Israeli Soldiers Attack Villagers In Effort To Suppress Protests

Photo courtesy of Facebook
Photo courtesy of Facebook


Israeli hegemony has greatly devastated the livelihood of Palestinians. Israeli soldiers recently carried out an attack on non-violent protesters occupying the front line of their village. Friends of Freedom and Justice in Bil’in leader Iyad Burnat leads a group of non-violent protesters in Bil’in (a Palestinian village which is located in and occupied by the West Bank, an Israeli owned territory). The group holds demonstrations to protest against oppression inflicted upon the Palestinians who have been stripped of their land and have been confined to specific areas determined by the Israeli government.

Iyad Burnat, via Facebook, reported that as he and the group members marched toward the segregation wall, the Israeli soldiers attacked the group and held Burnat at gunpoint, while threatening to shoot him. The Israeli soldiers tied Burnat’s wrists, which cut into his skin, and blindfolded him with a cloth that had been drenched in pepper spray. They severely beat him and when Burnat requested to be taken to the hospital, he was ignored and told that there was no hospital “for terrorists.” The Israeli soldiers then proceeded to take him to prison. Burnat was held

“…until midnight without charge and still with no access to medical care, all the while with pepper spray burning my eyes and the ties slicing my wrists. When they finally released me and my cousin Hamza, who was arrested for photo documenting the days events, they threw me out on to the street and told me that I had to call for an ambulance myself… Ramallah hospital… treated me and told me that I have two broken ribs broken in my chest, along with heavy bruising all over my body. They gave my medicine and I was told that they cannot do anything to treat the broken ribs.”

While Burnat was in the hospital, he realized that exactly a year ago his son had been in the hospital after having been shot during a protest by an Israeli soldier. He concluded his post via Facebook with:

“The oppressor must understand that every bullet and beating towards us does not make us weak, but strengthens our resolve and brings us closer together. We will not give up, we will resist until they tire of using violence against us. I will continue to fight for our freedom, for a better future for my children and for all children. As soon as I am fit and able to attend, I will return to our weekly protest and continue to demonstrate against the aggression we face in our every day lives.”

Featured image from Facebook.

Elijah Martinez is a MasterChef and Law and Order:SVU aficionado. Elijah is a full-time student and a polyglot, speaking and writing English, Spanish, and Latin. French and Korean are of interest, the former is a current study, while the latter is a deferred study.