Palestine Solidarity Project » Betlehem

15 Arrested As Palestinians Breach Jerusalem Checkpoint From Bethlehem

PSP — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:13:00 +0000

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 Israeli soldiers present, carrying signs expressing their right to enter Jerusalem, practice their religion freely, and in solidarity with the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem facing expulsion.

After crossing the checkpoint through the gate usually used by tourist buses and marching several meters into Jerusalem municipality, speeches were made in several languages, and the group turned to go back into Bethlehem. It was at this point that the Israeli military attacked the group, arresting 15 people, 4 Israelis, 1 international and 10 Palestinian residents of the West Bank including 2 members of the Al-Ma’asara popular committee and a member of the Bethlehem popular committee and staff member of Holy Land Trust, who, along with several NGO’s in Bethlehem including Holy Land Trust, organized the demonstration.

Though the 5 foreigners were released the same day, the 10 Palestinians arrested are still being held in Ofer military prison, near Ramallah. On Monday, dozens gathered to protest the arrest of these non-violent activists and their continued detention. Another demonstration at the prison is planned for Wednesday.

Inter-religious Demonstration Against the Annexation Barrier in Beit Jala

PSP — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:18:41 +0000

On Tuesday July 7th, Palestinians, Israelis and internationals met at 5pm from both sides of the Annexation fence near Beit Jala and the illegal Israeli settlement of Gilo. The Barrier in this location cuts off residents of Beit Jala from significant portions of their agricultural land. They met with a message of peace, justice and inter-religious tolerance against the occupation. As a gesture of solidarity, each of the religious groups brought symbolic items to exchange with one another through the Barrier. On the Palestinian side of the Annexation Barrier, all participants, including a large German solidarity delegation of approximately 100 members, reached the meeting point next to the fence without any delays or obstacles; the situation on the other side was slightly different.
One Israeli group, trying to reach the meeting point on the other side of the fence, was stopped by border police and held back until the symbolic demonstration was finished. Nevertheless most of the Israeli groups managed to reach the demonstration on time, despite efforts of the border police to prevent them from doing so.

Hundreds March in Evening Vigil for Peace in Betlehem

PSP — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:01:53 +0000

Hundreds of residents of Betlehem and surrounding villages, including a large contingent from Beit Ommar, were joined by International and Israeli activists as they marched towards the Annexation Wall that cuts deep into the land of Betlehem, near Rachel’s Tomb. Local clergymen gave speeches about the significance of Betlehem in the wider Palestinian cause and called particularly on the international Christian community to support Palestinians under occupation and called for the removal of Walls from their land and hearts. The demonstration was organized by a wide coalition of groups in Betlehem, including Christian congregations, prisoner associations, and other social and welfare groups. The speakers emphasized unity and the commonalities between the three monotheistic religions–Islam, Christianity, and Judaism–as bases for peace and justice in the region.

PNN: Nonviolent Demonstration for Release of Journalist

PSP — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 22:30:09 +0000

Palestine News Network: for the original article click here

Bethlehem / Najib Farrag – Dozens of Palestinian journalists demonstrated on Wednesday morning at Bethlehem’s Church of Nativity in protest of the Israeli arrest of journalist Hassan Abdel Jawad.

The 53 year old is a member of the board of the Palestinian Journalists Union and also a local newspaper correspondent. Abdel Jawad is currently being held in the Israeli military prison Ofar, built on Ramallah lands.

His arrest came when six members of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine political party were blindfolded, bound and taken away on Monday morning.

Among the demonstrators this morning was Bethlehem Mayor Dr. Victor Batarsa, several police officials, and Palestinian Legislative Council member, Issa Qaraqaâ€™.

They called not only for the release of the journalist, but for all political prisoners.

Head of the Palestinian Journalists Union, Naim Toubassi, said that the arrest of Abdel Jawad is the latest proof of the Israeli â€œpolicy of repression and harassment, not only against political activists, but also against journalists who transmit the truth and exercise their right to freedom of opinion and expression.â€

Toubassi commended the sacrifices made by Palestinian journalists in continuing to work in the face of â€œIsraelâ€™s continued aggression of decades, including all of the tools of repression, prosecution and punishment.â€ All journalists pay a high price for their work, he said, â€œincluding being killed, injured and imprisoned.â€

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads, â€œEveryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.â€

Hundreds March Against the Wall in Betlehem

PSP — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 15:59:43 +0000

In a demonstration yesterday orchestrated by the Popular Committee against the Wall in Betlehem and Mubadara movement, led by Mustafa Barghouti, protesters marched against the Annexation Wall in the city of Betlehem. The march began after a regional meeting in the International Center of Betlehem and went directly to a section of the Wall in which a tower stands manned with Israeli Occupation Force soldiers. Demonstrators convened at this portion of the wall, chanted, and many men beat their fists against the Wall in what became an emotionally charged protest against the 8-meter tall Wall which snakes through the streets of Betlehem in order to annex Rachel’s Tomb to the Israeli side. After the demonstration had come to an end, several Palestinian children began throwing stones at the Wall and watch tower in a common symbol of resistance to the Israeli Occupation. The Israeli soldiers responded by firing tear gas into the crowd, causing them to disperse.

Family Reunited in Betlehem After 6 Years

PSP — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:31:02 +0000

Spend any time in Occupied Palestine and you will hear countless stories of how families are divided by various aspects of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine. One such story is that of the Al-Hreimi family, grandfather Yasin, father Jalal, and daughter Samaher Al-Hreimi.

Yasin Hreimi was one of twenty six Palestinians exiled to Gaza as part of a deal brokered between Israelis and Palestinians at the end of a month long Israeli seige of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002. Nearly 200 Palestinian men, women, and children sought refuge in the Church of the Nativity during this seige. The seige was part of a much larger Israeli offensive dubbed “Operation Defensive Shield.”

After just one month in Gaza, Yasin’s son, Jalal, was arrested and sentenced to twelve years imprisonment for participating in anti-Occupation activities. Yasin’s grief over his being forced into exile and his son’s imprisonment was only intensified further when, in 2003, another of his sons, Walid, died in Gaza after Israel denied him permission to return to the West Bank for life-saving kidney treatment.

Several attempts were made to visit the imprisoned Jalal in Gaza by family and friends but all attempts were for not, as everyone was denied access to Jalal. Finally, as a result of a brokered prisoner release deal between the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, Jalal was released on 26 December 2007 after serving six of the twelve years he was sentenced to. He was reunited later in Bethlehem with his daughter, Samaher, after negotiations to move her from Gaza where she had gone in hopes of visiting her father to Bethlehem. Samaher was trapped in Gaza due to having gone on her grandmother’s permit, who died in Gaza, thus nullifying the permit and leaving Samaher stranded in the virtual prison that is the Gaza Strip.

Negotiations are currently underway for the transfer of Yasin, Jalal’s father to Bethlehem as a part of another release of imprisoned Palestinians although these seem unlikely to be of any success. Yasin has resigned himself to exile in Gaza, but is happy his son and granddaughter have been reunited after all these years.

The story of the Al-Hreimi family is not unique by any stretch of the imagination. There are some 10,000 Palestinians currently imprisoned by the Israelis. Among those still held by Israel are almost 400 children and 120 women. Another 900 are called administrative detainees, imprisoned without facing charges or a trial date. The dire situation for Palestinian prisoners is only exacerbated by the use of the Gaza Strip as a large open-air prison, with over a million people trapped inside.

Israeli Occupation Forces Bring Tanks, Hummers into Betlehem

PSP — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 17:24:39 +0000

Today, July 9th, 15 hummers from the Israeli Occupation Forces entered Betlehem and occupied the home of Mohammed Khalil Atalah, 40, on Asaf street. Tanks were also brought in and closed the street. They shot live ammunition in the air and threw sound grenades in the streets in an act of intimidation of the residents of the area, including small children. While some soldiers were ransacking the home, including using police dogs, other soldiers beat passersby. Some soldiers were undercover, dressed as Palestinians. After searching the home for approximately 4 hours, Mr. Atalah was arrested.
Betlehem is in Area A, which, through the Oslo Peace Accords, is supposed to be under the complete control of the Palestinian Authority. However, the Israeli army frequently invades cities in Areas A, including Betlehem, Nablus, and Ramallah.