Two demonstrators hurt in Bil'in protest against separation fence

Two demonstrators were hurt Friday when Israel Defense Forces troops fired rubber bullets at an anti-separation fence protest in the West Bank village of Bil'in on Friday. Protesters also threw rocks at soldiers. Nine protestors were arrested, eight of them Israeli.

Some 150 Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Border Policemen entered the village before dawn Friday, ahead of the demonstration.

According to the village's popular committee, one of the IDF commanders announced that prayers at the local mosque would be banned on Friday. Military sources confirmed that a curfew had been imposed on the village ahead of the demonstration, which was expected to be "dangerous." The sources said that prayers had not been cancelled, but that they could be held without a muezzin.

Military sources said Friday that a number of soldiers were tried and faced severe consequences following last Friday's events in Bil'in, during which soldiers beat a left-wing activist.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/623125.html

it seems to be standard procedure for the israeli army to invade the occupied west bank (non-israeli side of the green line) and assault, intimidate, harass and arrest peaceful civilians... with exceptional "attention" paid to internationals, israelis and any palestinians in a leadership or coordinator position.


http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2005/09/08/more-people-rally-to-bil%e2%80%99in%e2%80%99s-defense-against-occupation-army/

Late night invasions: Since last Friday’s invasion, the military has stepped up nighttime raids on the village, entering homes, taking photos and interrogating people. Four jeeps full of soldiers invaded Bil’in early this morning. At around 2:30 a.m. soldiers began taking photos and interrogating villagers. One coordinator of demonstrations, Abdullah Abu Rahme was questioned in an exchange that ended with soldiers saying, “we know who you are.” Soldiers entered and searched the home of Eyad Burnat, the head of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall at around 4 a.m. He wasn’t there, and soldiers were unable to find him. Soldiers also took photos of a house used by volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement. Internationals and Palestinians in the village are expecting incursions tonight as the military continues to use violence to intimidate Palestinians to cease their use of nonviolent direct action against occupation policies.