On Friday August 6th, 2010, the weekly protest in the village of al-Maâsara (Bethlehem District) was launched on the anniversary of the nuclear bombs dropped by the United States on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
The demonstrators marched from the Zawahra school towards the area of the Wall, but the Occupation Forces who closed the entrance of the village prevented the demonstrators from passing and repressed the protestorsâ efforts to stage a sit-in at the entrance of the village.
The coordinator of the Grassroots Campaign against the Apartheid Wall and settlements for the village of al-Maâsara, Mohammed Brejieh, delivered a speech in which he discussed the terrorism practiced by the US when it dropped nuclear bombs on innocent people, killing half a million Japanese. He discussed US crimes in Iraq and stressed that the US is supporting the Occupation and enables Israelâs crimes through the USâs unrelenting veto of every United Nationâs resolution condemning Israeli Occupation or against any decision in support of the Palestinian cause.
Moreover, the village of Irtas (Bethlehem District) also launched a march against the Wall with the involvement of international solidarity activists. The Media Spokesman for the Popular Committee in Bethlehem, Awad Abu Sway, delivered a speech condemning Israelâs constant seizure of Palestinian land, looted for the benefit of settlements. He remarked that the village of Irtas has been significantly affected by the Apartheid Wall and that the village has recently joined the villages in their weekly demonstrations against the Wall and settlements.