Abdullah gets sent back to the hospital

[ISM Media Group]

Abdullah Abu Rahme from the Popular Committee of Bil'in was shot in
the head by a rubber-coated steel bullet yesterday at the weekly
Bil'in demonstration. He is now recovering and can be reached at
0547258210. You can watch the video or read the report here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=387BJWIwOXo

On Friday, January 11th, villagers of Bil'in were joined by around 70
Israeli, international, and other Palestinian Human Rights activists
in a protest against the Annexation Wall. In Bil'in, the wall is
stealing more than 60% of village land, and even the Israeli Supreme
Court said in a recent decision that the route of the wall was not
planned for military reasons, but for land.

In that September 4th Supreme Court decision, the Wall was ordered to
be taken down and the route redrawn. This was a court victory for the
joint non-violent struggle, but has yet to be reflected with facts on
the ground. The wall is still standing, and in fact recently settlers
attempted to place new caravans on village land.

The demonstration began as a march towards the gate in the Wall, where
soldiers were standing with guns drawn. At the front of the march was
the banner, "LEVIEV TURNS THESE ROCKS OF APARTHEID INTO DIAMONDS" in
reference to the diamond mogul Lev Leviev, protesting his extensive
involvement in the construction of illegal settlements in the West
Bank.

Soldiers let off a barrage of flash bombs when people got close. Flash
bombs are similar to sound bombs, but they explode much sooner and are
made of metal instead of plastic, so they weigh a lot more. They are
generally used to injure people, where as normal sounds bombs mostly
disorient people. A few demonstrators were hit by the flying metal
objects, but none seriously injured.

After about an hour people began to move back towards the village, the
soldiers used this chance to shoot off cannister after cannister of
tear gas. One man was taken away on a stretcher from his exposure to
the gas. Activists stood on the opposite hill and regrouped while
soldiers continued to shoot gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Twice
the army drove up the street to try and grab people but were stopped
by makeshift stone roadblocks people built.

Near the end of the demonstration, army snipers shot Bil'in Popular
Committee member Abdullah Abu Rahme in the head with a rubber-coated
steel bullet. Abdullah was also one of the activists hospitalized a
week ago when settlers attacked a group of Palestinians who were non-
violently protesting the placement of more caravans on their land.
After the soldier shot Abdullah, he dances a bit and cheers, telling
his comrades-in-arms that he "got one in the head!"