The village of Bidu turned into a small battlefield as Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers and Border Police in a number of areas over the resumption of work on the security fence Wednesday.
The High Court of Justice is hearing petitions over the route of the fence in near Bidu and has allowed work to go on in some areas while halting it in others.
Palestinians report that about 30 villagers were wounded and some 180 olive trees uprooted. Israeli police said that two policemen were wounded by stones thrown at them by the demonstrators and that three Palestinians were arrested.
Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmuel Ruby said that security forces responded with stun grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets after Palestinians attacked them with stones.
One Palestinian said that villagers had expected work to resume on the security fence on Wednesday. The fence's route will separate the village of about 8,000 people from their agricultural lands.
"We are farmers. This is our land and if they build this wall, it will kill us. It will change our village into a prison," said one Palestinian resident named Muhammad. "So all the farmers and all the people went to try to stop the bulldozers with their bare hands."
At about 8 a.m. an announcement was made over the mosque's loudspeaker, asking villagers to come out to protest.
About 400 people marched to the work site. They were joined by a small number of international and Israeli activists. The activists said that the security forces sprayed tear gas and threw stun grenades at the crowd.
One activist named Neal said that in some areas stones were thrown at the workers as they uprooted trees. In others, the demonstrators were peaceful.
Clashes with the soldiers occurred in a number of work sites into the afternoon, including in front of a home that security forces had initially planned to demolish.
An agreement was reached between the army and the villagers to delay demolition of the house through April 16, while the overall case of the fence in that area continues in court, said a Palestinian villager named Mansour.
Israeli television cameras showed workers cutting down olive trees and security officials beating unarmed Palestinians with batons. They also pictured Palestinians throwing stones at the workers and security officials.
The area has seen a number of violent clashes in the last month as demonstrators have tried to stop work on the security fence.
Mansour said he believes the people will not idly stand by and watch bulldozers destroy their trees. He expects the clashes to continue
