On Tuesday, January 31st, 2012, Beit Ommar villagers demonstrated near Route 60 at the entrance of the village to commemorate the one year anniversary of the murder of Yousef Ikhlayl, a 17-year-old Beit Ommar youth who was murdered by Israeli settlers on January 28th, 2011. The demonstration was organized by the Popular Committee in Beit Ommar and was supported by the Palestine Solidarity Project, the Popular Committee in Yatta, and several other Palestinian organizations.

As the demonstrators approached Route 60 at the entrance of the village, dozens of Israeli soldiers blocked their path and attacked the gathering with tear gas, sound bombs, and … Continue reading

By Bekah Wolf
Published on Electronic Intifada (http://electronicintifada.net/content/demanding-justice-yousef-quiet-boy-killed-israeli-settlers/10865)

On 28 January 2011 at 6:30am, Yousef Ikhlayl, 17, went with his father Fakhri to their farmland on the outskirts of the West Bank village Beit Ommar, where they prepared the land around their grapevines. At approximately 7am, two groups of Israelis from the illegal settlements Bat Ayn and Kiryat Arba were taking a “hike” in the privately-owned Palestinian agricultural land belonging to the residents of Beit Ommar (“Palestinian killed in clashes with settlers near Hebron,” The Jerusalem Post, 29 January 2011).

There was no indication that the settlers were planning on shooting. Yousef’s father reported that the first shot … Continue reading

The Center for Freedom and Justice, an organization in Beit Ommar committed to combining activism against the occupation with social service and popular education, will be hosting the second annual Womens’ Organizing Conference to strengthen female participation and leadership in nonviolent resistance initiatives. The conference will take place in Beit Ommar village in the Hebron District of the southern West Bank on March 10th 2012.

Last year, over 300 Palestinian, international, and Israeli women attended the first conference in Beit Ommar. Please consider donating towards the cost of this conference and supporting women organizing against the occupation. Links to the Center’s Paypal account can be found below:
http://www.center4freedom.org/support/

… Continue reading

from the Palestine Monitor
By Dylan Collins

In a hazy room, clouded with cigarette smoke and steam from hot syrup-sweat tea, residents of Kafr ad-Dik and its neighboring villages, along with Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists, excitedly gathered together waiting for the midday prayer to finish. The twenty-seventh of January marked the fourth Friday during which the village of Kafr ad-Dik has staged a nonviolent protest against the annexation of its agricultural land by the Israeli Occupation Authority (IOA).

The village of Kafr ad-Dik, and the greater Salfit District, is located on top of the largest water table in the West Bank, thus providing it with some of the most fertile land in the region. Home to generations upon generations of farmers, Kafr … Continue reading

On Tuesday, January 24th, 2012, Israeli occupation forces raided the Palestinian town of Beit Ommar, north of the city of Hebron, and searched several residents’ homes. No arrests were made during the house searches.

According to the media spokesman of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Ommar Yousef Abu Maria, the occupation forces stormed the houses of Bahgat Shehda al-Alami and Mohamed Hussein al-Alami, after forcing both families out of their houses. The soldiers conducted inspections to the houses and tampered with its contents.

Abu Maria pointed out that in addition to the almost daily night raids, occupation forces stationed at the military watch tower at the entrance of the town, are enforcing daily provocative … Continue reading

From The Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (a long-time partner of PSP).
Israeli authorities demolished Beit Arabiya (“Arabiya’s House”) Monday, January 23rd for the fifth time, along with structures in the East Anata Bedouin compound. Beit Arabiya, Located in the West Bank town of Anata (Area C) just to the northeast of Jerusalem, is a living symbol of resistance to Occupation and the desire for justice and peace.

As its name suggests, Beit Arabiya is a home belonging to Arabiya Shawamreh, her husband Salim and their seven children, a Palestinian family whose home has been demolished four times by the Israeli authorities and rebuilt each time by ICAHD’s Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists, before being demolished again last … Continue reading

Israeli forces Arrested a 17-year-old youth in Beit Ommar on Friday, January 20, 2012, after a group of Israeli settlers invaded it’s northern neighborhood escorted by the army, sparking clashes with village residents.
The group came from Gush Etzion settlement carrying weapons, and threw stones at Palestinians in the al-Mantara neighborhood.

Israeli forces protected the settlers and fired tear gas and rubber bullets towards Beit Ommar residents. Later, soldiers detained Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Alami at the entrance to Beit Ommar.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was looking into the report of the teen’s detention, but said soldiers had earlier fired warning shots after four Palestinians approached the soldiers … Continue reading

On Saturday January 21, 2012, the Popular Committee in Beit Ommar organized its weekly protest in coordination and cooperation with the Popular Committee of Yatta, the Palestine Women’s Struggle Committee, and supported by Israeli and international solidarity activists. The demonstration was held for the first time in from of the Tunnel checkpoint, along the road connecting the city of Hebron with Jerusalem. Tunnel and connecting road is prohibited for use by Palestinians, and is part of Israel’s wider apartheid infrastructure in the West Bank. About 90 people, a large number of them Palestinian women, arrived at the entrance to the tunnel and began playing football.

Additionally, demonstrators chanted against the occupation and waved flags. Among the demands issued … Continue reading

On Monday, January 9th, 2011, a joint action organized by several Palestinian popular committees saw about 60 demonstrators trying to drive from Jericho to Ramallah on an Israeli-only road. The road was built to facilitate Israeli settler movement to and from settlements in the West Bank and Israeli cities despite the fact that these settlements have continued to be upheld as illegal under international law by the United Nations. The activists were protesting Israeli policies which restrict Palestinian movement in the West Bank, and prohibits them from driving on dozens of Israeli-only roads and highways that are built on lands that were stolen from them in the first place.

… Continue reading

Over the course of the past week, the Israeli army has arrested eight Palestinians from their homes in Beit Ommar, a village in the southern West Bank. Israeli Forces raid the village almost every night, often making arrests and ransacking homes. The raids have often targeted Palestinian minors, and activists and organizers involved in popular resistance initiatives against the Israeli occupation. The arrested from this week include two children under the age of 18.

During one of the raids this past week, the soldiers broke into several residences at 3am. The Palestinians were taken from their homes without any explanation given as to why they were being arrested. They were taken away in … Continue reading