Over fifty demonstrators gathered in Al Ma’asara today for the weekly demonstration against Israel’s Apartheid Wall. As usual, the demonstrators marched from the center of town to the main road carrying a 30-foot long Palestinian flag and pictures of imprisoned loved ones, drumming and chanting “The Wall must fall!.”

The march was stopped by a line of nearly thirty Israeli soldiers, who had stretched a razor wire barrier across the road. The demonstrators gave speeches condemning the Wall and demanding an end to the occupation. At one point, several demonstrators climbed onto a pile of rocks by the side of the road and began to speak out against Israel’s violence and oppression. An army jeep turned on its siren in an attempt to drown out the message, but the crowd roared back, drumming and screaming louder than the siren.

Soldiers then began to push the speakers off the rocks, shoving them back down onto the road. Another speech was given by an elderly woman at the front of the crowd, and the demonstrators climbed back onto the rocks to translate her speech into English. The demonstration continued for nearly two hours before dispersing.