Protesters on road near village
Photo: Elior Levy
IDF arrests leftist protesters
Demonstrators protest blocking of entrance to Beit Ommar following stone-throwing incidents
The IDF detained for questioning Saturday 17 left-wing activists from the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement who protested at the West Bank village of Beit Ommar. Four of the activists remain in custody.
The activists were rallying in honor of the Palestinian Land Day and protesting against the army's blocking of the entrance to the village.
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They claimed the soldiers at the checkpoint had refused to show them orders declaring the village a closed military zone and that they had beaten them.
The IDF said in response that no closure had been imposed on Beit Ommar but that "precautions are being taken in order to lessen stone-throwing at Israeli vehicles in the area". The village is located close to Hebron.
The villagers claimed earlier this week that the IDF had closed off the entrance to Beit Ommar, effectively imposing "collective punishment" on its residents due to a number of stone-throwing incidents on a nearby road.
"This is a policy of an army that imposes collective punishment on all the residents," Biet Ommar council head Nasri Sabarna told Ynet Thursday.
"It is true that there is a small group of youngsters who throw stones, and we are vehemently against this," Sabarna said, "But why do all of Beit Ommar's residents have to suffer because of it? Also, blocking the entrance only increases the hostility… We are trying to lower the level of violence, but when a settler throws stones at Palestinians does the army block the entrance to his settlement?"
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