StoptheWall.org in a Week
from the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign

January 16, 2004

Latest News

The Occupation Forces Lock Out 500 People from their Homes By Closing the Walls Gates

On Jan. 14th, the Occupation Forces closed the Ras Rummana and Qaffin gates leading to Baqa ash Sharqiyya and Nazlat â˜Isa”two villages isolated between the Apartheid Wall and the Green Line. About 150 military jeeps surrounded the area and prevented some 500 people from returning to their communities on opposite sides of the Wall. The people were forced to wait in the cold until the Occupation Forces decided to open the gates at about 9p.m at night. It was not until 11pm that all the people were able to go back to their homes after passing through the Walls gates. Read the full story.

Expanding Militarized Realities along the Apartheid Wall

The Apartheid Wall”yet another means of threatening and forcing Palestinians off their land”is intensifying the daily militarization and suffering which residents in communities along its treacherous path live. From stories of entire communities having their land stolen to erect an Occupation military camp, to families being shot at by soldiers while working on their land, to children who have been arrested under the pretext of "breaking" the Wall, the horrid certainty of expulsion is unequivocally clear. Read about the latest measuresused against the people.

A Day in the North

In the northern West Bank, along the Apartheid Walls first phase, communities are being relentlessly humiliated and denied access to their land and livelihoods isolated behind the Wall. In Zeita, the Occupation Forces continue to prohibit Ibrahim Al˜Aqad from reaching his home located between the Wall and the Green Line while in Al Nabi Ilyas farmers are denied access through the Walls gates to their land. Furthermore, the shepards in Jayyus have now been told by the Occupation Forces that permits are not enough to cross the Wall's gate with their herds”now they are requesting permits for the goats. Read A Day in the North.


Community Voices

Wafa is 25 years old and a teacher in the elementary school in Shuqba village. She tells the story about what happened when the bulldozers came to clear the land for the Wall's path in Budrus. She begins, 'The women arrived first. They tried to reach the land but the Occupation Forces attacked them and began beating them and trying to pull them out of the land, using repulsive language to incite the men and push them to come down to the lands. On Thursday's demonstration (January the 1st) it was the women who blocked the streets and burnt the tires. The women were also helping in taking those wounded by the Occupation Forces to the ambulances. Read the rest of Wafaâ's testimony.


Analysis/Features

Now featured on the website is Khalid Amayrehâ's article, Controversial Move, from Al Ahram where he addresses the heightened discussion among Palestinian officials that a two-state solution is not viable with the Apartheid Wall and the Israeli governmentâ's unilateral steps. See his article and others here.


International Law

In his article, 'The Wall and International Law', Victor de Currea-Lugo writes for the Anti-Apartheid Campaign to analyze the Wall's illegality in two main dimensions-- the Wall itself and its consequences and violation to Palestinian rights. A critical read for understanding that the issue is not whether the Wall is illegal under international law but how illegal it is. Find the article here.


Activist Resources

Groups across the globe have been downloading the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign posters for solidarity events, demonstrations, and community meetings within their own countries. The posters have been translated into Arabic and widely used for events in Palestine, particularly for National and International Day Against the Wall. Now the posters are now available and downloadable on this site in Arabic! See the postes along with tens of other activist materials in the Activist Resoruces section.


Mainstream Media

On a massive scale there have been articles from media sources such as the Chicago Tribune, the Financial Times, Reuters, and the New York Times, documenting the Apartheid Wall's devastating impact on communities in East Jerusalem as the Wall is being intensely fortified in the neighborhood Abu Dis. Media sources have further addressed the rising pressure on European governments to take strong positions against the Wall. See all in the Mainstream Media section.






StoptheWall.org





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------