MIDEAST-WEST BANK/BARRIER PROTESTS Palestinians protest against West Bank barrier expansion

Record ID: 142784

  • Title: MIDEAST-WEST BANK/BARRIER PROTESTS Palestinians protest against West Bank barrier expansion
  • Date: 24th August 2015
  • Summary: PROTESTERS MARCHING, HOLDING PALESTINIAN FLAGS PROTESTER HOLDING SIGN READING (English and Arabic): "NO APARTHEID WALL. HUMANITY WILL TRIUMPH THE OCCUPATION." VARIOUS POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS FIGURES MARCHING WITH BANNER
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2V7GL3Q2R9MJ4BZLMDVXY31KB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Dozens of protesters gathered on Sunday (August 23) in Beit Jala town, west of Bethlehem in the West Bank, to protest against the building of Israel's separation wall in Beit Jala.
    Residents, activists, religious, and political leaders took part in the protest.
    "Our people in Beit Jala are exposed to these oppressive and racist practices which target their existence, their lands and their survival in this holy land. As you can see we are here Muslims and Christians as one people," said senior Greek Orthodox cleric, Atallah Hana.
    The protesters raised Palestinian flags and carried signs condemning the newly planned 800-meter-segment to be built on the lands of Palestinian residents.
    During the protest, demonstrators dislocated an iron gate that the Israeli forces had put on the lands of Wad Ahmad area to forbid its owners from entering it.
    A number of protesters were injured after Israeli forces fired tear gas and sound bombs to disperse the crowd.
    One activist was hospitalised after a tear gas bomb hit his head.
    An activist from the Popular Committee of Resistance Against the Wall and Settlements, Monther Amira, said the barrier prevents farmers from reaching their land and is an attempt to displace local residents.
    "There are two goals behind building this wall. First, stopping farmers from reaching their lands. This segment of the wall will stop the owners of approximately 1,000 dunam (1,000,000 square metres) from reaching their lands, particularly that Beit Jala is one of the cities that are famous of its olive trees and olive oil. Second, tightening the grip on the people of Beit Jala, this peaceful Christian city, in an attempt to displace the residents," said Amira using the local area unit, dunam.
    The separation barrier cuts through much of the West Bank.
    The Israelis say it is needed to prevent suicide attacks, while Palestinians say it has eaten up large parts of territory they want for a future state, dividing them from their land.
    The network of concrete walls, fences and ditches separate farmers from their holdings and reduce the size of the West Bank, farmers say.
    Built mostly within occupied land and not on the "Green Line", which was Israel's de facto border before the 1967 Middle East War, the barrier inside the West Bank is deemed illegal by the U.N.'s International Court of Justice.
    The barrier has also drawn other international condemnation.
    Even Israel's main ally, the United States, has called it unhelpful.
    Human rights groups say the barrier has effectively isolated some 60,500 Palestinians from the rest of the West Bank, and thousands more live in villages surrounded on at least three sides by the barricades, which restricts their freedom of movement.
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