During the demonstration two demonstrators were lightly hurt. One was struck with a tear-gas projectile in the leg and another was shot in the stomach by a rubber-coated bullet.
“The Israeli court had already ruled two years ago that the Wall here should be rerouted, but it is our struggle, not their court, that forces the Army to implement this decision now” Said Mohammed Khatib, an organizer from the village. “The International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled that the Wall should be dismantled in its entirety, and not just partially like the Israeli court had ordered. Today the demonstrators made an important step towards the implementation of this decision” Khatib added.
Last week, 2.5 years after an Israeli Supreme Court decision deeming the path of the Wall on the lands of Bil'in illegal, preliminary infrastructure work to reroute the barrier in accordance with the ruling has finally began. Since the ruling, the state has twice been found in contempt of court, for having not implemented the decision.
Roughly 680 dunams of the 2,000 dunams currently sequestered by the Wall will be returned to the village following the court-ordered rerouting of the trajectory. While the rerouting is viewed as a victory, demonstrators vowed protest will continue until the Occupation is over and the Wall is dismantled in its entirety.
Demonstrations against the Wall and settlement expansion also took place today in the villages of alMa'sara, south of Bethlehem, Ni'ilin and Nabi Saleh, where 10 protesters were hit by rubber-coated bullets, including a Swedish national who was struck in the mouth.
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