Karmei Tsur settlers have also uprooted olive trees saplings which were planted last Saturday during the Beit Ommar’s weekly nonviolent protest, organized by the Popular Committee in the town, even though these saplings were planted outside the so-called security fence.

The project aims to raise awareness and support for small farming communities and Fair Trade practices across the West Bank. They planted 500 olive saplings in southern Hebron village al-Tuwani before the beginning the marathon on Saturday, which will run for five days. Israeli settlers have uprooted thousands of olive trees which were planted adjacent to each of Karmei Tsure colony, Bayt Ayn colony, Etzion settlements surrounding Beit Ommar over the past few years, but the popular committee together with the Palestine Solidarity Project replant whatever is uprooted to cultivate and protect the land from confiscation.

Israeli police detained three marathon-runners near Hebron on Saturday, including two French nationals, while they were running on their way to Beit Ommar to participate in the olive trees planting.
The two men were later released, but Palestinian Nasser Abu Farha, 47, will be facing a hearing in June on charges of organizing an illegal demonstration.

At yesterday’s demonstration, the protest organizers gave out about 700 olive trees to the farmers in the area and marched towards the Karmei Tsur settlement to protest peacefully against colonization by planting the. As they approached area, dozens of heavily armed Israeli Forces blocked their way and began pushing the activist and beating them. As the activists continued planting trees on the land, soldiers began shooting tear gas and sound bombs at the unarmed demonstrators. A Palestinian man, Saqqar Abu Maria, was hit with a gun butt on his head by soldiers and injured. Despite this repression, the demonstrators accomplished their aim of planting all 700 trees and expressed their resolve to continue to their actions until the occupation is ended.

The settlers wandered through Beit Za’tah and Alkarn neighborhoods before moving onto Wadi Esheikh area close to the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur to the south of the village. During this provocative tour, the settlers blocked Route 60, the main road connecting Hebron with Jerusalem and the main avenue of transportation for Beit Ommar residents. Palestinian vehicles were prevented from moving in the area. Additionally, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs at Palestinian villagers as the settlers passed through their town. This recent provocation is a continuation of settlement harassment of Palestinians in the area. Another large group of settlers entered Beit Ommar less than one month ago and settlers routinely destroy farmland, stone vehicles, and attack an even kill Palestinians in the village. On January 28th, 2011, Yousef IKhlayl, a 17-year-old Palestinian resident of Beit Ommar, was killed by Israeli settlers as he was working his family’s farmland.

During one of the raids this past week, the soldiers broke into several residences at 3am. The Palestinians were taken from their homes without any explanation given as to why they were being arrested. They were taken away in jeeps to the Gush Etzion settlement which houses a jail and interrogation center. The soldiers broke into an additional home but their intended target managed to escape, and has not been found by the army. The soldiers nonetheless broke many things in the house such as tables and chairs, and harassed the escaped man’s parents.

The names and ages of the arrested are below:

Mohamad Jamal Alkam, 17 years old
Mo’ath Jamal Alkam, 18 years old
Ibrahim Yousef Sabarnah, 21 years old
Khader Fathi Sabarnah, 16 years old
Hamzah Nawaf Sabarnah, 22 years old
Mohamad Shawkat Alkam, 24 years old
Ra’ed Mahmoud Sabarnah, 39 years old
Yousef Mahmoud Alami, 23 years old

The soldiers told the arrested families that their aim was to “check” the homes. However, the time of the break-ins and the harassment and destruction caused suggests the main reason was simply to disturb the families and cause alarm to the community. The soldiers did not seem to be looking for anything in particular

Israeli Forces, heavily armed, became nervous and began shoving the nonviolent activists, pushing several to the ground. Unlike in previous demonstrations, no sound bombs or tear gas was used to disperse the crowd, probably due to the proximity of the villagers to the soldiers. Several organizers then made speeches against the occupation and the activists waved Palestinian flags and chanted before returning back to the village after some time. No arrests were made at this week’s demonstration.

Israeli forces raided Beit Ommar and briefly detained and attacked several locals, popular committee spokesman Muhammad Awad told Ma’an. Soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs after residents came to defend their relatives, he added.

Ayed Mahmud Abu Maryeh, 42, was guarding his sheep when soldiers fired sound grenades at him, Awad said. He was taken to Hebron Hospital with minor injuries to his face, Awad said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the incident.

On Dec. 9, a 28-year-old man was killed when soldiers fired a tear gas canister at his face during a protest in Nabi Saleh near Ramallah.

This week’s demonstration decried the murder of Mustafa Tamimi, a 28-year-old Palestinian activist from the village of Nabi Saleh, who was shot in the face from close range with a tear gas canister fired by Israeli Forces during an unarmed demonstration two days before. Mustafa died of his wounds early Saturday and his funeral was attacked by Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and concussion grenades at his friends and family who has gathered to mourn his murder.

During the demonstration in Beit Ommar, more than a dozen Israeli soldiers blocked the path of the villagers, who waved Palestinian flags and chanted against the occupation. The demonstration ended after a while without any injuries or arrests.

Surif November 29th.2011.
Today Israeli soldiers appeared in Jamal and Ibrahim Mohammad Abed Al Khadi`s land to inform them that 12 dunums of their land will be confiscated within two weeks. There is a well on this land. The farmers were told that the well will be demolished along with the fence, and that the land with young olive trees will be bulldozed.

The Israeli government want the land for their own use. The land is 4-5 kilometers from the Green line, which means the occupant is annexing a lot more land from the Palestinians.
When the apartheid fence is completed, the land will be outside the wall and lost for the Palestinians. Another case about land grab was published by PSP earlier this afternoon in the Beit Ommar area. Report here.

The farmers are not allowed to work on the land they own close to the wall. When the farmers loose their land, they loose the resources needed to support their families. This – needless to say – causes very serious problems for the individual family and for the community as a whole.

Often farmers that own land in area C need special permits to harvest and work in their land. Many of them experience lot of harassment from both settlers and soldiers.

On 24 November Israeli occupation forces demolished two homes, a mosque and a barn, killing livestock, and arrested two young women in the village of Umm Fagarah, in the South Hebron Hills in the occupied West Bank.

The incident was caught on video by Operation Dove, an Italian organization that has maintained a presence in the area since 2004.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILiVe1WPafA

The description of the video states:

At 10 am two bulldozers arrived in the village, escorted by five military vehicles. Without showing any demolition order, the army demolished two houses, a mosque, a barn and a structure containing the generator.

Forced to kneel

During the video, two young Palestinian women can be seen being forced to kneel on the ground by Israeli occupation forces. The heavily-armed soldiers then take the women away in an armored vehicle as observers attempt to question the soldiers. The soldiers respond by demanding to see the observers’ passports and warning other observers to back away.

The description adds that people from neighboring villages rushed to the scene and,

Ignoring the request of the Palestinians to be able to rescue the rabbits, the Israeli army tore down the barn injuring and killing the animals. After the demolitions, the army took away the two girls without providing any explanation on the charges.

The Bedouin village of Umm Fagarah is near the village of al-Tuwani in the area of Hebron, an area where Palestinians, especially schoolchildren, face routine violent attacks by Israeli settlers.

Ethnic cleansing under pretext of lack of “building permits”

As elsewhere in the occupied territories, such as in Beit Hanina north of Jerusalem on the very same day, Israel routinely demolishes Palestinian homes on the pretext that they are built “without permits.” Israel rarely grants such permits to Palestinians to build on their own land. Israel’s home demolitions are crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Meanwhile, as part of its colonization policy, Israel routinely grants retroactive permission for Jewish-only settlements built on occupied land in violation of international law.

27,000 Bedouins in West Bank a target of Israeli ethnic cleansing

The latest demolitions in Umm Fagarah are part of a longstanding effort by Israel to rid the area of its indigenous population. Earlier this month, Israel destroyed the electricity network in the area, as also documented by Operation Dove.

Umm Fagarah is in “Area C” – most of the West Bank – which under the 1993 Oslo Accords remains under full Israeli military control with no role for the Palestinian Authority. Some 27,000 Palestinian Bedouins in Area C are currently targets of forced removal.

http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/video-israeli-occupation-forces-demolish-homes-and-mosque-arrest-girls-near-hebron#.TtReXGfCuqA