On Wednesday I went to a demonstration in Azzun Atma to mark the 4th anniversary of the ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Hague that the Wall being built around the West Bank is illegal and construction should stop immediately. Since the ruling construction of the Wall has continued unabated and peaceful demonstrations have been held around the West Bank on each anniversary of the ruling.
While the Wall has a devastating impact on most of the West Bank, its brutality is particularly apparent in this small village. In 1983 the villagers of Azzun Atma began to lose land to the occupation as the Israelis built 2 illegal settlements on either side of the village. In 2003, they began to lose their freedom as the Israelis built the Apartheid Wall so that it surrounds their village completely. Now, the only way they can leave the village is through a checkpoint manned day and night by soldiers. Although they are there every hour of every day the soldiers will only open the gate at the checkpoint between 6am and 10pm. This means that if somebody desperately needs to leave the village, even if they are sick or dying they must wait until 6am as the soldiers will not open the gate during the night under any circumstances.
The original plan for the demonstration had been for villagers from Azzun Atma to demonstrate on their side of the checkpoint and the people coming from Qalqiliya and Beit Amin to demonstrate on the other side. When we arrived at the checkpoint there was nobody on the Azzun Atma side as apparently the villagers were afraid of the repercussions once the other demonstrators left. Few could blame them; in recent months there have been increasing cases of harassment by the soldiers, the villagers are regularly humiliated while crossing the checkpoint and last month a villager was severely beaten by the soldiers while trying to cross to the village.
We stood near the checkpoint which was guarded by over around 20 soldiers for approximately thirty minutes. With our point made (but not taken) we left. It is likely that the demonstrators will be back next year, that is if the village of Azzun Atma still exists.
While obviously the ruling by the International Court of Justice is important and the more international condemnation of Israel’s policies the better, the continued construction of the Wall has highlighted the apparent impunity with which Israel behaves. A just peace seems a long way off if Israel continues to be unaccountable for its actions.
While the Wall has a devastating impact on most of the West Bank, its brutality is particularly apparent in this small village. In 1983 the villagers of Azzun Atma began to lose land to the occupation as the Israelis built 2 illegal settlements on either side of the village. In 2003, they began to lose their freedom as the Israelis built the Apartheid Wall so that it surrounds their village completely. Now, the only way they can leave the village is through a checkpoint manned day and night by soldiers. Although they are there every hour of every day the soldiers will only open the gate at the checkpoint between 6am and 10pm. This means that if somebody desperately needs to leave the village, even if they are sick or dying they must wait until 6am as the soldiers will not open the gate during the night under any circumstances.
The original plan for the demonstration had been for villagers from Azzun Atma to demonstrate on their side of the checkpoint and the people coming from Qalqiliya and Beit Amin to demonstrate on the other side. When we arrived at the checkpoint there was nobody on the Azzun Atma side as apparently the villagers were afraid of the repercussions once the other demonstrators left. Few could blame them; in recent months there have been increasing cases of harassment by the soldiers, the villagers are regularly humiliated while crossing the checkpoint and last month a villager was severely beaten by the soldiers while trying to cross to the village.
We stood near the checkpoint which was guarded by over around 20 soldiers for approximately thirty minutes. With our point made (but not taken) we left. It is likely that the demonstrators will be back next year, that is if the village of Azzun Atma still exists.
While obviously the ruling by the International Court of Justice is important and the more international condemnation of Israel’s policies the better, the continued construction of the Wall has highlighted the apparent impunity with which Israel behaves. A just peace seems a long way off if Israel continues to be unaccountable for its actions.
Links:
Stop the Wall campaign: http://www.stopthewall.org/latestnews/637.shtml
Full ICJ ruling: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1677.pdf
Israeli human rights organisation: http://www.btselem.org/English/Separation_Barrier/ Case study Azzun Atma: http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=395
Israeli human rights organisation: http://www.btselem.org/English/Separation_Barrier/ Case study Azzun Atma: http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=395
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