The first week of March 2010 was the start of a nonviolence direct action initiative in Beit Jala. These actions are in response to construction of a new section of the Separation Wall in Beit Jala. This new section of the illegal wall will be taking lands from thirty-five families and taking 280.9 dunums in the western section of the city. Many families have already had their olive trees uprooted, sewage systems damaged, and personal property, including several privacy walls and one playground, destroyed.The direct action took place in the “Al Khaleh” area of Beit Jala, where the road that leads to the Cremisan Monastery. Holy Land Trust, along with International Solidarity movement (ISM) and the Bethlehem Popular Committee Against The Wall and Settlements mobilized a group of Palestinians, internationals and Israeli activists. The aim of this action was to stop the uprooting of the olive trees and be physically present at those lands under threat from the Israeli occupation forces. The first activity took place early in the morning of March 3rd, where dozens of Israeli soldiers and security officers started pushing and dragging the activists away from the demonstration, mistreating and arresting the demonstrators in the process. On March 4th, a group of activists were again mobilized to arrive in the early morning hours to protect the remaining olive trees. Some activists chained themselves to ancient trees marked for removal, while others formed into small groups for their own safety. As soldiers and police officers gathered on the scene, activists chanted slogans against both the Separation Wall and the Israeli occupation, and also replanted uprooted trees. After a few hours, the activists received confirmation that a work-stop-order had in fact been obtained and that no trees would be uprooted that day.
On March 6th, 2010, several activists met Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Beit Jala, who expressed support for the popular struggle against further land theft, and planted more uprooted trees on the razed land.
On March 7th, 2010, a group of 200 protestors gathered at the Orthodox Club in Beit Jala and marched through the threatened lands towards near Road 60, a well-known Isareli bypass route that has torn through the Bethlehem District, chanting slogans, waving the Palestinian flag and holding banners inscribed with such statements as This is not security. This is Land Theft. The activists were prevented from planting olive tree seedlings as clashes erupted between protestors and soldiers, who fired tear gas and stun grenades at the crowd. Several activists and residents suffered tear gas inhalation and a member of the Popular Committee was temporarily detained. Later, soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving three journalists and a young Palestinian hurt. Nonetheless, the activists sat down in defiance and chanted songs against the Occupation.
On March 1th, 2010, after the appeal is being affected for stopping the work until this moment in Beit Jala , demonstrators and supporters helped epair the yard of the Ghanem Family, replanting the trees that were uprooted and returning the children’s swings that were took out of the yard, and putting them back in their place.
Attempt to Legalize Land Theft Thwarted
Between March 2nd and March 3rd, Israeli bulldozers uprooted 70 olive trees overall, rapidly creating “facts on the ground” before lawyers could challenge the most recent barrage of confusing orders designed to “legalize” the ongoing land theft under Israeli law: Israeli authorities base this newest act of land theft on a confiscation order from December 2006, which would have turned the lands in question into “state land”. However, the confiscation order had expired in December 2008, and a new order from February 2010 attempted to retroactively validate it. Challenging the legality of the current confiscation in front of the Israeli Civil Administration and then in front of the Supreme Court, the legal representative of the Beit Jala municipality, obtained a stop-work order on March 4th, granting the municipality seven days to appeal.
While there has been some success in halting the attempts of the Israeli occupational forces to steal further parcels of land, it is clear that this most recent struggle for the future of the Bethlehem district and the West Bank as part of a sustainable Palestinian state is only beginning.
To see videos :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR7TWzMxEUM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uss76bDKimw&feature=related
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=105590419462516
For more photos :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/activestills/sets/72157623571453356/
http://www.demotix.com/news/267265/anti-wall-protests-continue-beit-jala
Read more here International Middele East Media Centre
and here Stop the Wall
Source: Holy Land Trust
