February 8, 2010

Late last night Occupation forces raided the Stop the Wall offices in Ramallah. Some 10 military jeeps, hummers and an armoured bus surrounded the building as soldiers searched rooms, turning the office upside down and confiscating computer hard disks, laptops, and video cameras along with paper documents, CDs, and video cassettes.

Part of the mounting repression of the anti-Wall movement, this attack on the Campaign offices comes after the arrests of Jamal Juma’ and Mohammed Othman, who were both were later released after significant international pressure. Other arrest operations are ongoing, and currently some 40 anti-Wall activists are held for their grassroots mobilizing and international advocacy efforts in Israeli jails.

Many of those arrested are residents of Ni’lin, a village known for its fierce protests against the Wall. As part of an intensifying arrest campaign, 20 people were arrested last month in what has been the most serious campaign of arrests targeting the grassroots anti-Wall movement in the village.

Occupation forces have also been targeting international activists. Two foreign nationals working with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) were arrested in Ramallah several nights ago after Occupation forces raided the apartment where they were staying. Last month, another activist with the same organization was also arrested during a Ramallah night raid and deported.

The continuous targeting of the popular grassroots movement will not intimidate Palestinians struggling against the Wall. Resistance on the ground and on the international stage will continue will only cease once the decision of the International Court of Justice, which calls for the Wall to be torn down, is implemented.