West Bank march over Palestinians' plight led by SA women

salaam

an article that appeared in today's edition of the daily 
newspaper _The Star_.

na'eem

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=129&fArti
cleId=343047

West Bank march over Palestinians' plight led by SA women


By Graeme Hosken

Three South African women activists were due to lead an 
international protest in the West Bank today to prevent two 
Palestinian villages from being turned into "ghettoes".

Israel is constructing an 8m-high, 750km-long wall in an 
attempt to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers from targeting 
Israeli communities.

Suicide bombers have claimed the lives of more than 300 
Israelis and left hundreds more critically injured in their 
campaign for a free and independent Palestine.

During the past three months, the South African women, who 
would only give their names as Anna, Sumya and Nadine, have 
been monitoring the construction of the wall as well as Israeli 
checkpoints erected around Palestinian villages.

The Star has been asked not to use their surnames as they 
would be deported to South Africa by Israeli authorities.

Speaking from Budrus, a village in the West Bank, which is to 
be encircled by the wall, Sumya, a lecturer at a Pretoria tertiary 
institution, said they were in the country on a humanitarian and 
not on a religious mission, as often alleged by Israeli authorities.

"Most of us here are either Jewish or Christian, so this is 
definitely not a Muslim stand. It is about protecting the rights of 
a people who are being suppressed by brute force.

"It is about giving them equal rights and about allowing them to 
live in a land, just as anyone else would want to.

"We are here as part of the Palestine Solidarity Committee 
along with dozens of activists from America, Britain, Sweden, 
Australia, New Zealand and Germany," she said.

She said residents from the villages of Budrus and Qalqilya had 
been told by the Israeli occupation forces that bulldozers would 
be demolishing farmland in preparation for the construction of 
the wall.

Sumya said they would be holding protests, including sit-ins, on 
the proposed construction site today to demonstrate against the 
proposed construction of the wall.

"For the past three months we have been able to stop the 
construction of the wall around Budras and Qalqilya, which, if 
completed, will force all the residents to come into the the town 
through one entrance. The residents will also have to carry 
passes to prove that they live in their villages." 
In addition to trying to stop the construction of the wall, Sumya 
said, they were also monitoring checkpoints erected around 
villages.

"We have witnessed incredible atrocities, including the death of 
two newborn babies, who died after paramedics were prevented 
from helping their mother at a checkpoint."
Nadine, a 21-year-old student from Joburg, said they were also 
trying to prevent Israel from forcing Palestinians living within 
the 100m buffer zone to sell their homes. 

Published on the web by the Star on February 6, 2004.