Tag: Bethlehem

On Friday 9 November a group of Palestinians and human rights volunteers gathered in Um Salamona, in the West Bank, to march against the planned route of the apartheid wall. Once built, the wall, which has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice, will separate almost 3 million square meters of land containing thousands of grape and olive trees from the Palestinian farmers who depend upon it.

The protesters, numbering around 50, marched towards the site where the wall is to be built. Whilst attempting to block traffic the group was continually pushed by Israeli Occupational Forces (IOF). The group gathered to hear Palestinian villagers speak against the wall and to sing “We Shall Overcome” which was led by a group of Presbyterians from New Jersey. The march went without incident, however one Israeli activist was detained.

2nd of November 2007

Today, the villagers of Um Salamona called for a demonstration that would assist Mahmoud Takadka, in harvesting his olive trees on his land, located just below the illegal Israeli settlement of Efrat. The villagers of Um Salamona have had difficulties getting to their land because the Israeli army has prevented them from crossing Road 60, the construction site of the Apartheid Wall. Under the current Israeli plan, the Apartheid Wall will separate approximately 3,000,000 square meters of Um Salamona’s land from its Palestinian owners, destroying thousands of grape and olive trees that are vital to the livelihood of the local farmers. This is a violation of a recent Israeli High Court ruling, which confirmed that the land is Palestinian-owned.

Early this morning, the farmer and his family tried to get to his land, but the Israeli Army denied them access. Instead, the farmer started harvesting on his fields close to the school, and waited for human rights activists to arrive.

At about eleven o’clock, dozens of Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists joined the farmer and his family in a new attempt to get through to the land. The demonstration went across the route of the wall, continued a few hundred metres and was then stopped by the army. The activists and farmers went peacefully through a razor-wired fence on the side of the road and managed to continue on to the fields. There, the activists and the farmer successfully harvested all of his olive trees. After finishing about three hours later, everyone went peacefully back to the village. No one was injured.

On Friday, October 19, approximately 100 human rights activists from different backgrounds converged at Um Salamona in the West Bank today to protest against the building of the segregation wall. Internationals, Palestinians and also Israelis, who are against the Occupation and construction of the Segregation Wall, all came together this morning to express their dissatisfaction with the wall under construction in this area. Over 60 percent of the land belonging to Palestinian farmers will be confiscated and sealed off on the other side of the concrete barrier.

Many NGO’s and human rights groups from all backgrounds and faiths and all ages joined hands in solidarity with the local Palestinians to peacefully protest against the wall. The demonstration was closely watched by a large contingent of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers as well as the Israeli Police. Tempers flared a little as some of the soldiers attempted to exert their assumed authority resulting in some jostling and pushing of the protesters and media folk. Nobody was injured and the protest continued peacefully and without event once the situation had simmered.

“So today we are here to demonstrate against the Wall, to say to them and all over the world that this is the occupation and we are here suffering from the wall, the separation wall, which is stealing our land. I hope that one day we will succeed and we will recover our land with these non violent activities, and you will recognize today, how much the soldiers are violent, and I don’t know what is the use of violence. We are here on a peaceful demonstration. As you see we have friends from Israel, we have international friends, we are here Palestinians to say Down to the Wall. The wall which shows clearly the Israelis are against Peace, because Peace and trust is not made by barriers and stealing land,” says a local Palestinian.

The Wall currently under construction will traverse through the land of many local Palestinians, isolating them both from their farm lands and from the outside world. Israel claims the wall is being built as a security measure to protect its citizens. On the far end of the proposed wall is the illegal Jewish settlement of Efrat. The wall has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice and is dubbed by many as “The Apartheid Wall.” An Israeli advocacy group has found that 39 percent of the land used by Jewish settlements in the West Bank is private Palestinian property, which the organization contends is a violation of international law.

Last Friday of a group of 70 demonstrators, comprising of Palestinian, international and Israeli activists, gathered near the town of Umm Salamona, south of Bethlehem, to demonstrate against the planned route of the apartheid wall and the Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) denying local Palestinian farmers access to their farmland.

The demonstration progressed along settler only Road 60 to the farmland near the Efrat settlement, which the Palestinian farmers are constantly denied access to, before being stopped by the IOF. The soldiers immediately sent for reinforcements, who soon arrived at the scene with riot shields. As a result, violence threatened to break out until the demonstrators sat down with their backs facing the IOF, diffusing tension at the scene. A series of speeches followed praising non-violent resistance and citing the success of the this approach in bringing about a court order declaring the route of the wall in Bil’in as illegal.

Under the current plan, the apartheid wall will illegally separate approximately 3,000,000 square meters of Umm Salamona’s land from its Palestinian owners, consequently destroying thousands of grape and olive trees which are vital to the livelihoods of the local farmers.