The reason for the demonstrations is that Israel is planning on extending the wall by the town of Umm Salamone. For those of you who don't know what the wall looks like, here is an example of the Wall in Bethlehem. It's about 20 feet high.
In 1979, a nearby settlement tried to take some of the lands from Umm Salamone. The village took the case to court, and the court ruled in favor of the village. In an attempt to keep the lands from becoming state lands in the future, the villagers planted olive trees on the previously unfarmed land. Since then, the court has overruled the 1979 decision for security purposes. However, the villages in that area have not had any problems with nearby settlements.
In May of this year, there was violence and arrests at the demonstration. Since then the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has put up a barbed wire roadblock to stop the progress of the demonstration.
The demonstration this week was not violent. About 20 people of all ages, came down from the village, and met up with 4 Israeli's from Tel Aviv and 
the 4 of us EAPPI EAs and progressed down to the barbed wire, where the soldiers were standing. At that point, everyone stopped. The demonstrators made short speaches and shouted that the Wall was Bad. The soldiers stayed on the other side of the barbed wire, watching the demonstrators. On the hill was a jeep that could have contained sharp shooters. They too were watching the activity.
the 4 of us EAPPI EAs and progressed down to the barbed wire, where the soldiers were standing. At that point, everyone stopped. The demonstrators made short speaches and shouted that the Wall was Bad. The soldiers stayed on the other side of the barbed wire, watching the demonstrators. On the hill was a jeep that could have contained sharp shooters. They too were watching the activity.
The young boys got into the act by trying to pull the barbed wire out of the way. The soldiers, standing on the barbed wire on the other side, watched the kids. To me, they seemed to have a feeling for them.
As the rain came down in BUCKETS, the demonstrators stood under the flag, trying to stay dry. They were persistant in their demonstration.This was my first experience with a demonstration. It showed the fear of the Palestinians that they will be loosing their land and their freedom to move. When the wall is put up in an area, people often must travel a distance to go what used to be "across the street". This seems to me to be inhuman, and I continue to pray for peace.
I am an Ecumenical Accompanier (EA) for the World Council of Churchs' (WCC) Ecumenical Advocacy Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). The views herein are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of the WCC. If you would like to disseminate the information contained here in, please first contact the EAPPI Communications Officer (eappi-co@jrol.com) You can also contact the US office via (www.eappi-us.org). Thank you.
