Israel Troops Arrests 47 Barrier Activists
Troops burst into the house of the Amar family in the village of Mashah as well as the garden where the protestors had erected a tent, activists and military sources told AFP. Authorities had declared the area "a closed military zone".
Those arrested included 41 members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and six Israelis. Some of the foreign activists were from the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Sweden.
Lysander Puccio from New York told AFP the group of 47 was rounded up by the army and taken to the police station of the nearby Jewish settlement of Ariel.
"An Italian, an Israeli and a Palestinian are being interrogated inside the police station, while the rest of us are waiting in the parking lot," she said.
A police spokesman said that the interior ministry had been informed of their arrest with a view to their possible expulsion.
"We were trying to protect a house from being isolated between the wall which is being constructed by the Israeli government and a fence surrounding the nearby Jewish settlement," the activist explained.
"Once they removed us, they bulldozed right through the property," she said.
"The Amar family will from now on be allowed to leave this house only three times a day. What the army is trying to do with this family has nothing to do with protecting Israel. This is a form of transfer," Puccio charged.
The Palestinians and rights groups charge that the barrier, which consists either of a strong fence or a concrete wall, is an attempt by Israel to annex the West Bank's "bread-basket" and unilaterally determine the borders of a future Palestinian state.
The ISM has been leading an aggressive campaign in recent weeks to protest against the fence as well as roadblocks hampering freedom of movement in the West Bank.
In previous protests U.S. activist Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah in March and fellow ISM member Tom Hurndall from Britain was declared clinically dead after being shot in the same area a month later.
Tuesday's arrests came as a senior U.S. official told AFP the United States is considering punishing Israel for the construction of the barrier in Palestinian areas.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday called off a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, saying Israel was not doing enough to implement a U.S.-backed peace "road map".
The decision, taken amid a row over how many prisoners Israel should free to build confidence between the two sides, was a fresh setback to hopes of forging trust between the two sides and implementing the peace plan rapidly.
The meeting had been due to take place on Wednesday, when Israel is scheduled to release 342 Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinians were disappointed by the figure because Israeli officials had earlier said 540 would go free.
"Abu Mazen cancelled the meeting because it will only be ceremonial on the day prisoners are released, and he believes the Israelis are not doing enough to promote the road map," a senior Palestinian official said, using Abbas's nom de guerre.
A source in Sharon's office confirmed the meeting had been cancelled because of Palestinian "displeasure" at Israel's prisoner-release roster.
Abbas and Sharon have met several times in recent weeks in talks that have helped build confidence and promote the road map.
The Palestinians want an amnesty for all 6,000 of their jailed compatriots, saying this would show Israel is committed to the road map leading to creation of a Palestinian state by 2005 in territories occupied by Israel since 1967.
The publication of the prisoners list on Monday containing only 342 names had the Palestinians crying foul.
Palestinian activists say Israel's failure to release more prisoners, and continued raids and killings in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, threaten a three-month truce they declared on June 29.