CALL TO ACTION!
Sarra, Nablus region
On Saturday, September 15th, the villagers of Sarra and Qusin, in the Nablus region, are planning in coordination with international Human Rights Workers (HRWs) to hold a demonstration in their region. They are blocked off from a road that leads directly to Nablus by roadblocks. These roadblocks turns a five minute trip to Nablus into nearly an hour. The road they used to use is now used only by soldiers and settlers. This becomes daily harassment, whether a person is going to school, or work, or visiting family, they must go through nearby towns rather than directly to Nablus. They plan to march from their respective towns to a military gate in the middle and hold a joint demonstration there.
This roadblock has been removed twice before, August 20th and 31st. After the first removal, the DCO said they would come the following Saturday to fully remove the roadblock. Not only did they put it back in place, but the army invaded the town, terrorizing villagers through shooting at shop fronts and water tanks, dragging people outside their houses for questioning, and stealing belongings from the people inside.
On August 31st The villagers, together with HRWs, blocked the army from advancing while others removed the roadblock again. It was a glorious day where a village that had spent five years in the cage that is made by roadblocks was finally able to flex its muscles. Later that day however, after the village had peaceably returned to their homes, HRWs witnessed an army bulldozer attempting to replace the roadblock. They climbed onto the one meter squared cement blocks to prevent this from happening, and were arrested. One of them spent a night in and Israeli jail located in an illegal settlement, the other three spent two nights.
This Saturday the village will meet again, with another village joining the struggle. They will not be deterred by Israeli army repression. They will not go quietly into their houses and accept the continued harassment by the Israeli military. They will demonstrate along the military road, and at the military gate, until the DCO removes the roadblock, and leaves the road open for freedom of movement in Occupied Palestine. They are asking for your support! Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists will meet at the mosque in Sarra by 10am.
For more information contact Smith at the ISM Media Office: 0599943157