ABU DIS, Palestine: Israeli border police stormed a university Monday in the occupied West Bank after clashes with Palestinian students protesting against Israel’s “apartheid wall” and recent Palestinian deaths.
Israel began building the barrier of walls and fences inside the West Bank in 2002 at the height of the second Palestinian intifada, or struggle against aggression, saying it was crucial for security.
The Israeli land grab is aimed at stealing part of Palestinian future state. The clashes erupted after Palestinian students at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis gathered at the foot of the barrier separating the town from Jerusalem to demonstrate against Israeli measures.
At least one protester used a sledge hammer to strike the wall as others milled around carrying Palestinian flags or covering their faces with traditional keffiyeh scarfs.
The students then pulled back into the campus and rained stones on the Israeli border police who approached the gates.
Israeli forces retaliated by firing rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades before forcing open the gates of the university and going inside. “The policemen entered firing grenades left and right,” one of the students told AFP.
“They fired at us with rubber bullets, aiming for the torso and the head,” he added, declining to be identified.
The number of wounded was not immediately clear.
But Palestinian medics said many people were hit by rubber bullets and injured in the upper parts of their bodies, while many others suffered from smoke inhalation due to tear gas.
Israeli police harass Palestinian students
Updated 02 November 2015