Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
Press release Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Two Protesters Injured by Live Ammo in Deir Qaddis

Demonstrators disrupted construction of a new neighborhood in the adjacent settlement of Nili. Israeli soldiers responded with baton charges, tear-gas, rubber-coated bullets and live ammunition. One organizer was arrested.

Two Palestinian youths in their twenties were hit by live ammunition today, during a demo against settlement expansion in the village of Dier Qaddis. One, a 24 year-old, was shot twice – in the pelvis and in the shoulder, and the second, a 22 year-old, was shot in the back of his thigh and will require an operation. Mohammed Amirah, a member of the Ni'lin popular committee, was arrested, apparently for incitement.

Residents of Deir Qaddis, accompanied by Israeli and international supporters, marched to their lands today in order to stop the construction of a new neighborhood in the settlement of Nili on their lands.

As the protesters advanced towards the bulldozers, Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers first fired a few rounds of live fire in the air and very quickly moved on to shoot tear-gas and rubber-coated bullets directly at the protesters. Despite the attack, demonstrators managed to reach the bulldozers and disrupt construction for half an hour.

As protesters retreated, soldiers followed them to the edge of the village, where clashes ensued and where the two were shot. In addition to the two hit by live ammo, six more were struck by rubber bullets.

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