Around 800 people from all over Hebron city gathered to celebrate Land Day with a demonstration aimed at claiming back their historiccity. Challenging the Occupation forces, the people listened to speeches at the checkpoint that closes off the old city.
***image2***The popular committee against the Apartheid wall in Hebron had called on all Hebronites to gather at Ben Rushd Square in the new part of the city. From there, the crowd marched to Al Manara square chanting slogans of resistance and carrying the Palestinian flag to the by now completely ethnically cleansed old city of Hebron.
The demonstration stopped at the military checkpoint at Zawiya gate which closes off Shuhada Street and the major part of old city of Hebron. In defiance of the soldiers, speeches were made emembering the history of the Palestinian struggle and the roots of our people in this land. The Old City of Hebron might be isolated, its market destroyed, its inhabitants expelled â yet, it remains one of Palestineâs most beautiful and important historical centers. No Israeli flags or forces will ever be able to cover up that they are nothing more than occupiers.
At the end of the protest, soldiers shot teargas into the gathering to disperse the crowd and the youth promptly responded with stones, defending their right to exist in their land and their city.