Nonviolence Protestors managed to halt the construction

Wednesday June 16, 2004 00:00 by IMEMC & Agencies

and International peace activists protested against the construction

George Rishmawi-IMEMC & Agencies, June 16, 2004 Over 150 residents of the village of Iskaka and more than 15 Israeli and International peace activists protested against the construction of the separation wall near the village. The protests apparently resulted of halting the work at this section of the wall that is designed to annex Ariel Settlement to the western side of the Wall. The army fired warning shots in the air and use tear gas, but this did not stop the protesters. Some of the kids threw stones at the bulldozers smashing its window, however no injuries were reported. This section of the wall created some controversy. After agreeing with the U.S. not to do it, Israel started building this section of the wall which if completed, it will create like a two fingers in the north west area of the West Bank and several villages will be isolated for the sake of including remote outposts and settlement together with Ariel in one bloc. The US recognized the four major settlement blocs in the West Bank as Israeli areas during the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's meeting with the American President George Bush back in April. In addition to not pushing to negotiate further withdrawals with the Palestinians and an American recognition of the current route of the wall, recognizing the settlements blocs was one of the achievements Sharon got in exchange of his disengagement plan. The U. S. State Department leveled criticism at Israel, in light of reports on the ongoing construction. Spokesman Richard Boucher said the American position is very clear that the barrier is problematic because it defines permanent boundaries, confiscates Palestinian territories and makes daily life more difficult for Palestinian civilians. This stance has been presented to Israel, Boucher added. Previous attempts to stop the building were not as successful as this one. In Al-Zawiya village near Salift, protesters were attacked with gas that is not like the tear gas. Those who inhaled the gas suffered some memory loss while others had other symptoms of a nerve gas. Yet this was not medically confirmed for lack of laboratories to inspect the gas canisters collected from the scene.

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