RAMALLAH, May 7, 2010 (WAFA)- Six demonstrator were arrested, another was injured and dozens suffered teargas inhalation during a protest to commemorate the 62th Al-Nakba anniversary in the weekly demonstrationagainst the Israeli Apartheid Wall in the West Bank village of Bil’in west of Ramallah.
The protest was joined by international and Israeli activists. When the protest reached the wall, an Israeli army unit fired teargas which inflamed the olive groves. Haitham was shot by a teargas canister and he was transferred to Ramallah for medical treatment. The army arrested three citizens, Ashraf Abu Rahmah, 28, Abdul Fattah Burnat, 53 and Haitham Alkhateeb 34. Two Israeli activists, Dr. Roy Vakner, 37, Uri Baytmen, 27, and an American activist, Stormy, 27 were also arrested.
Protesters set out toward the wall carrying Palestinian flags and calling for national unity against the Israeli occupation, land confiscation and stating their refusal to all military procedures to close the village and prevent activists from joining protests.
Today's demonstrators, consisting of Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals, processed from the Bil'in mosque towards the Wall. Halfway along the route, the procession picked up additional demonstrators in the form of several men dressed entirely in black, carrying a coffin with a man inside. The grim scene symbolized the Palestinians' loss of land during the nakba and their inability to return to these lands. Most importantly, the coffin symbolized the fact that Palestinian refugees are not allowed to bury their deceased loved ones on their native soil.
