People in the West Ramallah village of Deit Qaddis went out to the fields and successfully blocked the start of works for a settler road that is planned to run through their lands. Military repression has caused tens of villagers to suffer from heavy breathing problems due to tear gas inhalation. Up to late in the afternoon, clashes have been reported in the village of Deir Qaddis between the people defending their lands and the IOF.
The protest started today after the midday prayers. Hundreds of protestors marched to the Palestinian owned confiscated land to the north west of the village where the Israeli Occupation Forces had started bulldozing to open a new settler road.
With their protest they managed to stop the work of the occupation bulldozers which were supposed to destroy over 500 donum of olive trees and wheat. Part of the land is used as grazing land which makes this land an important source of livelihood for the village. More land has been confiscated in order to expand the illegal settlement Nilin nearby.
Protesters were attacked with a tremendous number of tear gas bombs. This caused dozens of people severe breathing problems and resulted in a fire in the fields and among olive trees.
Abu-Mohammed, a farmer and one of the people who are taking part in the protest said: “What is going on today sends a clear message to the world that the Palestinian land is being stolen by the Israeli occupation through the confiscation of Palestinian owned land. How cynical is it that the same people â the Israeli military destroying our fields – have the courage to talk about peace?”
Abu-Mohammed added “The world should realize that the occupation is deceiving the International public opinion with all the talking about peace while on the ground all what they do is stealing the land and displacing the Palestinians.”
The villages which will get effected by this new settler road are: Khallit al-Deir,Khallit Malik,Khallit Sateh, al-Aqaba and al-Ardud