CPTnet
13 July 2011
AT-TUWANI:  Palestinians protest expansion of Havat Ma'on Outpost; Israeli Military responds with violence

[Note: According to the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and numerous United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal.  Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law.]  

Carrying a large banner that read "We want to live in Peace and Dignity," over one hundred Palestinians, internationals and Israeli activists marched in protest of an extension to the Israeli settlement of Havat Ma'on on the morning of 9 July 2011.

In response to the nonviolent march, Israeli soldiers declared a closed military zone, fired tear gas, and threw sound grenades. One Palestinian man suffered minor burns on his legs when a sound bomb landed at his feet.

The extension of the Israeli outpost consists of a tent that settlers built about two months ago. Settlers built the tent on ground that belongs to families in the nearby Palestinian village of At-Tuwani.

The police detained one Palestinian and one international, but released them when activists refused to leave the area without them.