One photojournalist and a fifty year old man attacked at Beit Ummar demonstration
Reageer (0)One Palestinian photojournalist was attacked and detained while a fifty year old man collapsed due to tear gas inhalation during a Beit Ummar demonstration calling for the release of 17 year-old Youssef Abu Maria and the boycott of settlement products.
Palestinian Children Call for a Boycott of Settlement Products During Beit Umar Demonstration. Picture Credit: Joseph Dana.
26-9-2010
Palestinian, international and Israeli activists held a demonstration in front of the settlement of Karmei Tuz on Saturday afternoon demanding the release of 17 year-old Youssef Abu Maria and the boycott of settlement products.
The demonstration was organized by PSP and the Beit Ummar Popular Committee and is part of an ongoing project of non-violent resistance in the village. The demonstration began with Palestinian children carrying boxes which represented settlement products through the streets of Beit Ummar towards the settlement of Karmei Tzur. Demonstrators also chanted slogans and carried signs of solidarity with the people of Silwan who have been engaged in clashes with Israeli armed forces since the murder of 35 year Samir Sarhan last Tuesday. In addition, the demonstrators called for the release of Youssef Abu Maria, the 17 year-old son of Popular Committee member Ahmed Abu Maria. The 17 year-old is being held in jail pending trial despite a serious medical condition for which he was hospitalized this week.
Palestinians Burn Settlment Products in Front of the Karmei Tzur Settlement. Picture Credit: Joseph Dana
Israeli soldiers met the demonstration before they were able to make their way to the fence of the settlement. Within five minutes, they threw sound grenades and covered the area in tear gas. Despite the gas, demonstrators were able to burn the boxes of settlement goods in front of the line of soldiers sending a clear message of boycott. The soldiers then attacked a Palestinian photojournalist and briefly detained him. Another Palestinian, aged fifty, briefly went unconscious after being kicked by an Israeli soldier and inhaling a large amount of tear gas. A French activist was arrested while attending to the injury man and is still in custody at the Kiryat Arba police station.
Army clashes with non-violent demonstrators in Beit Ummar. Picture Credit: Joseph Dana
After forty minutes, the soldiers informed the popular committee representatives that they do not ‘enjoy beating 50 year old men’ and retreated to the settlement before covering the agricultural field once more with tear gas and sound grenades.
Sound Grenade Explodes in Beit Ummar. Picture Credit: Joseph Dana
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