On October 30, over a dozen Israeli Occupation soldiers invaded the Al-Arroub Technical College and University and began pulling students from their classrooms, blind-folding them, handcuffing them, and marching them out of the buildings and towards the military watchtower at the entrance to Al-Arroub refugee camp across the street. Several students, between the ages of 15 and 23, were taken into an area beneath the watchtower surrounded by high concrete walls where they were beaten severely about the head and stomachs, out of sight of the photographers who had gathered. The president of the school was told that the arrested students were wanted for throwing … Continue reading

Hundreds of residents of Betlehem and surrounding villages, including a large contingent from Beit Ommar, were joined by International and Israeli activists as they marched towards the Annexation Wall that cuts deep into the land of Betlehem, near Rachel’s Tomb. Local clergymen gave speeches about the significance of Betlehem in the wider Palestinian cause and called particularly on the international Christian community to support Palestinians under occupation and called for the removal of Walls from their land and hearts. The demonstration was organized by a wide coalition of groups in Betlehem, including Christian congregations, prisoner associations, and other social and welfare groups. The speakers emphasized unity and the commonalities between … Continue reading

Day 1

At 4 am yesterday morning more than 50 Israeli soldiers entered Beit Ommar and took over two homes inside the village. Soldiers built sniper posts, filled one home’s windows with sandbags, and raised Israeli flags over both homes inside the village. They then erected a roadblock on the main road and have intermittently prevented foot and car traffic down the main road, cutting off more than 30,000 people from Beit Ommar and surrounding villages from accessing the highway to Betlehem or Hebron. Though the order they came with specified that the homes were to be occupied for one day, the permanent structures erected, including the roadblock, barbed wire fences surrounding the homes, and sniper posts, indicate … Continue reading