Monday, July 28, 2008

Israel agrees to demolish illegal wall near Bil’in


"Israel says that it will demolish the illegal wall separating Palestinians from their land near the village of Bil’in west of Ramallah.

Israeli sources report that the Israeli Army has agreed to demolish the illegal wall separating Palestinian workers from their farmland in the village of Bil’in. They claim that by scaling back 2.4 km of the wall that local Palestinian farmers will have unrestricted access to as much as 2,600 dunams of their land.

This latest development comes after several key court rulings in 2007 by the Israeli High Court of Justice that declared the proposed path “highly prejudicial.” They did not specify a timetable for its removal. The Israeli Army initially refused to comply with the ruling, and the response has been until now an intensification of settlement activities.

The initial plans for the wall would have seen it stand more than a mile out from the illegal settlement of Modi’in Illit. This would have accounted for the planned expansion of the settlement expansion, Mattityahu East B.

Weekly protests have been held in the village on Fridays since 2005 against the construction of the illegal wall. Hundreds of local and international activists have been injured, with the Israeli army regularly firing tear gas, gunfire and stun grenades to disperse the peaceful crowds."

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