9th September: PSP joined residents of the Al Ma’sara village in Bethlehem district for their weekly demonstration against the Israeli occupation. Around fifty Palestinian protesters – accompanied by Israeli and international activists – marched from the town and attempted to cross an Israeli-built road to access their fields.

The march was met by around 25 Isreali soldiers, who prevented the villagers from crossing the road to reach the Palestinian fields. Protesters chanted in support of Palestine’s Spetember bid for statehood at the UN, and demanded an end to the occupation. The entirely peaceful protest was then pushed back by the heavily armed soldiers, who … Continue reading

On 6th September, at 11:00 am, a group of Israeli soldiers and police attacked a group of fifteen local farmers who were selling local fruits at the entrance to Beit Ommar village, on the Route 60 highway. The soldiers then proceeded to confiscate and destroy 15 large stalls of the locals’ produce (consisting of tomatoes, plums, grapes and peaches) without citing any reason or justification. Farmers estimated the cost of the damage at around $10,000. More worrying for the vendors is the possibility that Israel intends to permanently prevent them from selling their fruit on Route 60, the main highway connecting Jerusalem … Continue reading

Saturday 3rd September: At around 11am, residents of Beit Ommar witnessed an unmaned Israeli surveillance plane enter the village, and fly at a very low altitude over areas of the town.

The plane appeared only a few hours before the town’s weekly protest against the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur, and circled low over buildings where Palestinian and international activists were gathering.

Unmaned planes such as the one spotted over Beit Ommar are often used in order to gather photographic evidence and intelligence on Palestinian villages and popular resistance activities. This is the first time such measures have been used against Beit Ommar’s peaceful protests.

After circling several … Continue reading

Today in Beit Ommar, around twenty-five demonstrators marched towards the illegal Israeli settlement of Karmei Tsur in protest of the imprisonment of Beit Ommar school teacher Majde Za’aqiq. Demonstrators held signs protesting Majde’s imprisonment, advocating Palestinian membership of the UN, and ending the occupation.

Israeli soldiers followed both in front of the demonstrators, and behind in a jeep. The demonstrators continued to march peacefully, until thirty Israeli soldiers blocked the demonstrators’ from marching through their own fields. Younes, one of the popular committee organizers, then gave a powerful speech condemning the theft of … Continue reading

This past Saturday, Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists peacefully demonstrated in Al Walaja protesting the Israeli High Court’s decision to allow the construction of the separation barrier that would annex half of Al Walaja’s land to Israel.

Al Walaja is an agricultural village and most of the families there depend on these fields for their income. The annexation of Al Walaja land will therefore be devastating to its residents.

The demonstrators marched peacefully holding signs condemning the occupation and the apartheid system. Israeli soldiers presented a closed military zone order to the activists, but the order was outdated. They then presented a closed military zone order for August … Continue reading

The past year has seen a rapid increase in child arrests in Beit Ommar, as the Israeli army escalates this tactic of occupation. Last week, PSP visited the family home of one of these children.

Mohamad Ibrahim Abu Maria is a 16-year-old high school student from Beit Ommar. His case is one which sounds all too familiar in Palestine. Seven months ago, the Israeli army arrested him from the passenger’s seat of his father’s car. He is still in jail today, and has yet to be tried for any offence. Mohamad’s father, Ibrahim Abu Maria, told us more about his story.

Mohamad, who plans to study engineering at university after … Continue reading

This past Saturday, twenty-eight Israeli women visited Beit Ommar at the invitation of the Beit Ommar Women’s Committee. The event was organised to give the women a chance to eat together, mingle, and discuss the challenges that citizens of Beit Ommar face on a daily basis.

Iman Abu Maria started the discussion by illustrating the situation in Beit Ommar. She highlighted the problems caused by the five illegal settlements which surround Beit Ommar, including the regular settler assaults on Palestinian farmers cultivating their own land.

The issue of escalating violence from the Israeli military was also discussed, both in terms of the growing number of nighttime raids carried out in … Continue reading

23 August: Beit Ommar resident Majde Za’aqiq – a 38 year old elementary school teacher – today remains imprisoned in an Israeli jail, after an Israeli military court yesterday took the decision to extend his detention without any charge or trial date.

Majde was arrested on Saturday, when Beit Ommar’s peaceful demonstration against the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur was attacked by the Israeli military (report here). He was taken by the military – along with an international activist who has since been released – from a car, as he was leaving the demonstration. An entirely fabricated accusation of throwing stones was given as the reason for … Continue reading

20th August – Residents of Beit Ommar, supported by Israeli and international activists, gathered for a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with Gaza, following the recent Israeli airstrikes there which killed 14 people, including 13 year old Mahmoud Abu Samara.

As the demonstration attempted to march through Beit Ommar fields towards the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur, the Israeli military responded with extreme violence. Live ammunition was fired at protestors, and concussion grenades were thrown, setting fire to the surrounding grass.

Soldiers arrested a total of five demonstrators, including Yousef Abu Maria, a member … Continue reading

13th August: Around 40 demonstrators – comprising residents of the village of Beit Ommar, and Israeli and international activists – gathered for a demonstration against the illegal Karmei Tsur settlement.

The demonstrators, carrying flags and banners commemorating the anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were met by a large and heavily armed military presence. As the protestors marched through Beit Ommar fields, the soldiers reacted violently, pushing several protestors to the ground, and others down steep rocky drops.

After a short speech, the protestors decided to … Continue reading