By Anees Barghouthy
JERUSALEM
The Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday ruled against the construction of a section of the West Bank separation wall in the western Bethlehem village of Battir.
"We finally managed to get a ruling to prevent the construction of the apartheid wall in our village after two years of struggle in Israeli courts," Akram Bader, the head of Battir village, told The Anadolu Agency.
"This is a historic day for the people of Battir village, in particular, and the Palestinian people, in general," he added.
He said the ruling should be a first step on the road to removing the separation wall, which runs through the occupied West Bank to disjoin Israeli settlements and industrial zones from places where Palestinians live.
The separation wall effectively cuts some 50,000 Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem off the city center, according to the Palestinian government.
In September of last year, the Israeli army submitted a request to the Israeli Supreme Court for building a section of the wall in Battir, which is situated just above the route of the Jaffa-Jerusalem railway.
Around 4,000 acres of land would have been appropriated from local residents for the construction of this section of the separation wall in Battir.
"The Israeli army cannot build the wall or steal our land under any circumstances after the court ruling," Bader said.
"Justice will always triumph over injustice," he added.
In June of last year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recognized Battir as a world heritage site.
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