Palestinians Rally against Security Wall

22/02/2004| IslamWeb

Thousands of Palestinians turned out for noisy street demonstrations across the West Bank yesterday, firing weapons into the air to protest Israel's construction of a massive barrier sealing off parts of the territory. It was one of the largest public outpourings of anger at the barrier, which Palestinians fear will ruin chances for building an independent state because parts of it dip deep into the West Bank. The weekend demonstrations came ahead of hearings to start tomorrow at the International Court of Justice, in The Hague, Netherlands, to consider the legality of the barrier. Palestinians expressed confidence Israel would lose. "We have full confidence in the fairness of the court," Nabil Abu Rudeina, Arafat's chief adviser, said. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath levelled rare public criticism of Arab allies, saying some Arab countries are not doing enough to back the Palestinian campaign against the barrier. An Israeli security official has said workers would take down a 9km section of the barrier that has isolated Baka Al Sharkia town from the rest of the West Bank. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie dismissed the route adjustment and said all parts of the barrier built on West Bank land must be removed. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man before dawn in an off-limits military zone near the fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the military said. Palestinian security officials said the man, Osama Mghairi, 32, was a policeman. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A Palestinian armed member of the Al- Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, holds his gun during a demonstration against Israel's security barrier in the West Bank city of Nablus. (AFP/Samer Ashtiyeh)