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Follow Us on TwitterNI’LIN: Five years of struggle against the Israeli segregation wall 5Jun13 June 5, 2013
Ni’lin Village - 3 June 2013
This Friday was the anniversary of start of the popular struggle against the annexation wall in Ni’lin. The village now enters a sixth year of resistance against Israeli colonization.
As always the demonstration gathered in the olive groves outside the village after the midday Friday prayer. An empowering speech was given to encourage the people of the village to remind the colonizers of their crimes during the past five years. Hundreds of villagers have been arrested and five have been killed during the past years of resistance against the land grabbing of the Israeli colonization.
The speech also condemned the nightly invasions into the village that has become a common occurrence in Ni’lin. During some periods Israeli soldiers invade the village as much as two or three nights a week. In the last months alone some 25 villagers have been arrested in these nightly raids, turning night time in Ni’lin into a time of great uncertainty.
Further the demonstration as a whole condemned the recent settler attack which took place only two weeks ago. A group of settlers from the illegal settlement of Hashmonaim killed more than 2500 trees in the village by setting fire to the dry summer fields in a so called price-tag attack.
Another issue addressed by the demonstration was the tunnel being built under the wall by the occupation forces which in the future will serve as the only entrance and exit for Ni’lin, effectively sealing Ni’lin at the army’s will. All this is being done meanwhile the nearby settlement of Ni’li keeps on expanding to the north but this week’s demonstration sent a clear message about the will and determination of the people of Ni’lin. The people will stay on the path leading towards liberation from the occupation.
As the demonstration reached the gate in the annexation wall that has marked the end of so many demonstration before, the soldiers began to shoot huge amounts of tear gas grenades. They used a launching pad mounted on a truck to fire more than 30 canisters at a time. Every time it fired the ground got covered by the vile gas causing dozens of people to inhale it and suffer from its asphyxiating effects. Even though it was fired more than 15 times the canisters out of pure luck did not hit any of the protestors. Snipers used rubber coated steel bullets to deter youths from climbing the annexation wall and so called skunk water was also used against the demonstration.
Despite this repression no one was severely injured or arrested and the people of Ni’lin succeeded in their wish to send a clear message to their tormentors that the sixth year of struggle will be the year when the wall is brought down!
Thank You.
