On Tuesday, Israeli army bulldozers started to uproot trees owned by local farmers to make way for the new section of the wall that Israel has been building for three year there. Activists decided last night to build a protest tent in Al-Walajeh this morning.
As soon as the group reached the construction site where Israel began to uproot trees in preparation of the wall’s construction, Israeli soldiers attacked the demonstrators, and arrested 7 people.
Among the arrested are Sherien Al-Araj, the only female member of the Al-Walajah village council, Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, founder of the Palestine Wildlife Society and a former professor at Yale University in the US, as well as 5 international activists.
Following their arrest, soldiers pushed back the remaining demonstrators, and the protest ended with a sit-in by other international volunteers.
Al-Walajah used to be located inside the green line but in 1948 was destroyed by Zionist forces during the creation of Israel. Villagers moved to the rest of their lands between Bethlehem and Jerusalem and built a new village.
In 1967, Israel annexed the village to Jerusalem, but not its people. Since then, Israel has refused to allow residents to build homes or farm on their lands; to date there are 60 homes in the village slated for destruction by the military.
If the wall is finished, al-Walajeh will be totally cut off from the outside world as it will be surrounded by the wall and settlements.