Either the Israeli military’s intelligence isn’t that good, or the unit(s) assigned to the Beit Ommar were just looking for a clash. This morning, Saturday, February 6, 7 military jeeps with 30 soldiers arrived in Saffa, a district of Beit Ommar that has been under intense military repression and settler violence for more than 8 months. They came, despite the fact that there was no planned action this week, as in weeks past during several tree-planting missions and follow-up visits after farmers were informed that the land was being declared Israeli “state land” and therefore the more than 800 trees planted in the area would be uprooted.

Their arrival, and closing of the only street in Saffa, provoked local … Continue reading

In the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, February 4, several units of Israeli soldiers stormed Beit Ommar, invading several houses and forcing women and children out into the rain, some standing for several hours. In the end, 9 men were arrested:

Murshid Muhammad Murshid Al-Aqeed, 35
Ayesh Ahmad Murshid Za’aqeeq, 23
Rami Bassam Khalil Za’aqeeq, 32
Muhammad Bassam Khalil Za’aqeeq, 20
Murad Amer Ahmad Abu Juda, 21
Muhammad Amer Ahmad Abu Juda, 20
Sharif Fathi Muhammad Brageith, 22
Ashraf Ali Khalawy Sabarna, 27
Jihad Khalawi

This makes a total of 16 people arrested from Beit Ommar in the last 2 weeks alone. We know that several of the previously arrested youth were taken directly to Al Mascobieh (Russian Compound), usually reserved as an Israeli intelligence interrogation center. No … Continue reading

On Tuesday afternoon, January 26, an Israeli military patrol of 3 jeeps entered the village of Beit Ommar and began harassing residents. After driving into the center of the village, they began shooting tear gas from the jeeps into groups of residents gathered on the street. Some local boys responded to the presence of occupation forces by throwing rocks at the jeeps. Israeli soldiers then left their jeeps and began chasing some of the boys and opening fire with live ammunition in at least one case. At one point, soldiers detained 16 year old Fathi Ahmed Mohammed Abu Maria outside his home. His grandmother approached the soldiers and Fathi and tried to prevent the detention … Continue reading

In the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, January 21, more than 50 Israeli soldiers invaded Beit Ommar, entering several homes and ransacking them. In the home of Muhsen Awwad, soldiers broke the window in the front door and tore open furniture. His 35 year-old son Mohammed Awwad was then arrested. Soldiers also took 800 shekels from the home before leaving. Three other men were also arrested during the raid which lasted for over 5 hours. The others arrested were Allam Bregeith, Jamal Ibrahim Ikhlayl, and Mohammed Soleiby. All four men were taken to Gush Etzion settlement prison. Beginning at 6 am, and lasting for over 2 hours, at a time when many residents were … Continue reading

In Sheikh Jarrah this Friday, January 15, Israeli and international solidarity activists attempted to converge and march on the street of Sheikh Jarrah where the Ghawi and Hanoun families have been living in tents since their eviction from their homes to allow right-wing settlers to move in, in August 2009. The Israeli police refused to give a permit for the march this week, citing the music concert by Palestinian hip-hop group DAM the night before as being “enough”. Participants still insisted on their weekly demonstration and gathered near the entrance to the street which had been closed off by large numbers of police officers. After approximately 20 minutes of holding signs and chanting, the police declared the … Continue reading