Sunday, March 21, 2010

Gaza residents test no-go zone for 2nd day

Gaza – Ma'an – Hundreds of Gazans, joined by international peace activists and Palestinian farmers, on Sunday marched on Israel's 200-meter buffer zone for the second day.

Popular committee coordinator Mahmoud Az-Zeq said hundreds of young Palestinian men placed Palestinian flags along the barbed wire along the no-go zone in the An-Nahda neighborhood east of Rafah.

Az-Zeq appealed to Palestinian factions to participate in the rallies in support of farmers who have been prohibited access to their lands as a result of the closure.

"The popular campaign against the buffer zone will continue with its weekly peaceful activities in each Gaza district. On Land Day [30 March], six rallies will be held at once," the coordinator said.

On Saturday, Palestinians crossed 50 meters into the zone east of As-Salqa in central Gaza, near the Israeli military post at Kisufim.

Nafeth Ghuneim, a Palestine People's Party politburo member, said Israel's withdrawal from Gaza was unrealistic, "the evidence of which is the buffer zone that confiscates thousands of lands on the borders to the east and north, the siege and the closing of all crossings."

"In the West Bank, there are popular campaigns against the wall, while Gazans resist the buffer zone. Palestinians will continue the struggle and their steadfastness, in spite of division, tragedies, and frustrations," Ghuneim told Ma'an.