Protests and Clashes Injuring Two Teens and Arrests in Aida Camp, Bethlehem
Over the last few days the Israeli Occupation has invaded the camp consistently. Each time they have used a combination of tear gas, assault vehicles and rubber bullets to suppress the local population. On Friday March 4th, the fighting lasted constantly for eight hours. The Israeli occupation tried multiple pincer movements to trap the protestors and prevent them from resisting, each time hailing rubber bullets down on those they snared. This included two children who sustained serious injuries from close-ranged fire. Over the course of the day the entire area surrounding the Lajee Centre was carpeted with tear gas preventing the children from using the playground and football pitch –a safe haven in the midst of the occupation- and meant most of Aida Camp had to keep their windows closed in the sweltering heat.
Whilst this was taking place on the street outside, the brave children of Aida Camp continued their strong defiance in the face of oppression; celebrating their heritage through traditional Palestinian song and dance. The shooting lasted until 8pm that evening but the assault was far from over. At around 3 am, as the camp slept, the IOF invaded Aida again. This time breaking into the homes of innocent families and kidnapping two teenage boys. As a leaving present they tore apart their houses, their furniture left in an irreparable state.
On the 7th of March the assault continued. In Jerusalem the Occupation shot and killed a young Palestinian protestor. In Aida camp from dawn till dusk the Israeli Occupation continued their usual tactics; using armored assault vehicles to tear gas the camp and shoot protestors – all whilst we Palestinians were mourning the loss of one of our own.
As if our grief could not get any worse, that evening, the soldiers stormed in and took another boy, this time aged only 11. Then in the early hours of Wednesday the 10th the Israeli Occupation Forces took from us three more of our young: Laith Abuakr, 15, Faruk Bidr, 25, and Omar Azir, 34 –all of their lives now entirely in the hands of our oppressors. Assaults like these are common. Aida camp is used by the Israeli Occupation as a training facility, its people, to them, are merely walking targets. The soldiers who participate in this oppression are no more than 19 or 20, the occupation is a game to them. They laugh and film as they shoot tear gas into our homes and spray putrid water onto our streets. This is the Israeli Occupation.