From Robert B.

Al Jab’a, a village of 700 people, sits in the path of a section of the apartheid wall which Israel has scheduled for construction at a future stage. It lies south west of Bethlehem, just one kilometre from the 1967 Green Line – inside the Palestinian West Bank.
From the hillsideone can see, not too far distant, the colony/settlements of Bat Ayn, Betar Ellit, Nahal Gavot and the monstrous Gush Etzion, all built on Palestinian land. It is no wonder that the people feel that their future is precarious.

Present-day life is hard enough. For anything but the most basic necessities villagers rely on shops … Continue reading

Today, Nabil Ibrahim Abdul Majid of Al-Jab’a village (northwest of Beit Ommar) and another man were herding their sheep in land near the Bat ‘Ayn settlement, which is situated between Al-Jab’a and Saffa/Beit Ommar. They were approached by a settler “security officer”, a private Israeli resident of the settlement who is armed and supported by the Israeli government. The settlers insisted the shepherds were on settlement land and must leave. When the shepherds refused, clearly on Al-Jab’a agricultural land, one of the “Security officers” pulled out a handgun and shot Nabil in the shoulder. Israeli civilian police and military arrived shortly after the shooting and took Nabil, said witnesses.

The Israeli military confirmed there was a “confrontation” … Continue reading

PSP activists, along with Israeli solidarity activists, joined the residents of the small town of Al-Jab’a in harvesting their olives near the Gush Etzion checkpoint. Al-Jab’a, a town of 800 people, is totally cut off from the rest of the Palestinian West Bank, including Beit Ommar and Sourif, its neighbors, by roadblocks. If the Annexation Barrier is completed as currently planned, Al-Jab’a will be in the “seam zone”, surrounded by Israeli settlements on the “Israeli side” of the Barrier, totally cut off from the Palestinian territories. It has had much of its agricultural land confiscated de facto because of its proximity to the large Etzion settlement bloc and … Continue reading

On Tuesday, August 7, 2007 Palestinian students received their end-of-year exam marks. It was a day for celebration (for some), and consequently an occasion for fireworks. At approximately 1pm in the village of Al-Jab’a, Betlehem district, these celebrations were abruptly ended when Israeli Occupation Forces invaded the village, detained several male residents, and occupied at least 1 home.
Several jeeps and Armoured Personnel Carriers entered the small village of 800 residents where soldiers closed the road near the school and began stopping and questioning residents. They also forced one man to allow them into his home while his family waited outside. When international activists asked why they were … Continue reading

The Palestine Solidarity Project organized three consecutive actions together with the Anarchists Against the Wall and the Popular Committee of Hebron. The first action: removing a roadblock in Al Jab’a. PSP, together with other various groups, removed this particular roadblock four times. It blocks the movement of a main road connecting Al Jab’a and Surif, turning a trip that used to take five minutes into one hour. Palestinians must use different roads to ‘bypass’ the Gush Etzion settlement bloc and other Palestinian villages. About 50 people worked together with ropes, sticks, and shovels to remove the three cement blocks. Through much effort and hard work, they … Continue reading

Today Palestinians from Sarif and Al-Jab’a’s PSP Committee were joined by members of the Palestine Solidarity Project and Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall in successfully removing a roadblock that blocked movement between the villages of Al-Jab’a and Sarif. During the removal, an IOF jeep arrived. The people continued on. Soon after, a hummer came and the group left temporarily. When the group returned to finish the removal, two more jeeps and ten more soldiers came. Despite the intended intimidation, the people successfully removed the roadblock.

Then the Palestine Solidarity Project and the Anarchists Against the Wall joined Beit Ommar’s Popular Committee … Continue reading

***Update on abductions in Al-Jab’a***

At 7am on 18 December 2006, Palestinian residents of Al-Jab’a went to try to plow their land near the Beit Shemesh checkpoint and the Apartheid Wall. Six people, including PSP activist Hamza Muhammed Al-Tous, set out with two tractors but were stopped by Israeli soldiers and detained at the Beit Shemesh checkpoint. The soldiers ordered Shadi Muhammed Al-Tous to take the tractors back to Al-Jab’a, and arrested Hamza and Wasfi Ibrahim Abu Latifa. 22-year-old Hamza and 20-year-old Wasfi, both university students, were taken to the Israeli military base in Beit Shemesh. The soldiers confiscated Hamza’s telephone because he had used its camera to photograph the soldiers when they stopped the tractors, fined them 2,000 NIS, and … Continue reading

Wednesday, three men from Al-Jaba’a, including the mayor and PSP’s liason were taken by Israeli soldiers to an undisclosed detention center. PSP is in the process of trying to locate them. We will send updates as soon as we have them.

Al-Jaba’a will be the focus of our Olive Harvest activities beginning this week!

The road between the village of Al-Jaba’a and the town of Surif has been closed by the Israeli occupation forces for four years now. This road connects the two areas and its closure makes it very difficult for residents to travel in the area. The Palestine Solidarity Project, in cooperation with Al-Jaba’a residents, succeeded in opening the road by removing the roadblocks, in spite of the violence of the Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, internationals, and members of the Israeli activist group Ta’ayush. The Israeli government considers Al-Jaba’a a “closed area” and will soon begin building the Apartheid Wall around the village, so that there will be one … Continue reading

This month, PSP will begin it’s olive harvest in the Betlehem and Hebron regions. We will focus on the village of Al-Jab’a who will attempt to plow land close to the settlement of Beit ‘Ain, the residents of which have terrorized the people of Al-Jab’a for years (please see previous reports from Jab’a). This land has not been plowed for over 7 years and belongs to five families. The last time the farmers attempted to plow this land, the settlers attacked them and set fire to their tractors. Therefore, PSP is COLLECTING MONEY to rent two tractors to work this land. International and Israeli activists will join with the PSP committee and the people of … Continue reading