Resisting the Wall, Commemorating the Catastrophe

Resisting the Wall, Commemorating the Catastrophe

Salfit, West Bank- Tomorrow, Palestinians will be joined by international and Israeli solidarity activists in the Salfit to protest Israel's confiscation of land and the restriction on Palestinian freedom of movement.Three events have spurred this demonstration.

1. Tomorrow's action commemorates Al Nakba ("The Catastrophe"), when, in 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to abandon their homes and properties and flee their homeland. The Palestinian dispossession has remained for the past five and a half decades.

2. For the past 6-7 months, the Israeli army has confiscated and denied access to Kheribat al Shajarah, an ancient Roman structure. Archaeologists have been allowed to enter the site and area but access to Palestinians have been denied.

3. A recent fence that the Israeli army has built around the illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel has been hindering access to Palestinian farmland.

Jawdat, a resident of Salfit, said, "The wall will arrive here sooner or later like it has in the villages. This is a demonstration to show our solidarity and that we are not alone in protesting against the wall."

Palestinians are expected to be met by solidarity activistsat the Balidiya- Municipal Building at 11:30 in the center of Salfit. There will be a commemorative ceremony for al Nakba, including speakers from the area. After 1.5 hours, demonstrators will then walk to the border of the Ariel settlement and the nearby Roman structure in Kheribat al Shajarah. Palestinians are expected to try and access their land and fields, and will stage a protest against the wall and denial of access to their historical sites. Jawdat expects soldiers and settlers to arrive and instigate problems at the non-violent demonstration, which has happened in the past.

Ariel is the largest Israeli settlement network in the West Bank. The Wall around the Ariel bloc stretches for 114 km and grabs within it 120,000 dunums of prime aquifer-laden agricultural land which produce about 30 percent of the West Bank's olive oil production. The Apartheid Wall dips farthest from the Green Line here and deep into the West Bank by about 22 kilometers.

ENDS

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