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May 22nd, 2004 Israeli Peace activists march on Kissufim crossing
May 19, 2004 ARMY FIRED MISSILES AT A CIVILIAN DEMONSTRATION IN RAFAH
May 19, 2004 New bloodshed in Rafah_journal
May 19, 2004 Medical Rights Being Violated in Gaza Strip_ Physician for Human Rights
May 18th, 2004 Amnesty International Criticizes Israel By LARA SUKHTIAN
May 15th, 2004 More Home Demolitions in Gaza , 1000 More Palestinians Made Homeless
April 23rd, 2004 Urgent alert on escalating violence against Palestinians in Rafah by ISM
March 26th, 2004 Photo journal: Life in Rafah, Gaza BBC NEWS UK edition
March 25th, 2004 Israel 'fabricated' child-bomber story By Khalid Amayreh, Aljazeera
March 24th, 2004 URGENT ACTION ALERT!!: Jayyous village raided by IDF
March 19th, 2004 Year Later: Whose back is that strong? Laurie King-Irani, The Electronic Intifada,
March 17th, 2004 INTERNATIONALS HONOR RACHEL CORRIE AND ALL THE VICTIMS OF ISRAELI OCCUPATION
March 16th 2004 WOMEN'S FESTIVAL AND DEMONSTRATION IN MAS'HA Palestinian, Israeli and international women demonstrate against the Apartheid Wall in Mas'ha
March 16th,2004 A
Caterpiller factory in Shrewsbury,UK has been entered and shut
down by
protesters in memory or Rachel Corrie.
w w w . h a a r e t z d a i l y . c o m
22/05/2004
Israeli Peace activists march on Kissufim crossing
By Nir Hasson. Lili Galili, Yuval Yoaz and Tsahar Rotem, Haaretz
Correspondents, and Itim
Hundreds of people marched on
the Kissufim crossing between the Gaza Strip
and Israel on Friday to protest the Israel Defense Forces operation
in
Rafah, in which 40 Palestinians have been killed as the army
works to flush
out militants and drug smugglers in the south Gaza refugee camp.
The demonstration was supposed
to take place at the Sufa crossing, which is
closer to Rafah, but the protesters decided on Kissufim instead
after being
threatened by police at the Sufa crossing, protest organizers
said.
The peace bloc issued a statement
Friday saying, "None of us can sit at home
at a time like this. None of us can say, 'We didn't know!'"
Six people were held for questioning
during the march, three of whom were
released a short time later. Protesters blocked the road, and
vowed to
remain there until the three remaining detainees were also released.
On Thursday, about 500 people
demonstrated for the second consecutive day in
front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. The demonstration
was organized
by Peace Now and attended by members of refusnik organizations,
the Yahad
Knesset faction, the Yahad youth movement, and leftist student
groups.
Yahad chairman Yossi Beilin called
for an immediate evacuation of the Gaza
Strip, saying Prime Minister Sharon's plan to evacuate the Strip
in stages
would mean getting stuck there. An unusually large police contingent
was
present but unlike the previous day's demonstration, it passed
without
disruption.
At a hearing on a police request
to release with limitations two minors
arrested during Wednesday's demonstration, Youth Court judge
Ruth Ben-Hanoch
said: "The court must warn against using court procedures
to silence
protesters or limit their rights to express their opinions."
Judge
Ben-Hanoch had harsh words for the behavior of the police in
holding the
minors overnight at Abu Kabir lockup.
Attorney Gabi Laski will submit
a complaint to the police investigations
unit in the Justice Ministry with regard to one minor who needed
medical
care after an injury by police during the demonstration. In an
unusual move,
all attorneys for the eight people arrested during Wednesday's
demonstration
were denied access to their clients at the Yarkon region police
station,
although ambulances had to be summoned for three who were injured.
Among the six adults arrested
in Wednesday's demonstration were David
Zonshein of Courage to Refuse, and Yonatan Pollack of the anarchists'
movement, who were released yesterday. The Tel Aviv Magistrate's
Court
refused a police request to limit their approach to within a
one-kilometer
radius of the demonstration area, and all six returned to demonstrate
yesterday.
Yonatan Shapira, among the signatories
to the pilots' refusnik letter, and
his brother Zohar, who signed the Sayeret Matkal refusniks' letter,
said
that police officers threatened to kill them if they did not
let go of the
four-meter-long black flag they held during the demonstration.
Zami Ben-Horin, of Kibbutz Ga'ash
on the coastal plain, started a protest
march Thursday from Rabin Square in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Ben-Horin,
who is
calling for an Israeli evacuation from the Gaza Strip, is accompanied
by his
wife Sigal, his son Gal, age 14, and his daughter Orian, age
12. Ben-Horin,
who described himself as "not one who demonstrates in the
squares" said the
deaths of the 12 soldiers in the Gaza Strip last week brought
him out of his
apathy.
Yoel Marchuk of the Kibbutz Movement,
who provided logistical support for
the march of social activist Vicki Knafo, is also assisting Ben-Horin,
who
said that he didn't believe that the failure of Knafo's march
meant that his
would also fail.
"Everyone marches in his
own niche," he said. Marchuk said he doubted
Ben-Horin's march would become a mass movement. "When the
soldiers are
fighting, it's hard to get people out for a struggle like this,"
he
explained.
INTERNATIONAL
SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
For Immediate Release
ARMY FIRED MISSILES AT A CIVILIAN
DEMONSTRATION IN RAFAH
13 people, mostly youths are reported killed, more than 60 injured
[Rafah, Gaza Strip] Israeli army
helicopter gunships and tanks
opened fire on a nonviolent civilian demonstration in Rafah early
this afternoon. 13 Palestinian are repored killed, including
2
children, and 60 injured.
Approximately 3.000 Palestinian
civilians from Rafah, mostly youths,
were peacefully demonstrating to protest the recent military
operation in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. Eyewitnesses
reported that 4 missiles were fired from helicopter gunships
and
tanks fired shells at the crowd of unarmed civilians.
Hospitals are overflowed and
cannot handle the situation, chief
hospital spokesperson said.
This recent attack raised the
previous death toll to 37 people in
one of the bloodiest military operation since the beginning of
the
second Intifada.
For more information, please
contact:
Mohammed Ali (English and Arabic): 972-59 841672
Adwan (English and Arabic): 972-59 304628
Dr. Ali Musa (Director of Rafah's Hospital): +972-8-2132-616
Sa'id Zoroub (Mayor of Rafah): +972-59-408-391 or +972-8-21-37-951
(Office)
Ali Barhoum (Rafah Municipality): +972-59-815-100 or +972-8-21-37-
951 (Office)
Dr. Youssef Musa (Director UNRWA Clinic in Gaza): +972-59-410-490
ISM Media Office: +972-2.277.4602
INTERNATIONAL
SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
Wednesday,May 19, 2004
bloodshed in Rafah, by Adwan
[Tel Es-Sultan, Gaza Strip] Death
has become something usual in
Rafah. The invasion would not be successful if the occupation
army
didn't kill dozens of Palestinians. At least 20 Palestinians
were
killed until now and more than 60 were injured in 12 hours. Last
week 16 were killed during the invasion to Block O. While everyone
was expecting the operation to come from block O or Yebna, the
occupation forces invaded Tel Sultan in the west of Rafah.
Tel Es-Sultan is the area located
between the illegal settlements
bloc Gush Katif and Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza strip.
In
the past three years, clashes or invasions in Tel Es-Sultan have
hardly been reported. Its location makes it an easy area to invade
and to cut off from the rest of Rafah.
Why did the army invade Tel Es-Sultan
when it has no border with
Egypt and therefore could not hide any tunnels? The people of
Tel Es-
Sultan did not expect to be so heavily targeted from the occupation
forces. Many people here think that the Israeli army leadership
meant to invade Tel Es-Sultan in order for the soldiers to regain
self-confidence after the several deadly attacks against the
army in
Gaza over the last few days.
The operation started after midnight
as usual. The tanks cut all the
ways which lead to Tel Es-Sultan and soldiers took positions
on the
roofs of many houses in the area, shooting at anyone who tried
to
get out of his house or to open his window. Almost all the martyrs
died because they were wounded and bleeding in the streets for
hours
without any assistance. Ambulances were not allowed to reach
injured
people for 5 hours during the invasion and 4 ambulances were
stuck
with their teams and injured patients during this five hours.
20 people are reported killed,
including two children. Ahmed
Mughayer and his sister Asma were on the roof of their house
when
both got shot. Their father asked for help through the local
radio
as his children were severely bleeding from their wounds after
being
brought back into the house. He watched his children dying in
front
of his eyes without any chance to help them. They died, one after
the other, in front of all the family members. Six of the martyrs
who died in the streets were laying there for hours before the
military allow the ambulances to take them.
Who knows? Maybe these two kids were fighters
==================================================================
Release:
Medical Rights Being Violated in Gaza Strip
Physician for Human Rights
13:15, 18 May 2004
For immediate release
Medical Rights Being Violated in Gaza Strip
Since the early morning Physicians
for Human Rights-Israel has
received complaints concerning obstruction of medical teams from
aiding the wounded in Rafah Refugee Camp.
The road from Rafah to Khan Younis
has been closed by the Israeli
army. Therefore, as of now, 12wounded persons cannot be evacuated
to
the European Hospital- an advanced medical center. This leaves
Yousef Al Najar Hospital which does not have an intensive
care
unit and is lacking needed equipment to deal alone with
all the
people and the enormous load.
Two ambulances were stuck in
Tel Sultan neighborhood from the early
morning, since the Israeli army did not allow them to reach 8
wounded and 3 dead people; it also did not allow them to return
to
the hospital. Only at about 13:00 were they released and were
allowed to begin to search for the dead and wounded. As of now,
the
wounded have yet to be evacuated. Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
is also investigating complaints that two ambulances were fired
upon
by the Israeli army in the same area.
Two ambulances that were in Khan
Younis in the early morning are
stuck at the checkpoint unable to return to the hospital.
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
turned to the media, Members of
Knesset, and is considering taking legal action in order to stop
the
attack and allow for normal medical activity. Physicians for
Human
Rights-Israel condemns any attack on medical vehicles, institutions
or staff, and calls on all sides to respect all relevant
International Humanitarian Law.
Physicians for continues to be
in contact with medical and human
rights organizations in the Gaza Strip and is constantly receiving
updates and additional information.
For more details please contact:
Hadas Ziv, Director: Occupied
Territories Project- +972-54-6623232
Shabtai Gold, Public Outreach- +972-54-4860630
================================================================
For updates, journal and photos of the situation in Rafah, please
go
to:
For donations to help Palestinian
refugees in Rafah, please go to:
www.al-awda.org/urgentrafahappeal
END
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
www.palsolidarity.org
Amnesty International Criticizes Israel
Tuesday May 18, 2004 11:01 AM
By LARA SUKHTIAN
Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel is guilty
of war crimes in its destruction of
thousands of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
the human
rights group Amnesty International charged in a report Tuesday.
Release of the report coincided
with an Israeli operation in the Rafah
refugee camp on the Israel-Egypt border, where Israel was poised
to knock
down more houses to widen a buffer zone in its battle against
weapons-smuggling tunnels.
The report said the demolition
and destruction are ``grave breaches of the
Fourth Geneva Convention and are war crimes,'' calling on Israel
to halt the
practices immediately. Amnesty also said the house demolitions
are linked to
Israeli intentions to take over West Bank and Gaza land.
According to the report, Israel
has destroyed more than 3,000 Palestinian
homes, most of them in the Gaza Strip, since Palestinian Israeli
fighting
broke out more than three years ago. The report also found that
10 percent
of Gaza's agricultural land has been destroyed and more than
226,000 trees
uprooted there in 2002 and 2003.
Israeli officials were not immediately
available for comment but have stated
in the past that house demolitions are necessary for security
reasons. The
Israeli army says that Palestinian militants often use Palestinian
homes and
agricultural land as cover to launch attacks. Also, they have
discovered
tunnel entrances under Rafah structures.
Amnesty countered that the destruction
of homes, land and other property in
the Palestinian territories is disproportionate to Israel's security
needs.
Amnesty also accused Israel of
collective punishment, demolishing homes and
property of Palestinians who are not involved, even according
to Israel, in
attacks against Israel.
``This is the case with the majority
of land and home destruction,'' said
Donatella Rovera, from the Middle East program of the London-based
human
rights group and a co-author of the report.
Israel's practice of blowing
up the homes of the families of suicide bombers
is one form of punishment Amnesty criticized in the report. It
said that
since September 2000, when the current conflict erupted, there
have been at
least 600 such cases.
Along with calling on Israel
to stop demolitions, the 65-page report also
said Palestinian authorities should take ``all possible measures''
to stop
attacks against Israelis and to keep militants from initiating
armed confrontations from civilian areas.
More Home Demolitions in Gaza , 1000 More Palestinians Made Homeless
The United Nations agency in
charge of Palestinian refugees describes the
situation in Rafah as a "humanitarian catastrophe.â¤*
One can only imagine
how it must feel for a child to experience the fear and uncertainty
that
comes with the ongoing home demolitions and escalating violence.
Members of KinderPAL, our subsidiary
office in Gaza, are currently
conducting a needs assessment for the children in Rafah. This
comes only a
few days after addressing the emergency needs of the children
in the Gaza
neighborhood of Al-Zaytoun, which recently endured two days of
unprecedented incursions.
In consultation with staff from
the International Committee for the Red
Cross and the director of Al Shifa Hospital, KinderPAL delivered
urgently
needed diapers, hygiene products, and hospital gowns for the
children who
were injured and hospitalized.
Staff and volunteers also visited
the children, many of whom welcomed a
smiling face and the knowledge that others are concerned with
their
well-being.
â¤I am deeply disturbed
about the egregious acts being committed while the
world remains silent,â¤* said Dr. Riad Abdelkarim,
Chairman of KinderUSA. â¤We
must all work towards minimizing the devastating effects this
catastrophic
emergency is having on the children.â¤*
Since September 2000, over 18,000
homes have been demolished in Gaza, with
12,000 in Rafah alone. UNRWA reports that since Wednesday night,
â¤100
homesâ¤* have been demolished, rendering another
â¤1000â¤* children, women, and
men homeless.
We are certainly at a time in
history where responsible leadership can no
longer be a silent witness to the systematic destruction of homes,
community, and daily life.
KinderUSA is appealing to all
of our generous donors to contribute to the
emergency relief fund in order to address this ongoing crisis.
$100 will
meet the family needs of a household (food, blankets, etc.),
but donations
of any amount are encouraged.
Make a secure online donation
at www.kinderusa.org or call 888.451.8908
today.
KinderUSA
P.O. Box 224846
Dallas, TX 75222-9785
KinderUSA is a 501 ( c ) 3 tax-exempt
organization.
ISM urgent alert on escalating violence against Palestinians in Rafah
ALERT! Just received from Mohammed in Rafah:
Rafah Refugee Camp is under incursion
at these moments by Apaches planes and over
25 bulldozers and tanks, many houses were demolished.
The first estimation 37 families
became homeless up till these monuments (More
later on) www.rafahtoday.org
============
Friends,
This is an alert to give you
all a heads up about the developing situation in
Palestine. Activists throughout the West Bank and Gaza have reported
an increase
in Israeli military activity since the Bush-Sharon summit in
Washington and the
situation seems ready to escalate even further. In recent days,
the following
developments have occurred:
- 14 Palestinians have been killed
in the Gaza strip town of Beit Lahiya, 9 of
these were unarmed civilians,
- In Nablus, there's been a heavy military buildup in Mesakin
il-Shabiya including
hummers and Apaches, continued/regular nightly operations in
the Old City and the
Balata Refugee Camp and an increasing tendency to stage large
operations in
Nablus during the day,
- Foreign journalists have been specifically barred from entering
Nablus by the
Israeli Occupation Forces citing spurious security concerns (included
below);
these have been roundly denied by the Palestinian factions in
the city through
official publications,
- Foreign nationals are being told to evacuate Nablus specifically
and a full
closure is being imposed,
- A man was shot near Ramallah, three were killed in Tulkarem
and another
Palestinian was shot near Hebron in recent days; also 2 Palestinians
where killed
during non-violent anti-wall demos in the Jerusalem/Ramallah
area,
- Ramallah seems to be under some type of closure and Arafat
has just ejected 21
members of the Kitayeb Shuhada Al-Aqsa from the Muqata in the
city; it also seems
that a similar order about foreigners is being applied to Ramallah
as it is to
Nablus (but this has still not been confirmed)
In short the situation on the
ground seems to be escalating. Evidently Sharon
received some type of 'green-light' for a renewed mopping up
operation in
Washington, and is pressing ahead with plans to impose his vision
on the region.
Whether or not the current military
activities will escalate to the level of April
2002 or not, we have yet to see, but the closure on the territories
is in effect
and it is possible that Sharon will seek to score some major
'victories' i.e.
killing Palestinians in order to parade 'dead terrorists' in
front of the Israeli
media - before ordering a pull out along the lines of his unilateral
annexationist
scheme. The situation is particularly dire in Nablus where the
Israeli military
hold is particularly tight and may be a target for a large scale
incursion given
the presence of resistance forces. IT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE
THAT PALESTINIAN
SOLIDARITY ACTIVISM BE STEPPED UP AT THIS CRITICAL JUNCTURE.
PLEASE FORWARD THIS
TO ALL YOUR LISTS.
If nothing happens - and we hope it doesn't - then things will
continue along the
lines of the horrendous 'normalcy' that prevails here. Nonetheless,
we need to be
proactive in order to begin planning for a potential Israeli
military assault and
also to highlight the fact that the Israeli military is clamping
down on the
territories. Occupations and sit-ins and other non-violent direct
action methods
of resistance targeting US and Israeli interests should be considered
to underline
the global opposition to the Washington Declaration (denying
the Right of Return
and abrogating the international consensus on full-Israeli withdrawal
from the
territories occupied in 1967).
The possibility that a 'mega
suicide attack' may take place in the coming days or
weeks should be taken into consideration as well in the wake
of Israel's
assassination of top Hamas leaders in the past few weeks. The
strikes are part of
a long-standing Israeli pattern of escalating hostilities during
Palestinian
pushes for peace, and come on the heels of Hamas' acceptance
of a two-state
solution to the conflict. An abhorrent suicide attack could be
used as a pretext
for launching a widescale military assault (which is already
evidently being
planned by the Israeli military). We need to act now to roll-back
Sharon and
Bush's attacks on the self-determination struggles of the peoples
in the Middle
East
Your solidarity is critical at this juncture!
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
URGENT ACTION ALERT!!: Jayyous village raided by IDF. Villagers beaten and arrested. TAKE ACTION!
PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY and MAKE A PHONE CALL PLEASE
Call the DCO (District Coordinating Office)
At 2 am Wednesday morning as
many as 50- 60 Israeli soldiers entered the
West Bank village of Jayyous, where they raided homes, hit villagers
with
their weapons and arrested six men. Witnesses reported there
were more
than 50-60 soldiers in the village. They ransacked the homes
of six
families and stole all of the family members' cell phones, and
in one
case, papers and photographs. A family member of one of the arrested
men
said, "They came in and treated us like animals." The
Israeli soldiers
claimed they were "looking for weapons." NONE WERE
FOUND.
At least 40 soldiers entered
the Salim home. Family members were
blindfolded and handcuffed. This home was searched three times
by
different groups of soldiers. One of the family members was hit
with the
end of an M16 rifle held by an IOF member and he was forced and
held to
the ground for inquiring as to why they had entered his home.
They then
arrested the eldest brother, Haitham Saleem, after three and
a half
hours, taking their cell phones and that of a visiting cousin
in the home.
Haitham is a 34 year old shopkeeper who is not involved in any
political
activity. He has a heart condition and it is vital that he take
medication.
After entering this home, the
soldiers went to the house directly next to
the Salim family home, ransacking the home and forcing all the
women and
children out into the streets at 2:30 AM. No one was arrested
from this
home.
The soldiers (approximately 16)
then went to the home of Wajdi Musleh.
After breaking in and tearing through the house, the soldiers
forced all
of the women and children into one room, and pulled aside an
elder in his
70's blindfolding and handcuffing him. They then forced him to
kneel and
hit him. At noe time did the IOF ever explain why they were coming
into
the homes. The parents bed was destroyed in this process.
They then forced 21 year old Wajdi into the courtyard and arrested
him.
Another group of soldiers then
went to the home of Adam and Ziad Harami.
They used some sort of bomb to open the front door of the home
of Adam and
Ziad Harami. After ransacking this home, they told the whole
family, "If
you do not give us all of your phones we will damage your whole
house."
One of the doors leading into a room was broken open and is not
inoperarable. They arrested Adam Harami, a 20 year old student
at Al Najah
University in Nablus and Ziad Harami, a 25 year old barber from
the
vilalge of Jayyous.
The soldiers then tore through
the homes of Shadi Towfiq Mahmoud Saleem
and Abdel Rahim, damaging many items in the homes. They arrested
Shadi, a
21 year old computer student at the Arab American University
in Jenin.
The soldiers damaged the front
door when entering the home of Ahmed
Mohammed Towfiq Yousef Khaled. They 'searched' the home and stole
pictures of the family. They arrested Ahmed, a 21 year old Economics
student at Al Najah University in Nablus.
Please call the DCO and demand the IMMEDIATE release of these men.
Israeli DCO: +972.9.775. 9217
Palestinian DCO: +972.9. 294.2755
(Within 48 hours we will know
where these men have been taken....and will
follow with additional phone numbers)
A list of the names and ID numbers of the arrested are below:
Haitham Gehad Nimir Saleem -
996620548
Wajdi Hussein Homid Musleh - 907482533
Adam Ghassan Ahmed Harami - 907482574
Ziad Ghassan Ahmed Harami - 904190758
Shadi Towfiq Mahmoud Saleem - 949564991
Ahmed Mohammed Towfiq Yousef Khaled - 907482491
When you call, tell them WHERE
you are calling from. We need to show them
that THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING and they can not get away with
this! For
any questions, please contact Tracie De Angelis +972.66.416.132
or
+972.65.203.543
INTERNATIONAL
SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
Wed March 17, 2004
For Immediate Release
INTERNATIONALS HONOR RACHEL CORRIE AND ALL THE VICTIMS OF ISRAELI OCCUPATION
On the one-year anniversary of
the killing of 23-year old
American ISM activist Rachel Corrie, twenty international activists
from
ISM and CPT remembered their friend by performing a 'die-in'
at the
Erez checkpoint to protest the atrocities of the Israeli Occupation.
At the beginning of the action,
two activists and friends of
Rachel read personal reflections written by Rachel during her
time in
Rafah and also spoke about the continuing destruction of Gaza.
The activists carried signs and
wore T-shirts representing the
many casualities of the Israeli Occupation. Representations of
the
power of Israel, the United States, and the Occupation
symbolically 'killed' all the other participants. The victims
included peace and justice, nonviolence, Palestinian homes,
educational rights, water rights, farming, and innocent civiliansamong
others.
These victims lay dead in 'blood'
until they were given a flower
to place on a message written to Rachel which they left behind
with
their 'blood-stained' shirts.
Rachel Corrie was killed on March
16, 2003 by an Israeli
bulldozer while preventing an illegal home demolition in Rafah.
Her life
and spirit continue to inspire individuals to speak out against
the
injustices of the Israeli Occupation.
To see photos of the "die-in",
please go to:
www.palsolidarity.org/pictures/PHOTOS_17Mar04_09_10_54GazaISM.htm
=================================================================
More articles concerning Rachel
Corrie memorial day will be
available on the palsolidarity website soon. Please check in
the
next few days on www.palsolidarity.org
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
March 16th 2004
For Immediate Release
WOMEN'S FESTIVAL AND DEMONSTRATION
IN MAS'HA
Palestinian, Israeli and international women demonstrate against
the
Apartheid Wall in Mas'ha
[Mas'ha, SALFIT] On Saturday, March 20th, 2004, the Palestinian
Women for Life group from Salfit region, West Bank, Occupied
Palestine, will hold a Women's festival and demonstration against
the Apartheid Wall in Mas'ha village from 1pm onwards. Palestinian
and Israeli women as well as Internationals will converge on
Mas'ha
village to attend this event.
A mass rally including songs and poetry will take place before
the
march against the Apartheid Wall. The Sanabel Theatre group from
Jerusalem and local children will sing the latest popular chants
and
songs used by Palestinians all over the West Bank in daily
demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall.
The Salfit Women for Life have vowed to be in the frontline
of the
struggle with the Azzawiye, Rafat and Deir Ballut villages, as
the
Budrus women and girls have done for the last five months. These
three villages stand to lose thousands of dunums of land. Deir
Ballut village will be left with only 750 out of 100 000 dunums
of
land, and 22 houses will be isolated on "the other side"
of the
wall. The settlements of Badue'l and Ale Zahav plan on building
an
additional 550 housing units on the village's lands. In Azzawiye,
the Wall will isolate some 18,000 dunums of the village's lands.
All over the world on March 20th 2004, millions of people
will
protest the anniversary of the American invasion and occupation
of
Iraq. Last year's coordinated worldwide demonstration against
the
invasion saw over five million people taking to the streets and
was
the largest demonstration in the history of the world.
Although Israeli soldiers declared Mas'ha village a closed
military
zone during the last demonstration on 21st February 2004, hundreds
of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals managed to attend
the
demonstration. Tomorrow, the Salfit Women for Life demonstration
will be supported by women from 23 villages, seven different
countries, 1948 Palestinians, and hundreds of Israeli women.
For more information, please contact:
Um Fadi (English/Arabic): +972.9.251.6634
IWPS: +972.9.251.6644
ISM Media Office:+972.22.77.4602
END