In Israel and the Occupied Territories, Israeli and Palestinian demonstrators joined together Thursday to protest the Israeli separation wall cutting through the West Bank.
Eighteen demonstrators were left wounded after clashing with Israeli soldiers. Israeli peace activist Yonatan Polak criticized the military crackdown.

Yonatan Polak: “We were trying to get to the bulldozers. We were risking no one. And it seems that with the return to tactics and strategies of the first Intifada by this village and the movement against the wall, it seems that the army is returning to the old commands as well, of breaking arms and legs of demonstrators.”

The action came on the fourth anniversary of the World Court ruling declaring the wall illegally built on occupied land. Israel has ignored the ruling with US support.
Shortly after the clashes, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad visited the barrier site and denounced the ongoing construction.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad: “I’m here visiting with the good people of Nilin on this the fourth anniversary of the landmark advisory opinion and ruling by the International Court of Justice, ruling which, as you all know, requires cessation of building of the wall, destroying or removing the part of it that had been built, and also dealing with the issue as a form of colonization and settlement activity, with all that comes with that — with all that comes with that by way of violation of rights of Palestinians, including, importantly, human rights.”