freepalestine
15th May 2011, 21:28
Clashes at Qalandiya see 40 seriously injured
Published today (updated) 15/05/2011 20:27
http://www.revleft.com/vb/images/ViewDetails/Eng-1.jpg http://www.revleft.com/vb/images/ViewDetails/Eng+1.jpg
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Violent clashes broke out at the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem Sunday, as Palestinians marched in the area demanding the right of return for refugees exiled in 1948.
Marching to the military installment, teenagers hurled stones, and troops responded with tear gas and rubber bullets in the morning, with later reports saying live fire was being used.
Estimates put the number of protesters close to a thousand, and witnesses said young men were attempting to take down parts of Israel's separation wall at Qalandiya, where it is built more than five kilometers into Palestinian territory.
A statement from Israel's military said "600 Palestinians are violently rioting" in the area, noting "rocks were hurled, as were flares, at security forces who have been responding with riot dispersal means."
Black smoke billowed from tires dragged toward the checkpoint from the refugee camp, by young men whose faces were covered, making their way through clouds of tear gas.
Medics on the scene said 55 were evacuated from the protest in ambulance, and witnesses estimated six had been detained. Medics told AFP that at least one was badly injured, hit in the head with a rubber-coated bullet.
A doctor with the Palestinian Authority's Civil Defense Crews told Ma'an that 250 had been treated for injuries and tear-gas inhalation, noting 40 had been marked as seriously injured from bullet wounds.
A report from the Palestinian Red Crescent said two were hit with live rounds, 15 were injured by rubber-coated bullets, and 120 suffered tear-gas inhalation.
The air at Qalandiya was thick with tear gas, which permeated through the adjacent Qalandiya refugee camp, prompting parents to keep young children indoors.
Treating an 80-year-old woman from the adjacent refugee camp, medics told Ma'an the tear-gas being used was different from the regular variety used by the military, and had caused at least 20 to go into seizures, with about half of those losing consciousness for at least half an hour.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said there were "around 200 people who were engaged in rioting" with border police using riot dispersal means to try and break up the disturbance.
In Ramallah's city center, Palestinians demanding the right of return for refugees held banners and waved flags. One large banner, shaped as a postcard, read:
Dear Haifa,
We are returning.
A Palestinian refugee
A rally near the tomb of former President Yasser Arafat drew what PLO organizers estimated as thousands, with head of the PLO office for refugee affairs telling crowds that the right of return would not be abandoned.
"All of our people must rally around this right; there will be no peace, security or stability in this region without the return of the refugees to their homeland, and their property from which they were expelled," member of PLO Executive committee Wasel Abu Yousef said.
He added that September would be a landmark month for Palestinian rights, referencing a Palestinian Authority effort to gain international recognition for a Palestinian state.
North of Ramallah, demonstrators gathered at the northern entrance to Birzeit University north of Ramallah, setting fire to used tires and throwing stones at Israeli troops stationed at Atara checkpoint.
Israeli forces fired rubber-coated bullets, tear-gas canisters and stun grenades at protesters. Several demonstrators fainted after choking on the gas, witnesses said.
Red Crescent officials said 19 were injured with rubber-coated bullets, a child sustained burns from a tear-gas canister and 11 others suffered the effects of tear-gas inhalation.
Clashes were also reported in the East Jerusalem district of Issawiya, with young men throwing stones and hurling Molotov cocktails, police said.
"Stones were thrown at police. Three people were arrested and one police officer was slightly injured," Israel's police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.
Five detained in Al-Walaja events
Give were detained from what organizers called a "peaceful nonviolent civil disobedient march" in the West Bank village of Al-Walaja, where Palestinians and international supporters gathered for a work day to help residents of the village farm lands they have been denied access to as construction of the separation wall continues through private lands.
According to organizers, two foreign nationals and three Palestinians were among those detained, including prominent civil society member Mazen Qumsiyeh.
An estimated 150 people had staged the work day, marching toward the confiscated lands waving black flags and Palestinian flags, shouting: "Go away, go away! We don't want to see the Zionists," an AFP correspondent said
Israeli forces deploy en masse in West Bank
Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed forces to seal off the West Bank for 24 hours, starting at midnight Saturday.
Israel's general police commander Yohanan Danino told Israel Radio that officers would detain rioters.
Israeli police are on high alert, and 10,000 officers and border guards will be deployed in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
"We have mobilized thousands of police officers who are deployed in sensitive areas, particularly in Jerusalem and in the Wadi Ara area," spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, referring to a northern area near Haifa which has a large population of Palestinians.
"Our forces have been placed on high alert in order to allow the planned events to go ahead, but we will not tolerate any violation of public order," Rosenfeld added.
Overnight, police arrested 13 Palestinians following demonstrations in occupied East Jerusalem, raising to 63 the total number arrested since Friday, he said, adding that eight police had been injured.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387899
------------------------------------------
Teen killed in Gaza protest marking Nakba
Published today (updated) 15/05/2011 20:23
http://www.revleft.com/vb/images/ViewDetails/Eng-1.jpg http://www.revleft.com/vb/images/ViewDetails/Eng+1.jpg
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- An unidentified 18-year-old was killed and 125 others injured by Israeli fire during a march of Palestinians in Gaza toward the separation fence and Erez border with Israel on Sunday.
The group, estimated to number almost 1,000, marched in commemoration of the Palestinian expulsion from homes and villages in 1948 that accompanied the declaration of the state of Israel. The march began in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun toward the Israeli border.
A medic told AFP that several hundred people had bypassed a Hamas checkpoint just south of the border, and came within a few hundred meters of a concrete border barrier installed by Israel near the Erez checkpoint when shots were fired.
Medical officials also said there were 40 injured by what was described as "poison gas," which officials said was dispersed in canisters toward protesters. They said the gas was not the usual tear-gas deployed by the military, and was causing serious respiratory difficulties.
In a report released at the end of the day, the Palestinian Red Crescent said one had been killed, while 35 were injured by live bullets and at least 100 others were injured by shrapnel.
Protesters calling for the right of return to their homes in what is now Israel, identified an Israeli patrol car, and began throwing stones and condemning Israel's continued siege on the coastal enclave, which is populated by mostly refugees.
Teenagers began throwing stones at an Israeli tank, which opened fire towards them.
An Israeli military statement said "Soldiers fired in a controlled manner in the direction, and towards the legs of the leading rioters, in order to disperse them and prevent them from entering Israeli territory. A number of rioters were injured as a result."
Medics told Ma'an that at least 82 demonstrators were injured by artillery shells and gunfire. The injured were mostly children, and some were critically injured, medical officials said. One journalist was also injured. They were taken by ambulances to hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip.
The day, known as Yom An-Nakba in Arabic, commemorates the "Day of Catastrophe," when the state of Israel was created, turning an estimated 800,000 Palestinians into refugees.
Most of the people who fled to the Gaza Strip in 1948 were from the city of Jaffa, south of what is now Tel Aviv, and the towns and villages between Jaffa and Gaza City, as well as from areas in Beersheba and the Negev.
Estimates from the UN's refugee agency said some 200,000 refugees fled to the Gaza Strip. The refugee population now numbers 1.1 million there, three quarters of the population.
AFP contributed to this reporthttp://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387746
Published today (updated) 15/05/2011 20:27
http://www.revleft.com/vb/images/ViewDetails/Eng-1.jpg http://www.revleft.com/vb/images/ViewDetails/Eng+1.jpg
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Violent clashes broke out at the Qalandiya checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem Sunday, as Palestinians marched in the area demanding the right of return for refugees exiled in 1948.
Marching to the military installment, teenagers hurled stones, and troops responded with tear gas and rubber bullets in the morning, with later reports saying live fire was being used.
Estimates put the number of protesters close to a thousand, and witnesses said young men were attempting to take down parts of Israel's separation wall at Qalandiya, where it is built more than five kilometers into Palestinian territory.
A statement from Israel's military said "600 Palestinians are violently rioting" in the area, noting "rocks were hurled, as were flares, at security forces who have been responding with riot dispersal means."
Black smoke billowed from tires dragged toward the checkpoint from the refugee camp, by young men whose faces were covered, making their way through clouds of tear gas.
Medics on the scene said 55 were evacuated from the protest in ambulance, and witnesses estimated six had been detained. Medics told AFP that at least one was badly injured, hit in the head with a rubber-coated bullet.
A doctor with the Palestinian Authority's Civil Defense Crews told Ma'an that 250 had been treated for injuries and tear-gas inhalation, noting 40 had been marked as seriously injured from bullet wounds.
A report from the Palestinian Red Crescent said two were hit with live rounds, 15 were injured by rubber-coated bullets, and 120 suffered tear-gas inhalation.
The air at Qalandiya was thick with tear gas, which permeated through the adjacent Qalandiya refugee camp, prompting parents to keep young children indoors.
Treating an 80-year-old woman from the adjacent refugee camp, medics told Ma'an the tear-gas being used was different from the regular variety used by the military, and had caused at least 20 to go into seizures, with about half of those losing consciousness for at least half an hour.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said there were "around 200 people who were engaged in rioting" with border police using riot dispersal means to try and break up the disturbance.
In Ramallah's city center, Palestinians demanding the right of return for refugees held banners and waved flags. One large banner, shaped as a postcard, read:
Dear Haifa,
We are returning.
A Palestinian refugee
A rally near the tomb of former President Yasser Arafat drew what PLO organizers estimated as thousands, with head of the PLO office for refugee affairs telling crowds that the right of return would not be abandoned.
"All of our people must rally around this right; there will be no peace, security or stability in this region without the return of the refugees to their homeland, and their property from which they were expelled," member of PLO Executive committee Wasel Abu Yousef said.
He added that September would be a landmark month for Palestinian rights, referencing a Palestinian Authority effort to gain international recognition for a Palestinian state.
North of Ramallah, demonstrators gathered at the northern entrance to Birzeit University north of Ramallah, setting fire to used tires and throwing stones at Israeli troops stationed at Atara checkpoint.
Israeli forces fired rubber-coated bullets, tear-gas canisters and stun grenades at protesters. Several demonstrators fainted after choking on the gas, witnesses said.
Red Crescent officials said 19 were injured with rubber-coated bullets, a child sustained burns from a tear-gas canister and 11 others suffered the effects of tear-gas inhalation.
Clashes were also reported in the East Jerusalem district of Issawiya, with young men throwing stones and hurling Molotov cocktails, police said.
"Stones were thrown at police. Three people were arrested and one police officer was slightly injured," Israel's police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.
Five detained in Al-Walaja events
Give were detained from what organizers called a "peaceful nonviolent civil disobedient march" in the West Bank village of Al-Walaja, where Palestinians and international supporters gathered for a work day to help residents of the village farm lands they have been denied access to as construction of the separation wall continues through private lands.
According to organizers, two foreign nationals and three Palestinians were among those detained, including prominent civil society member Mazen Qumsiyeh.
An estimated 150 people had staged the work day, marching toward the confiscated lands waving black flags and Palestinian flags, shouting: "Go away, go away! We don't want to see the Zionists," an AFP correspondent said
Israeli forces deploy en masse in West Bank
Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed forces to seal off the West Bank for 24 hours, starting at midnight Saturday.
Israel's general police commander Yohanan Danino told Israel Radio that officers would detain rioters.
Israeli police are on high alert, and 10,000 officers and border guards will be deployed in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
"We have mobilized thousands of police officers who are deployed in sensitive areas, particularly in Jerusalem and in the Wadi Ara area," spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, referring to a northern area near Haifa which has a large population of Palestinians.
"Our forces have been placed on high alert in order to allow the planned events to go ahead, but we will not tolerate any violation of public order," Rosenfeld added.
Overnight, police arrested 13 Palestinians following demonstrations in occupied East Jerusalem, raising to 63 the total number arrested since Friday, he said, adding that eight police had been injured.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387899
------------------------------------------
Teen killed in Gaza protest marking Nakba
Published today (updated) 15/05/2011 20:23
http://www.revleft.com/vb/images/ViewDetails/Eng-1.jpg http://www.revleft.com/vb/images/ViewDetails/Eng+1.jpg
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- An unidentified 18-year-old was killed and 125 others injured by Israeli fire during a march of Palestinians in Gaza toward the separation fence and Erez border with Israel on Sunday.
The group, estimated to number almost 1,000, marched in commemoration of the Palestinian expulsion from homes and villages in 1948 that accompanied the declaration of the state of Israel. The march began in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun toward the Israeli border.
A medic told AFP that several hundred people had bypassed a Hamas checkpoint just south of the border, and came within a few hundred meters of a concrete border barrier installed by Israel near the Erez checkpoint when shots were fired.
Medical officials also said there were 40 injured by what was described as "poison gas," which officials said was dispersed in canisters toward protesters. They said the gas was not the usual tear-gas deployed by the military, and was causing serious respiratory difficulties.
In a report released at the end of the day, the Palestinian Red Crescent said one had been killed, while 35 were injured by live bullets and at least 100 others were injured by shrapnel.
Protesters calling for the right of return to their homes in what is now Israel, identified an Israeli patrol car, and began throwing stones and condemning Israel's continued siege on the coastal enclave, which is populated by mostly refugees.
Teenagers began throwing stones at an Israeli tank, which opened fire towards them.
An Israeli military statement said "Soldiers fired in a controlled manner in the direction, and towards the legs of the leading rioters, in order to disperse them and prevent them from entering Israeli territory. A number of rioters were injured as a result."
Medics told Ma'an that at least 82 demonstrators were injured by artillery shells and gunfire. The injured were mostly children, and some were critically injured, medical officials said. One journalist was also injured. They were taken by ambulances to hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip.
The day, known as Yom An-Nakba in Arabic, commemorates the "Day of Catastrophe," when the state of Israel was created, turning an estimated 800,000 Palestinians into refugees.
Most of the people who fled to the Gaza Strip in 1948 were from the city of Jaffa, south of what is now Tel Aviv, and the towns and villages between Jaffa and Gaza City, as well as from areas in Beersheba and the Negev.
Estimates from the UN's refugee agency said some 200,000 refugees fled to the Gaza Strip. The refugee population now numbers 1.1 million there, three quarters of the population.
AFP contributed to this reporthttp://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387746