Bil'in Marches for Jailed Jonathan Pollak

Roughly one hundred demonstrators marched to the barrier in Bil'in in honor of Jonathan Pollak. Demonstrators carried images of Pollak and formed a peace sign of people in front of the soldiers. The demonstration was attacked with tear gas, sound bombs and the petrochemical known as the “skunk.”

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Image of Jonathan Pollak in the Barrier in Bil'in. Picture Credit: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org
Image of Jonathan Pollak in the Barrier in Bil'in. Picture Credit: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org

Over one hundred people, Palestinians and their Israeli and international supporters, marched this afternoon in Bil'in to the separation barrier to protest occupation and the wall. The demonstration comes days after the Israeli army released another round of statements based on lies, half truths and speculation about the death of Bil'in's Jawaher Abu Rahmah at a demonstration on New Years Eve 2010. The current statement confirms that Jawaher Abu Rahmah was at the demonstration in Bil'in, that she inhaled tear gas and that she was admitted to hospital because of tear gas inhalation. Because the army lied about these facts in the first round of statements and has shown that it can not be trusted to tell the truth, Bil'in called today for an independent, professional and promote investigation into the  Abu Rahmah in hospital. 

The demonstration this afternoon was in honor of Jonathan Pollak, the media coordinator of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, was recently began serving a three month jail sentence for nonviolently riding his bike through Tel Aviv in protest of the 2008 Gaza siege. 

Demonstrators reached the gate of the barrier and formed a peace sign while each person held a photograph of Jonathan Pollak. The army responded by attacking the demonstration with 'skunk water'. The violence from the army was mostly quiet because Israeli television was present to do a story on the demonstration. However, soldiers repeatedly fired the skunk water at demonstrators and used sound bombs.

Mohammed Khatib, the coordinator of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, addressed the demonstration after one hour and thanked everyone for coming. He informed the crowd of supporters that Bil'in will keep demonstrating and as people walked back to the village, soldiers invaded the village and attacked demonstrators with tear gas. For half an hour, soldiers fired tear gas from multiple directions and covered Bil'in with gas.