Israelis abduct 2 wall protesters

Israeli forces have abducted two Palestinian civilians during raids on non-violent protests in the Occupied West Bank villages of Bil'in and Ni'lin. Last Friday, Israeli soldiers attacked the Palestinian villagers, along with the international and Israeli peace advocates, who had joined them during their weekly protest against the Apartheid Wall. The attacks took place in the village of Bil'in near the central West Bank city of Ramallah and Ni'lin, which lies west of Ramallah. The protesters marched towards the construction site and were welcomed by rubber-coated bullets and tear gas fired by Israeli troops. Scores were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. During the attack, the troops captured two civilians. The protesters demanded a halt to the building of illegal Israeli settlements, as well as the construction of the wall. On Thursday, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Richard Falk, called on the Israeli prime minister to stop construction of the now seven-year old Apartheid Wall in the West Bank. "Tear down that wall, Mr. Netanyahu", said Falk. He made the comments at a conference in The Hague on the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) issuance of the Advisory Opinion, which denounced Tel Aviv's erection of the 723-kilometer (449-mile) barrier as illegal. "There will be no peace between these two peoples until Israel shows respect for Palestinian rights under international law," said Falk, who added that a good place to start would be with the wall. Israeli forces have kidnapped two Palestinian civilians during their raids on the weekly non-violent protests in the West Bank villages of Bil'in and Ni'lin. Israeli soldiers attacked Palestinian villagers along with their international and Israeli peace supporters during the weekly protest against the Apartheid Wall in the villages of Bil'in near the central West Bank city of Ramallah and in Ni'lin ,west of Ramallah on Friday. The protesters marched towards the construction site and were welcomed by rubber-coated bullets and tear gas fired by Israeli troops. The protesters demanded the halt of Israeli illegal settlement activities and construction of the wall. On Thursday, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, called on the Israeli prime minister to cease the construction of the now 7-year old wall in the West Bank. "Tear down that wall, Mr. Netanyahu", said Falk. He made the comments in The Hague at a conference on the fifth anniversary of the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) issuance of the Advisory Opinion which denounced Tel Aviv's erection of the 723-kilometer (449-mile) barrier as illegal. "There will be no peace between these two peoples until Israel shows respect for Palestinian rights under international law," said Falk. "And a good place to start would be with the wall," he added.