6 hurt in anti-fence protest

Soldiers, police officers quickly disperse latest demonstration in Palestinian village of Bil’in
By Ali Waked and Efrat Weiss

BIL’IN – Six protesters, two Israelis and four foreigners, were injured and detained Wednesday during clashes with IDF soldiers and Border Guard police officers during a demonstration against the West Bank security fence in the Palestinian village of Bil’in.

 

About 30 Palestinians, Israelis, and foreigners took part in the protest, with some of them chaining themselves to barrels.

 

The protest, which was secretly planned in the past few days, included the placement of a pipe with seven protesters in it in the area in a bid to prevent bulldozers from performing their work.

 

Protest ends sooner than planned

 

Demonstration organizers claimed the protesters inside the pipe were badly beaten by soldiers and police.

 

One organizer, Muhammad Khatib, said Wednesday’s protest also aimed to send a message to the Palestinian people.

 

“We told them, let’s first liberate the land and only later argue over who liberated it,” he said in reference to recent clashes between the Hamas and Fatah.

 

Protest organizers kept the demonstration secret in the hopes it would stir more controversy, but the protest ended sooner than planned.