***image2***Dozens of farmers from Deir Istya village north of Salfit destroyed 2 iron gates belonging to the Israeli Nature Protection Society. They were put across a farm road last Tuesday north of the village annexing 1,500 dunums of agricultural land. Angered by this the farmers gathered on their land to destroy the gates. No soldiers appeared. Palestinian farmers refuse to tolerate the annexation and destruction of their land, and continue to actively resist such Occupation violence.
A few months ago high-voltage electricity pylons were also erected on the land of Deir Istya. These pylons run from south of Haris to Immanuel settlement north of Deir Istya. 16 olive roots were uprooted from these villages for the 4km stretch of pylons.
***image3***At the Friday demo in Bilâin village, west of Ramallah, Occupying Forces once again wheeled out their latest instrument of oppression â a tank spraying a blue chemical solution at high pressure. As protesters reached the tank on the edge of the village soldiers declared the area a Closed Military Zone and proceeded to spray them. After pushing the demonstrators back with their shields the Zionist invaders started testing out some other weapons. Some protesters were shot with bean-bag-like bullets whilst others reported being hit with sponge-like bullets, which pierce needles into the skin and suck out blood. People were also hit with the more traditional rubber bullets but no serious injuries were reported. Tear gas and sound bombs were also used to disperse the demonstrators.
Meanwhile at the weekly demo at Al Khadr, west of Bethlehem, Occupying Forces prevented demonstrating villagers reaching the site of the Wall, which is to annex 90% of their land. Some protesters separated from the main group and went to a razor wire fence on an embankment overlooking route 60. They removed metal stakes securing the barrier and some 150m of the wire, which was rolled down the hill. The activists were able to do this before soldiers arrived and avoided arrest. The razor wire is used in conjunction with a series of road blocks and checkpoints to steal land from Palestinian communities for the neighbouring Israeli settler-colonies. The barriers and road blocks bisect Palestinian communities and create a âbufferâ zone for the future construction of the Israeli Apartheid Wall. In contrast to the northern area of the West Bank where the Apartheid Wall is nearly completed, there is ongoing construction in the south that has been continually met with Palestinian resistance. Such resistance will continue at Al Khadr and other places along the planned route of the Wall.
***image4***