ISRAEL: The residents of Budrus harnessed the power of peaceful protest, writes Nuala Haughey, in Jerusalem
Palestinians staged a "week of demonstrations" against Israel's security fence, which digs deep into the occupied West Bank severing farmers from their land, children from their schools and the sick and elderly from hospitals.
The opening day of the Hague court's hearings concerning the legality of the partition last Monday saw clashes between demonstrators and Israeli troops in Jerusalem and several West Bank villages as part of the declared "day of rage".
And yesterday, after Muslims said their main weekly prayers and before the dusk Sabbath sirens had wailed, the agitation continued.
Three Palestinians paid with their lives this week for their rage against the structure, which if completed as planned will leave more than 43 per cent of the West Bank on the Israeli side of the fence.
Two men were killed and about 70 injured during clashes with Israeli troops on Thursday in the village of Bidou, north-west of Jerusalem, while a third died of a heart attack apparently induced by tear gas.
It was undeniably a week of the bloodiest clashes yet over the partition, a network of electronic fences, patrol roads and concrete walls which Israel says is vital to protect is citizens from Palestinian terror attacks like the suicide bomb in Jerusalem last Sunday which claimed the lives of eight Israelis.
However, in one West Bank village locals of all ages have been for months now quietly waging a determinedly non-violent campaign war against the wall - and appear this week to have won a minor victory.
At stake for the 1,400 residents of Budrus village west of Ramallah is a much- cherished olive grove which straddles a gentle valley in the verdant rolling hills.
It all started on December 30th when locals spotted a bulldozer approaching their district to cut a swathe through the valley in preparation for the fence which would put 20 per cent of Budrus's land on the Israeli side.
The speaker in the mosque announced the development and villagers of all ages ran to the grove and succeeded in stopping workers from extending the dust road in their direction. Out of 3,000 olive trees, the workers have only succeeded to date in uprooting 70.
This peaceful resistance led to clashes with Israeli defence forces and was met with an instant Israeli curfew. But the villagers violated the curfew and have since been joined by international and Israeli activists for regular protests aimed at blocking the workers from gouging a route for the fence through their land.
About eight locals have been arrested and are currently being held in "administrative detention", but the resolve of the villagers has not weakened.
Since January 4th the bulldozers have fallen silent in Budrus and the dirt road comes to an abrupt end several feet from the olive grove.
Yesterday 200 villagers were joined by Israeli and international supporters for the latest of about 30 protests held in Budrus in the past two months.
Elderly women in white headscarves and traditional embroidered dresses gathered along with young children on a gentle slope beside the terraced olive grove, a safe distance from the protesters in the valley below.
Some clutched portions of raw onion, commonly used to fend off the noxious effects of tear gas. Excited youths darted about, some carrying long sling-shots. The protest amid the spring blossoms was noisy, but remained peaceful, although four Israeli activists from the Ta'ayush Arab-Jewish Partnership were detained by Israeli police as they left the West Bank.
Ayed Murar (42), a former Fatah activist and the leader of the village's "public committee to resist the wall", said every family would be affected by the fence which would surround the village on three sides.
"We must be able to pay a price for our freedom and for our lands," he said as the protesters began streaming back to the village at the end of the demonstration.
After the crowd had largely retreated back up the hill, Israeli troops in the valley continued to fire tear-gas canisters.
This week Murar was informed that the Israeli authorities plan to shift the proposed route of the fence towards the Green Line, the internationally recognised border between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Murar says he is happy with the decision, which he attributes to the determination and unified front shown by villagers, who have uniquely harnessed the power of peaceful protest in a region usually dominated by violence and brutality. But they have not started celebrating just yet.