This week Palestinians and internationals demonstrated against the bulldozers which were once again tearing up grapevines near the road to the Efrat settlement on the land of Um Salamuna. For the past several months the Israeli military has not used the bulldozers on Fridays since the people of the South Betlehem district have been organizing weekly demonstrations against the construction of the Annexation Barrier on their land. Today, however, demonstrators arrived to find that the bulldozers were indeed at work again, destroying their agricultural land and way of life.

The group of Palestinians and internationals marched towards the bulldozers, coming within 50 meters of them before they were stopped by … Continue reading

This morning just in time for rush hour traffic, Palestinian, international, and Israeli activists, including people from Anarchists Against the Wall and Palestine Solidarity Project marched onto the Jerusalem-bound side of Road 443 in the Occupied West Bank and stopped traffic.

For several years Road 443, which leads through the heart of the West Bank, has been designated “restricted”, meaning Palestinians are forbidden from using it. The demonstration was intended to highlight the illegality and immorality of Israel’s apartheid system of restricting access to roads based on nationality. Over 30 Palestinian, Israeli, and international demonstrators, some of whom were locked to a large metal road gate, … Continue reading

Palestine Solidarity Project has received a report from a prisoner, Ma’moun, from inside Ketziot prison three days after prison guards attacked several prisoners and killed one. Ma’moun was being held in the same tent block as Mohammed Al-Ashkar who was fatally wounded during the attack. Ketziot is made up of nearly 100 “blocks”, each block is a walled-in open courtyard, divided into quadrants with three tents in each quadrant. Each tent holds 20 people, with 240 people total in each block. Here is Ma’moun’s account of what happened early Monday morning:

At approximately 2 am Israeli prison guards entered the tents in the block and began searching them. When … Continue reading

Wednesday, October 24, 2007, the Israeli Occupation Forces were out in full force throughout the West Bank, intent on collective punishment of the Palestinian people in response to a drive-by shooting near the illegal settlement of Ariel in the northern West Bank. Soldiers were stopping and detaining hundreds of Palestinians as they traveled through checkpoints in near Gush Etzion, Beit Ommar, Halhul, and other areas. In the evening, soldiers invaded Beit Ommar, shooting plastic-coated steel bullets, tear gas and flaming flares at homes throughout the village. Israeli soldiers then invaded the newly opened young Girls School near PSP’s house, which was closed and empty at the time.
Soldiers kicked over desks, broke chairs, and tore posters from the … Continue reading

October 2, 2007 was the International Day of Nonviolence. On Friday October 5, in commemoration of this day, international and Israeli activists joined Palestinians from Um Salamuna and the wider Betlehem region who have been struggling against the construction of the Annexation Fence through their land for the past 8 months in a demonstration on the land of Um Salamuna. Demonstrators marched to the path of The Fence and then began to march towards their lands which will be confiscated and added to the Efrat settlement. Dozens of Israeli Occupation soldiers came down from the settlement prevent the demonstrators from continuing their march.
When the soldiers met the march, … Continue reading