Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israel’s sweep of detentions across the West Bank continued overnight Monday as Israeli Radio reported 26 detentions for “security reasons.”

The forces detained seven civilians in Tulkarem, seven others in the Qalqiliya governorate, eight from Husan village near Bethlehem, one from Beit Ummar north of Hebron and three others from Hebron city.

Locals from Husan village said at least 50 military vehicles surrounded the small village and troops dispersed throughout the town searching the homes of the five men taken for questioning.

The men were identified as:

Murad Hamamrah,
Ashraf Hamamrah,
Sa’id Hamamrah,
Khattab Hamamrah and
Saber Hamamrah

Meanwhile, Israeli forces stormed the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem on Tuesday morning, detaining eight Islamic Jihad members at dawn, … Continue reading

From Ma’an News Agency

Israeli forces are carrying out a policy of shooting at the legs of peaceful demonstrators who protest the Israeli separation wall each Friday in towns across the West Bank, demonstrators are reporting.

The accounts of the Palestinian demonstrators who have been wounded by Israeli fire in recent weeks is raising the legacy of the first Palestinian Intifada, when Israeli then-defense minister Yitzak Rabin ordered his soldiers to “break the bones” of young protesters.

A representative of the Popular Committee against the Wall in the village of Ni’lin, Ahed Al-Khawaja, said that Israeli snipers, shooting from nearby hilltops or from stands of trees, are causing debilitating injuries, especially among young men who come to demonstrate.

In the village of Jayyus, … Continue reading

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Five young Israelis who refused military service defied the separation between Israelis and Palestinians on Saturday evening to share their tales of prison, isolation, and struggle with an audience outside the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

They were four women and one man. All but one have already been to prison for their objection to serving in the occupying army. They slipped into Bethlehem in order to bring the message of the refusal movement to the Palestinians who face the guns wielded by their teenage peers every day.

“These soldiers don’t have to be bad people. They’re very ordinary people, but they’re doing these things. They are responsible,” said Sahar Vardi, 18, from Jerusalem.

Nearly a hundred Palestinians and … Continue reading

On Friday, February 6, members of the Committee in Solidarity with Landowners, along with Israeli and international solidarity activists, joined members of the community in Husan where they planted approximately 400 trees on land near the settlement of Beitar Illit, which is threatened with confiscation. The committee, which is made up of people from Beit Jala, Husan, and Beit Ommar, was organized a few months ago to support the villages particularly in the Western Betlehem District who have already lost land through the construction of the Annexation Barrier and settlement expansion, and will lose further land when the Barrier is completed in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc area. Husan is one of half a dozen Palestinian villages among … Continue reading

The daily demonstrations in solidarity with the people of Gaza continue across Palestine. These pictures from January 19 show around 200 women and children demonstrating in Betlehem. This rally took place outside the UNRWA Relief Office on the busy Hebron Road/Beit Jalla Road junction where it caused modest traffic disruption. Demonstrations like this have been taking place on a daily basis across the West Bank since the conflict began four weeks ago.

from Maan News Agency

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Richard Falk, issued the following statement:

In recent days the desperate plight of the civilian population of Gaza has been acknowledged by such respected international figures as the Secretary General of the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Last week, Karen AbyZayd, who heads the UN relief effort in Gaza, offered first-hand confirmation of the desperate urgency and unacceptable conditions facing the civilian population of Gaza. Although many leaders have commented on the cruelty and unlawfulness of the Gaza blockade imposed by Israel, such a flurry of denunciations by normally cautious UN … Continue reading

This week’s Friday demonstration in Al-Ma’asara was dedicated in solidarity with the residents of Hebron, who were in the midst of a violent Israeli settler pogrom. Residents of Al-Ma’asara were joined by Israeli activists from Anarchists Against the Wall and members of Palestine Solidarity Project as they marched towards a group of Israeli soldiers who had once again set up a razor-wire fence across the road, preventing the march from approaching Palestinian land which is being confiscated for the construction of the Annexation Barrier. Children of local farmers began pulling on the razor wire, in defiance of the intimidating soldiers who repeatedly pointed their guns at them, and … Continue reading

Husan is a village of just under 5,000 people situated in the western Betlehem District. It’s existence is precarious; it is crammed between two rapidly expanding settlements, Batar Illit and Har Gilo. If the Annexation Barrier is completed on its intended path Husan, along with 4 other villages, will be on the Israeli side of the barrier. Due to the desirability of the land, Husan’s land has been consistently encroached upon by settlers in a variety of ways. 10 years ago, a section of agricultural land was cut off from the village by an Israeli military checkpoint. Access was prohibited and though residents have documentation … Continue reading

Israeli forces closed down the northern section of Hebron on Saturday, declaring the entire half of the city a “closed military zone” as soldiers occupied five houses and forced shop owners, at gunpoint, to close early.

“No sooner had Israeli soldiers handed me a warrant saying that military forces planned to occupy my home did 20 soldiers storm the house,” said 42-year-old Bassam Al-Ja’abary, whose home was one of the five taken over by Israeli soldiers.

“Then they climbed up to the roof and prevented my family from leaving,” he added.

His and the other four houses are located in the Wadi An-Nasara neighborhood, close to the home of the Rajabi family home, which Jewish settlers occupied in March 2007.

Other homes belong to … Continue reading

On October 30, over a dozen Israeli Occupation soldiers invaded the Al-Arroub Technical College and University and began pulling students from their classrooms, blind-folding them, handcuffing them, and marching them out of the buildings and towards the military watchtower at the entrance to Al-Arroub refugee camp across the street. Several students, between the ages of 15 and 23, were taken into an area beneath the watchtower surrounded by high concrete walls where they were beaten severely about the head and stomachs, out of sight of the photographers who had gathered. The president of the school was told that the arrested students were wanted for throwing … Continue reading