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Trees Uprooted for the Apartheid Wall in south Hebron District; Resistance Continues in Bil’in
Latest News, The Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, June 17th, 2005

Above: The path of the Apartheid Wall affects most Palestinian villages, destroying everything in its way.

Occupation bulldozers entered the village of Imneizil in the far south of Hebron district on Friday, to begin the destruction of land for the route of the Apartheid Wall. So far around 400 dunums of fertile land has been destroyed and several hundred trees uprooted. Meanwhile, resistance against the Wall continued in the west Ramallah village of Bil’in, where hundreds of villagers were fired at with live ammunition as they marched against the Occupation Forces.

Imneizil
In Imneizil, the bulldozers entered the village early on Friday morning, razing farmland planted with trees of grapes, olives and almonds. The Wall will isolate land that is expected to be annexed by the nearby settlement of Metzadot Yehuda, located to the south of the village. One of the village’s main water wells will also be isolated behind the Wall.

Water shortages are becoming an increasingly dire problem in Hebron district as the Wall’s route has been planned to isolate many of the local natural water resources. A settler bypass road is also under construction, parallel to the Wall, which will pass just 15 metres from the village school.

Bil’in
In Bil’in, 300 demonstrators were attacked with tear gas and live ammunition by Occupation Forces, who attempted to prevent the villagers from marching to their lands confiscated by the Apartheid Wall. A 14-year old boy, Ahmad Muhammad, was taken to hospital after being struck on the head by a tear gas canister.

Above: Friday's demonstration in Bil'in.

Occupation Forces tested a new weapon that fires shards of glass-like material which sticks to the body and burns the skin. Iyad Bornatt, head of Bil’in’s Village Council, was injured by this new weapon. Sound bombs were also deployed as villagers lay down on the ground to symbolize the Occupation’s murder of Palestinians. A mock grave was set up, detailing the death of the village of Bil’in, murdered by the Occupation and the Apartheid Wall.

Two brothers were arrested during the demonstration: Abed Allah and Rafat Abu Rahman. Both currently remain held by the Occupation.

Above: Occupation bulldozers have, for the past three years, continued destroying and uprooting the Palestinian land.