Video shows EI blogger Linah Alsaafin confronting Israeli soldiers in Nabi Saleh

Anne Paq from the ActiveStills collective has produced a powerful video showing young Palestinian women confronting armed Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh during last Friday’s demonstration against the occupation and settlements.

The beginning of the video shows a young man being told to “shut up” in Arabic by an Israeli soldier. The young man defiantly waves his flag in the face of another heavily-armed soldier.

The video then shows EI blogger and contributor Linah Alsaafin telling soldiers “You guys a whole army are occupying a civilian people armed only with their voices, their flags, and their conviction.”

“Yesterday morning at 2am, what was the point of your two of your soldiers raiding this house,” Alsaafin asks the soldiers, pointing behind her.

Alsaafin recalled the encounter with the Israeli soldiers in a recent blog post for The Electronic Intifada.

Another young woman, Linah’s younger sister Deema Alsaafin, asks the soldiers how many people they have killed, and “whether you will hesitate to pull the trigger.” The soldier points at settlements across the valley and says that he can’t put them at risk. “All people are chosen people, all land is God’s land, we will coexist. You don’t want that, that is the problem,” the Deema says.

The video then shows Linah Alsaafin attempting to engage with a soldier, asking “What kind of propaganda has your government fed you,” and “How old are you?” adding, “You guys are just kids who are given guns and complete authority to colonize and dispossess an indigenous population.”

The description of the video on YouTube adds: “During the demonstration, the Israeli army attacked the unarmed protesters and invaded the village; spreading foul-smelling liquid at houses, shootings scores of tear gas canisters and rubber bullets and metal-coated rubber bullets. One protester was injured in the head.”

This post has been updated to include Deema Alsaafin’s name and relation to Linah Alsaafin.