Despite the cold and damp weather, hundreds joined the weekly demonstration in Kufr Qaddum this week. Dressed in traditional Palestinian garments, residents devoted the march to celebrate Palestinian Tsumud – the persistence of Palestinian existence in the land. Despite Israel's attempts to destroy Palestinian culture, said the organizers, resistance persists in everyday life and through organized mobilization and popular struggle.

The march proceeded from the center of the village towards the main road, chanting slogans and waving flags. The army awaited near the roadblock, using an additional barbed wire obstacle to prevent the demonstrators from passing to their lands. Without any notice, soldiers began shooting large amounts of tear-gas canisters at the protesters, mainly from the hilltops surrounding the village. However because of the strong winds, people quickly reassembled to continue marching. The army returned with some reinforcement and took over a house at the entrance to the village, using the roof to shoot tear-gas towards the local youth. Clashed between the youth and the army persisted for almost an hour, only to be interrupted by a heavy shower of hailstone, which led all parties to disperse. No injuries or arrests were reported.

Kufr Qaddum, a small town of 3,500 inhabitants, is situated in the northern West Bank, between Nablus and Qalqilya. Qaddum's total land area used to consist of nearly 19,000 dunams, of which 11,000 are now under total Israeli control. Village lands have been repeatedly confiscated to build and expand the settlement of Kedumim. The expansion of one the settlement's neighborhoods, Mitzpe Yishai, became relatively well-known when even the Israeli Civil Administration described land takeover as theft. Lands that were officially recognized as belonging to private owners in Qaddum were taken over in an orderly manner, without any official authorization. Furthermore, the village has been effectively besieged since the beginning of the Second Intifada, when the main and only entrance to the village was blocked by the army.