Palestinians to step up protests against Israel

PALESTINE : Palestinian officials, Arab, Israeli and foreign members of international solidarity movements on Wednesday announced that they would step up “Popular resistance “ to challenge the Israeli settlement’s expansion and the construction of the West Bank Separation Wall.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told an international conference held in the village of Bel ‘ein, west of Ramallah in the West Bank, that the Palestinians will keep their “popular resistance as part of a step towards establishing their future independent Palestinian state.”

The conference, which is called “The Fifth Conference of Popular Resistance,” was held in the village, with the participation of hundreds of Palestinians, foreign activists and Israeli peace activists. It was held in the village which witnesses weekly demos against the construction of the wall.

“It’s time now to end the Israeli occupation. Our people paid a high price of martyrs in order to end its suffering and its sacrifices,” Fayyad told the conference, adding “the Popular Resistance is the main episode in achieving an end of the occupation.” Around 1,000 people joined the 5th conference of popular resistance, including foreigner solidarity movements’ activists as well as Israeli and Israeli Arab peace activists, in addition to Palestinian activists and leaders of the PNA.

“This year will be the year of the National Project,” said Fayyad, who had already announced several months ago that the Palestinians are determined to establish their independent Palestinian state on the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 within the coming two years.

He said that “the National Project depends on three major principles, the first is the peaceful popular resistance, the second is the national efforts and the third the political efforts of the Palestinian National Authority to establish the state on the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem as its capital.”

RAMALLAH, Thursday, Xinhua