***image1***The Occupation Forces prevented 21 buses carrying Palestinian demonstrators from the North from entering Ar-Ram, in Northern Jerusalem. The buses were bringing women, men and children from the Tulkarem Governorate to protest the Apartheid Wall in a march from the Center of Ar-Aram to the Qalandiya checkpoint, which isolates Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.
The Anti Apartheid Wall Campaign called upon all of its popular committees from every part of the West Bank to participate in the mass march, in order to draw attention to the decision of the International Court of Justice, which in a recent ruling declared the Apartheid Wall illegal, demanding that Israel halt its construction, dismantle all constructed parts, and compensate Palestinians for all losses. This march took place to affirm that popular resistance to the Apartheid Wall will continue until the Wall falls.
While buses from the governorates of Jenin and Qalqiliya, as well as those from Northwest Jerusalem, were able to reach the protest, the Occupation Forces prevented all buses traveling from Tulkarem from making it to Ar-Ram, detaining the buses at the Za’atara checkpoint in Salfit, and the Atara checkpoint in northeast Ramallah. Despite repeated attempts to pass, and the insistence of the people of Tulkarem to join in solidarity with the people of Jerusalem, they were forced in the end to return to Tulkarem after waiting hours at the Za’atara and Atara checkpoints while Occupation Forces refused to let them to pass.
The people from the Northern West Bank came to Ar-Ram to emphasize their right to Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, and to resist the Apartheid Wall that is isolating the city from the rest of the West Bank, as this is the responsibility of all Palestinians everywhere.
***image2***
Despite the oppressive measures the Occupation Forces used to prevent the demonstrators from the North from reaching Ar-Ram, many people from the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Tulkarem â in addition to others from Qalqiliya and Jenin â were able to reach Ar-Ram and participate in the demonstration that took place after the Friday prayers. Demonstrators successfully marched from Ar-Ram to Qalandiya, breaking through the barriers Occupation Forces placed in their way to Qalandiya checkpoint. Before the demonstration started, people from Qalqiliya prayed in one of Qalandiyaâs mosques, while the people from Jenin prayed in one of the mosques in Beit Hanina opposite Dahiet al Barid.