Palestine-Israel, Beit Ula, activity against the Apartheid Wall - December 3 2004

As they outflanked the soldiers and it became clear to the shabab that they could reach the work site, they began to run across the side of the hill and were not slowed down by the tear gas canisters that flew overhead- too far to do any damage https://israel.indymedia.org/usermedia/image/4/1263_beit-ula-03-12-04-reuters2.jpg https://israel.indymedia.org/feature/display/1263/index.php Today, the people of Beit Ula were able to stop the construction of the giant cage that the israeli government is constructing for them in the form of the separation barrier. For the second day in a row, the work was stopped and no injuries requiring medical treatment were suffered. The experience has left the village with a sense of power and a renewed determination to come back to resist the wall day after day.

At 11:30 300 palestinians, israelis and internationals gathered for "friday prayer" on Beit Ula's lands close to the work site. Unlike the day before, today's demonstration included shabab (youth) and young children. Like the day before, and unlike other villages, today's demonstration still did not include any women.

At the end of the [palestinian] prayer, the demonstrators divided into three groups, one headed to the soldiers and one on each side of them. It must have been obvious to the soldiers that they will not be able to stop the crowd so the bulldozers were withdrawn from the work site before the crowd got close. As they outflanked the soldiers and it became clear to the shabab that they could reach the work site, they began to run across the side of the hill and were not slowed down by the tear gas canisters that flew overhead- too far to do any damage. The other groups of demonstrators also streamed past the soldiers who were trying to catch up with the shabab and converged on the work site.

At the actual spot where the bulldozers tore into the hill the demonstrators decided to hold their ground. The organization was disciplined enough that the people were able to sit down when soldiers began to escalate the tension. As it was the day before, literally not a single stone was thrown, this time with the shabab present.
https://israel.indymedia.org/usermedia/image/6/1263_beit-ula-03-12-04-reuters.jpg Speeches were made by the deputy mayor Abu al Abed (translated by Billal Adam) and an Israeli activist called Abu Na'im. The deputy mayor demanded that the work be stopped until the court decided the case brought by the village against the wall. He then addressed the Druze soldiers who could understand his speech in arabic: "you must know that our actions are looked upon favorably by god, I am sure that in your heart you are ashamed of your actions... we do not wish to fight with you or even with the Israeli state, if you take the wall back to the green line you will not have this fight". The Israeli activist also spoke to the soldiers and when they told him that this is a closed military zone he replied that this is actually the private property of the people of Beit Ula.