Wednesday, October 24, 2007, the Israeli Occupation Forces were out in full force throughout the West Bank, intent on collective punishment of the Palestinian people in response to a drive-by shooting near the illegal settlement of Ariel in the northern West Bank. Soldiers were stopping and detaining hundreds of Palestinians as they traveled through checkpoints in near Gush Etzion, Beit Ommar, Halhul, and other areas. In the evening, soldiers invaded Beit Ommar, shooting plastic-coated steel bullets, tear gas and flaming flares at homes throughout the village. Israeli soldiers then invaded the newly opened young Girls School near PSP’s house, which was closed and empty at the time.
Soldiers kicked over desks, broke chairs, and tore posters from the … Continue reading

Tuesday evening in an incredibly rare reversal, an Israeli military court released Yousef, one of PSP’s key Palestinian activists. After spending about a month in prison without charges in ‘administrative detention’, Yousef won his appeal. The appeal, which was argued by a fantastic, committed Israeli attorney, was based on the fact that Yousef was engaged in non-violent, popular resistance to the Israeli Occupation, which should be allowed. Several Israelis who have worked with Yousef this past year as a member of PSP wrote letters of support to the court, in which they verified his participation in peaceful struggle. After three days of deliberation, in which the military judge made the surprising move of actually re-interviewing the … Continue reading

For several days in a row, the Israeli Occupation Forces have been invading Beit Ommar, wreaking havoc and terrorizing the villagers. On Tuesday at approximately 4am soldiers in jeeps and Amoured Personnel Carriers entered Beit Ommar and immediately began shooting out the street lights in the main road, creating panic for people on their way to the mosque for morning prayers. The soldiers also shot several tear gas canisters into nearby homes and shot live ammunition at civilians. They then cut the power to entire center of the village, which remained off for several hours. Later tuesday evening, soldiers again entered the village, this time just before the villagers were set to break the daily Ramadan … Continue reading

Long-time committed PSP activist, Yousef, was kidnapped from his home at approximately 2 am by Israeli Occupation Forces two weeks ago. The Israeli intelligence services, Shabak, has demanded that he be held in prison for 4 months for “security purposes”. This policy of Administrative Detention, whereby Palestinians can be arrested and held in prison for sometimes years at a time without any trial or defense in court, is used by the Israeli government to imprison Palestinian activists simply for their activism or political beliefs. It is a policy that is in complete contravention to international law and all basic legal rights to defend oneself against the state’s accusations. Yousef and his attorney are not allowed to … Continue reading

Sunday, September 2, Palestinian, international, and Israeli activists, including people from PSP and Anarchists Against the Wall blocked the entrance to the Karmi Tsur settlement. Karmi Tsur is an illegal Israeli settlement built on the land of Beit Ommar and Halhul, two Palestinian villages in the Hebron district. One year ago the settlement built a new fence around it, annexing more Palestinian land. In April, 2007 activists cut open this illegal fence and this Sunday part of their own dismantled fence was used to block the entrance to the settlement.

Activists chained the section of the fence across the entrance of the settlement. A … Continue reading

On Wednesday, July 4 at 1 pm soldiers entered Beit Ommar with two jeeps. They stopped at a road near the PSP house and ordered a farmer, Nassir Ala’ame, to wait for one hour before working his land. With a map in hand, the soldier asked Nassir if he could tell him more information about a certain area called Wadi al Arab in Beit Ommar. After the hour, he was informed that he could not work his land at all that day.

A few days later the soldiers came again and detained the student Ahmad Moussa Awad for one hour to interrogate him for more information about the area. … Continue reading

After being released from prison, Samir Abu Marya of Beit Ommar received a new paper ID and has been denied access to a real ID for the next three years. In February of 2007, Samir Abu Marya, 20 years old, was arrested at the Gush Etzion checkpoint. He sat in prison without a fair trial for three months under administrative detention. When he was released, he received a sheet of paper that listed the dates of his imprisonment instead of an ID. He went to the Palestinian Administration the next day in order to get a real ID, but was informed that Israel blocked his access to owning … Continue reading

For the fourth time, the IOF reinstituted a roadblock to prevent traffic from the large vegetable market in Beit Ommar to Route 60, the main highway linking Beit Ommar and other villages to both Hebron to the south and Bethlehem to the north. The Palestine Solidarity Project along with other groups have already removed this roadblock four times. This particular roadblock directly affects and damages the economy of Beit Ommar and the farmers’ ability to make a living, which is why the PSP is so adamant about removing this roadblock. Several times it was removed at night for the activists’ security.

In the … Continue reading

Today Palestinians from Sarif and Al-Jab’a's PSP Committee were joined by members of the Palestine Solidarity Project and Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall in successfully removing a roadblock that blocked movement between the villages of Al-Jab’a and Sarif. During the removal, an IOF jeep arrived. The people continued on. Soon after, a hummer came and the group left temporarily. When the group returned to finish the removal, two more jeeps and ten more soldiers came. Despite the intended intimidation, the people successfully removed the roadblock.

Then the Palestine Solidarity Project and the Anarchists Against the Wall joined Beit Ommar’s Popular Committee … Continue reading

Israeli and International activists, including members of PSP and Ta’ayush, joined Palestinians from Beit Ommar for two consecutive actions – replanting an olive tree grove and removing a roadblock placed on private property. Despite attempted intimidation by soldiers, the activists successfully planted 35 olive trees near the entrance to Beit Ommar, where on April 15th, 2007 the Israeli Army uprooted a grove of trees. The Israeli Occupation Forces informed the owners of the land that it was being bulldozed because kids had been throwing stones from the area. It was yet another act of collective punishment. Within an hour, the group of activists had replanted the trees without incident.

… Continue reading