Thousands of demonstrators marched throughout the Gaza Strip, West Bank and parts of Jerusalem on June 9, the 30th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands. Demonstrators demanded the immediate withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the areas and the cessation of all settlement construction. In Gaza, over 3,000 demonstrators marched to a road recently shut off by Israeli soldiers so it could be turned into an access route to a planned-for settlement. The demonstrators planted olive and fruit trees at the site. Israeli troops ordered them to leave and when they refused, responded with tear gas and gunfire. One Palestinian died and several others were injured. At another demonstration point, Palestinian truckers blocked the entrance to a Gaza settlement bloc where a memorial to an Israeli soldier killed last fall was being unveiled. Three Palestinians were wounded when soldiers and settlers opened fire on the demonstrators, with two in serious condition in the hospital. On the same day, Ahmed Qureia, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said the Palestinians would not agree to any resumption of peace talks if the United States moves to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. The House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for the shift on June 7. Jerusalem is the heart of Palestine and the Palestinian people want it as the capital of an independent Palestinian state. In related developments, the United Nations' Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People used the 30th anniversary as an occasion to call on the international community to "recommit itself to ending the decades-long illegal occupation by Israel of the Palestinian Authority, including Jerusalem and other Arab territories." In a statement approved June 6 at the conclusion of a special meeting at the ambassadorial level marking the thirtieth anniversary of the Israeli occupation, the Committee said that as a direct result of the Israeli occupation, the Palestinian people were living as hostages in their own land and had not been able to enjoy their inalienable rights under the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]