Ramallah: A leader of the most persistent Palestinian protest movement against Israel's West Bank separation barrier was asleep in his home when troops broke down his door and arrested him.
Supporters of Abdullah Abu Rahmeh, a 38-year-old teacher, say his pre-dawn arrest on Thursday by dozens of troops is part of a recent, heavy-handed campaign by Israel to shut down a five-year-old movement that is the last source of unrest in the West Bank.
Since 2005, demonstrators led by Abu Rahmeh have marched every Friday from the West Bank village of Bilin to the nearby separation barrier that slices off 60 percent of the village land. Their acts of protest, which have also included chaining themselves to trees, have won praise from Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu and support among Israeli peace activists.
About two years ago, villagers in nearby Naalin started similar marches.
Some demonstrators routinely throw stones at Israeli soldiers, who fire tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated bullets and occasionally live rounds. One Bilin man and five in Naalin have been killed and hundreds have been wounded over the years. Israeli troops have also suffered some — though far fewer — injuries, including a soldier who lost an eye.
Israel considers the protests illegal and portrays them as riots, not non-violent demonstrations.
Israel says the barrier — a wall in some places, a system of roads, cameras and fences in places like Bilin — seeks to keep out Palestinian attackers, including suicide bombers. Palestinians call it a tool to steal land, since it juts far into the West Bank in some places.
Abu Rahmeh's Israeli lawyer, Gaby Lasky, said Israel is trying to stifle legitimate protest.
"The Israeli Army has decided to crush the demonstrations by putting their leaders behind bars in complete violation of the right of freedom to demonstrate and freedom of speech," she said. Israel has declared the area a closed military zone, banning civilians and making it a violation of Israeli law to be there.
The weekly protests in Bilin and Naalin are the only remaining pockets of unrest in the West Bank. The rest of the territory — controlled by Israel, with Palestinians given limited self-rule in some areas — has been pacified; many Palestinians are simply too tired to take to the streets after several years of bloody clashes with Israeli forces.
But the military has failed to end the Bilin and Naalin marches, even though it has tried different tactics, such as spraying demonstrators with foul-smelling liquids and imposing curfews.
Since June, troops have arrested 31 Bilin residents involved in the marches, among them 12 minors, organisers said. The arrests have focused on members of the village's organizing committee and teens accused of throwing stones. Thirteen are currently in detention, five of them minors.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, December 11, 2009, 13:06