Israeli army shuts down peaceful rallies across West Bank

Israeli soldiers used force to shut down weekly non-violent anti-wall protests in villages across the West Bank on Friday Aug. 13. International, Israeli and Palestinian activists in Bil’in, Nil’in, and An-Nabi Salih, near Ramallah, and in al-Ma’sara, near Bethlehem, were met with tear-gas grenades as they marched towards the separation wall to protest the confiscation of their lands.

In Nil’in, soldiers crossed the gate in the wall and chased demonstrators, throwing tear-gas grenades, leading to an outbreak of clashes as activists responded by throwing stones, organizers said. Clashes also broke out in An-Nabi Salih, where demonstrators reported that Israeli soldiers closed roads leading to the village. Tear gas and sound grenades were launched at protesters in al-Ma’sara village, organizers said, adding that hundreds of villagers and foreign solidarity groups participated in the rally, and sang Arabic, English, French, Spanish and Italian protest songs. (Ma’an News Agency, Aug. 14)

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