Tear Down That Wall

Soldiers arrested a number of residents and international peace activists in the village of Bil'en near Ramallah yesterday as they protested the continued construction of the Wall of Separation. In addition, six persons were injured.

The International Solidarity Movement said that some of the protesters had closed a road in the area by tying themselves to iron boxes thus blocking the way for a number of bulldozers. A local source in the village reported to the International Middle East Media Center that dozens of residents and Israeli and international peace activists took part in the protest.

"Our massage is to tell the world about the Israeli violations that caused by the construction of the Wall on the Palestinian lands", one activist told WAFA.

Speaking with the Palestine News Network (PNN), Bil’en activist and member of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’en, Mohammad Khateeb explained the focus of the demonstrations. “We, of course, for the last 3 months, we’ve been going along with the same program of protesting the Wall. We are having nonviolent marches and demonstrations against the Wall and in each one there is a message for the international community and for the Israelis. The last idea in the march Tuesday was a wall built on the shoulders of the people. This idea is just to show how the Wall destroys the Palestinian people’s lives. Our plan to demonstrate will continue on Friday. Thousands are supposed to participate in this demonstration, with Knesset members and Israeli and foreign leftists, and also PLC members. In this demonstration we will only hold Palestinian flags to show Palestinian unity.”

Khateeb said the protest was also aimed to send a message to Palestinian residents: “Liberate their country first, then argue who liberated it.” Khateeb said he was referring to the recent clashes between Hamas and Fatah.

Activists in Bil’en have held nonviolent demonstrations against Israeli Wall construction and land confiscation regularly for the past three months.

Just last Friday, Switzerland, in its capacity as guardian of the Geneva Conventions, urged Israel to promise to dismantle its West Bank separation wall in the future. The Swiss report was requested by the General Assembly last year after the International Court in The Hague issued an advisory opinion on July 9, 2004, declaring Israel's construction of the wall to be illegal. On July 20, 2004, the Genera Assembly adopted The Hague’s ruling. Sources: Palestine News Network, Xinhua, International Middle East Media Center, WAFA (Palestine)