On Saturday, March 26, 2011, international and Israeli activists joined with Beit Ommar villagers to protest the road closures of the area, now in their third day. Around fifty participants and twenty journalists gathered near the village cemetery, where Israeli Defense Forces had closed off the road with large blocks of cement. The strongest members of the group began pushing one of the blocks, attempting to roll it aside to allow the passage of cars. Israeli military forces arrived and looked on until the group began to lever the block with a long steel pole. At this point, a soldier approached and confiscated the pole. An Israeli activist was arrested, but was released after an … Continue reading

On Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010, at 3:00pm, Israeli soldiers arrived with a bulldozer and created a cement and dirt barrier at one of the three entrances to Beit Ommar village off of Route 60, the main road connecting the cities of Bethlehem and Hebron.

The main effect of this will be to funnel any traffic coming to and from Beit Ommar through the military checkpoint and past the Israeli watchtower at the main street of the village. Apart from creating extra congestion at the entrance to the town, this new roadblock has served to further isolate the houses of several families from the rest of the town.

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The roadblock between Surif and Al-Jab’a has been there for at least 10 years, well before the second intifada broke out in late 2000. It prevents the nearly 1000 residents of Al-Jab’a from accessing essential resources in Surif such as secondary schools, shops, and medical care. The roadblock also forces the over 30,000 Palestinians in Beit Ommar and Surif areas to use the entrance to Beit Ommar, which is controlled by the Israeli Occupation Forces with an enormous watchtower and gate, to access the cities of Hebron or Betlehem, where the only regional hospitals, universities, and major marketplaces are located. Saturday, Israeli and international solidarity activists from the Palestine Solidarity … Continue reading

This Friday, September 21, Palestinians from the village of AL-Walaja were accompanied by international and Israeli activists as they stepped up their campaign against the confiscation of their land and the construction of the Annexation Fence, which will surround their entire village. Once again, the Israeli Occupation Forces tried to prevent international and Israeli activists from participating in the demonstration, and once again they were unsuccessful. People gathered under the trees near the site where Israeli-owned Caterpillar bulldozers have been uprooting fruit and pine trees to clear the way for the Annexation Fence. After a short speech by a sheikh and leader from the women’s organization, the group marched … Continue reading

This Saturday, August 18, international activists joined residents of Dhahariya as they attempted to open a roadblock for a 4th time. The last time the roadblock was opened in may, 3 internationals and 2 Israelis were arrested. This time, Palestinians and internationals marched from Dhahariya to the roadblock, which cuts off 90,000 people from directly accessing Hebron, the district’s main city. When they arrived at the roadblock, demonstrators wrapped the rope around one of the blocks and started pulling together, shouting, ‘wahad, thneen, theleth’ (‘one, two, three!’). Soon after they began, an Israeli Occupation Forces jeep arrived with four soldiers. One soldier began videotaping the … 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