Villagers Open Main Street Near Nablus

The first taxi in more than four years on the street to Nablus.
--
What was planned as a demonstration became a direct action against the Israeli occupation: Hundreds of villagers and activists from Israel and abroad opened the main street from Nablus to Asira ash-Shamaliya, which has been blocked for many years.

After the outbreak of the second Intifada the Israeli Occupation Forces
(IOF) blocked the main street leading from Nablus to the nearby village of Asira. This street connected more than 10'000 people from this town as well as villagers from Talluza, Far'a, Yasid etc. with Nablus. Besides that, this passage – also called "Saba'atash" ("17") – is part of the route to the bigger towns in the north, Tubas and Jenin.

This morning, around 10 o'clock, many people gathered in Asira and started walking towards the nearer one of the roadblocks.

A few weeks ago, the earth mounds got replaced with concrete blocks. As the IOF stayed away, first tractors and later on small bulldozers started removing the roadblocks from the demolished street and the chanting crowd pushed them further away into the fields.

Besides the opening of the street through Wadi Bidan by the IOF a few days ago, this is already the second open street from Nablus to the north (as long as there is no flying checkpoint between Asira and Talluza). But still people are waiting for the removal of the checkpoint between Beit Eba and Deir Sharaf in the northeast of the city, hindering people's movement to cities as Tulkarem or Jenin. Concerning today's action, one will see in the next hours or day how the army will respond.

Read More With More Photos:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article3837.shtml