Palestinian flag on army watchtower

Israeli police arrested a well-known Puerto Rican activist on Friday after he climbed a tower near Israel’s West Bank separation barrier and planted a Palestinian flag on it, police said.

Alberto de Jesus’ protest took place during the weekly demonstrations by peace activists against the barrier near the town of Bilin in the West Bank.

Israel says the barrier, which dips deep into the West Bank, is necessary to keep Palestinian militants out of Israel. Palestinians say it is an Israeli effort to take land they want for a future state.

De Jesus, also known as Tito Kayak, is famous for leading protests against U.S. Navy exercises on Puerto Rico’s Vieques Island.

During the protest on Friday, he climbed a surveillance tower and hung a Palestinian flag on it, said police spokesman Moshe Fintzy. De Jesus then refused to come down, and only left the tower after lengthy conversations with police and other protesters, Fintzy said.

Mary Ann Grady Flores, a fellow protester from Ithaca, New York, told The Associated Press that de Jesus spent about five hours in the tower, before climbing down and being arrested.

Police said de Jesus damaged a security camera on the tower. He was to be taken to court Saturday night and would likely be deported, Fintzy said.

The Bilin protests routinely turn violent and Noble Peace laureate Mairead Corrigan was injured Friday when a rubber-coated bullet fired by police hit her in the leg, the Ynet news Web site reported.

Two border police were lightly injured by stones, police said.

ENDS

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