Bethlehem / Najib Farrag – In southern Bethlehem the weekly nonviolent Palestinian demonstrations against the Wall and settlements that confiscate and divide towns continued on Friday.

In Umm Salamuna village 250 people gathered at the secondary school and walked through the town streets with the Palestinian media filming. Israeli forces blocked their path with jeeps, machine-gun wielding soldiers and rolls of barbed wire.

Several soldiers severely beat some of the nonviolent demonstrators and also shot concussion grenades and gas. Two Palestinians were injured and transported to an area hospital for treatment. The Israeli soldiers also arrested three foreign supporters and took them to the military jail in the Gush Etzion Settlement bloc.

The spokesman for the media on behalf of the Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Southern Bethlehem said that the demonstrators have shown solidarity with their fellow citizens on a weekly basis for nearly a year and a half. Several leaders have been arrested, as have participants, in order to stop the nonviolent resistance, he said.

In neighboring Al Khader, residents again held Friday prayers on the ground as close as they can get to the land being confiscated in the town. Israeli forces were in their usual place, jeeps, machine guns and gas at the ready.

Residents said that they will continue to try to protect their land, which is that of their parents, grandparents and their ancestors.

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