Ramallah, 01-04-06: Local residents, together with Israeli and international supporters turned out in force yesterday in the ongoing, non-violent struggle against construction of the Separation Wall in Bil’in village.
The presence of Israeli protestors was particularly strong following Israeli parliamentary elections last Tuesday, in which Kadima won an outright majority. The party, founded by ailing former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and now led by former mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, has vowed to unilaterally determine the permanent borders of the Israeli state within four years, based on the route of the Separation Wall.
An estimated 100 protestors set off from the village square following Friday prayers, and marched peacefully towards the fence. They were met by a hail of tear gas, sonic bombs and rubber bullets, fired by a group of Israeli soldiers and border police who had amassed in front of the fence. This failed to deter protestors, who proceeded to make a symbolic attempt to scale the fence. At this point, Israeli border police began to attack and beat protestors. Two men, an Israeli and an American, were arrested during the scuffle.
Approximately half of Bil’in’s lands are being isolated by the Wall, and the village stands to lose at least 1,950 dunums if the Wall is not removed. While the Israeli government argues that the route of the Wall in Bil’in is determined purely by security reasons, a recent report by the respected Israeli human rights organisation, B’Tselem, revealed that its path is designed to allow for the expansion of the nearby, illegal Israeli settlement of Modi’in Illit. [1]
Once completed, the Wall will stretch a total length of 670 kilometres, cutting deep inside West Bank lands occupied by Israeli in 1967. Up to 46 percent of the West Bank, including some of its most fertile land, is set to be annexed to Israel should construction of the Wall continue according to its current trajectory. [2] As of October 2005, approximately 243 kilometres (36 percent) of the Wall had been completed, while a further 166 kilometres (25 percent) is under construction. [3]
[1] B’Tselem/Bimkom. 2005. Under the Guise of Security: Routing the Separation Barrier to Enable the Expansion of Israeli Settlements in the West Bank. http://www.btselem.org/Download/200512_Under_the_Guise_of_Security_Eng.pdf
[2] PLO Negotiations Affairs Department. 2005. Map: Gaza Disengagement = West Bank Engagement. http://www.nad-plo.org/maps/gaza/pdf/jepalfeasgw.pdf
[3] OCHA. 2006. Humanitarian Impact of the West Bank Barrier. Crossing the Barrier: Palestinian Access to Agricultural Land. January, Update No. 6. http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt/docs/UN/OCHA/OCHABarRprt-Updt6-En.pdf