On May 26, Palestine Solidarity Project volunteers joined local organizers in Wadi Rahhal to help a farmer do major trimming of some of his olive and fig trees. Ahmed Abdullah’s house was demolished a year ago . Fifteen of his twenty dunums of land have been confiscated for a settler road and for the expanding settlement of Efrat, well within the Palestinian side of the Green Line. The Apartheid Wall is going to make access to these trees as well as the graves of five family members. Groundwork for this portion of the Wall has already begun.

When asked how he supports himself now that he has lost … Continue reading

The weekly protest against the encroaching apartheid wall took place this Sunday, 23 May, in Beit Jala. Once again Palestinians were prevented from reaching the site by Palestinian Authority police, leaving the field to assorted international activists and a sizeable contingent of Israeli supporters – and, of course, Israeli security contractors, border police, soldiers and plainclothes agents.

Despite having to clamber down a precipitous terraced hillside to reach the site, a group of committed activists managed to seat themselves in the path of the leading bulldozer. By clinging determinedly to one another they managed to resist being dragged away into detention for upwards of an hour. They hung on … Continue reading

On Friday 21st June the village of Al Ma’sara, south of Bethlehem, held its weekly demonstration against the theft of village lands by the nearby Jewish colony/settlement of Efrat. Chanting “We want to go to our lands” in Arabic and English and bearing a banner proclaiming “Boycott Settlement Products” the villagers, numbering in excess of 150, marched towards the nearby access road. They were accompanied by a sizeable contingent of Israeli and international supporters, including a party of French visitors from Grenoble, who maintain an aid program to villagers in the Bethlehem region.

Upon reaching the road junction the protest march was met by a heavily armed … Continue reading

14 Israelis were arrested in the weekly demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah Friday as they attempted to march to the neighborhood and were prevented by police who used extreme force, leading to the hospitalization of 3 demonstrators just 2 days after hundreds of right-wing settlers were allowed to march through the neighborhood with a police escort. A number of the arrestees were held overnight in jail awaiting court hearings.

In An Nabi Saleh 50 Palestinian, international and Israeli demonstrators attempted to march to the land taken over by settlers from the nearby Halamish settlement. They were met with large amounts of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and attack dogs. After being chased back into the village, 2 Israeli activists … Continue reading

In Al-Walaja Thursday, May 6, a small group of Palestinians, internationals and Israelis surprised the bulldozer operators destroying agricultural land for construction of the Annexation Barrier and managed to avoid Israeli forces and block the bulldozer’s progression for nearly half an hour before being violently pulled out of the way. 3 Palestinians were seriously injured, with 2 reported broken limbs.

In Ni’lin on Friday, May 7, residents, also joined by Israeli and international activists, marched towards the now-completed barrier that cuts through their agricultural land. The copious amount of tear gas shot as usual was less effective, mostly blowing harmlessly out of the area. The demonstration lasted … Continue reading

On Sunday, May 9, residents of Beit Jala were joined by the mayor of Betlehem and the Palestinian Authority’s Minister for the Wall in their weekly demonstration against the construction of the Annexation Barrier which began in a new section of Beit Jala last month. Israeli and international activists, as well as residents of nearby villages joined in the demonstration which used the opportunity to announce the expulsion of products made in Israeli settlements. Boxes of these products were set on the barbed wire that blocked the procession from accessing their agricultural land and were set on fire.

Over 150 people participated in the weekly anti-Wall demonstration organized by the local Popular Committee in Beit Jala today. The protest march, which set out towards the Wall’s construction site, was attacked with tear-gas and concussion grenades as soon as it reached a razor-wire barricade erected by soldiers on the road leading to village’s lands.

As demonstrators were forced to retreat, soldiers continued to shoot tear-gas projectiles directly towards them. Local youth responded to the attack by throwing stones and clashes ensued. Two protesters were hit by rubber-coated bullets and Muammar Awad, an freelance cameraman, was hit in the head by an aluminum tear-gas projectile shot directly at him. According to eye witnesses, Awad was evacuated unconscious to the Sheari Tzedek … Continue reading

Despite razor wire, tear gas and squads of Israeli soldiers in their way 15 Palestinians, Israelis and PSP activists broke the barrier at Beit Jala this afternoon and unfurled banners on the bulldozers destroying the olive groves on their land for construction of the Annexation Barrier. Demonstrations began in Beit Jala last month when the construction of the Barrier began anew in this area just south of Jerusalem. Yesterday, a playground and garden were destroyed by the Israeli bulldozers to clear land in Beit Jala and the nearby village of Al-Walaja. This construction is part of the enormous “Jerusalem envelope” section of the Barrier, used to annex a huge swath of land surrounding Jerusalem to make room … Continue reading

Update All 15 detainees, including the 10 Palestinians who were held for 5 days in military prison have been released. At a hearing at Ofer prison for the 10 Palestinians in an unusual ruling, the judge admonished the Israeli police for arresting “non-violent” protesters.

video and photos from ActiveStills

On Sunday, March 28, approximately 200 Palestinians, Christians and Muslim supporters along with international and Israeli solidarity activists, marched from the center of Bethlehem towards the Gilo checkpoint, a massive terminal checkpoint in the Annexation Wall dividing Bethlehem from Jerusalem. The demonstrators were demanding access to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, where Christians traditionally hold a procession on the Sunday before Easter.

The demonstrators successfully and non-violently crossed the checkpoint by overwhelming the … Continue reading

During this week, Friday demonstrations were held in Nabi Saleh and Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem against settlement expansion, and Bil’in, Ni’lin, Al-Ma’asara, and Budrus against the Annexation Barrier and in commemoration of the 7 year anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie.
In Nabi Saleh, an international from the International Solidarity Movement was shot from close range in the arm with a rubber-coated steel bullet, breaking her wrist and causing her to be hospitalized. Additionally, three Palestinians, one holding Israeli and American citizenship (ISM co-founder Huwaida Arraf) along with 2 male residents of Nabi Saleh were arrested while trying to prevent the Israeli military from firing on people helping to evacuation of the injured international.
Arraf was released the next … Continue reading