Dozens of Palestinian residents of Salmouna village, south of Bethlehem, protested along with International Peace activists against the Annexation Wall Israel is constructing on their lands.The protest took off after the Friday noon prayers at the villages’ mosque; representatives of several local institutions also joined the peaceful protest.
The protesters carried Palestinian flags and posters slamming the illegal Israeli policies of land grab for the construction of settlements and the Wall.
Mahmoud Rashid, head of Um Salmouna village council, said that the villagers reject the planned route of the Annexation Wall especially since it will isolate 700 Dunams of Palestinian orchards and will shift the path of the main road linking the village with Bethlehem.
Rashid added that the Wall will shift the path of the main road linking the village with Jerusalem-Hebron Road, and will eventually make the travel distance between it and Bethlehem 20 kilometers instead of 7.
Khalid Al Azza, head of the Popular Committee for Land Defense in Bethlehem, said that the residents will hold protests on weekly basis until the Israeli government stops the construction of the Wall since it aims at annexing and grabbing more Palestinian lands.
Al Azza called on the Palestinian leaders, and president Mahmoud Abbas, to support the village in order to enable its residents to plant trees, and pay for lawyers who are representing them at the Israeli courts in their appeals against the Wall.
The protesters called on the Palestinians factions on Gaza to stop the internal clashes and conduct national unity talks instead of resolving their differences by gunfire and violence.
