Palestinians protest against settlers' theft of village water source

Protest against the occupation, in Nabi Salih, West Bank.

Dozens of people demonstrated against Israel's illegal Occupation in Nabi Saleh (West Bank, Palestine) on Friday(2nd) near to Halamish, an Israeli settlement. Villagers from Nabi Saleh were joined by Palestinian, Israeli and International activists for the weekly demonstration. Together they started from the center of the village and proceeded towards the village spring. The spring has been pilfered by the Halamish settlement that is adjacent to the village.

The marchers were soon stopped by the Israeli army that deployed heavy amounts of tear gas to control the peaceful crowd. Never an army to do things by half, they went on to raid the village, occupying rooftops and launching tear gas canisters straight onto the placid demonstrators. Scuffles ensued between the soldiers and the crowd who threw stones to match their guns... At some point the soldiers exited the village. Protesters placed burning tires and rocks on the road to prevent them from entering again. More tear gas canisters were launched at protesters from afar.

During this incident two Palestinian journalists were arrested by the Israeli army, Majd Mohammed from the Associated Press (AP) and Mohammed Razi from Palestinian TV. At this point the army started using the “Scream” machine, a device which, as the name suggests, produces an odiously loud noise. If you happen to be standing near one when it's deployed your hearing can be irreversibly damaged. The effect has been described as a chainsaw going off inside your brain. There's a Youtube video of the demo here.

On Wednesday (7^th) a 16 year old Palestinian was released from Jerusalem prison after an 18 month stint. His crime? Throwing a stone at the Apartheid wall. He arrived in Al-am’ari refugee camp, in Ramaham to a welcome of fireworks.