Video by: Anne Paq/Activestills

Residents of the al-Walaja village near Bethlehem staged a protest march to their lands, in response to the bulldozing of their lands and the construction of the Wall in a way that will completely isolate the village from the outside world. Approximately 100 protesters, residents and supporters, participated in the demonstration.  

Picture Credit: Anne Paq/Activestills

Protesters walked from the center of the village to the route of the Wall, using a different path then they usually do. Apparently surprising the army, the march made it to the wall, was able to cross the construction site and reach Gilo settlement bypass road. As the march proceeded on the settlement road, a military jeep soon arrived and tried to block the protesters, using direct physical violence towards some of the women leaders of the march. This attempt was unsuccessful, as protesters continued to march, encircled the village and finally made their way back through the main road.

Al-Walaja is an agrarian village of about 2,000 people, located south of Jerusalem and West of Bethlehem. Following the 1967 Occupation of the West Bank and the redrawing of the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, roughly half the village was annexed by Israel and included in the Jerusalem municipal area. The village's residents, however did not receive Israeli residency or citizenship, and are considered illegal in their own homes.

Protesters walking by the settler road in al-Walajah. Picture credit: Anne Paq/ActiveStills

Once completed, the path of the Wall is designed to encircle the village's built-up area entirely, separating the residents from Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and almost all their lands - roughly 5,000 dunams. Previously, Israeli authorities have already confiscated approximately half of the village's lands for the building of the Har Gilo and Gilo settlements, and closed off areas to the south and west of it. The town's inhabitants have also experienced the cutting down of fruit orchards and house demolition due to the absence of building permits in Area C.

According to a military confiscation order handed to the villagers, the path of the Wall will stretch over 4890 meters between Beit Jala and alWallaja, affecting 35 families, whose homes may be slated for demolition.