Palestinian protesters on June 24 rammed a bulldozer into a separation wall near the village of Bil’in, days after the Israeli Army said it would finally comply with a court order and reposition the fence. Israeli soldiers fired volleys of tear gas and jets of foul-smelling liquid to force the flag-waving demonstrators away from the metal fencing that keeps locals from their land. Bil’in, which lies about 25 km east of Tel Aviv, has become the focal point of protests against the controversial Israeli network of walls and fences that separates much of the occupied West Bank from Israel.
The Israeli military tore down a watchtower overlooking Bil’in and said they were ready to dismantle part of the wall, four years after the high court ruled it should be re-routed to give Palestinians greater access to farmland. Palestinian leaders and activists descended on Bil’in to celebrate the decision, but said the protests would continue because much of the land remained inaccessible.
The Palestinians refer to it as an “apartheid wall” and say it amounts to a land grab, swallowing up swathes of ancestral farmland. The World Court in The Hague said in 2004 that the proposed 720-km wall was illegal. At Bil’in, the barrier curves 3 km inside the Green Line, established by a 1949 cease-fire, which divides Israel and the West Bank. It does so to ensure nearby Jewish settlements lie on the Israeli side of the wall.