International Day of Solidarity Against the Wall
November 9, 2003

From "Anarchists Against Fences"

We made clear that no walls would stand between the people.
Some two hundred Palestinians, 35 Israelis and a similar number
of internationals gathered yesterday in the village of Zububa to
mark the international day of solidarity against the wall, by tearing
a portion of it down. Our day started much earlier though.
Zububa is the village located farthest north in the occupied
territories, and adjacent to a village named Salem, inside the 1948
borders. In the days before the wall became a cold and hard fact
it had been a matter on mere minutes walking between the two
villages. Nowadays the two villages are cut from each other
completely, and so was our easy route to Zububa.
We were forced to go through a military checkpoint in the wall,
10 kilometers away, where we were to switch to a Palestinian
bus. 10 kilometers may not sound all that much, but in the reality
of the occupation this short ride took us over an hour and a half of
dirt roads and roads regarding which even former term will seem
like an unreasonable euphemism.
We were very lucky. The Army is regularly patrolling these roads,
but with no regularity as to when and where. Indeed, as we were
slowly driving we spotted an APC taking a left at a crossroads
we were about to get to five minutes later. It was creeping slowly
as if insisting that we remember that the picturesque scenery isn‚t
really such a pleasant one.
When we finally made it to Zububa we were led to the
municipality building where a short meeting took place, roles were
set and our Hebrew signs were uncovered. A march formed and
we were heading to the site of the fence, bolt cutters and pooling
hooks in our hands, unwilling to stop. We found a white military
jeep waiting for us, but proceeded nevertheless. Shouting slogans
in Hebrew for the soldiers to hear, we started cutting at the
barbed wire. The soldiers were shocked. Five minutes later we
were already past the barbed wire and at the electronic fence. By
the time more army forces arrived, the fence was already
noticeably cut. We continued. It took half an hour of teargas,
concussion grenades and some twenty meters of fence removed
before we were pushed back. No arrests were made.
As we retreated slowly towards the village, the soldiers fired
warning shots over our heads. The village Qadi [religious leader]
addressed the soldiers in Hebrew asking them to leave and come
back without their weapons. „How can there be any peace when
we are imprisoned in ghettos?‰ He talked about partnership with
us, the Israelis present; he spoke about freedom.
When we were already on the bus ready to leave, a strong
explosion was heard followed by three military jeeps heading
towards Salem military camp but provocatively taking the route
through the village. Kids were throwing stones. We later found
out that the explosion had been a concussion grenade thrown in
the direction of the municipality.
But, for the time being the people can go to their fields.

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