the army does consider 0.22" caliber bullets as legitimate means for crowd control.
Live ammunition was also shot at demonstrators at the Friday protests in Ni'lin and Nabi Saleh.
This targeting with live fire follows hard on the heels of the the IOF targeting brave Ashraf some weeks back with rubber bullets and hitting him in the leg with one. From many months in Bil'in, I know him; this thorn in the side of the criminals occupying his land for he's one tough, absolutely fearless, brave shabab and, as such, I salute him; Bil'in's finest.
X-ray Ashraf's leg
Horrible continuation of the inhumane occupation of Palestine
I send my sincerest and most genuine sympathy to Ashraf Al-Khatib, and to the people of Bil'in. It's nice, as always, to see the Irish flag. It represents the deep, beautiful and unbreakable solidarity between two people. I hear Dublin will be 'twinning towns' with Gaza in the near future.
End the occupation of Palestine.