Activist shot in West Bank

Israeli forces clamp down on foreign protests

A man from Northern Ireland has been hit with a rubber bullet fired by Israeli forces in the West Bank.

Terry McNeill, from west Belfast, was hit in the thigh while taking part in a protest against a wall being built by the Israeli authorities in Jenin.

He was at the protest as a member of the International Solidarity Movement.

Speaking from hospital, Mr McNeill said that he had been shot while trying to help a colleague, who had also been targeted, to safety.

Mr McNeill claimed that if he had been Palestinian, he would have been killed.

Arrest

"I think it is important to differentiate between myself and a Palestinian," Mr McNeill said.

"They used rubber bullets on me as an international. If I was a Palestinian, they would have used real ammunition.

"Two days ago, a five-year-old boy was shot, apparently accidentally. Again, this is a case of real ammunition versus rubber bullets."

Earlier this month, another man from west Belfast, Sean O Muireagain, 42, was arrested and held by Israeli security forces reportedly acting on information from UK security services.

Mr O Muireagain was later released after Israeli radio reported that there had been a "mistake".