Yesterday, January 25, was the second weekly demonstration near the entrance to Al-Khadr, a village adjacent to Betlehem that will lose most of its agricultural land when the Annexation Barrier is completed in the area. An Israeli-only bypass road and a tunnel is also being constructed on their land, tearing up hundreds of olive trees in the process. Over 1000 participants from villages all around Betlehem gathered this week, joined by international and Israeli solidarity activists. Demonstrators prayed in the street, and then began to march towards Route 60, the main highway connecting Betlehem with Jerusalem and Hebron, and a thoroughfare for both Palestinian and Israeli settler traffic. Their … Continue reading

This Friday, international and Israeli activists joined nearly 200 Palestinian men and women from throughout the Betlehem district as they commemorated the 1 year anniversary of persistent, non-violent struggle against the construction of the Annexation Barrier through the land of Um Salamuna. The residents of the south Betlehem villages have been waging a non-violent resistance against the theft of their land every week for a year. Friday, demonstrators gathered near the entrance to three villages: Wadi An-Nis, Um Salamuna, and Ma’asara. They then marched down the street towards Route 60, the major thoroughfare for both Palestinians and Israeli settlers. Chanting “no, no Wall” and carrying banners and posters from … Continue reading

In a demonstration yesterday orchestrated by the Popular Committee against the Wall in Betlehem and Mubadara movement, led by Mustafa Barghouti, protesters marched against the Annexation Wall in the city of Betlehem. The march began after a regional meeting in the International Center of Betlehem and went directly to a section of the Wall in which a tower stands manned with Israeli Occupation Force soldiers. Demonstrators convened at this portion of the wall, chanted, and many men beat their fists against the Wall in what became an emotionally charged protest against the 8-meter tall Wall which snakes through the streets of Betlehem in order to annex Rachel’s Tomb to the Israeli … Continue reading

This Friday Palestinians young and old wore red and white Santa Claus hats during their weekly demonstration against the Annexation Barrier, which is being constructed on their land. The people of Um Salamuna and Al-Mas’ara gathered with Israeli and international supporters at the entrance to Um Salamuna to again march along the road in protest of the confiscation of their agricultural land by the Israeli military. However, underlining the peaceful nature of the march by wearing festive costumes was not enough to prevent a heavy-handed response by the Israeli military, who attempted to prevent the people from marching along the road as they had for the past two weeks. The … Continue reading

Friday, international and Israeli activists joined Palestinians from the South Betlehem district for their weekly demonstration against the confiscation of their land for the construction of the Annexation Barrier. Last week, Israeli Occupation Forces violently pushed the demonstrators from the road leading from the villages of Um Salamuna and Al Ma’asara past Efrat settlement to Road 60, the major north-south thoroughfare in the Occupied West Bank. This week, as the activists gathered near the entrance to Al-Ma’asara, 12 IOF jeeps with dozens of soldiers approached the marchers and informed them that there was a new commander in charge and he was not going to allow anyone to walk on the street. … Continue reading

Yesterday, international and Israeli activists joined Palestinians from the South Betlehem area in their weekly demonstration against the construction of the Annexation Barrier on their agricultural land. Participants met in the entrance to Um Salamuna and began marching down the street, which has both Palestinian and Israeli settler traffic from Efrat to Tekoa. Demonstrators were not attempting to block the road to vehicular traffic, but rather were making sure that their message of “no, no to the Wall!” and “End the Occupation!” was heard. When the approached the site of the construction of the barrier, soldiers from the Israeli Occupation Forces stopped the march in the middle of the streets. … Continue reading

On Saturday Israeli and international activists joined some residents of the Al-Qasa region, just outside Idhna, in the Hebron District, to demonstrate against their recent expulsion from their homes after over 50 years of residency. 264 refugees from 1948 lived in caves, small homes, and tents in the Al-Qasa area until two weeks ago, when the Israeli military forced them from their homes and destroyed most of them. The reason? Al-Qasa is in “the seam zone”, the ‘no man’s land’ created where the Israeli government refused to build the Annexation Barrier on the Green Line and instead built it further into Palestinian land. Thousands of Palestinians up and down the … Continue reading

This morning when a farmer and his family attempted to pick the olives from their trees that may be inaccessible next year if the Annexation Barrier is completed as planned, the Israeli military forbade them from going to their land, which is near the illegal Israeli settlement Efrat. So the plans for the weekly demonstration in Um Salamuna against the construction of the Annexation Barrier were altered and international activists joined the farmer and his family and other demonstrators to bring in their olive harvest.

Demonstrators began with trees on what will remain on the “Palestinian side” of the Fence, but then decided that they would … Continue reading

The 264 residents of the area of Al-Qasa, near Idhna and the Tarqumiya checkpoint, originally came from the village of Beit Jibrin, on what became the Israeli side of the Green Line in 1948. Many of the residents still remember when they first came to Al-Qasa, 50 years ago. The land of Al-Qasa, which is less than half a kilometer inside the West Bank from the Green Line, was donated to the families who were forced from Beit Jibrin, which is now the site of the Israeli town beit Shemesh when they became refugees of An-Nakba–the catastrophe. For 50 years 10 families have lived in caves and semi-permanent homes, … Continue reading

This week Palestinians and internationals demonstrated against the bulldozers which were once again tearing up grapevines near the road to the Efrat settlement on the land of Um Salamuna. For the past several months the Israeli military has not used the bulldozers on Fridays since the people of the South Betlehem district have been organizing weekly demonstrations against the construction of the Annexation Barrier on their land. Today, however, demonstrators arrived to find that the bulldozers were indeed at work again, destroying their agricultural land and way of life.

The group of Palestinians and internationals marched towards the bulldozers, coming within 50 meters of them before they were stopped by … Continue reading