On the 17th of April, settlers from the settlement of Kiryat Arba in Hebron city attacked the car of Ibrahim Khader Alama (36) at the entrance of Beit Ommar. The settlers started to destroy his car and threatened him with violence. The group was made up of four armed settlers, who shot into the air several times with live ammunition. Ibrahim was able to escape to one of the nearby houses.

The Israeli Occupation Forces and the Israeli Police arrived at the scene. Upon their arrival, the settlers escaped in their cars. The IOF and Israeli Police did not actively pursue the settlers and the settlers were able to get away.

Unfortunately, this type of occurrence is not unusual, with … Continue reading

The Center for Freedom and Justice, a non-profit organization in the Palestinian village of Beit Ommar in Hebron District, is looking at new agricultural projects to support its inhabitants.

The Center for Freedom and Justice was established to address the lack of community development and has been organizing programs in rural Palestinian communities. Due to various problems concerning the Israeli occupation of the West Bank the Palestinian agricultural life is severely constrained. The organization aims to improve the lives of rural residents by supporting them to remain steadfast on their land so that confiscation of land and settlement expansion will be harder to accomplish.

The agricultural life of Palestinian communities … Continue reading

On the morning 10th of April Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian land in Saffa, a part of Beit Ommar village. Saffa often experience attacks like this. The settlers in question lives in the close by settlement called Bayt Ayin which is a part of the bigger Gush Eztion bloc. The settlers living in Bayt Ayin are known to be very aggressive and violent.

This morning the settlers cut olive trees in the Palestinian fields. They managed to cut dozens of trees. The land owner came to the scene and ended up being beaten by the settlers.

This incident was unfortunately not an isolated one. Both Palestinian land and people are attacked daily by settlers, throughout the West Bank.

On the 9th of April 2013 a settler from the colony of Kiryat Arba in Hebron ran down Ala’ Alami, a 23 years old university student from Beit Ommar, and two young boys with his car. The settler ran over them just outside the entrance to Beit Ommar as he was driving towards Gush Etzion. After hitting the youths the driver drove off.

The wounded people were transported to Al Ahli hospital by a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance for treatment.

This incident was not an isolated one, Palestinian people are both injured and killed by cars driven by settlers. At the entrance of Beit Ommar there are car attacks a couple of times a month. The settlers … Continue reading

Olive harvest is upon us. Many Palestinians, as well as internationals, have been looking forward to this season. All family members, including small children and grandparents, gather to pick olives in the beautiful fields throughout the West bank.

Every autumn PSP participate in the olive harvest in solidarity with Palestinian farmers that experience harassment and attacks from either colonists or the Israeli occupation forces. Presence of internationals are also sometimes helpful in preventing or documenting such harassment. PSP contributes to the olive harvest in area C, close to either the segregation wall or Israeli colonies and the purpose of this work is to support and encourage farmers to continue to cultivate their land. It is important not to give up cultivating … Continue reading

At 10 a.m. Friday, October 12th about 100 colonists, escorted by soldiers from the Israeli occupation forces, walked out of Karmei Tsur. They went in the direction of Jala at the west of Beit Ommar where several Palestinian residents have their olive trees.

Local families were harvesting their olives, but fled when they saw the group of colonists to avoid being victims of settler attacks that are common in this area. Last year a colonist killed a Palestinian boy in Saffa. The colonists were also intimidating to the people of Jala who stayed home instead of going to Beit Ommar, as they usually do on Fridays.

A local committee member, Ahmed Abu … Continue reading

A weekly demonstration took place on Saturday 15th September at the entrance to the Gush Ezion compound, north of Beit Ommar. Palestinian, Israeli and international activists, joined by a large media contingent, assembled on the roundabout on the Hebron-Jerusalem road which marks the turning to the bloc of nine Israeli settlements. A number of occupation soldiers and police were present at the demonstration, which was the first arranged by PSP in this location.

The demonstrators carried banners addressing three main grievances. Firstly, a message was directed at the anti-Islamic film which has sparked protests across the Arab world, refusing to resort to extremism, in spite of the deliberately provocative nature of the film. They added that the film reflects only … Continue reading

The Center for Freedom and Justice has been working with local farmers to develop Palestinian land in Area C. As part of our strategy we have started a land rehabilitation program called “The Greenhouse Project”.

The project aims to protect Palestinian land from further confiscation by encouraging local farmers to keep working in close proximity to nearby Israeli settlements, despite the daily harassment by settlers.
It also aims to generate substantial income for local farmers; growing crops in greenhouses allows them to produce more than one vegetable crop each year, helping to offset the economic burden placed on them by the occupation.

The project … Continue reading

On July 1st 2012, Israeli Occupation Forces arrested a child and his uncle at the entrance to Beit Ommar. The arrests of Mohammad Ali Sabar Abu-Ayash (12 years old) and Mohammad Ibrahim Sabar Abu-Ayash (25 years old) took place at around 7pm during an attack on the village by the Israeli military. The IOF also fired tear gas and were violent towards local residents. Israeli settlers at the scene also attacked Beit Ommar residents, pushing Mu’ayad Bahajat Abu-Sara to the ground. After suffering an injury to the head, an ambulance arrived to take him to Hebron where he is currently being treated in hospital.

Arresting and detaining minors – often … Continue reading

On June 28th, Beit Ommar resident and vegetable vendor Yousef Nadi Sabarna was attacked by settlers on his way home from the nearby village of Jeba. In order to return to Beit Ommar, Yousef- who leaves Beit Ommar every day to sell his produce to nearby villages- took a road connecting Jeba to Gush Etzion, one that only Israeli settlers are permitted to use under the current apartheid system. As he neared Gush Etzion, Israelis from the nearby Beit Ayin settlement began throwing stones at his car, shattering his windshield and hitting him in the neck before running away.

After the settlers wounded him and damaged his car, Yousef called his family and asked them to tell the police about … Continue reading