Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in Um Salamuna today, to conduct the Friday prayer on lands recently bulldozed for the wall. They were joined by Israeli activists from the Anarchists against the wall initiative and by international activists who came to express their solidarity. Fortunately, there were no bulldozers working on the village’s lands today, and even the military stayed afar, on an overlooking hill.
Villagers demonstrating against the wall in Um Salamuna
The demonstration passed with no incident, and was joined by farmers from 10 surrounding villages in the area, all affected by this segment of the wall.
Villagers praying on their lands
Work on the wall in the area first began on January 2nd, when bulldozers arrived on the village’s land for the first time, uprooting grape vines. That day the bulldozers were stopped by a handful of villagers who blocked them with their bodies.
On January 15th bulldozers returned to work in Um Salamuna’s lands. Villagers quickly went down to the lands to try and stop their devastation, but were met by staggering violence, causing injuries to two people.
Women of Um Salamuna demonstrating on their lands
The wall’s path in the area will cut off 700 dunams of Palestinian land, leaving that land on the Israeli side. It will very likely be expropriated to expand the nearby settlement Efrat. In an area that is traditionally greatly dependant on agriculture for generations, the ten affected villages will lose 70,000 grape trees and 1000 olive trees
