August 27, 2010 - IMEMC

Israeli writer and film maker Joseph Dana has reported, via his twitter account, that the Israeli military has conducted a number of arrests in Ni'lin, near Ramallah, including the five member team from the Red Crescent.

Dana, who regularly attends Ni'lin's weekly protest against Israel's construction of the separation and annexation wall, updates followers of his Twitter account as the protest happens.

This week he has reported that the Israeli military have arrested the Red Crescent team, a photographer reporting on the non-violent action, and a member of the Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem.

The Israeli military have confirmed that the seven arrests have occurred, but have failed to report that five of those arrested were paramedics working for the Red Crescent.

The Red Crescent are the Muslim equivalent of the Christian Red Cross, and provide necessary medical care at the sites of various non-violent protests in the West Bank to those suffering from the effects of tear gas inhalation and rubber bullet fire; tactics regularly used by the Israeli military under the claims of riot dispersal tactics.

The village of Ni'lin holds weekly protests, on Friday's, against construction of Israel's annexation wall, that has reduced Ni'lin's land from 58,000 dunums to approximately 10,000. By the end of construction, the village will be left with only 7,300 dunums.

Joseph Dana runs his own website (josephdana.com) and writes for blog +972 (972mag.com), amongst others.