On Monday, October 18th, 2010, at around 3:30pm, settler security guards from Gush Ezion Settlement harassed two Palestinian farmers from Beit Ommar and confiscated their truck and bulldozer. The farmers were on their lands as they attempted to drive a large truck filled with dirt to fill a sink-hole created by sewage dumped by the settlement the day before. An armed settler guard stopped the farmers, hit one of them, and confiscated his identity card. Another guard then proceeded to take the farmers’ bulldozer, which had been used the day before to tow away a bulldozer submerged by sewage from the settlement.

Settler guards do not have the authority to take any property, including the bulldozer … Continue reading

Thousands of liters of raw sewage from the illegal Gush Etzion settlement flooded over 50 dunams of Palestinian farmland in the village of Beit Ommar last night. The sewage was pumped from a storage unit inside the settlement onto the land of the Sabarna family, flooding trees and submerging a bulldozer. As of 10 AM the water is still flooding.

Today marks the fourth time this year that the settlement has dumped waste water onto the Sabarna’s land. The settlement emptied sewage onto their land in March, April and June, destroying the crops and costing the farmers thousands of shekels in lost income. … Continue reading

On Saturday, October 16th, 2010, around 70 Palestinians from Beit Ommar rallied against the nearby Israeli settlement of Karmei Tsur. As the demonstrators marched toward the settlement, more than two dozen Israeli Forces blocked their path, declaring the area a closed military zone. For the next ten minutes, soldiers pushed the activists up towards the village. One of the commanders asked the wife of Mousa Abu Maria why he was not at this weeks demonstration.

[caption id="attachment_1850" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Soldier Shoots Tear Gas Straight at Demonstrators In Defiance of Isreali Law"][/caption]Israeli Forces then began firing tear gas and sound bombs at Palestinian youth who had gathered near … Continue reading

On Thursday, October 14th a Palestinian farmer from Saffa, accompanied by members of the National Committee in Beit Ommar along with international solidarity activists, cleared brush on his land near the Israeli settlement of Beit Ayn. Farmers in the Saffa Valley are preparing the land to plant several thousand trees in December to keep the land from being annexed to settlement.

After about an hour or working, two Israeli soldiers appeared at the top of the hill, about 150 meters away from where the group was working. They shouted at the farmers to stop working the land and to come towards the soldiers. The … Continue reading

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Mohammad was released at 5:00pm the same day without charge after being questioned by police at the Kiryat Arba Settlement in Hebron.
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On Wednesday, October 13th, Israeli Forces arrested Mohammad Ayyad Awad, from Beit Ommar, as he and a member of the press were documenting bulldozers working on expanding the nearby settlement of Karmei Tsur. The press photographer was briefly detained and then released, but Mohammad was taken into custody and brought to the police station at Kiryat Arba Settlement.

Mohammad is the media spokesperson for the Palestine Solidarity Project, and he is also a member of the National Committee Against the … Continue reading

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Eyad had court on Thursday, October 14th, at Ofer prison where he was placed in administrative detention for four months. He is currently being held without charge or trial due to the presence of a secret file from the Israeli military that neither Eyad or his lawyer have access to.
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On Monday, October 11th, 2010, Israeli Forces raided Beit Ommar and arrested Eyad Jamil Al Alami, a member of the Palestine Solidarity Project and the National Committee Against the Wall and Settlements. At 3am, seven jeeps of Israeli soldiers closed off the main street of Beit Ommar and took Eyad from his house. Eyad is a 25-year-old student at the Polytechnic University in Hebron. He was arrested … Continue reading

For immediate release:

Beit Ommar, Southern West Bank, 1:30pm: four Palestinians, three internationals and one Israeli solidarity activist were arrested by Israeli Forces during a Palestinian demonstration against Karmei Tsur, an illegal Israeli settlement built on Beit Ommar land.

The arrested Israeli solidarity activist was injured after Israeli Forces held her down and deployed pepper spray directly to her eyes.

Several Israeli soldiers disguised as Palestinians came behind the demonstrators and arrested three Palestinian youth. An additional Palestinian activist with mental disabilities was arrested during the protest. Sound bombs and tear gas were used by the Israeli military against the demonstrators, and one member of the press had their camera broken by a soldier.
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The demonstration, which takes … Continue reading

Palestinian medical sources in the southern West Bank city of Hebron reported Friday morning that two Palestinians were killed and ten others were wounded after the army invaded the city, surrounded a house of a resistance fighter and fired mortars at it. Shortly after midnight, at least 40 military vehicles and armored bulldozers invaded Jawhar Mountain in Hebron while several army choppers fired flares. Troops then surrounded a three-story home and started demolishing it.

Local sources reported that the surrounded building is owned by Radwan Rajabi, Saadi Borqan and Ayyoub Gheith.According to the military, resistance fighters barricaded themselves in the building and refused to surrender. Soldiers also surrounded nearby houses and used loud speakers to order the residents out. Later on, … Continue reading

On Wednesday, October 6th, 2010, Israeli settlers from Karmei Tsur shot at three Palestinian farmers from Beit Ommar as they were working their lands twenty meters away from the settlement fence. At around 3pm, three settlers behind the fence shouted at Ahmed Abu Hashem, Ali Ayyad Awad, and Ali’s 16-year-old son as they were using a tractor to work their fields. The settlers shouted at them to leave the area before two of the settlers began shooting live bullets directly at the farmers. The farmers sought cover behind their tractor as at least six shots were fired. Fortunately there were no injuries. Two settler security cars were present near the fence at the time of … Continue reading

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian Authority police have launched an investigation into a fire in a mosque believed to have been caused by Israeli settlers overnight in a Bethlehem town, the district’s chief prosecutor said Monday.

Alaa Tamimi arrived at the scene of the suspected arson attack against the Al-Anbiya Mosque in the Beit Fajjar town and said investigations would be launched into it “and all settler assaults against Palestinians are being documented as requested by Attorney Muhammad Al-Mughanni.”

Locals told Ma’an on Monday that several settlers ransacked mosque overnight and set fire to carpets inside. Muhammad Taqatqa, who lives next to the mosque, said he saw a white car with Israel license plates leaving the town after the mosque was set on … Continue reading