Every Friday, Palestinians from the village of Ni’lin organize protests against the Israeli “security/separation” barrier being built through the village. Recently, these protests have turned more violent. Israel has, for example, declared Ni’lin a closed military zone on Fridays. This means that, unless you live in Ni’lin, you’re not even allowed to enter the village due to a makeshift checkpoint on the road to the village. This has greatly reduced the available press or even international observer presence at the protests.

We, however, managed to get into the village by exiting our taxi about 1km from the village entering on foot via an alternate route.

The protest followed a similar pattern as Bil’in the week before. The protesters marched toward the wall, chanting and waving flags. Soon thereafter, they lit a pile of tires on fire in front of the gate on the wall and the Israeli army opened up with a barrage of tear gas and concussion grenades. The first volley of tear gas, I should note, was actually fired at close range and aimed directly at the protesters instead of up in the air. Fortunately, none of the high-speed canisters hit anyone. For the next hour or two, the protesters would throw stones at the soldiers over the wall and the army would respond with tear gas. Back and forth in fits and spurts.

Finally, however, the Israeli army opened the gate on the wall and began chasing the protesters through the fields and groves of olive trees. There were a few live rounds fired but, as far as I could tell, no one was hit. The IDF ultimately arrested one protester before withdrawing back behind the wall.

I’ve uploaded a few photos below…

For those unfamiliar with the logos and paraphernalia of the various groups in Palestine, the child on the right (above) is wearing a Hamas hat. I thought it provided an interesting contrast to his Spiderman sweatshirt.

Being a freelance photographer gives me a degree of freedom that might not otherwise be possible. However, that also means that I am often forced to finance my own projects. If you enjoy my work, please consider making a donation.

Today, I traveled to the Palestinian village of Bil’in outside of Ramallah to photograph the weekly demonstrations against the construction of Israel’s “security/separation” barrier.

The march began shortly after the Friday prayers. Palestinians from the village marched, accompanied by a few international demonstrators, through the village and up to the fenceline where the Israeli army was waiting. The demonstrators began planting an olive tree at the fence while chanting and waving flags. Shortly after the tree had been planted, tear gas and concussion grenades were being launched by the Israeli army in an effort to disperse the protesters. Many of the protesters retreated but many younger kids fled into the surrounding trees where they began throwing stones and rocks at the soldiers.

After about 10-20 minutes, the Israeli army crossed the fenceline and began pursuing the demonstrators and stone-throwers. At the same time, another small army patrol had flanked the demonstration and came out behind the demonstration. With the bulk of the demonstrators retreating to the village, the army spent most of its time pursuing the stone-throwers through the surrounding fields.

The whole scene was fairly chaotic. In addition to trying to photograph the soldiers and stone-throwers at two different locations, I was also paying attention to the incoming tear gas canisters from the army and the incoming stones from the stone-throwers since I was wearing neither a gas mask or a helmet.

I’ve included a few photos from the demonstration and ensuing chaos below. I’ve also included a few videos that were shot by a local friend of mine. The videos are fairly short given the fast-paced situation but, hopefully, it will give you a feel of how Fridays go in Bil’in.

In the video below, you will be able to see the planting of the olive tree near the fenceline. I’m in the video briefly…

The video below was taken near the rear of the demonstration. At the time I was either up front or navigating the trees photographing the stone-throwers. You will hear, however, the crack of the tear gas and the whistle as they fly close overhead.

Being a freelance photographer gives me a degree of freedom that might not otherwise be possible. However, that also means that I am often forced to finance my own projects. If you enjoy my work, please consider making a donation.

Today was the day when the Gaza Freedom March members planned to march through the Gaza Strip to the Erez crossing with Israel in the north in an effort to protest the continued international sanctions against the Palestinians living in the small coastal region. However, since the Egyptian government has denied their request to enter Gaza, the GFM demonstrators decided to stage some protests throughout Cairo.

Unfortunately, the Egyptian government decided that it was not going to take this lying down and came out in force to suppress, or at least, seriously limit the impact of the events. Below you’ll see two photos I managed to get from a small demonstration that was being held on Sharia Taalat Harb in downtown Cairo.

You’ll notice in the photo below, a plainclothes gentleman (who appear to really call the shots) started to turn and physically move my camera lens away from the demonstrators. I attempted to walk away from him and I was physically (but not roughly) pushed away from the march and further into the street.

Needless to say, I backed off. I then walked up to Tahrir Square and turned right only to be stopped about two blocks from a much larger demonstration across the street from the Egyptian Museum. Again, a plainclothes man approached me and physically turned me around and gave me a shove. Before I walked away, I could see a large gathering of riot police surrounding something. Above them, I could make out a few banners and Palestinian flags. I toyed with the idea of walking around Tahrir Square to get another view but decided that it wasn’t a good idea given the aggressive nature of the police already.

I was planning on embedding a map below to show exactly where the demonstrations were but my Internet connection where I’m staying is terribly, terribly slow and I simply can’t get Google Maps to load in a reasonable amount of time.

Since then, I’ve heard various reports of violence perpetrated by the police against the protesters. I also received an email from a demonstrator reporting that they were barricaded in their hotel and have had their internet access cut off. They specifically mentioned that there were (and perhaps still are) approximately 300 Americans being held against their will in the Lotus Hotel by the Egyptian police. This information has been passed on to the US State Department.

I haven’t heard any new news in a while. Occasionally, it sounds like things have calmed down a bit and then five minutes later I hear that marchers are still being detained and beaten.

As of right now, Twitter appears to be the best (though sometimes unreliable) source of information as it happens. Demonstrators have been using the #gfm hashtag to tag their tweets.

As of right now, I am in my room working on photos and trying to use the Internet. Tomorrow, I’ll likely lay low for a bit and see if I can line up any projects/work in Cairo since it appears I might be here for a little while longer.

If I hear anything more, I will post it. Or, you can also follow me on Twitter.

For two days now, French citizens from the Gaza Freedom March have been camped outside the French embassy demanding that their country exert pressure on Egypt to allow their march to enter the Gaza Strip.

The protesters have been surrounded by approximately 200-300 Egyptian police. However, it appears that people have been allowed to come and go as they please. It appears that the Egyptian police are present to conceal the demonstrators from the passing traffic and to keep the demonstration in one place.

The Gaza Freedom March is made up of approximately 1300 people from around the world who gathered in Cairo last week in an effort to enter the Gaza Strip. After arriving, the Egyptian government reversed their previous position and denied entry to all members of the Gaza Freedom March.

Click on each image for a larger version…

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