Bethlehem / Roberta Ravani- Members of the Middle East team of the World March have now left Bethlehem following a visit yesterday to the occupied Palestinian territory.

Along with them were representatives of the Holy Land Trust association of Bethlehem, a non-profit organization that has worked for years to develop nonviolent resistance in Palestinian communities.

On 13 October the Middle East team of the World March travelled through the West Bank to meet a number of people who every day work, in a nonviolent way, to change the situation of oppression they live under. The team was accompanied by several members of Holy Land Trust that has courses in nonviolence to train future leaders.

“To reach Bethlehem is like entering a makeshift prison,” the marchers commented. “From modern Jerusalem, full of life and well-ordered, one enters a timeless land where sacred places are interwoven with cruel and inhuman acts.”

The group of marchers crossed various checkpoints, some of which had “opening” and “closing” hours, travelled along roads that would have been much shorter were it not for the obstacle of the Wall, saw villages divided in two by it and spoke with families whose members had been torn apart.

The tour made stops in three cities: Abu Deis, where a meeting was held with Salah Ayed from the Palestinian Water Society, and Qalqilia and Ramallah. At the latter, the team visited Palestinian Medical Relief with Dr. Alan Jarrad.

At the end of the day, the marchers commented: “It is fundamentally important to remain connected with these people who must never feel that they are alone in this struggle!”

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