Today at approximately 4:30 pm four army jeeps entered the edge of Beit Ommar and occupied one home. from the rooftop of the home, they shot rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas into the fields and onto the roofs of nearby houses. There was no planned demonstration in Beit Ommar and the Israeli Army entered with no obvious goal other than to antagonize the local people. After shooting at no clear targets from that location, the jeeps moved and entered the main street in the town, occupying the balcony of another home and shooting rubber-coated steel bullets indiscriminately between the houses and tear … Continue reading

Today, over 300 Palestinians from the South Betlehem villages including Um Salamuna held their friday prayer on the land being confiscated for the Annexation Barrier and then marched down the main road leading to Efrat, blocking settler traffic, in commemoration of Land Day. There was a minor confrontation with three Israeli soldiers as the march enveloped an army jeep, but there were no arrests or injuries. Peaceful demonstrations were held throughout Palestine and in Palestinian villages inside the Green Line, including Budrus, Tulkarem, Bil’in, Sakhnin and Um Salamuna.

Land Day began in 1976 in the Palestinian-Israeli village of Sakhnin to protest the expropriation of Palestinian lands by Israelis in 1948 and 1967. … Continue reading