Israeli Army raids offices of Stop the Wall

In a late-night strike,  Israeli military forces raided the Stop the Wall offices in Ramallah in the Occupied West Bank, and confiscated the organization’s electronic equipment and documents.

“Some 10 military jeeps, hummers and an armoured bus surrounded the building as soldiers searched rooms, turning the office upside down and confiscating computer hard disks, laptops, and video cameras along with paper documents, CDs, and video cassettes.”

Stop the Wall is part of a Palestinian grassroots campaign to dismantle Israel’s Separation Wall.  The Wall, characterized by Israel as a security barrier, cuts deep into  West Bank territory, annexing Palestinian land for  illegal Jewish settlements, and severely restricting the movement of Palestinians encaged within.  In an advisory ruling, the International Court of Justice determined that construction of the wall is contrary to international law.

The raid on Stop the Wall  is part of an escalating crackdown by Israel to stifle nonviolent resistance to Occupation and especially the Wall by Palestinian, Israeli and International human rights activists.

Since the launch of the new crackdown in December, the IDF has conducted 18 nighttime raids in Na’alin and five in Bili’in. About 32 people have been arrested.