Protesters arrested outside US ambassador's residence in Israel

Sun, 02 Jan 2011

Tel Aviv - Israeli police early Sunday arrested 11 pro- Palestinian activists taking part in a protest outside the home of US Ambassador James Cunningham north of Tel Aviv.

The activists were protesting against the death of a Palestinian woman who had participated in a demonstration against Israel's West Bank security barrier on Friday.

Jawaher Abu-Rahma died in a Ramallah hospital Saturday, after inhaling tear gas during the protest in the village of Bil'in, north- west of Jerusalem. She was reportedly in her mid-30s.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Sunday's protest was a disturbance of the peace and the activists threw an empty teargas canister and a chain toward the ambassador's residence.

Cunningham's residence is in the affluent town of Herzliyyah, north of Tel Aviv while the US embassy is in the city.

Almost two years ago, Abu-Rahma's brother, Bassam, was killed during a protest in Bil'in, about four kilometers from the Israel- West Bank border. Another brother, Ashraf, was shot and wounded during a demonstration, also against the barrier in the village of Na'alin.

Every Friday, local Palestinians and left-wing Israeli and foreign activists protest against the barrier, which cuts off land from Bil'in and several other villages.

The Israeli army charges that the protests are violent and the activists hurl stones at security forces and often try to damage the security fence.

The protesters accuse the Israeli military of acting heavy- handedly against them.

The military has released photographs of Palestinians using slingshots to hurl rocks at the security forces, which it alleged proved the Bil'in protest was violent.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists also demonstrated late Saturday outside the Israeli Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv against Abu-Rahma's death. Eight protesters were arrested.

Israel began building its controversial security barrier in 2002, following a spate of suicide bombings in its cities. Palestinians however say the barrier is part of an Israeli "land grab", since in places it snakes deep into the West Bank to include scores of settlements.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360418,us-ambassadors-residence-israel.html.