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Last update - 22:25 09/07/2008
Palestinian tries to topple West Bank barrier using bulldozer
By The Associated Press
Tags: Israel, B'Tselem, West Bank 

A Palestinian man tried to ram a tractor into Israel's West Bank barrier, on Wednesday, police said, as 10 people were hurt in separate proests against a project branded illegal by the World Court four years ago.

The unidentified man drove up to a concrete barricade at Qalandia, a military checkpoint outside Ramallah, but turned back toward the Palestinian-ruled city after being confronted by border guards, Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.

"They used riot-dispersal means to make him leave the scene. I understand there were no damage or injuries," he said.
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In Na'alin, a West Bank village that has seen weeks of demonstrations and Israel Defense Forces clampdowns as a section of the barrier goes up nearby, soldiers injured seven protesters during scuffles, witnesses and medical officials said.

During the protest, Palestinians threw rocks and tried to smash a bulldozer being used to carve the barrier's route through farmland belonging to the West Bank town, beating a civilian worker, the military said.

Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the protesters.

Three protesters were detained by the Israelis during the Na'alin demonstrations, said Mayor Ayman Nafi.

The IDF last week cordoned off the village of 5,000 and imposed a curfew on it to try to stop Israeli and international activists from joining local residents in almost daily protests against the barrier.

In the northern part of the West Bank, three more protesters were hurt during similar confrontations against the barrier, medics said.

B'Tselem: State ignoring court order to move fence

Meanwhile, the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem on Wednesday charged that the government has not changed the course of its West Bank separation barrier, in defiance of rulings from Supreme Court.

According to the B'Tselem report, the state has not implemented three
Supreme Court orders to change the route of the barrier. One of those rulings is three years old.

Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said budgetary problems have delayed the changes.

When completed, the separation barrier is expected to run 490 miles,
frequently dipping into the West Bank. Israel says the barrier is needed to keep out attackers, including suicide bombers, while Palestinians charge Israel is using it to grab land Palestinians claim for their state.

In three separate locations over the past three years, the court has ruled that Israel must move the barrier closer to the cease-fire line that marks the West Bank because of hardships the current route causes to residents. Many are cut off from farmland and services by the barrier.

"The authorities ... have shown blatant disregard for the spirit of the high court resolution," said Sarit Michaeli of B'Tselem. "The state has dragged its feet on every step."

Dror said there was not enough money to implement the court's rulings. "We are going to honor decisions taken by the court ... but it's a problem of budgets," Dror said, but added that there is no timetable set to move sections of the barrier according to the court orders.

Israel rejected a 2004 advisory ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, demanding it dismantle parts of the barrier that jut into the West Bank.

Jerusalem panel approves construction over Green Line

Also on Wednesday, the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee on Wednesday approved the construction of 1,800 new housing in Har Homa and Pisgat Ze'ev, two neighborhoods over the Green Line division.

The plan, which still requires approval from Jerusalem's local committee, includes the construction of 920 new housing units in Har Homa and 880 units in Pisgat Ze'ev. Such expansion goes against the official stance of the U.S. government, which opposes construction in East Jerusalem.

Both neighborhoods are located on lands captured by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War, and were incorporated into the municipal borders of Jerusalem in an act not recognised internationally.

Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski welcomed the plan's preliminary approval.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has expressed outrage over continued Israeli building in East Jerusalem, saying they undermine negotiations revived late last year after a seven-year freeze in the Israeli Palestinian peace process.

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