A short re-cap of this Friday’s demonstrations:

in Ni’lin this week, dozens of local residents were accompanied by solidarity activists in their regular demonstration against the Annexation Barrier cutting through their agricultural land. While the demonstration passed much as usual, with demonstrators confronted with tear gas shot by the Israeli military beyond the concrete barrier, one young man was lightly wounded when shot in the leg with what is reportedly a ruger rifle, shooting .22 caliber bullets with a suppressor, making the shots much quieter and slightly slower. It is because of this element that the Israeli Military has consistently argued that the use of the ruger as a “crowd dispersal” weapon is appropriate as it is “non-lethal”, though … Continue reading

On Wednesday, December 9th volunteers from PSP joined other international and Palestinian solidarity activists and farmers in Um Salamuna to continue the planting of olive and almond trees. This planting project is an effort to reclaim the land around South Bethlehem in an attempt to prevent the surrounding settlements from expanding into and occupying it. This project began in early November and has been very successful, despite repeated harassment from local settlers and the Israeli military. However, on Thursday, December 3rd settlers uprooted and burned several dozen olive trees that had been recently planted. When the landowner complained to the Israeli Police, he was told that it … Continue reading

Demonstrations across Occupied Palestine this Friday had remarkable energy, despite the winter weather. In Ni’lin, more than 100 Palestinians were joined by Israeli and international activists in their routine march towards the Annexation Barrier. They were met with a barrage of tear gas and the return of the use of .22 caliber Ruger rifles, which the Israeli military claims are “crowd dispersal” weapons and “non-lethal”. Several Palestinians have been killed by these bullets which are only .003 inches smaller than the regular live ammunition used by the Israeli army in M-16s (they claim the .22 ruger is non-lethal because of a suppressor used on the guns, the logic of which has been rejected by human rights organizations … Continue reading

from Haaretz.com

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday ordered the IDF to issue a temporary freeze order, but at the same time allowed the construction of 28 new public buildings in settlements.

Meanwhile, Haaretz has learned that the state is expected to ask the Supreme Court for more time to evacuate illegal outposts. The State Attorney’s Office is expected to update the Supreme Court by next week on three court rulings that have not been carried out, for the evacuation of outposts at Eli, Horsha, and Netiv Ha’avot, as well as six other locations in the West Bank.

Haaretz also learned that in discussions on the matter between security and law officials, the state intends to ask the court for … Continue reading

This week international and Israeli solidarity activists along with members of PSP, joined farmers near the Susiya settlement to harvest their remaining olives after several of their trees were cut down by settlers. The farmers arrived to their land one week ago to find trees across several dunums of land had been cut down and left to die on the arid ground. A few days later, the owners of the land returned to clear the area and harvest what they could from the felled trees and remaining groves. The settlers of the South Hebron Hills, where Susiya is located, are some of the most … Continue reading

On October 17, 2009 AbdelHamid Ahmed Abu Maria, father of PSP activists Mousa and Yousef Abu Maria, was told that Israeli soldiers had arrived on his land near the Arroub Agricultural University with bulldozers. When Mousa and an international solidarity activist with PSP arrived in the area, they saw that Israeli forces had bulldozed more than 1.5 acres of agricultural land, belonging to Yousef Abdel-Izzat Abu Maria, Abdelhamid Ahmed Abu Maria, and Ahmed Mohammed Ikhlayl in order to build two large electricity towers. The position of … Continue reading

This Saturday, October 3, residents of the small town of At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills were accompanied by approximately 40 international and Israeli solidarity activists on a tree-planting mission. The group walked out of town in the direction of Ma’on, an illegal Israeli settlement that has been expanding with great speed in the last few months. In September alone, 6 new homes were erected near the settlement, continuing to encroach on privately-owned Palestinian land. In response to this illegal expansion, the popular committee of At-Tuwani organized a mass tree-planting session. Activists spent several hours clearing the ground and planting fruit trees throughout the area near the … Continue reading

From Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove

At a time when the international community is calling for a freeze on new building in settlements and the disbanding of settlement outposts, the settler community of the South Hebron Hills is continuing its expansion unabated.

Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement on Ma’on, in the South Hebron Hills area, are constructing at least five new caravans on the south-west side of the settlement. Internationals based in the nearby Palestinian village of At Tuwani first observed building preparatory work in Ma’on a few days ago. Today, as the new caravans were being built, settlers began preparatory work on a nearby hilltop for further settlement … Continue reading

For the original article on aljazeera.net/english click here

Israel has officially approved the construction of 455 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, defying demands by the US and others for a freeze on settlement building.

Israel’s defence ministry announced the decision to continue with settlement building on Monday.

“Defence Minister Ehud Barak has authorised the construction of 455 housing units in settlement blocs” in the occupied West Bank, the ministry said.

The US wants Israel to stop settlement activity and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has demanded a freeze as a condition for returning to peace negotiations.

Israeli officials announced on Friday that Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, intended to give the go-ahead for the new projects before considering a halt.

Netanyahu’s move is … Continue reading