Surif November 29th.2011.
Today Israeli soldiers appeared in Jamal and Ibrahim Mohammad Abed Al Khadi`s land to inform them that 12 dunums of their land will be confiscated within two weeks. There is a well on this land. The farmers were told that the well will be demolished along with the fence, and that the land with young olive trees will be bulldozed.

The Israeli government want the land for their own use. The land is 4-5 kilometers from the Green line, which means the occupant is annexing a lot more land from the Palestinians.
When the apartheid fence is completed, the land will be outside the wall and lost for the Palestinians. Another case about land grab was published by PSP earlier this afternoon in the Beit Ommar area. Report here.

The farmers are not allowed to work on the land they own close to the wall. When the farmers loose their land, they loose the resources needed to support their families. This – needless to say – causes very serious problems for the individual family and for the community as a whole.

Often farmers that own land in area C need special permits to harvest and work in their land. Many of them experience lot of harassment from both settlers and soldiers.

October 19th, 2011, PSP, members from The Popular Committees of Beit Ommar and Surif, several international volunteers, and boy shouts from the area supported Palestinian farmers from Abu Shook in Surif while they harvested their olive trees.

The olive grove is in area C, only a few kilometers from to the segregation wall, and the farmers prefer to be accompanied, due to earlier harassment from Israeli settlers or the army.

Several farmers from Surif, Beit Ommar and the nearby villages face continual harassment from settlers. Report here

This time the harvest passed peacefully. After some nice hours in the fields, the representatives from PSP were happy to visit the olive factory and watch the processing of the olives.

The Solidarity tour programme offers an introduction to the different geographical and cultural regions of the West Bank. The tour is providing its participants with in-depth social, political and historical insights on Palestinian life. Read the full program here. (the program is also available in French, Italian, Spanish and Norwegian).

Watch a short introduction from the Beit Ommar area:

Justice?
Human rights?
Freedom?

Come and see for yourself.

Use the important and unique possibilty:
Visit Palestine!

For further questions or information. Do not hesitate to contact us.
center4freedom@gmail.com

Take a look at other recently published documentaries by PSP:

Watch a summary of a French groups`s experiences in Beit Ommar here:

”For what reason? House demolished in Al Jab`a …

”Land grab” a documentary about the Israeli occupation and a new bypass road.

Beit Ula 14.th October 2011: For the Friday prayer a large number of people gathered by the demolished house and fields of Abdul Jabar Ahtal.
After the prayer the crowd walked about and looked at the damage.

A military jeep appeared on the patrol road connected to the apartheid fence built on Beit Ula land. After some time more jeeps turned up and soldiers appeared in the distance on foot.

The soldiers started to shoot tear gas, and the whole situation escalated. The main part of the crowd withdrew and left in cars and by foot. The soldiers followed all the way back to the cars.

Volunteers from PSP today joined residents of Ni’lin in their weekly demonstration against the apartheid wall. Around twenty protesters marched from the village to the illegal wall, and a short speech was given, denouncing the theft of Ni’lin’s land.

The Israeli military stationed in a guardtower behind the wall responded with several dozen volleys of teargas, which left some protesters suffering from teargas inhalation. One of the cannisters also set light to an area of the olive grove. Thankfully, protesters managed to extinguish the blaze.

This week’s demonstration is part of Ni’lin’s ongoing stuggle against the apartheid wall, which confiscated much of the village’s olive groves. Since 2008,the Israeli military have killed five residents of Ni’lin during unarmed demonstrations against the wall. Despite this, the village’s protests were successful in diverting the wall’s route, saving substantial areas of their land. Their struggle against the illegal apartheid wall continues to this day.

This past Saturday, Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists peacefully demonstrated in Al Walaja protesting the Israeli High Court’s decision to allow the construction of the separation barrier that would annex half of Al Walaja’s land to Israel.

Al Walaja is an agricultural village and most of the families there depend on these fields for their income. The annexation of Al Walaja land will therefore be devastating to its residents.

The demonstrators marched peacefully holding signs condemning the occupation and the apartheid system. Israeli soldiers presented a closed military zone order to the activists, but the order was outdated. They then presented a closed military zone order for August 28, which was a day after the demonstration.

As the demonstrators continued to march towards the illegal settlement of Har Gilo, the Israeli soldiers responded with force, assaulting Palestinian activists and arresting one Palestinian, two internationals, and four Israelis. The Israeli and international activists were later released at two am that night.

Protesters turned out in Ni’lin for the weekly protest against the Apartheid Wall. Around ten Palestinians, accompanied by 2 Israelis and 7 international activists, marked the 3rd anniversary of the death of 17 year old Ni’lin resident Yousef Amira. Yousef was fatally injured after he was shot twice in the head by Israeli soldiers following the funeral of a 10 year old Palestinian child who had died from similar injuries.

During the protest, a speech was delivered in Arabic and English. Afterwards, some of the protesters set fire to tires and burned them at the gate of the Apartheid Wall. Stones were also thrown at and over the fence. This was followed by a bombardment of teargas from Israeli soldiers. Two protesters were treated for teargas inhalation by the Red Crescent.

Ni’lin has seen many martyrs in the past three years during its resistance to the Occupation and construction of the Apartheid Wall. Besides Yousef, 10 year old Ahmed Ussam Yousef Mousa died from from his injuries after he was left braindead by plastic-coated steel bullets shot at him by Israeli soldiers. 20 year-old Popular Committee member Mohammed Khawaje and 22 year-old Arafat Khawaje were killed at the same protest in January of 2009. Later that year, 36 year-old Akeel Srour was killed by the Israeli military at a protest. Ni’lin is also where International Solidarity Movement activist Tristan Anderson was shot in the face by the Israeli military using a high-speed teargas canister, seriously injuring him and leaving him physically and mentally handicapped.

Large crowds listened to speakers and attended workshops in the villages of Beit Ommar, Ni’lin, and Budrus. Palestinians debated the merits of the resistance and asked questions of political leaders in open forums. Workshops were given on topics ranging from the growing movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel to the growth of the occupation through settlements and the Annexation Barrier.

Noteable speakers included Maher Ghneim, the Palestinian Authority Minister of the Wall and Settlements; Aziz Dweik, the head of Hamas in the West Bank; Abed Alrahim Malouh, the head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine; Qais Abu Layla, Vice Chairman of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine; and Sultan Abu ‘Ayneyn, leader of the Fatah Movement in Lebanon. Also featured was a phone call from Nash’at Alwahaidy in Gaza City, a leader from the Gaza popular committees.

A large number of cities, villages and towns were represented at the conference. These areas included Beit Ommar, Sourif, Arroub, Tuwani, Yatta, Jerusalem, Nablus, Hebron, Ramallah, Dura, Ni’lin, Budrus, Nabi Saleh, Ma’asara, Jabel Abu Ihlal, Beit Sahour, Sheikh Jarrah, Beit Ula, Bethlehem, Dhahriya, Deir Qaddis, Qujbya, Shuqba, Bil’in, Al Mydia, and Iraq Burin.

Created by a coalition of popular committees, the conference accomplished its intended goal of creating a program for building popular resistance to the occupation. More details will be provided with notes on all three days, all of which will be posted on this site this week.

The third day of the conference, which ended in Budrus, concluded with a demonstration against the Annexation Barrier on the village’s land. Approximately 150 people, including Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists came together in a large protest in front of the barrier. The demonstration had barely begun when the Israeli military began firing excessive amounts of tear gas at the demonstrators. The demonstrators retreated into the village. The army proceeded to fire tear gas into the village, including into a boys elementary school. At least two protesters were injured after being hit by tear gas canisters.

Budrus is known for its successful campaign against the construction of the Annexation Barrier in 2004. The barrier was originally set to divide the village and destroy thousands of olive trees. As a result of a strong and well coordinated popular resistance movement by village residents, the wall was re-routed to run along the Green Line in all but a small section, essentially saving the village over 80% of its land. It was the only village to successfully re-route the Wall solely through popular resistance, without resorting to the Israeli court system.
More details on the design and mission of the conference can be found on the following page: http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/popular-resistance-conference/

On Friday July 8, residents from the village of Ni’lin demonstrated against the Apartheid Wall. The group included around 15 Palestinians, 2 Israelis and 10 internationals. Holding signs and chanting, the group marched to the Wall and demonstrated for around an hour against the theft of their land. The protest was met by teargas and stun grenades fired by Israeli soldiers from the guard tower that overlooks the village. At one point a large fire broke out as a result of the tear gas canisters, which threatened nearby olive trees. The fire was successfully put out by residents and internationals.

The same afternoon in the neighboring village of Shuqba, around 30 demonstrators and 5 internationals marched to a rock quarry built by settlers on their land.For an hour and a half, participants, including many children, waved flags and informed guards at the quarry that they were on stolen land and that the Palestinians would not stop resisting the occuapation. The guards at the quarry responded by threatening the demonstration with their guns. Villagers also removed a long roll of barbed wire separating the village from the quarry.

The demonstration in Shuqba was the fifth in recent weeks. The quarry has occupied village land for five years, and settlers destoyed many olive trees to constuct it. In Ni’lin, the Apartheid Wall has been met with numerous demonstrations since its construction. The Israeli military has conducted many raids into the village, injuring some villagers and forcing many to serve long prison sentences.