BILIN, West Bank (AFP) — An Italian judge was slightly hurt on Friday when a tear-gas grenade hit him on the head during a protest against the barrier Israel is erecting to separate itself from the West Bank, witnesses and medics said.
Giulio Toscano, who was treated at the scene, was among a group representing the European Parliament's European United Left group, which confirmed that he had been hurt.
Among other demonstrators were United Left Vice President Luisa Morgantini and Northern Ireland Nobel Peace prize winner Mairead Corrigan Maguire.
They joined dozens of Palestinians and Israelis, as well as foreign activists, who had gathered for what is a weekly demonstration against the barrier. This week's protest took place at the end of a three-day international conference on non-violent resistance.
A United Left statement added that a football match between two groups of protesters was "interrupted by the firing of tear gas by the Israeli army."
An army spokesman said the "demonstrators threw rocks at the soldiers, who responded by firing tear-gas grenades."
Palestinians claim that some 200 hectares (495 acres) of land in Bilin were confiscated for the building of the barrier, and that thousands of olive trees uprooted.
Israel says the 650-kilometre (405-mile) barrier is necessary to protect itself from terrorist attacks. The Palestinians call it an "apartheid wall" and complain that large chunks of the West Bank are cut off as a result of it.
In 2004, the International Court of Justice issued a non-binding ruling declaring parts of the barrier to be illegal and calling for their removal, something Israel has refused to do.
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