Umm Salumona, Bethlehem declared a Military Zone during Apartheid Wall demonstration

First published on ISM website
Co-written by Nidal, ISM

On Friday August 24 at 12:00pm around 40 Palestinians and 40 internationals gathered in Umm Salumona, region of south Bethlehem, to protest the building of the apartheid wall. The village had been declared a military zone by the IOF thus preventing anyone who didn’t live there from entering by road. However, this did not make it illegal to be present within the village because a map of the declared closed area was not presented by soldiers at the checkpoint. As a result of this restriction the internationals and Palestinians who did not live in the village were forced to enter through grounds owned by a Palestinian from the area.

At the beginning of the demonstration the Palestinian community gathered for prayer on part of the site that has been destroyed for the building of the annexation wall. Following prayer a local religious leader called for internationals and Palestinians alike to raise their hands in supplication for the reclamation of land which is being stolen from the local landowners by the occupation forces.

In contrast to previous occasions the protestors did not march uphill towards the line of awaiting soldiers, whose numbers had been substantially reinforced compared to last week, blocking the route to the wall of separation. Instead the non-violent demonstrators marched together past local houses along the road used by bulldozers and other construction vehicles chanting slogans against the occupation. They proceeded along the main road where one Palestinian put an olive tree branch in between the aerial bracket and door of an IOF armoured jeep, which resulted in two sound grenades being released into the crowd of demonstrators by soldiers inside.

The first sound bomb struck a humanitarian worker on the leg but thankfully caused no injury. The second, however, caused an middle aged man to collapse to the ground where he remained for a minute until he regained his composure and was able to rejoin the march with the assistance of his colleagues.

The march ended at the municipality building of Walaja, which will be demolished within several weeks. This is due to it being built too close to the annexation wall, according to Israeli occupation authorities. The non-violent resistance organisers in Umm Salumona continue to appeal for Palestinians, internationals and Israelis to support their efforts in opposing the as of yet unconstructed section of the apartheid wall in their region. Support for their regular Friday demonstrations would be greatly appreciated.

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