Rally staged against Israeli barrier

Friday 03 June 2005, 15:47 Makka Time, 12:47 GMT  

The barrier is being built in defiance of a World Court ruling

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Residents of a Palestinian village have staged a protest against the separation barrier being built by Israel in the West Bank.

Israeli occupation troops confronted the protesters on Friday.

The two sides clashed when the demonstrators tried to advance towards the territories being razed in preparation for extending the barrier wall.

Some demonstrators were injured while others were arrested by Israeli troops.

The demonstration coincided with the 38th anniversary of the the Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza, and also marked the 100th day of the beginning of popular resistance in the village against the occupation.

Many Palestinians describe the structure as an "apartheid wall" while Israel calls it security barrier.

Meanwhile, a survey of Israeli public opinion has shown that support for the planned pullout from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements has sunk by nine percentage points over the past two weeks, to a new low of 50%, the Maariv newspaper reported on Friday.

Since the TNS/Teleseker polling firm began surveying Israeli sentiment on the withdrawal for Maariv in February 2004, support has fluctuated between 52% and 65%. Two weeks ago the same polling company reported 59% support.

Still, pullout supporters significantly outweigh opponents: 38% of those surveyed oppose the withdrawal, the report said. The poll of 531 people had a margin of error of 4.1 percentage points.

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