7.8.09 - A water convoy against thirst, and weekly demonstrations.

In the village itself Israeli met with local Palestinian leadership, and together brought the water to houses throughout the village. In his speech to the crowd Fuad Arar, the village mayor, said: "Here under out feet is an enormous reservoir of water, but we are not allowed to dig wells. For the Israeli government, that would be worse than throwing bombs. Our spring, from which this village drank for many generations, is under Israeli control, and we get less than half what the village needs. In many houses there is no water in the taps since March this year. We want peace – but how can you make peace when Netanyahu decides how much water we are allowed to drink?"
The convoy was just one part of a new campaign, which AATW share with a coalition of many other Israeli, Palestinian and International groups, NGOs and parties, in an attempt to break the water siege on Palestine. For a longer report of the convoy and a list of the Israeli partners press here. An Israeli media report and video of the convoy can can be found here.
Also at the same time, Friday noon, in the villages of Al-Mas'ara, dozens of Palestinian protestors against the apartheid Wall and the settlements were joined by a group of around 80 internationals from all over the world and some Israeli activists.
Protestors marched towards the Apartheid Wall route carrying Palestinian and Fatah flags as a message to the members of Fateh (who were at the same time gathered in their sixth party convention in Bethlehem) from the popular resistance movement to adopt the popular resistance as strategy for the future and also as a message that unity is a priority for Palestinians. Protesters marched toward their land chanting for the immediate end to the Israeli Occupation and Colonization of Palestine.
As usual, the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) put a razor wire on the road at the exit of the village and stopped the march, denying people the right to access their land. Protesters stood against the soldiers, holding speeches in Arabic, Hebrew and English. Some protesters stayed longer trying to encourage the young soldiers from serving in an occupying army.
The night before the demonstration military vehicles blocked the entrance of the village, while others were roaming through it. This act came after an IOF officer threatened to put the village under siege if it would continued the weekly protests.