Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., November 11, 2009 Cheshvan 24, 5770 | | Israel Time: 10:22 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Travel Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Palestinian and international activists crossing through the West Bank separation fence after they breached a section of the barrier Monday.
(Reuters)
Share |
Last update - 19:59 09/11/2009
Palestinians breach separation fence for 2nd time in a week
By Reuters
Tags: Israel news 

Activists breached a hole in the West Bank wall for the second time in less than a week on Monday in a demonstration to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Their faces masked, the activists tethered a 2-meter wide section of the cement barrier to a truck which then pulled it over. The crowd of around 50, which had gathered at a section of the barrier near an Israeli checkpoint at Qalandiya, cheered as the 6-meter high section fell.

Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at the crowd, some of whom threw stones over the wall. Several demonstrators passed through the gap they had created, hoisting a Palestinian flag and setting ablaze tires on the other side.
Advertisement

On Friday, during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Na'alin, where activists and Palestinians gather every Friday to protest the route of the fence, masked Palestinian youths breached a section of the wall that runs through the village, while Israeli border guards fired tear gas and a foul-smelling spray from behind the high concrete barrier.

Protesters levered open a space under one the pre-cast panels and used a hydraulic car-jack to topple it out of position.

"No matter how tall, all walls fall," read one banner pasted onto the structure by Palestinian youths assisted by Israeli activists, who say the wall on Palestinian land and through Palestinian communities is simply a land grab by Israel.

The panels of the walls in Israel's separation barrier are cast in the same inverted T-shape as the wall constructed through Berlin by communist East Germany.

Israel began building its barrier of fences and walls at the height of the Palestinian uprising that began in 2000 and it now runs along most of the West Bank border, at many points encroaching into West Bank territory.

It says it was built to prevent suicide bombers entering Israel and has largely succeeded in doing so. Palestinians see it as an attempt to seize land on which they aim to establish an independent state.

"Today we commemorate 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall," said Abdullah Abu Rahma, leader of the People's Campaign to Fight the Wall. "This is the first step in a series of activities we will be holding in the coming days to express our firm attachment to our land and our rejection of this wall."

In a non-binding decision in 2004, the International Court of Justice said the barrier was illegal and should be taken own because it crossed occupied territory.

Israeli leaders have said the barrier is a temporary obstacle that could be removed once a peace agreement with the Palestinians is signed.

Related articles:
  • 2 Palestinians, 1 IDF soldier hurt in anti-separation fence protest
  • Left-wing activists, Palestinians cut hole in separation fence
  • Palestinian 'Santas' do battle with Israeli security forces over West Bank fence
    • PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
    Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    On Arafat's deathbed
    Arafat's wife read him the Koran and urged him to defeat then-PM Ariel Sharon.
    No Arabs need apply
    Study shows that Arabs, Ethiopians, and Haredis can't find work - even with a degree.
      1.   Shoot them next time 18:32  |  Dani 09/11/09
      2.   Palestinian activists carrying out Israeli Supreme Court orders? 18:41  |  Apa 09/11/09
      3.   Did the engineer responsible 19:15  |  Mark Lincoln 09/11/09
      4.   Two completely different kind of walls 19:15  |  Akiva 09/11/09
      5.   How much was spent building 19:16  |  Mark Lincoln 09/11/09
      6.   The Wall would have more support were it not on Pal land 19:20  |  Ari 09/11/09
      7.   Rioters Help Terrorist infiltrate 19:33  |  Chaim Ben Kahan 09/11/09
      8.   use real bullets against them 19:42  |  vik 09/11/09
      9.   Abandon terrorism and there won`t be any need for a wall. 19:50  |  Fortuna Benmayor 09/11/09
      10.   Why doesn`t Israel just throw water from above 20:04  |  fredyr 09/11/09
      11.   A FENCE!!! You must be joking. It is a WALL 20:27  |  John 09/11/09
      12.   Chaim Ben Kahan 20:45  |  stella westwell 09/11/09
      13.   # 5 fortuna 21:39  |  Axel 09/11/09
      14.   typical Israeli construction 21:56  |  Ethan 09/11/09
      15.   #5 Fortuna Benmayor 22:06  |  Ice 09/11/09
      16.   Chaim Ben Kahan 22:06  |  stella westwell 09/11/09
      17.   temporary?! 22:07  |  David James Vickery 09/11/09
      18.   Walls And More Walls 22:09  |  A wall lover 09/11/09
      19.   send foreign activists home for good 22:12  |  michelle 09/11/09
      20.   Lincoln asks a question 22:24  |  SDHD 09/11/09
      21.   Ice = clueless 22:28  |  SDHD 09/11/09
      22.   Stella Westwell makes an erroneous comment 22:30  |  SDHD 09/11/09
      23.   when indeed the palestinians want to take the fall of the berlin 22:57  |  scallywag 09/11/09
      24.   Your wall is worse... 23:17  |  Frank 09/11/09
      25.   Berlin Wall 23:29  |  Ron 09/11/09
      26.   this sort of resistance should be conducted all along the wall ! 23:37  |  american observer 09/11/09
      27.   occupation equals the worst form of terrorism !! 23:39  |  palestinian 09/11/09
      28.   stella the wall sure as hell stopped terrorists. there were no 23:42  |  Jack 09/11/09
      29.   It should never have been there 01:03  |  sh 10/11/09
      30.   East Germans are today remembered as heroes. 01:11  |  Samuel 10/11/09
      31.   re: Chaim Ben Kahan 01:18  |  Woody 10/11/09
      32.   I hate borders 01:25  |  Terry 10/11/09
      33.   Wow 01:25  |  mariapalestina 10/11/09
      34.   Europe has the same problems 01:29  |  utagawa 10/11/09
      35.   a second breach in the wall on Nov. 9th 01:53  |  Carol Scheller 10/11/09
      36.   Free Palestine! 02:21  |  Yehuda 10/11/09
      37.   Netanyahu tear down this wall!! 02:27  |  Donal Reagan 10/11/09
      38.   about the settlements 04:17  |  Markos Souza 10/11/09
      39.   The Wall Works! 05:26  |  Alfredo 10/11/09
      40.   These "breaches" have not relevant to fence`s tremendous success 05:50  |  Voice of Reason 10/11/09
      41.   Illegal Fence 14:46  |  Vladek 10/11/09
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Date Local Jewish Singles
    Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    More Headlines
    10:12 Washington disappointed: Netanyahu didn't present concrete steps
    06:51 U.S. accuses Iran of arms shipments to Hezbollah
    04:38 Israeli Americans blast 'unjust' U.S. health care reform bill
    04:10 Comment / Obama's good intentions lead nowhere
    08:35 MI figures out what went wrong in Lavon affair - 55 years later
    08:38 Finance Min.: Arabs, Haredim to blame for their poor economic state
    09:20 Man who made billions off Madoff scheme wills fortune to charity
    22:27 TV ROUND-UP: PM: Obama meet helps Israel security; Emanuel to GA: Path to peace not just Israel's
    08:10 Response / On 'exorcising' Israel bashers from the Jewish mainstream
    09:07 Emanuel tells GA: Only dialogue can bring peace
    06:43 Peres to Assad: Engage Israel in immediate, direct peace talks
    04:32 Israeli film director: Countrymen's hits abroad are 'mediocre or worse'
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved