Budrus marked Land Day with another of its powerful demonstrations that have long left the Occupation forces helpless in the face of the determination of the people. The gates and razor wires gave easily under the angry hands of the demonstrators.
***image2***Some 500 people from 6 villages in west Ramallah district rallied together in front of the mosque in Budrus. Budrus, Qibbya, Middya, Deir Qaddis, Shibteen and Niâlin have not only lost a major part of their land to Israeli colonization but will all be strangled by the process into one ghetto and completely sealed off except for one entrance controlled by the Occupation forces.
Shortly after prayers the demonstration started marching towards the Apartheid Wall. The crowd chanted slogans against the Occupation and its racist policies, vowing never to surrender a dunum of their land. As the people approached the gate that isolates Budrus from its land, they had to confront the Occupation forces stationed to defend the racist wall.
It was planned to hold the speeches at the gate, but clashes erupted immediately and the Occupation forces threw teargas into the crowd. The villagesâ youth immediately attacked the series of gates installed one after the other. The first and second gates fell quickly under their hands. They had to fight their way through rubber bullets and heavy clouds of tear gas to break down the third gate as well, constructed to steal their land.
The crowd dispersed and the youth attacked the fencing and razor wire of the Apartheid Wall along a length of 300 meters, tearing down extensive sections.
The crowd, however, calmed the atmosphere and this time the speeches could be delivered on the very spot where the gates normally bar the people from reaching their land. A series of greetings called upon the people of the villages not to surrender in spite of the ghettoization they are subjected to. The day had shown once more that, eventually, the wall will fall in front of the resistance of the people.
A short tree planting ceremony took place just before the Occupation forces tried to disperse the crowd, chasing the villagers back into the streets of Budrus. The village youth defended every single corner and when the army withdrew towards the Wall it was their turn to be pursued as the people stayed on their heels to ensure that the occupation forces were not able to even start closing and repairing the damage to the Apartheid Wall and its gates until after dark.
13 youth have been injured by the rubber bullets pumped into the crowds by the Occupation forces One youth from Deir Qaddis had to be taken to hospital.
At the end of the day, meetings were held to discuss how to continue the struggle against the fate the Occupation wants to impose on them. The success of this day of protest has given the people of the area new strength and determination and demonstrated to the Occupation forces that every meter of land they aim to appropriate will cost them materially and morally, not only on the ground but also in the arena of international opinion.
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