Marking Berlin Anniversary, Palestinians Breach Israel's Wall

The barrier, in reality a network of walls, fences, watchtowers and checkpoints, snakes through the interior of the West Bank, looping around Israeli settlements and fragmenting Palestinian communities.

Protesters pull down part of Israel`s wall on Monday [courtesy Ahmed Meslah]

(RAMALLAH Ma'an) - Marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Palestinian demonstrators breached Israel's concrete barrier near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday.

Reporting from the scene, Ma'an's correspondent said the protesters, once they reached the other side, set fire to tires. Israeli forces also opened fire, the reporter said.

Around 100 demonstrators waving Palestinian flags and wearing fluorescent jackets reading, "We are going to Jerusalem," broke through near the Qalandiya military checkpoint, onlookers said. A truck was used to pull down the concrete slabs making up the wall, an organizer said.

Early reports said the demonstration was planned by the "popular committees" – local groups organized to oppose the construction of the wall – as well as the Fatah movement.

Mushir Ghazzal, an organizer with the popular struggle coordination committee, said in a statement after the demonstration, "Today's events prove that we must not wait for Israel to end its occupation on its own – we Palestinians should do it with our own two hands. Like the Berlin Wall at the time, Israel's wall seems to us an undefiable reality, but twice this week it has caved in to the pressure of ordinary people fighting for their rights."

Last Friday, protesters in the village of Ni'lin also managed to tear down a section of the wall.

Intended to be 709 kilometers in length, Israel had completed 413 kilometers of the wall by June 2009, according to the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The barrier, in reality a network of walls, fences, watchtowers and checkpoints, snakes through the interior of the West Bank, looping around Israeli settlements and fragmenting Palestinian communities.

The International Court of Justice ruled that the wall is illegal under international law in 2004. Israel maintains the barrier is for its security.