The Palestine Chronology

villages nr. Salfit, 1 nr. Qalqilya (firing percussion grenades to intimidate residents), and 1 nr. Ramallah; detains 4 Palestinian children nr. Qalqilya for stone throwing; conducts late-night patrols in 1 village nr. Ramallah (fires rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at stone-throwing Palestinians who confront them, causing no serious injuries) and 1 nr. Jenin; conducts late-night arrest raids, house searches nr. Hebron. Palestinians (sometimes accompanied by Israeli and international activists) hold weekly nonviolent demonstrations against the separation wall, land confiscations, and settlement expansion in Bil‘in, Ni‘lin, and al-Nabi Salih. IDF soldiers fire rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades at the protesters, causing no serious injuries. Jewish settlers fr. Esh Kodesh settlement nr. Nablus uproot 45 olive trees on nearby Palestinian land. (PCHR 9/15; OCHA 9/16)

After Friday prayers, 1,000s of Egyptian protesters besiege the Israeli emb. in Cairo, tear down the wall recently built outside (see 9/3), scale the building to rip down the flag, gain access to the offices, and throw documents into the street. Egyptian security forces collect the ambassador, his family, and other staff who are away from the emb. and secure them at the airport for evacuation to Israel. The 6 employees inside the emb. lock themselves in an office and await rescue. Egyptian riot police arrive in 50 APCs and fire tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, who respond with stones and Molotov cocktails. Heavy clashes continue overnight, with riot police unable to secure the embassy. (WP 9/10; NYT, WP 9/11)

Palestinians fire a rocket fr. Gaza into Israel, causing no damage or injuries. Israel retaliates with 3 air strikes on a Hamas security compound in Gaza, killing 2 Hamas mbrs. guarding the site, wounding 2 bystanders. Israeli naval forces fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the n. Gaza coast, wounding 1 fisherman. In the West Bank, the IDF patrols in Tulkarm in the morning, randomly stopping Palestinians to check their IDs; storms an al-Wataniya cell phone transmission tower nr. Jenin, searching the site and surrounding area for 2 hrs.; uproots 400 d. of Palestinian olive trees nr. Nablus, hauling them away; patrols in Jiftlik village nr. Jenin and nearby Aqabat Jabir and ‘Ayn al-Sultan r.c. in the evening; conducts late-night patrols and arrest raids in Birzeit and nr. Salfit. Hamas authorities violently disperse a demonstration by students at al-Quds Open University calling for national reconciliation, killing 1 Palestinian student. (AFP, JP, MNA, WAFA 3/16; NYT, PCHR, WP 3/17; PCHR 3/24; OCHA 4/1)

In Syria, where there have been a handful of small antigovernment actions since 2/16, 200 protesters (students, activists, families of prisoners) gather outside the Interior Min. to demand the release of political prisoners. Security forces storm the gathering, arresting 36, including a 10-yr.-old boy. Meanwhile, Syrian activists have organized a Facebook fan page online (with more than 47,000 fans) called “The Syrian Revolution 2011,” calling for massive protests after Friday prayers on 3/18. (NYT 3/17)

In Bahrain, govt. soldiers firing tear gas and rubber bullets and backed by tanks and helicopters clear Manama’s Pearl Square of protesters and remove a tent city that has been in place for weeks; 3 protesters and 2 security officers are killed. (NYT, WP, WT 3/17)

Israeli officials announce that PM Benjamin Netanyahu, in consultation with DM Ehud Barak and Israel’s atty. gen. Yehuda Weinstein, have asked Israel’s High Court to respond to 15 petitions filed by Peace Now demanding the immediate removal of Israel’s unauthorized settlement outposts by ordering the dismantling of outposts built on privately owned Palestinian land before the end of 2011 (with the exception of a house owned by a fallen IDF officer) but authorizing the legalization of those built on state land. This would mean that 6 outposts would be removed, of which 5 are inhabited (47 homes), while more than 100 others would be legalized. In the West Bank, the IDF demolishes 3 structures at the Havat Gilad unauthorized settlement outpost; Jewish settlers stone Israeli border police overseeing the demolition, who respond with tear gas and rubber bullets, leaving 15 persons lightly injured and 17 settlers under arrest. Afterward, Jewish settlers fr. Yitzhar settlement nr. Nablus exact their “price-tag doctrine” attack in nearby Hawara village, fire-bombing a house, injuring 2 children, and damaging other property. Separately, Jewish settlers fr. Halmish nr. Ramallah block a road leading to Nabi Salih and stone passing Palestinian vehicles; the IDF observes but does not intervene. Later, Jewish settlers fr. Gilad occupy a plot of Palestinian land nr. Qalqilya, setting up tents and mobile homes, but are evacuated by the IDF later in the day. The IDF also patrols in 4 villages nr. Hebron, Jenin, and Qalqilya; enters Kafr Laqif village nr. Qalqilya and fires stun grenades, claiming local youths stoned passing Jewish settler vehicles; no injuries are reported. In Gaza, the IDF shells the abandoned Dahaniyya airport site in s. Gaza, wounding 1 Hamas mbr. and destroying a nearby vacant home. IDF troops on the n. Gaza border fire warning shots at Palestinians scavenging for construction materials in the fmr. settlement sites, killing 1 Palestinian. IDF troops on the c. Gaza border shell open areas e. of Jabaliya, forcing farmers in the area to leave their plots but causing no injuries. Hamas authorities arrest 4 of 20 Palestinians responding to an online call by Palestinian student groups to rally in Gaza City for national unity. (MNA 2/28; HA 3/1; JP, WT 3/2; PCHR 3/3; OCHA 3/4; AFP 3/7; JTA 3/8; UNIS 3/22)