In addition to direct action against the wall and its building demonstrations with with local Palestinians and Israel extreme radicals were carried this Saturday. Few of the initiative and about 50 other Israelis and internationalists converged with locals to a big demonstration at a road block near Dir-Balut. Few hundreds from the main cities who responded to the Call for action by the Anarchists Against The Wall - WITH OUR BODIES AND YELLS WE WILL BLOCK THE WALL! http://www.ainfos.ca/04/jan/ainfos00014.html converged in Cfar Kasem village. Around noon on the way to join the demo in Dir-Balut - few hundreds meters from the green line separating Israel and the occupied territories, the police blocked our way.
We got down from the busses ad blocked the road which is a main artery to the central part of Israeli settlements in the occupied zone. After the water cannon failed to affect us the police started to arrest people we did not hold strong enough.
After they arrested 28 activists and we still did not give in, the police cleaned a narrow path in the road for cars by dragging people to the sides. And there was a stand still for a while.
As power relation prevented us from blocking completely the road and as political consideration prevented police from arresting more of us or using tear gas, the police initiated negotiation with two lawyers of our contingent.
It took about two hours to reach agreement and decision it by vote among our people. At the end the majority accepted the police commitment to release all 28 people after 2 hours of interrogations. As not to let the police renegade on the agreement, we regrouped back to Cfar Kasem village, waiting to the release of the arrested.
The police tried to renegade and do hold for deportation three internationalist who were among the arrest's. But, solidarity of the other 25 and the threat of our blocking other roads made them think again.
With two hours delay all detainees were released and we went home exhausted but satisfied... as the media coverage and the constant communication with the ongoing demo was as if we were there in our bodies.
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Anothe take on the initiative: today's events in Budrus and Deir Ballut 03/01/04
Last night in Budrus, soldiers invaded the village once again and arrested the co-ordinator of the Popular Committee against the Apartheid Wall, Na'eem Morar in his house. This followed the arrests of four young boys the day before, also captured out of their homes. In the past month, 8 Palestinians have been arrested in this village for holding peaceful demonstrations against the Wall (as well as 4 Israeli activists, 3 Internationals and one Swedish MP). The situation is very bad in Budrus. The bulldozers start working again tomorrow morning and the village intends to try to block them with their bodies once again. This will be the fifth day of direct action against the Israeli Occupation Forces.
Each day the IOF steps up the level of barbarism against the village. The first day the soldiers were forced to retreat after the people did not back down in the face of teargas and rubber bullets. The second day they beat people very badly with sticks and shot many with rubber bullets (45 taken to hospital). The village continued with the peaceful action, breaking curfew every day. The days that followed saw the soldiers gassing TV camerapeople, shooting rubber bullets at close range directly into peoples's chests and heads/faces, including at internationals, and shooting while Israeli TV was watching.
They chased after shebab in the village and fired live shots at them and occupied 2 houses, beating up the families. And the arrests too. Massive amounts of violence from the soldiers are feared tomorrow and the rest of the days this week since this village is totally determined to stop the wall - and they have delayed the bulldozing of their olive trees for more than 2 months now.
ISM will stay there tonight but we need people for tomorrow nite, if anyone can sleep there please call 052 598264 or 09 2516644, especially Israeli activists (and can someone please bring the "don't shoot" banner). There are many houses for you to sleep in. If anyone wants to come to Kate's deportation hearing tomorrow (she was arrested in Budrus this week), call .
Today, 300 Israelis on their way to the direct action at Deir Ballut checkpoint were stopped on the settler highway. The activists got out of the buses and started to block off the highway by sitting on it. Soldiers fired water cannons at them but could not do too much damage to them since there was a row of settler cars backed up behind them. They then arrested 28 activists and now the others are waiting for them to get released.
Meanwhile, about 400 Palestinians, Internationals and Israelis held a demonstration in Deir Ballut. The crowd marched towards the checkpoint carrying a giant banner in Hebrew which read "Don't shoot" and other placards against Apartheid Israel and the zionist occupation. There was a speech about the twins who died at the checkpoint two weeks ago after their mother was forced by the soldiers to give birth on the side of the road at 2am. It was well covered by many TV channels. Some people climbed on the checkpoint blocks waving Palestinian flags and chanting. The rest of the crowd were sitting down in the road and singing freedom songs. After a lot of different speeches, everyone went back to the village feeling happy.
"Ya Sharon, ya majnoon Lesh ibtikla a zatoon"
TRANSLATION: Sharon, you crazy bastard why are you destroying our olive trees?
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