(Qalqilya) Assisted by activists from the International Solidarity Movement,Palestinian farmers from the villages of Zeta and Atil todaybulldozed 8 roadblocks erected around the foundations of the newApartheid Wall which separates them from their farmland. Theremoval of the roadblocks enabled more than 50 farmers to harvesttheir crops for the first time in weeks.
Construction of the new wall known as the Security Fence, but dubbedthe ” Apartheid Wall ” by Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups,began earlier this year in the northern West Bank. Instead offollowing the ” green line ” , the official border between thePalestinian territories and Israel, the wall will run insidePalestinian territory effectively annexing a further 10% of the WestBank. The 8m high concrete wall, which will be some 350km in lengthwhen complete, will leave whole cities such as Qalqylia cut off fromthe rest of the West Bank and leave villages such as Zeta withoutthe farmland upon which their existence depends. Approximately 900of Zeta’s 2000 dunnums (1 dunnum=1000m2) of land will be destroyed orisolated by the wall.
This is a double blow to the villagers of Zeta. In 1948, the newlyformed Israeli state took their land by force. Farmers were thenforced to purchase new land from a neighbouring village. Now thatland is effectively being annexed by the Israeli government,leaving villagers once more destitute. The land around Zeta is someof the most fertile in the West Bank. Around 60% of the fruit andvegetables consumed in the West Bank are produced in the greenhousesand fruit groves of the Tulkarem/Qalqilya area.
An ISM spokesperson said ” Israel’s Apartheid Wall is yet anotherdevice to camouflage the theft of yet more Palestinian land andleave Palestinians to ” live like dogs ” in Israeli general MosheDayan’s famous phrase. Today’s action shows what can be done byPalestinians with limited international support. But without majorand sustained international pressure, Palestinians such as thevillagers of Zeta will once more become the victims of Israel’scriminal state. “
Tomorrow activists will attempt to keep open the roads unblocked intoday’s action enabling more farmers to reach their lands.
The international activists involved in today’s action were from the UK,Sweden and the US.
For more information, please contact:
Chris Dunham +972 67657262