BILIN, West Bank (AFP) — Dozens of Palestinian and foreign activists sporting protective face masks demonstrated on Friday against the "occupation flu" from Israel they said was worse than swine flu.
The demonstrators gathered in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin brandished banners that read: "Put an end to occupation flu."
"The world today is extremely interested in swine flu because it has killed people but it has forgotten that what we suffer from is worse," one of the protesters, Abdullah Abu Rahmeh told AFP.
"We are trying to draw the world's attention to a virus that is much more dangerous than swine flu, the virus of the Israeli occupation that has caused the deaths of thousands of Palestinians."
Activists gather regularly at Bilin and nearby Nilin to protest against Israel's West Bank separation barrier.
Israel says the projected 723 kilometres (454 miles) of steel and concrete walls, fences and barbed wire is needed for security. The Palestinians view it as a land grab that undermines their promised state.
To date, Israel has built 57 percent of the projected barrier, most of it inside the occupied West Bank.
