On Sunday, March 27, Israeli police and military forces began stricter enforcement of the recently-declared Closed Military Zone surrounding Beit Ommar. While some villagers are still allowed through, many now are regularly turned away from the roadblocks, effectively imprisoning them within the village. It remains to be seen whether emergency vehicles would be allowed to pass through.

Israeli forces are also considering a more permanent blockade. In current plans, the main gate would be moved further into the village, while cement barriers and chain-link fences would be replaced with permanent walls. The Palestine Solidarity Project has also heard of plans to encircle … Continue reading

On Saturday, March 26, 2011, international and Israeli activists joined with Beit Ommar villagers to protest the road closures of the area, now in their third day. Around fifty participants and twenty journalists gathered near the village cemetery, where Israeli Defense Forces had closed off the road with large blocks of cement. The strongest members of the group began pushing one of the blocks, attempting to roll it aside to allow the passage of cars. Israeli military forces arrived and looked on until the group began to lever the block with a long steel pole. At this point, a soldier approached and confiscated the pole. An Israeli activist was arrested, but was released after an … Continue reading

On the afternoon of Wednesday, March 23, 2011 Israeli Defense Forces closed the main entrance to Beit Ommar, following the the injury of two settlers in a confrontation between them and several villagers. Israeli military and police lined Route 60, checking vehicles and papers, and arresting 32-year-old Saddam Hussein Za’aqeeq, who is a local taxi driver. No explanation was given for his arrest.

Around 5:00 pm later that evening, a special unit of armed soldiers in civilian clothes entered the village in a white van with Palestinian license plates, and began firing tear gas and rubber-coated ammunition. They were followed by seven IDF vehicles (jeeps … Continue reading

Around 12pm on Monday, March 21st, 2011, two Palestinian residents from the village of Beit Ommar in the southern West Bank were shot with live ammunition by an Israeli settler. The settler stopped his car on Route 60 as a funeral procession was moving towards the village cemetery and started firing indiscriminately into the crowd of mourners.

59-year-old Mohammad Ali Abu Safiyya was hit in the chest and is in critical condition in a Hebron hospital. 32-year-old Eyad Bassem Za’qiq was shot in his right thigh. The settler who shot the two men was not arrested.

Israeli Forces arrived on … Continue reading

On Saturday, March 12th, 2011, over three hundred women gathered together in the Palestinian village of Beit Ommar for conference organized by the Center for Freedom and Justice, with the support of the Palestine Solidarity Project. Among the participants were approximately 100 Israeli women solidarity activists and about 20 internationals. The 200 Palestinian women attendees came from Beit Ommar and from surrounding villages such as Surif, Al-Arroub Refugee Camp, Al-Jab’a, and Halhoul.
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The conference was a new step in a long-standing political cooperation between a group of Israeli women anti-occupation activists and Palestinian women from Beit Ommar area, which began last year with a highly-publicized campaign of Israeli women bringing Palestinian women to the sea and … Continue reading

On Saturday, March 12, 2011 at around 8pm, three bus loads full of Israeli settlers entered the village of Beit Ommar, breaking into at least two residences and beating the Palestinian occupants. The attacks seemed to be coordinated as part of other settler violence across the West Bank. Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in villages near Nablus, Ramallah, and Hebron.

In Beit Ommar, three buses of settlers from Bat Ayn and Kiryat Arba Settlements stopped on Route 60 near the entrance of the village. The settlers entered a residence close to the Israeli watchtower, breaking everything inside the house and smashing flower pots … Continue reading

Thursday, March 10th, 2011, 7am: Responding to an international call to action, Palestinian solidarity activists in Chicago renamed street signs on downtown street corners commemorating a Palestinian youth killed two years ago by the Israeli military. The activists used ladders just as morning rush hour commuters were starting to arrive in Chicago’s loop, and replaced street signs that read “Honorary Ben Gurion Way” with “Honorary Mehdi Abu Ayyash Way.”

According to the activists, David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, was responsible for drafting policy which intentionally drove Palestinians from their homes and disallowed them from returning. The activists also gave out … Continue reading

On the morning of Wednesday, March 9th, 2011, Israeli Forces demolished a barn belong to Mohammed Yunis Geiab Al-Alami in the Palestinian village of Beit Ommar in the southern West Bank. The Al-Alami residence is comprised of ten members of the family. The demolished structure was built 20 years ago. An Israeli military bulldozer had demolished the structure by mid-day, leaving the family stripped of an important element of their means of living.

The only explanation given to the family was that the building was too close to Route 60, the main road connecting the cities of Bethlehem and Hebron. Route 60 is … Continue reading

On Tuesday, March 8th, 2011, about 70 Palestinians, supported by international solidarity activists, blocked Route 60 (a road that is heavily trafficked by Israeli settlers) near the entrance of Beit Ommar village, between the cities of Hebron and Bethlehem. Traffic came to a halt for almost half an hour as activists waved Palestinian flags and chanted against the occupation. The demonstration was organized as a collective response to increasing settlement expansion in the West Bank and frequent attacks by Israeli Forces on the Palestinian people.

Israeli Forces arrived at the scene just as the demonstrators were returning home. Several of the soldiers … Continue reading

During the first week of March, international activists with the Palestine Solidarity Project in Beit Ommar have been volunteering in the village kindergarten for young girls and boys. The internationals assist with the English lessons and help organize daily activities for the children such as making papel mache and puppets.

When PSP volunteers from around the world come to work in Beit Ommar and stand in solidarity with Palestinian communities against the Israeli occupation, they also take part in aspects of daily life in the village, building stronger bonds of trust.