It seems as if the whole village is marching. A long line of men, woman and children pick their way through the terraced and rock strewn olive groves down towards the bottom of the valley and the construction site of Al Jidar, the Wall. Despite the torrential rain the villagers along with the International and Israeli activists who accompany them are in good spirits. They are chanting slogans, waving flags, carrying banners and the olive tree saplings that they intend to plant today.
I am in the village of Budrus, a village of 1200 in the west of the Ramallah region (just north of Jerusalem). In the last month this village has become a centre for resistance the construction of the Wall. Budrus and the neighboring villages of Nihilin, Qibbya, and Medea stand to lose 90% of their land to the Wall. The Wall is being built in a circle around these villages and there will only be one gate to let villagers in and out. In other villages where the land has been destroyed and the Wall completed, gates remain almost permanently closed.
The local people here have followed the path down into this valley many times before to try and stop the construction of the Wall. These protests have been non-violent protests and sit-ins on the land and bulldozers but the response from the Israeli military has been harsh. Over 60 villagers have been injured by rubber-coated metal bullets, protestors have been beaten and gassed and the village has been invaded repeatedly by soldiers firing live ammunition at people and buildings. Ten local activists (including minors) have been imprisoned for their part in these non-violent protests. International and Israeli activists' have rallied to support the villagers; they have faced arrest as well as the violence of the Israeli military.
Today it is the intention of the local people here to plant some olive tree saplings in the path of the Wall construction. These saplings will replace some of the hundreds already destroyed here and will show the Israeli Occupation regime that despite being shot, gassed, beaten and arrested the people here will not accept the destruction of their land nor their imprisonment within the sealed Wall zone.
Last night a delegation from the Israeli group Rabbis for Humans Rights delivered 500 saplings to great enthusiasm in the village and now after gathering at the mosque over 350 villagers, Internationals and Israelis are marching towards the Wall construction area. The work stops on the Wall as the crowd gathers at the edge of the construction site. Two security cars slowly roll down the works road in front of us, spilling out around 8 machine gun-toting guards. Half of the crowd move forward and begin to plant the olive trees, cheers are heard as Rabbis and local people join in renewing the land. The local women are the most dedicated demonstrators, their voices carry chants of defiance, unflagging across the valley.
Two detachments of border police join the security guards on the road above us. All the trees have been planted and the construction work has temporarily stopped. One of the Israeli activists reports being told by the border police that we have 15 minutes to leave the area before they "deal with the Palestinians". The local organizers decide to pull back for now, not wanting the local people or their guests to face the inevitable brutality of the Israeli military's methods of "dealing" with non-violent protest. The local woman seem reluctant to leave and linger, continuing their chants but gradually the protest moves back up the slope. As I make my way back up to the village with them I notice that the ground is littered with used tear gas canisters, reminders that not all days pass off as peacefully as today. Behind us, Israeli army jeeps have appeared and the border police are walking around the construction area uprooting some of the trees we had planted.
The villagers seemed determined to carry on their resistance to the Wall. There will be protests every week and if the Israeli military make any moves to uproot any more trees, the women, men and children will run from their homes, schools and workplaces to oppose the bulldozers. They will be supported by the Internationals who remain in Budrus and elsewhere in Palestine and by the Israelis who stand against their own Government's policy of annexation and imprisonment.
