Deep dissatisfaction with the Israeli policy of preventing access to the 300 metre belt along the border have resulted in a rise in number of weekly protests in Gaza and a significant increase in the number of people participating in them. This measure has made 30 percent of the best agricultural land of Gaza Strip off limits. Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas of the world and farm land is already in short supply. Farmers from the border areas have been particularly badly affected by the imposition of the ‘buffer zone’. Intimidation by the Israeli army patrolling the border, including shooting at farmers and bulldozing of the land, has resulted in the formation of a new organisation called Popular Campaign to Oppose the Buffer Zone. The Popular Campaign has joined forces with the existing protests and in addition they have been organizing their own weekly protests in different areas alongside the border. On Tuesday 9 March, the protesters form t... More »