1)
Land Day in Beitunia
March 30, 2004
By: Perla and Gabriel
Beitunia, Ramallah

For the past ten days bulldozers have been working in Beitunia, a town
of
20,000 people four kilometers southwest of Ramallah. The path of the
Apartheid Wall will confiscate 17,000 dunums (four dunums equal one
acre):
2,000 dunums will be used for the construction of the Wall itself while
15,000 dunums will fall on the other side of the Wall. This stolen land
consists of olive grooves, wheat fields and grape vines. The town will
be
left with 9,000 dunums, which represent the built-up area of the city.
Beitunia is being robbed of the entirety of its agricultural land. In
the
past Beitunia lost about 1,000 dunums to a military outpost, 2,000
dunums to
the settlement of Givat Zeev, and another 3,000 dunums to bypass roads
-
roads that the Palestinians are not allowed to drive on.

Beitunia decided to hold a demonstration today, Palestinian Land Day,
at
noon to protest against the theft of their land and to stop the
on-going
Wall construction in the community. About 150 Palestinians joined by 20
international and Israeli activists marched through town to the
construction
site. The bulldozers were not working but soldiers were present
guarding the
equipment. The protesters walked up a hill towards the soldiers. After
some
initial rubber bullet shots and stone throwing, the protesters reached
the
soldiers guarding the bulldozers. At this time more Israeli military
jeeps
arrived bringing the total number of soldiers to approximately 25. A
peaceful sit-in ensued with demonstrators chanting songs and waving
Palestinian flags. After 30 minutes the organizers decided to walk back
to
the village. An Israeli military jeep began to follow the
demonstrators;
several Israeli activists stood in front of it, but the jeep continued
to
drive forward almost pinning down the activists. One Israeli activist
was
pushed upon the hood of the jeep as it sped down and up the hill. As he
got
off the jeep, the demonstrators attempted to verbally engage the
Israeli
soldiers. However, this attempt led to several physical confrontations
between the demonstrators and soldiers, who responded with sound bombs
and
rubber-coated steel bullets to disperse the crowd. As the demonstrators
retreated, roughly a dozen soldiers charged after them aiming their
weapons
and firing dozens of rounds. When the protesters dispersed to the next
hill
on the edge of town, the soldiers fired tear gas canisters from their
weapons and continued shooting up the hill.

Six people were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets including one
international medical volunteer with the Union of Palestinian Medical
Relief
Committees (UPMRC) and several were treated for tear gas inhalation.

The residents of Beitunia were out today peacefully defending their
land,
and they were met by violent escalation on the part of the Israeli
military.
At no point during the demonstration was the safety of the soldiers or
the
military equipment threatened. The people of Beitunia were simply
protesting
for the right to be on the land they rightfully own and cultivate.
Ghali,
the owner of a clothing store, said that it was "a good demonstration,
and
that Beitunia will continue its struggle against the Wall."

For photos, please see:
 http://www.palsolidarity.org/pictures/PHOTOS_30Mar04_19_05_49RamallahISM-Huwaida,AP,Reuters.htm

===================
2)
Land Day in Beit Duqqu
March 30, 2004
By: Neal
Jerusalem

Today we commemorated Land Day with a peaceful demonstration in the
West
Bank town of Beit Duqqu. Community members from Beit Duqqu, Qatanna,
Beit
Surik, Beit Ijza, and Biddu, and students from Hebrew University,
joined a
group of 25 internationals and Israeli peace activists for a 2 mile
march
and peaceful demonstration at the hillside worksite of the Apartheid
Wall.

The demonstration was watched over by a group of 25 border police,
Israeli
soldiers and private security guards who stood on the opposite hillside
close to the Israeli highway. Demonstrators chanted and burned tires on
the
flat, rocky road which has been built into the hillside over the past
several weeks in preparation for the Wall's construction. There were
many
banners illustrating the Wall's construction, the Palestinian struggle,
and
Israeli war crimes.

Several community leaders from the surrouding villages and one woman
international made speeches celebrating Land Day and the Palestinian
resistance and struggle against Israel's occupation of the West Bank
and
Gaza Strip.

After several hours, the demonstration ended peacefully and on the
terms of
the organizers, and everyone walked back down the hill and back into
Beit
Duqqu.

For photo, please see:
 http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/30Mar04_17_56_17JerusalemNeal.htm
================
3)
Football tournament in Budrus against the Apartheid Wall
March 26, 2004
By: Perla

It is Friday morning in Budrus and it is football day. The town of
Budrus
has invited 22 other villages and internationals to come play soccer
for one
day to strengthen their ties and show their solidarity. 19 teams have
responded to the call, including one team of internationals. A sign
reads "
United against the wall until it falls". Palestinian flags are being
put up
around the field, minibuses are arriving one after the other filled
with
enthusiastic young men ready to play, nets are being set up, music is
playing in the background, and the internationals are desperately
trying to
practice before the tournament starts.

Read the full report at:
 http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/writings/26Mar04_08_24_31RamallahPerla.htm

For more reports and volunteer journals, please see:
 http://www.palsolidarity.org/reports/journals_reports_main.php

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