IDF troops fire tear gas at EU dignitaries during W. Bank protest

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"The vice president of the European parliament, an Italian judge and a
Northern Irish Nobel Peace prize laureate were among the five people injured at Friday's weekly demonstration in Bil'in against the separation fence.

The three dignitaries - Giulio Toscano, Luisa Morgantini and Mairead Corrigan Maguire - were visiting the Palestinian village as part of a three-day international conference on non-violent resistance, which ended Friday.

The other two casualties in the clashes between protesters and security forces were Palestinians.

The incident occurred after the dignitaries arrived to observe the site where the barrier is being constructed. Their party included Palestinian leaders Jibril Rajoub and Mustafa Barghouti, as well as other Palestinian and Israeli anti-fence activists.

Toscano, the judge, was hit in the head by a tear-gas dispenser, witnesses and medics said. A Red Crescent ambulance took him to Ramallah for medical treatment. Morgantini, who belongs to the European Parliament's United Left party, was treated along with Maguire for smoke and tear gas inhalation at the scene."

more

[bemildred]

1. Good to see the IDF's impeccable command authority at work here.

"Never mind men, do whatever you feel like.

[henank]

2. It's not at all clear that the IDF deliberately targeted

the EU officials or if they were doing their observing a little too close for their own good. Or were they actually taking part in the demonstration? In which case it could hardly be called "observing". If you get too close to the police (or military in this case) in a conflict zone, don't be surprised if you get hurt. They should be grateful it was only tear gas and not live bullets.

another report

[notfullofit]

3. To be honest,

I had to chuckle (shame on me).

[Scurrilous]

4. Oh, I'm sure they're grateful.

:thumbsup:

[subsuelo]

7. Probably writing Thank You notes this very moment

[bemildred]

8. Overwhelmed by the compassionate response. nt

[Scurrilous]

5. Eight hurt in clash with police at rally against separation fence

<snip>

"Eight left-wing activists protesting against the separation fence on Sunday were lightly wounded in clashes with police near the West Bank village of Na'alin.

Witnesses said a combined contingent of Israel Police and Border Police hurled tear gas grenades at a group of over 150 demonstrators who gathered to protest the planned construction of the fence in the area.

On Friday, the vice president of the European parliament, an Italian judge and a Northern Irish Nobel Peace prize laureate were among the five people injured at the weekly demonstration against the separation fence in another West Bank town, Bi'ilin."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/990941.html

[oberliner]

6. Didn' t the Israeli High Court rule that the fence had to be re-routed?

What is the status of that ruling? Has it been overturned?

[azurnoir]

9. Not overturned

Just ignored or not enforced

Eight months after the High Court of Justice ordered the state to dismantle the segment of the separation fence near the Palestinian village of Bil'in within "a reasonable amount of time," the Defense Ministry has yet to do so. It has not even begun to plan an alternative route there, in accordance with the court's instruction.

These steps are not included in the Defense Ministry's work plan for 2008. A spokesman for the ministry, Shlomo Dror, said yesterday that the omission stems from budget constraints, and said he hoped that planning the alternative route would be included in the work plan for 2009 - in other words, a year and a quarter after the High Court ruling, at the very least. In September 2007, the High Court ruled that a 1,700-meter segment of the separation fence near Bil'in must be dismantled and moved to an alternative route. The court said Israel built the segment in question on land appropriated from Palestinians, falsely citing security needs when the main objective was to enable the expansion of a nearby settlement, Modi'in Ilit (Kiryat Sefer). Furthermore, the justices ruled that the current route is topographically inferior, which endangers the security forces that patrol the area.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=124&topic_id=209472