Peace Activists Protest Israeli Land-Grab, Apartheid Wall, Attacked by Israeli Occupation Soldiers and Settlers in Tuwani, Al-Khader, Bil'in, and Al-Ma'asarah of Bethlehem

Two Italians injured, one Palestinian kidnapped as Israeli settlers attack Tuwani

Friday May 02, 2008 16:52 by George Rishmawi - IMEMC News

A number of illegal Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villagers of Tuwani, near Hebron Friday afternoon. The settlers, who were armed with automatic assault rifles, demanded the Palestinian villagers to evacuate the village claiming that the land where the village is located belongs to them.

International peace activists who were in the village called the Israeli police and army, who arrived nearly one hour after the settlers.

Two Italian activists were wounded as they were assaulted by the settlers. One of the wounded Italians told IMEMC over the phone that when the Israeli police arrived, they did not stop the armed settlers. As he was giving his eyewitness account, he saw the Israeli army taking one of the Palestinians prisoners, however, he failed to identify him.

The village of Tuwani is subject to ongoing settler attacks for the past few years. The settlers attempt to drive the villagers out of their land, in order to expand their nearby settlement of Havat Maon which was founded in 1997.

In 1999, the Israeli occupation government, headed then, by Ehud Barak, removed this settlement and claimed it is going to remove 42 other settlements, terming them illegal. Israel removed 12 out of the 42, and most of the settlers returned shortly after the removal.

The former MK and Elkana local council head Nissan Slomiansky put it "When this round is over, the situation of the outposts will be better than it was under the Likud. Under [Benjamin] Netanyahu they were illegitimate children. Barak has made them legitimate." Apparently Slomainsky was right.

Al-Khader Villagers Protest the Israeli Land-Grab, Apartheid Wall

Friday May 02, 2008 16:52 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

The Popular Committee of Al-Khader village, located near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, organized a non-violent demonstration in protest of the construction of the illegal Israeli Land-Grab, Apartheid Wall, as well as the discriminatory and oppressive Israeli policies used daily against Palestinians.

On Friday about 300 residents of Al-Khader, along with international and Israeli activists, gathered in the village. The village's residents performed their Friday prayers at Al-Nashah Israeli checkpoint located at the entrance of Al Khader.

Afterwards Dr. Mustafa Al-Barghouthi, a Palestinian MP, gave a speech calling for the continued resistance against the wall and the Israeli settlements.

Soldiers were deployed, but the protesters stood their ground for nearly an hour before deciding to end the action.
Activists and many international and Israeli organizations allege that as a result of Israel's construction of the illegal apartheid wall, the free movement of Palestinians, especially workers, has been heavily restricted. The apartheid wall separates workers from their workplaces, leaving them facing serious levels of poverty.

Bil'in Residents Protest in Solidarity with Palestinian Workers

Friday May 02, 2008 16:51 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

On Friday, dozens of villagers from Bil'in, located near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, conducted their weekly nonviolent protest against the illegal Israeli wall built on the village's land.

This week, the protest was against the illegal Israeli wall and in solidarity with the Palestinian workers to mark the International Workers Day on Thursday.

As soon as the mid-day Friday prayers were finished in the local mosque, villagers from Bil'in, along with Israeli and international peace activists, marched towards the location of the Wall which is separating the village from its land.

Immediately after the protest reached the gate of the Wall, Israeli occupation soldiers showered the protestors with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Scores of protesters were treated for gas inhalation.

Anti Wall demonstration in a Bethlehem village, two Palestinians injured

Friday May 02, 2008 15:58 by Manar Jibrin - IMEMC News

An anti-Wall demonstration of at least two hundred of the residents of the Al-Ma'sarah village near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem and dozens of International peace activists on Friday.

Demonstrators marched from a high school in the village of Al-Ma'sarah towards the construction site of the Separation Wall on the village's farmlands. Work began a year and a half ago no the village's lands, aimed at confiscating and isolating ten of thousands of dunums of Al-Ma'sarah's land, located south-west of Bethlehem.

This week's demonstration was to celebrate May Day (International Workers Day), and was attended by Dr Mustafa al Barghouthi, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, and Khalid al A'za , head of the Popular Committee of Land Defense and Settlement in the Bethlehem district. In addition, there were also a number of representatives of different organizations present.

In a speech delivered during today's protest , Dr al Barghouthi denounced the Israeli procedures in an attempt to prevent the Palestinians from conducting any peaceful demonstration, affirming that "such procedures will not intimidate us [Palestinians] and that the Palestinians are stronger, and the ones that deserve to live freely and in dignity on the land of their fathers and ancestors ."

Dr. al Barghouthi added that, "the Wall's destiny is to fall, as well as occupation is to end ". He called for ending the internal disagreements among Palestinian factions and to hold on to unity, which he described as " an effective weapon to face the conspiracies on our cause."

Al-Barghouthi went on saying that recent political maneuvers are aiming to separate the West Bank from the Gaza Strip and to destroy the idea of a Palestinian contiguous state, while turning Palestine into ghettoes and enclaves. He added that " we were not in need of five months of negotiations so that the Palestinians will find out what Israel is planning is an apartheid state and a tiny Palestinian state without East Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and the settlements.'

He noted that "a real State of Palestine should have a full sovereignty over its land, water, and borders, through ending the occupation and dismantling settlements from all of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including east Jerusalem, and dismantling the Separation Wall."

As the protestors were about reach the construction site of the Wall, the Israeli army installed military roadblocks and prevented them from proceeding any further.

Mohammad Brejieh, the media spokesperson of the Popular Committee, said that two Palestinians were injured. He added that the Israeli army took many tight procedures to prevent the International peace activists from reaching the village by installing many roadblocks and closed the roads that lead to the village. The soldiers had confiscated a bus with more than sixty international peace activists for more than three hours to prevent them from participating in the protest.

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