ELEVEN Palestinians were killed and over 200 wounded when Israeli troops opened fire as Palestinians stormed the occupied Golan Heights and demonstrators sought to march to Jerusalem from the Qalandiya checkpoint in Ramallah.
The demonstrations were marking Naqba Day, the anniversary of the Six-Day War of 1967 when Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Palestinian political leader Mustafa Barghouthi, speaking from the Qalandiya checkpoint, said: ‘It is very important to protest because we have been under occupation for 44 years, which is the longest military occupation in modern human history and we need to be free.
‘We are not demonstrating on the border of Israel, we are demonstrating to get to Jerusalem – Jerusalem is part of the Occupied Territories, it’s our capital and we’re demonstrating here with a lot of young people, which reminds you of the Arab Spring, spreading here also in the West Bank for people demanding freedom, independence and the ending of the occupation.
‘It is a totally non-violent, peaceful demonstration and the army has used every possible means of violence.
‘They shoot at us, they use tear gas, they use rubber bullets, they use metallic bullets and they use sound bombs and we have more than 55 people injured so far.
‘But we are still demonstrating at the checkpoints demanding our freedom and the time for freedom has come,’ he declared, sending his thanks to all the supporters of the Palestinian people, including those in Britain.
On the Golan Heights, hundreds of protesters rushed to cut through the cluster of barbed wire to head into and reclaim the Heights. Eleven Palestinians were shot down by Israeli troops.
Majdal Shams locals pleaded with soldiers to stop firing after troops used loudspeakers to warn demonstrators in Arabic that ‘anyone who comes close to the fence will be responsible for their own blood.’
Similar protests were held in the West Bank. Hundreds of youth demonstrated at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah.
‘To Jerusalem we go,’ read signs held by protesters, who marched to the checkpoint on the road to Jerusalem.
‘Freedom is a human right,’ another sign said.
Following the initial confrontation, at least two protesters were seriously injured, and at least 37 were treated in ambulances for tear-gas inhalation, medics said.
Around 100 people demonstrated in central Hebron, while dozens of protesters tried to march from the northern West Bank village of Deir Al-Hatab to the Elon Moreh settlement nearby.
In the northern Gaza Strip, demonstrators marched from Beit Hanoun toward the Erez crossing but Hamas police erected checkpoints to stop protesters reaching Israel’s border.
