Ghassan Bannoura – PNN – On Friday, hundreds of protesters marched in the village of Bil’in, central West Bank, to protest the Israeli built wall on villagers' lands and in a surprising development, dismantled part of it.
As has been the case for the past six years , the protest started after midday prayers at the village mosque ended. As soon as people reached the wall, local youth managed to dismantle parts of it. Israeli soldiers stationed at the nearby gate separating local farmers from their lands fired tear gas.
One person was hit in the face with a tear gas canister and rushed to Ramallah for treatment, and many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
The Israeli High Court ruled that the path of the wall in Bil'in is illegal and must be rerouted more than three years ago. The court ruling gave the villagers 800 dunums of the 2300 dunums of land it took to construct the wall and the nearby settlement. The Israeli army still refuses to remove the wall.
Even the Bil’in protests are typically nonviolent, in most case they have been meet with force from the army. In September 2009, Israeli soldiers shot and killed Bassem Abu Rahma while he protested.