After Friday prayers hundreds of Palestinians gathered near the Al Khader Village Mosque and headed west.
Their destination was village land that Israeli forces are overtaking for the Wall that now snakes along the West Bank. Dozens of foreign supporters joined in the southern Bethlehem nonviolent resistance.
Signs painted with messages against occupation and for international law were held high amid Palestinian flags and hundreds of people shouting for justice.
This is not a new scene in Al Khader, a small town whose population knows suffering under occupation. It lies just south of Bethlehem, and to its west is the settler Road 60 and a difficult road block that no car can pass. To its south and east are remnants of Palestinian lands confiscated for settlements. The Israeli administration began land confiscation for Wall construction in Al Khader months ago and Palestinians there have been nonviolently demonstrating every Friday for over three.
This afternoon the Israeli soldiers who were watching over bulldozers and dredging machines tearing into the ground saw the people coming and began firing gas. Three girls were treated for sickness associated with gas inhalation.
Although the people of the West Bank are not new to this sort of nonviolent resistance and the common Israeli response, some of the foreign supporters were. Several commented that the Wall and occupation were akin to Apartheid South Africa.
An Italian named Carlos told reporters, ‘The Wall is a creating a large prison, destroying the lands and the rights of the people. It must be stopped to send a message that no one, including the Israelis, can use military force to steal the land of others.’
The International Court of Justice ruled that Israeli Wall construction inside the West Bank was illegal, however the Israeli Supreme Court decided otherwise. International law, including numerous United Nations resolutions, clearly states that all Israeli settlements are illegal.