Non-violent protest stops West Bank wall
-18/3/04
Israel says it will not return to build the West Bank barrier in Badras after villagers flocked to
Non-violent protest stops West Bank wall
-18/3/04
Israel says it will not return to build the West Bank barrier in Badras after villagers flocked to the fields to block its path.
Villagers are claiming victory for a relatively non-violent form of protest in a region better known for deadly clashes and suicide attacks.
ìWe donít have rocks or weapons. We defend our land just with our bodies,î said Ahmed Hassan Awad, a Budrus Arabic teacher and activist.
Budrus is not the first West Bank town to try less violent forms of protest, activists say, but it is noteworthy because work on the barrier there has stopped since they began.
An Israeli security source said the barrierís route would be shifted west from Budrus to avoid problems, but did not say if protests had been a factor.
ìPeople were very persistent and they managed to stop the wall…It shows Palestinians there is a third way, a non-violent way,î said Mustafa Barghouti of the Palestinian National Initiative, which backs non-violent protest.
Israel says it is building the barrier the people of Budrus are protesting against to stop suicide bombers reaching cities where they have killed hundreds of Israelis.
But Palestinians fear its planned route, curving deep into the West Bank around Jewish settlements, will seal Israelís hold on land it seized in the 1967 Middle East war and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.
Children chanting ìGod is greatestî led the way at a recent protest, walking and skipping along a pot-holed road to confront Israeli soldiers. Some as young as five or six, they waved Palestinian flags while adults kept order.
The villagers say it is their protests that have stopped the barrier and believe they can be a model to others.
ìIf many villages do as we did, it will be difficult for them to continue. We succeeded many times to push them away from our land,î said Ayed Morar, head of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Budrus.
However Israelis and Palestinians alike remain skeptical that peaceful protests could supplant the more violent struggle for statehood by groups either fighting to win a state in the West bank and Gaza or to destroy Israel entirely.
In fact, militant groups show signs of gaining more sway as the rule of the Palestinian Authority – which says it opposes tactics like suicide bombings within Israel – crumbles under the pressure of internal squabbling and repeated Israeli raids.
Mahdi Abdul-Hadi, director of the Palestinian think tank Passia, said the message of non-violence was getting across, but did not have widespread support.
ìThe idea has always been there…It needs leadership. It needs mass support,î he said.
Non-violent protest stops West Bank wall
-18/3/04
Israel says it will not return to build the West Bank barrier in Badras after villagers flocked to the fields to block its path.
Villagers are claiming victory for a relatively non-violent form of protest in a region better known for deadly clashes and suicide attacks.
ìWe donít have rocks or weapons. We defend our land just with our bodies,î said Ahmed Hassan Awad, a Budrus Arabic teacher and activist.
Budrus is not the first West Bank town to try less violent forms of protest, activists say, but it is noteworthy because work on the barrier there has stopped since they began.
An Israeli security source said the barrierís route would be shifted west from Budrus to avoid problems, but did not say if protests had been a factor.
ìPeople were very persistent and they managed to stop the wall…It shows Palestinians there is a third way, a non-violent way,î said Mustafa Barghouti of the Palestinian National Initiative, which backs non-violent protest.
Israel says it is building the barrier the people of Budrus are protesting against to stop suicide bombers reaching cities where they have killed hundreds of Israelis.
But Palestinians fear its planned route, curving deep into the West Bank around Jewish settlements, will seal Israelís hold on land it seized in the 1967 Middle East war and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.
Children chanting ìGod is greatestî led the way at a recent protest, walking and skipping along a pot-holed road to confront Israeli soldiers. Some as young as five or six, they waved Palestinian flags while adults kept order.
The villagers say it is their protests that have stopped the barrier and believe they can be a model to others.
ìIf many villages do as we did, it will be difficult for them to continue. We succeeded many times to push them away from our land,î said Ayed Morar, head of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Budrus.
However Israelis and Palestinians alike remain skeptical that peaceful protests could supplant the more violent struggle for statehood by groups either fighting to win a state in the West bank and Gaza or to destroy Israel entirely.
In fact, militant groups show signs of gaining more sway as the rule of the Palestinian Authority – which says it opposes tactics like suicide bombings within Israel – crumbles under the pressure of internal squabbling and repeated Israeli raids.
Mahdi Abdul-Hadi, director of the Palestinian think tank Passia, said the message of non-violence was getting across, but did not have widespread support.
ìThe idea has always been there…It needs leadership. It needs mass support,î he said.