Army Bars Israel Peace Activists’ West Bank Convoy

BEIT LID, Israel —  The army set up a road block of jeeps and barbed wire Saturday to prevent a “peace convoy” of more than 1,000 Israelis from entering the West Bank town of Tulkarm to hold talks with Palestinians.

“This obstacle, this roadblock, it is symbolic, and there are many obstacles that the Israeli government tries to put up between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” said Faisal Husseini, a prominent East Jerusalem Palestinian who was part of the convoy.

The military had declared Tulkarm a closed military area and erected the roadblocks after Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin ordered the “Peace Day” visit to the West Bank town canceled. Peace activists said the military had no authority to stop the event because it was not planned as a demonstration but as a series of visits to Palestinian homes.

Blocked from entering Tulkarm, the protesters filled the road at the western entrance to the town and unfurled banners reading “Peace Now.”

Left-wing Knesset members Haim Oron and Dedi Zucker criticized Israel’s “Inner Cabinet” for rejecting Friday an Egyptian invitation to begin Israeli-Palestinian talks in Cairo.