Number of Soldiers Present: Four
Soldiers Names, ID #’s, License Plate #’s, Etc:
Jeep # 669 509
Events Witnessed:
10:05- Jeep arrives from direction of Surda and goes toward Bet El.
10:43- A protest march begins to descend down hill from Ramallah toward checkpoint.
10:47- Soldiers see the marchers.
10:58- Marchers arrive in area of the checkpoint, spray paint nearby cement wall. Soldiers begin to deny vehicle and pedestrian traffic through checkpoint.
11:05- Pedestrians begin walking through fields around the checkpoint.
11:07- Jeep # 669 509 comes down from hill with three soldiers.
11:10- Marchers and soldiers meet at checkpoint and have standoff. Soldiers will not allow the marchers to pass with Palestinian flags and signs. Marchers are both Palestinian and international.
11:30- When protesters do not leave a soldier throws a shock bomb, protesters flee then regroup in front of soldiers.
11:34- Second sound bomb thrown, protesters react as the first time, with no violence.
11:40- When protesters refuse to leave soldiers step up violent methods, throw tear gas canisters, violently pushing and hitting some protesters. Soldiers try to separate on Palestinian protester from the other, hitting him hard and hurting him. He did not respond to the violence and three other protesters piled on top of him to protect him. The injured young man was carried away by another protester.
11:50- The protesters regroup, a speech is made to the soldiers, stating their objectives and promising to return. Hannah Nasser, President of Birzeit University, continues to try to get through checkpoint.
12:00- Protesters leave, back to Ramallah. At no point did any protester use violence of any kind and repeatedly announced their peaceful intentions. Hannah Nasser succeeds in getting through.