Israel has stopped one boat, but it can’t stop the movement. Readers of this blog know the struggle has been going on long before the Gaza Freedom Flotilla set sail, and it continues and will only grow in strength. The protests commemorating the anniversary of the 1967 Occupation of the West Bank including East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip are carrying on, as more boats set sail for Gaza.

We’ll have live tweets so night owls and early risers in the United States can follow this protest over at Jewish Voice for Peace’s twitter feed. Then come back here tomorrow for a recap.

From the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee:

Tomorrow: Thousands to Mark 43 Years of Occupation Near Route 443
Palestinians and Israelis will demonstrate tomorrow, Friday, June 4th, near the village of Beit Nuba, which was demolished by Israel in 1967, near Route 443. Similar demonstrations, also denouncing the massacre aboard the Freedom Flotilla will take place across the West Bank.

Dozens of Israeli anti-Occupation organizations will join the Palestinian Popular Committees for a demonstration marking 43 years of occupation tomorrow. The protesters will denounce the killing aboard the Mavi Marmara, and call to end the siege over Gaza, to dismantle the Wall and settlements, and for freedom of movement for Palestinians.

MK Haneen Zouabi, who was aboard the Mavi Marmara,(the boat attacked by Israeli commandoes with at least 10 deaths) Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian al-Mubadara Party, Maher Ghuneim, Minister for the Wall in the Palestinian Authority, former MK Uri Avnery, and Palestinian Legislative Committee Members Qais Abd el-Karim (Abu Laila) and Mahmoud al-Aloul – will participate in the demonstration.

Additional demonstrations will take place in the villages on Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, Deir al-Ghussoun, north of Tul Karem, Ni’ilin – where demonstrators will also mark a year to the death of protester Aqel Srour by sniper-fire shot at him during a demonstration, and in the villages of Bil’in, West of Ramallah and al-Ma’asara, south of Bethlehem, where demonstrators will carry mock ships and will try to break the siege on their own villages.

Road to nowhere: During the occupation of the West Bank in June 1967, the Israeli army destroyed the villages of Yalu, Beit Nuba and Amuasse in the Latrun enclave. “Canada Park” and a number of settlements were built on their lands.

Most of the residents of these three displaced villages currently live in villages near Highway 443, such as Beit Liqya, Beit Sira and Beit Ur. In the eighties, thousands of acres were confiscated by Israel along the road, claiming that the road will serve as the main traffic artery for these villages to Ramallah.

However, the road has been closed for years for Palestinian vehicles. Following the High Court ruling on Route 443, a small section of the road was opened last week for Palestinian traffic, but is still nearly useless for the villagers, as access to Ramallah from it is disallowed, turning it into a highway to nowhere for Palestinians.

Take the quiz for yourself and see how you do: Which of these photos is the a Military Prison in the Occupied Territories?

Which is the military prison?Top Left: Wall and guard tower around Ramallah. Top Right: Wall and guard tower around Bethlehem. Bottom Right: Wall and guard tower around Qaliqilya. Bottom Left: Ofer Military Prison

Ofer Military Prison is on highway 443 on the way to Jerusalem. Road 443 cuts through the West Bank and is infamously called "Apartheid Road" as Palestinians are forbidden from using it. Sadly this is only one of many roads in the West Bank that is restricted to Israeli only travel.

Road 443 exiting Jerusalem to the north west through the west bank. The walls are to prevent attacks on the roads. They also prevent Palestinians from easily accessing the other side of the village, and also I think just as importantly it saves Israelis from having to see our the people whose land we are driving through.

Blockade on Road 443. Palestinians access roads to 443 are blocked by mounds of rubble such as above, locked gates or cement blocks. The rational is Security. The military claims that allowing Palestinians access to the road (on their land) is deemed a safety risk for Israelis using the road.

Road 443 on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Palestinian homes visible just above the decorated wall.

If we could just ban Palestinians from having cars, this would be so much easier! The latest excuse for Jewish-Only roads.

“The Transportation Ministry warned on Sunday that if security is not strictly maintained on route 443, which up until a recent High Court of Justice decision was closed to Palestinian drivers, the alternate route, Route 1 from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, will not be able to withstand the volume of traffic.”

Here’s The South African Civil Society Information Service’s description of the situation:

There are 312 km of road in the West Bank that Palestinians are forbidden to use. The roads are strictly reserved for use by Israeli’s.

The most prominent apartheid road is a 15km stretch of Highway 443 from Modi’in to Jerusalem, which cuts through an area of the West Bank creating serious challenges for Palestinians wishing to travel to the city of Ramallah, their main social and economic hub.

35,000 Palestinians live alongside the road. all entrances to Palestinian villages are blocked.”

You can watch a demonstration against the road against this injustice on their website.

There is also a video on the site showing just how difficult it is to travel on the Palestinian Road. You can also watch Israel’s human rights group Btselem’s video here. Btselem tells us that .

“In 1988, Israel expropriated land from Palestinian villagers living along the road in order to widen it, claiming that the road would serve their villages as well. However in 2002, the army prohibited Palestinian traffic on the road, stating ‘security reasons’.”

After years of this blatant rebuke to Israel’s democracy,  our heroes the Association for Civil Rights in Israel won a Supreme Court case against Route 443.

Attorney Limor Yehuda from ACRI said in response to the ruling: “The High Court of Justice acknowledged today the illegality of the separation system manifested by Route 443. We urge the IDF to implement the ruling as soon as possible, enabling freedom of movement for Palestinians – a right which has been severely infringed on for nearly a decade.

This is a real victory, but the challenge will be making sure that “IDF implementation” happens. Hopefully this will convince more people that Israeli security cannot be achieved without securing the freedom of Palestinians.

Unfortunately, the excellent Israeli Journalist Gideon Levy mentions a bill in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) to annex the road to avoid admitting Palestinians, while the Israeli Transportation minister laments the traffic opening the road will cause! (which should tell you how bad traffic is for Palestinians.)

Levy laments,

How can a country that preaches the rule of law dare outfox the High Court through “bypass” laws? And how have an insignificant minority – the settlers – sown fear and managed to extort the country for so many years?

Good questions.