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Demonstrators say the barrier creates a prison for Palestinians |
Thousands
march against 'apartheid wall'
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An estimated 3000 protesters, including Palestinians and Israelis, have demonstrated against Israel's controversial separation barrier which cuts through the West Bank.
"No to apartheid," and
"the wall creates a prison for Palestinians, a ghetto for Israel," the
demonstrators chanted, many of them waving Palestinian flags. The protest was organised by two peace groups,
the Israeli-Palestinian Taayush movement and the Israeli Gosh Shalom Movement,
which calls for ending the occupation and withdrawing from the West Bank, as
well as the Israeli-Palestinian Media Centre, our correspondent in
Jerusalem said. The correspondent said protesters marched
along the wall for two kilometres till the centre of Abu Dis town in
East Jerusalem.
Thousands marched along
the Our correspondent said the wall prevents people
in Abu Dis from reaching schools and hospitals. The Palestinians charge that the barrier, which
in places cuts deep into the West Bank, is a deliberate attempt to pre-empt the
borders of their future state. But Israel insists that the fence is essential
for its security.
Palestinian resistance groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad also reportedly supported
the demonstration.
East Jerusalem
Organisers planned the protest to be the biggest peaceful
anti-barrier demonstration, he added.
wall to Abu Dis in East Jerusalem
| Aljazeera + Agencies |