A young Israeli peace activist and campaigner for Palestinian rights is critically ill after being hit in the face with a rubber bullet while taking part in a non-violent protest against Israel’s so-called “security fence”.

“I feel like our blood is cheap”, said 17-year old Matan Cohen, who came to Britain to meet supporters last year is in Tel Hashomer hospital. Matan, a member of Anarchists Against the Wall, was injured in the eye when Israeli Border Police opened fire on the demonstrators at Bil’in, in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian and Israeli protestors have been holding regular demonstrations together at Bil’in against the barrier, which they dub the “apartheid wall” or “annexation fence”, since it separates the Palestinian village from its fields.

Matan was the guest of European Jews for Just Peace when he spoke at meetings in London last Autumn, and met student solidarity activists.

report from Middle East media centre, Friday:-

Seven Palestinians and an Israeli supporter were injured today by Israeli forces that opened fire on a nonviolent demonstration against the Wall in Beit Sira Village, west of Ramallah. Several were also injured by rubber-coated bullets in the weekly anti-Wall protest in Bil’in village.

During the demonstrations in both Beit Sira and Bil’in after Friday noon prayers, Israeli forces opened fire and shot gas and sound bombs at the hundreds of demonstrators.

The injuries were a result of rubber bullets, gas inhalation, and beatings.

One Israeli supporter was shot in the left eye with a rubber bullet and is now hospitalized. His wounds are described as critical.

In Bil’in, a journalist was hit with a rubber-coated bullet in the leg, and several protesters were also hit by rubber-coated bullets.

This week no arrests were made among the dozens of villagers and their supporters who turned out to protest the Israeli confiscation of 60 percent of their village lands for Wall construction and settlement expansion.

The western Ramallah village has continued to have one of the strongest nonviolent protest movements in the West Bank, beginning with daily protests over a year ago and continuing every Friday after noon prayers

Injured anti-fence ‘anarchist’ speaks out

YNet: source

Matah Cohen has sustained eye injuries while protesting the security fence near Ramallah; Says: ‘I feel like the blood of Left-wing activists is cheap’

by Meital Yasur Beit-Or

Matan Cohen, 17, from Tel Aviv, and a member of the “Anarchists Against the Fence” organization, was injured while demonstrating against the security fence near Ramallah.

“My feeling is that the blood of Left-wing activists and the Palestinians is cheap,” he said.

Cohen was shot by Border Police and injured in his eye, and has been hospitalized in the Tel Hashomer Medical Center since Friday.

If bleeding does not stop within 24 hours, Cohen will undergo surgery. In either case, doctors believe his eye has sustained damage. In the best case, his visual range will be affected, and in the worst case, he would lose complete vision in the eye. “Up until now I can’t see out of the eye, and they’ll be able to see if there’s damage only in a few days. I’m worried about damage in my eye and I really hope the bleeding stops,” said Cohen.

Cohen sustained an injury to his eye (Photo: Yaron Brenner)

Members of the organization have begun documenting their demonstrations due to past experiences with violence. “We have recordings of an army commander who said that he doesn’t want the situation to turn violent, and who tried to calm things down, saying not to shoot. But a Border Police is also heard saying ‘shoot everyone one of them with a rubber bullet. ‘ When I was shot I was standing with three people, within around a 20 meter range from a Border Police force. We said: ‘Don’t shoot, we are not threatening you and we are not endangering you, ‘ but they opened fire, and also directed it to the head, violating all of their rules of engagement. I felt the impact in the eye, and with the remainder of my strength, I managed to run from them. My entire hand and head were filled with blood,” said Cohen.

’No connection to Amona’

Cohen says there is no connection between violence of soldiers against Right-wing demonstrators in Amona and Left-wing demonstrators: “In our demonstrations, they shoot live bullets in order to kill. In Right-wing demonstrations, no gas or shock grenades have ever been thrown. This is violence which is many times larger. The feeling is our blood is cheap. But violence which takes place when the life of a police officer is not under threat should be condemned, it doesn’t matter from which side it occurs.”

Three soldiers and Border Police officers were injured by rocks thrown at them. One police officer was taken to hospital.

According to police, two disturbances of the peace took place on Friday in the Ramallah area, as part of protests against the construction of the security fence. Hundreds of Palestinians, Left-wing activists, and foreigners took part in the disturbances, whom entered a closed military zone. Demonstrators threw rocks at security forces, who responded with crowd dispersal means.

Soldier lost eye

A few months ago, a soldier lost his left eye in similar protests after a rock was thrown at him by demonstrators.

Cohen, who completed his high school studies, has been taking part in protests against the route of the fence for three years, and says he witnessed harsh violence on the part of soldiers and Police officers. “The approach is that it’s legitimate to fire at demonstrators, even when they are nonviolent. The IDF and Border Police use live ammunition, tear gas, and rubber bullets, and hundreds of people have been injured in this period. In yesterday’s demonstration another 11 Palestinians were injured, one of them was even operated on at a hospital in Ramallah,” he said.

Efrat Weiss contributed to this report