Huge demonstration in Budrus Planned

Huge demonstration in Budrus tomorrow after night military invasion

The International Solidarity Movement reports that yesterday the Israeli military entered Budrus, a rural village 3 kilometers from the Green Line in the Ramallah district, at least three times, ahead of a huge demonstration planned for tomorrow (Thursday 12th February) at 12 noon.

Palestinians, Israelis and internationals have participated in protests against the wall for the last two months.

Budrus is earmarked to be encircled by the Apartheid Wall in the coming weeks. During yesterday's incursion the Israeli soldiers used live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas. One boy and one man were injured by rubber bullets and many people were affected by the tear gas when it entered their homes. The military entered one Palestinian's house by breaking down the door but no one was home.

Abu Ahmed, a community leader, did not know why the Israeli military entered Budrus. "Maybe they are just trying to disrupt our lives more or maybe they have something else planned that we do not know about."

The Israeli government informed Budrus last Thursday that the construction of the wall will commence any day now. Every morning everyone in the village, both Palestinians and internationals, wake up to see if trees are being cut or if the wall is being constructed. The village does not know yet exactly where the wall will be built and if it will be concrete or fence.

In the last couple of days the preparation for the wall has increased dramatically. The workers, protected by private security forces, have been digging trenches to lay electrical wires and leveling the earth where the wall will stand. Today olive trees that were donated by Rabbis for Human Rights and planted in a previous demonstration were destroyed by construction equipment.

Budrus and eight neighboring villages will be completely imprisoned by the wall. Budrus will loss 1000 of its 5000 dunums of land (4 dunums equal 1 acre) due to the construction of the wall. This will include at least 3000 olive trees, much of the grazing land for the sheep and goats, and the land dedicated to the cultivation of wheat. Only one entrance gate is planned for the entire area, which will be controlled by the Israeli military. This will almost completely obstruct the Palestinians' ability to travel to other areas in the West Bank. Families will be separated even further, there will be no access to universities, jobs, and hospitals, and agricultural products will never make it to markets.

The preparations for the wall have already destroyed 60 trees in Budrus, and unfortunately more will be toppled as the bulldozers continue to invade the area.

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