Israel curbs access to West Bank barrier protests

The Israeli army said on Monday it would limit access to two flashpoint Palestinian villages in a bid to stop outside sympathizers joining weekly demonstrations there against the West Bank barrier. The two villages lost farmland to the barrier and have become international symbols of the fight against an Israeli project condemned internationally for taking in occupied territory where Palestinians want to found a state. Soldiers posted notices in Bilin and Nilin declaring areas between the villages and the barrier "closed military zones" on Fridays from 8.00 a.m. and 8.00 p.m., when protesters routinely face off with Israeli forces. The order applied to Israeli, Palestinian and foreign nationals who are not residents of the village, an army spokesman said, blaming such "inciters" for stoking violence. Those Israel deems to have violated its military closures are generally subject to arrest and prosecution. Foreign detainees can face summary expulsion. "People have the natural right to demonstrate. This decision will not prevent people from going into their lands," Nilin Mayor Ayman Nafie told Reuters.