A weekend of demonstrations after the shooting of a peace activist

A fiery weekend after the shooting of a peace activist - 26-27 December 2003

Direct action against the fence in Mas'ha - 26/12

Peace activist at the closed gates of Mas'ha 26/12

Sshaking the gates, just before Gil Na'amati was shot 26/12

Dan Shohat about the events that led to shooting of Gil Na'amati.
"In the early afternoon today, in the middle of a direct,
non-violent action against the Apartheid system of walls and fences in the occupied West Bank,
an Israeli citizen was shot in his leg by soldiers of the Israeli army.
Gil Na'amati, whom I hadn't met until today, was on the front line of Israeli activists
who went to the fence to cut it or break it down. I was a few meters behind him,
watching the soldiers and helping to take care of the barrier of the road just behind the fence.
20 meters ahead of us were the soldiers, 2 or 3 military jeeps.
Full article of Dan Shohat

Demonstration against the Wall in Qalqilya - 27/12

Peace activists trying to enter Qalqilya 27/12	Uri Avnery together with leaders of Qalqilya 27/12
Peace activists trying to enter Qalqilya 27/12	Palestinians in Qalqilya demonstrating against the Wall 27/12
Palestinians in Qalqilya demonstrating against the Wall 27/12

On the rainy Saturday, a day after the Israeli peace activist Gil Namati,
was shot and severely wounded by an Israeli army sharpshooter while
demonstrating against the "security fence" at Mas'ha village,
a mass demonstration against the fence took place not far away, in Kalkilia.
This town of 30 thousand inhabitants is completely surrounded by the "fence",
leaving only one single entrance through a checkpoint.

The Palestinian Authority's governor of the Kalkilia district,
Mustafa Maliki, personally phoned to Israeli peace organisations in order to ask them to take part.
But the police cut off the whole area well in advance, in order to prevent the activists from getting there.
However, some 30 Israelis - among them Gush Shalom activists - managed to reach the
checkpoint at the entrance to the town, where they were stopped.

While thousands demonstrated in the closed-in town and soldiers threw
gas grenades at them from the watch-towers in the Wall,
a spontaneous demonstrations took place at the checkpoint. Uri Avnery of Gush Shalom, the major of Jayous,
members of the Knesset Muhammad Baraka (Hadash) and Jamal Zahalka (Balad), Latif Dori, Ya'akov Manor and representatives
of the near-by villages addressed the demonstrators,
attacking the wall and protesting against the shooting of the peace activist.
Israelis and Palestinians chanted together: "The Wall must Fall".

After the demonstration, the activists went to Jayous, where the
"separation fence" separates the inhabitants from their olive groves and hothouses, on which they depend for their livelihood.
"I wish all citizens of Israel would come here and see this abomination with their own eyes!"
exclaimed the historian Teddy Katz when he viewed the scene from the roof of the municipality.

Protest "sit-in" in Tel Aviv, after the shooting of Gil Na'amati - 27/12

Demonstrator with "target" on his chest 27/12	applying "barricade tapes" 27/12
blocking the road opposite the ministry of defence 27/12	A main road was block for almost 2 hours
Police trying to evacuate demonstration	Still blocking the road
Demonstrator injured by the police being treated

Later on the same day, a spontaneous demonstration against the shooting
of the activist took place in front of the Ministry of Defence in Tel-Aviv.
About 200 furious demonstrators from various peace groups, including Gush Shalom, blocked the street for almost two hours.
The police tried several times without success to disperse by force the demonstrators who sat on the asphalt.

When the police arrested seven people, the demonstrators sat down around the police cars,
chanting slogans like: "Mofaz, Mofaz, Minister of Defense - How Many Demonstrators Did You Kill Today?"
and "Soldier, Policeman - You Can Refuse!"

A slight rain fell from time to time, but the demonstrators did not budge.
At last the police car with the prisoners started to move a great speed,
threatening to overrun the people crowding around it. One activist, 16 years old Matan Cohen, was wounded in the abdomen and removed by
an ambulance, who could not reach him for 20 minutes.
When the police promised to release the prisoners after the peaceful dispersion of the demonstration,
the activists decided to march en bloc to the police station
to make sure that the detained people were actually released.
Previous Gush Shalom actions.