Puerto Rico to Palestine

Wednesday March 05, 2008 17:59
A Palestinian young man was wounded by Israeli army gunfire in the village of Bil’in near the northern West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday afternoon.

Eyewitnesses told IMEMC that Wa’am Burnat, 18 was wounded as he was working in his family’s farmland in the village. Apparently Burnat came near the wall, Israel is building on the village’s land, when the troops shot him.

Burnat received at least five bullets to his, legs and thigh, and was detained by the soldiers for around half an hour. Local sources said that troops banded his wounds to stop the bleeding, until he was taken by the Palestinian Red Crescent Ambulanc http://www.imemc.org/article/53281e to Sheikh Zaid hospital in Ramallah where he is being operated on. HIs condition was described as serious as he lost a big amount of blood.

Relatives of Burnat confirmed that he was shot by unprovoked fire and that the situation in that area was extremely calm. Eyad Burnat, head of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in told IMEMC over the phone that the Israeli army open fire at any moving object that comes near the wall in most cases. He added that the soldiers revenge from the residents of Bil’in because of their ongoing nonviolent resistance to the wall.

The village of Bil’in has been conducting weekly nonviolent protests since three years in bid to prevent the construction of the wall on their land. Few months ago, the Israeli High Court ruled a shift of the route of the wall releasing almost half of the confiscated land.

Friday February 15, 2008- ffj
The villagers of Bil’in, located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, along with international and Israeli supporters, conducted their weekly protest against the illegal Israeli wall being built on village land. Israeli troops attacked the protest and injured one journalist.
As the case each week for over two years now, the protest started after Friday prayers, with participants marching from the village center towards the construction site of the Wall, which, according to both the International Court of Justice and the Israeli supreme court, is being built illegally on village land.

This week the protesters managed to reach the gate of the wall separating the villagers from their lands. Troops closed the gate and fired tear gas and sound bombs at the peaceful demonstrators. Soldiers then fired rubber-coated steel bullets which injured a journalist, Imad Burnate and broke his Camera.

While the protest was happening a group of Israeli soldiers were using Palestinian homes located at the gate as shoot out posts, local and international peace activists intervened and managed to make soldiers leave the homes.
For more information:
The Bilin Friends of freedom and Justice -society
Email: majdarmajdar@yahoo.com
Tel: 972 547 847 942
http://www.ffj-bilin.org
ffj.bilin@yahoo.com