Fayyad Vows to Step up ‘Peaceful Resistance’ Against Israeli Occupation
NEWS, 26 Apr 2010
BILIN, Occupied West Bank– Palestinian Premier Salam Fayyad vowed on Wednesday [21 April 2010] to step up “peaceful resistance” against Israeli occupation by boycotting settlement goods throughout the West Bank.
“There has been progress in the boycott of settlement products, which comes from the idea of popular peaceful resistance, and I hope we will rid our markets of all settlement goods by the end of the year,” he told an international conference in the West Bank village of Bilin.
The village has been the scene of weekly protests against Israel’s controversial separation barrier, during which youths chant slogans and hurl stones at Israeli troops, who respond with tear gas and rubber bullets.
The conference in support of non-violent struggle was attended by hundreds of Palestinians as well as 250 foreigners and 150 Israelis, according to organizers, who said many foreign delegations were absent because of European flight cancellations.
Fayyad renewed a pledge to carry out development projects in so-called Area C, parts of the West Bank under complete Israeli military control that account for more than 60 percent of the territory.
“We will keep working on our project to build our state in Area C and on the other side of the wall, because we consider that all land occupied in 1967 is Palestinian land and not disputed territory,” he said.
Israel says the barrier is necessary to protect its citizens from attacks, while the Palestinians view it as part of a land grab aimed at carving off key swathes of their promised future state.
To date, Israel has completed 413 kilometers of the planned 709-kilometer barrier. When completed, 85 percent of it will have been built inside the West Bank, according to UN figures.
GO TO ORIGINAL – WORLDPRESS.ORG
DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.