21 November 2009
For immediate release
Demonstration to be held in Salim village in condemnation of Israel’s continued occupation and violation of international law.
The village of Salim will host a demonstration this Sunday, 22 November, marking two causes: one, in support of the UN Security Council’s recently adopted resolution to protect women in conflict situations; the other, in protest of the Israeli occupation and the devastation it continues to wreck on West Bank villages such as Salim.
Demonstrators plan to march from the village to Road 557, in display of opposition to Israel’s continued occupation and violation of international law.
Protesters will meet will meet in the Duwar (main circle) of Nablus at 11am, where buses are provided to travel to Salim at 11:30, to meet with local protesters at the municipality building in Salim at midday.
Background
Salim and its people have suffered greatly from Israel’s network of West Bank apartheid roads – smooth, well-maintained, Israeli-only roads that not only provide settlers and military personnel with efficient means of transport far superior to Palestinian travellers, but strategically cut residents off from vast areas of farmland and cause large detours to be made for those travelling on poorly-maintained Palestinian roads.
Road 557, constructed 10 years ago between the settlements of Elon Moreh and Itamar is drawn directly through Salim’s olive fields and blocks 150 families of the village from accessing their land. Every year farmers attempt to enter the land to harvest their crops, every year facing Israeli soldiers that slow, track and in some cases prevent families from entering their own land for the short time it takes to collect their olives.
Seven houses under construction that are located closest to Road 557 have received orders from the Israeli government to halt construction, under threat of demolition if they continue building. These homes still stand unfinished and uninhabited, the families fearful of army reprisal if they attempt to recommence work on their homes.
Various associations and women’s groups across the West Bank have joined forces with Salim to protest the continued Israeli occupation of its land, and also to support the UN Security Council’s recent unanimous decision to adopt Resolution 1888, to end sexual violence in war. The resolution requests warring parties to be held responsible for using rape as a weapon, and encourages member states to provide support and protection to survivors and to uphold justice in conflict resolution.
Israel’s occupation of Palestine has been declared illegal under the Security Council’s Resolution 242, and its settlements declared illegal under Resolution 446.