At least 16 people were injured Friday as “peaceful” protests against Israel’s West Bank security fence turned violent. As many as 1,000 demonstrators, including an estimated 200 Israelis, gathered in the West Bank village of Bil’in to commemorate the second anniversary of weekly protests against the fence. Border Police who were pelted with rocks responded with tear gas, stun grenades, a water cannon and rubber bullets. Four of the injured were taken to hospital. Human rights groups argue that the fence, which dips into the West Bank, has led to the confiscation of roughly 500 acres of land and the uprooting of thousands of olive trees, and imposes hardship on Palestinians. But the Israeli government notes that the fence has led to a sharp drop in the number of suicide bombings and other terrorist attacks.
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