This morning when residents of Um Salamuna went out to work their land, they were greeted by soldiers from the Israeli Occupation Forces who informed them that they would not be allowed on their land today because Israeli engineers had to survey it and mark the path for the pending construction of the Wall. Two engineers, accompanied by six soldiers and two private security guards tramped through the family’s grape orchard marking the Wall’s proposed path with blue spray-paint.

The residents of Um Salamuna had a pending court case in the Israeli Supreme Court contesting the path of The Wall. The IOF was ordered not to commence any work on … Continue reading

For the second time in a month activists from Anarchists Against the Wall blocked one of Tel Aviv’s busiest streets using razor wire taken from the segregation wall in the West Bank village of Bil’in. In a replica of an action on December 28th, the activists brought Rothschild Street in downtown Tel Aviv to a standstill this afternoon at around 3 pm.

Activists placing the razor wire in Rothschild Street in Tel Aviv

Two rolls of razor wire were stretched across the street parallel to each other in a formation reminiscent of that of the wall. Red signs reading: “Mortal Danger-Military Zone. Any person who passes or damages the fence endangers his life”, also from the wall itself, were hung on … Continue reading

Today, the people of Um Salamuna and Wadi An-Nis were again accompanied by International and Israeli activists as they demonstrated against the theft of their land for the construction of the Apartheid Wall. Every week for the past 5 weeks the people of this area have been praying on their land in defiance of the Israeli governments’ attempt to confiscate it. The people of Um Salamuna and the surrounding area plan to continue their demonstrations using a variety of tactics in an attempt to prevent the loss of their lands.

Today, PSP and other international and Israeli activists joined over 400 people in celebrating the wedding of Mohamed Brajegeli from Wadi an Nis, a village near Um Salamuna, on the land that is being confiscated for the construction of the Apartheid Wall and terminal. The people from Wadi an Nis and Um Salamuna have been demonstrating here weekly, with hundreds of people peacefully gathering.

Men and Women of all ages came to today’s demonstration, including elderly farmers who will be losing all of their agricultural land either by the bulldozers or by annexation to the illegal settlement Efrat, nearby. The people … Continue reading

Yousef Abu Maria was first arrested in June 2006 for organizing non-violent demonstrations against the Apartheid Wall in Beit Ommar. After nearly 2 months he was brought before a military court and “sentenced” to 6 months in prison (including “time served”). He was not tried in a court, nor was he given an opportunity to defend himself. This is because Yousef is being held in Administrative Detention, an extra-legal option for the Shabak (Israeli intelligence) to hold Palestinians indefinitely without trial. Last week, when Yousef was scheduled to be released, the Shabak requested in a military court that he be held an additional 6 months as a “security risk”. It is nearly impossible … Continue reading

Today, PSP committees from Beit Ommar, Al-Jab’a and Al-Khadr, as well as International and Israeli activists joined over 300 people from Um Salamuna to demonstrate against the continued confiscation of their land by the construction of the Apartheid Wall. The people were addressed by the head of the Village Council and other PSP committee members about the impact The Wall will have on theirs and other villages. The men and women then prayed on the land and marched peacefully back to the village.

Um Salamuna will lose over 700 dunums of land, much of it expropriated to the illegal settlement Efrat. It is clear that the path … Continue reading

On January 15, 2007 the Israeli Army began construction on the Apartheid Wall in Um Salamuna. The Army says The Wall is being built in the area to protect the illegal settlement Efrat which was constructed on Um Salamuna’s land over a decade ago. The Wall is not being constructed along the edge of the settlement land, but rather snakes through the land of Um Salamuna on an incomprehensible path, taking 300 dunums of agricultural land and cutting off at least one resident’s house from the rest of the village.

At 9 in the morning, the PSP commmittee of Um Salamuna along with other residents went to … Continue reading

The Israeli checkpoint on Road 60 near the Gush Etzion settlement separates the Bethlehem and Hebron districts of the West Bank. Over the past several years, the checkpoint has been expanded, and the Israeli military plans to expand it further as the Apartheid Wall is built in the area, so that, we have been told, soon Palestinians from the Bethlehem district will be required to have permits to go to Hebron and vice versa. There is now an area at the checkpoint where the Israeli soldiers and border police regularly detain Palestinians attempting to travel between Bethlehem and Hebron for several hours at a time.

Today, Israeli soldiers detained two Palestinian youth for … Continue reading

Um Salamuna is a village of about 2,000 residents in the Bethlehem district next to the second biggest Israeli settlement in the West Bank, Efrat, and another settlement called Migdal Oz. On 23 November 2006, the Israeli occupation authorities came to a part of the village called Wadi Dumbak and informed the Takartra and ‘Issa families that their land would be expropriated for a new checkpoint and tunnel that will be part of the Apartheid Wall. The families, who depend on agriculture to survive, will lose all of their land – some 300 dunams currently planted with olive, peach, and grape trees. Seven extended families, numbering some 300 people in all, will be … Continue reading

Today, Nov. 1, PSP went to the village of Surif to visit their olive oil production factory. We intended to write a report about the olive oil process from the tree to the bottle. Instead, we found ourselves writing a report on the devestating impact of settlements on the economic survival of Palestinian farmers and business owners.

Factory owner, Mohammed Barathea, says that business in Surif used to be very busy, but now with the constant presence of soldiers and the completion of the Apartheid Wall which resulted in the annexation of more land after land had already been confisgated for settlement expansion, business is slow. Many Palestinian farmers have been cut off from their agricultural land … Continue reading