From Al Jazeera English

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Note from PSP

We bring this story to our website not to condone or condemn the actions of the Palestinian who lightly wounded 2 Israeli settlers, or what he “deserved” but to point out the total lack of control or will to control the settler population by the Israeli military. The Palestinian population of the West Bank has no other recourse but the Israeli military involving incidents with Israeli settlers, though time and again the Israeli military has demonstrated and stated explicitely their inability to control the Israeli population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. While the Israeli soldiers not only … Continue reading

At 7:00 am on 12th August 2009 three PSP activists accompanied Abu Jabbar and his family to their field in the Saffa Valley. Abu Jabber and his family which included his wife, son and daughter picked grapes for approximately 30 minutes in their field till the group was alerted by shouts coming from the direction of the Bat ’Ayin Settlement which overlooks the Saffa valley. The group spotted a few settlers talking to Israeli soldiers in a military jeep and then a few minutes later, there was another military jeep approaching the group from the Bat ’Ayin settlement. At that moment Abu Jabbar suggested to the PSP activists that they should leave from the field before the soldiers … Continue reading

On Tuesday, August 4th at 8am, eight international activists and members of the Palestine Solidarity Project committee accompanied Abu Jabber Soleiby and his family to his land in Saffa near the Bat Ayin settlement. While the farmers had enough time to harvest a small amount of the year’s first grapes. the international activists were forced to make a detour around a small group of Israeli soldiers at the edge of the built-up area in Saffa before they joined the Palestinians in the valley. After the farmers had been in the valley for more than an hour, one Israeli military jeep arrived between the settlement and the Palestinian agricultural land. The farmers, satisfied with their small collection of … Continue reading

Settler violence continued in Sheik Jarrah this week when a settler
attacked Samar Al Sabach, a Palestinian woman who was staying in the Sheik Jarrah tent just below the Sfaradim settlement. The settler first came to the Hanoun house, which is currently under threat of eviction and has been a leader in the campaign against evictions in Sheik Jarrah. After being scared off by a large crew of family members, neighbors and solidarity activists, the settler retreated to the Sheik Jarrah tent, a community center just below the Sfaradim settlement, former home of the Al Kurd family. The settler found Samar alone in the tent and attacked her, beating her over the head with a rock. Samar has been hospitalized, and … Continue reading

On Tuesday July 21, 2009, the Beit Ommar Municipality held a meeting with the Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Ismail Da’iq, to present updated information on the recent and ongoing of farmland in the Saffa area of Beit Ommar village, and discuss possible remedies that the PA can provide or assist with. The meeting was one in a series of meetings to assess the impact on farmland and farmers in land in and around the Bethlehem area.

In attendance was Beit Ommar Mayor Nasri Sabarneh, Beit Ommar municipality council members, along with representatives of the Soleiby family whom own affected land in the Saffa area and members of Palestine Solidarity Project. Minister Da’iq, said he … Continue reading

Late Saturday morning, Beit Ommar village residents, along with activists from Israeli organizations Ta’ayush and Anarchists Against the Wall (AATW) and a large group of international activists, including several from Palestine Solidarity Project, entered farmland in the Saffa area in order to challenge the continued illegal use of temporary closed military zone orders in the area. These orders put a financial strain on the farmers whom are often unable to harvest their land, and provide no protection against settler attacks on the land (which the military claims is their reasoning for establishing a permanent presence in the area). … Continue reading

Monday, July 13, 2009, PSP received reports that farmland in Saffa area of Beit Ommar had been set on fire by settlers from neighboring Bat ‘Ayn. Initially, a PSP committee member and the mayor of Beit Ommar went into the valley, owned by Abu Jabber Soleiby, to assess the damage. In the afternoon, when the fire had still not be put out, international activists arrived with a large group of Beit Ommar residents along with media representatives. Fire trucks from Hebron initially could not reach the fire from the Beit Ommar/Saffa side and there were only two tools available to fight the fire, … Continue reading

Another success! For the first Saturday since the beginning of April, the Soleiby family has worked their land in Saffa, Beit Ommar, without the accompaniment of Israeli or international activists. This temporary victory comes on the heels of 3 months of Israeli and international activists accompanying the farmers into the valley to protect them from settler attacks, a job which until now the Israeli military has failed to do.

The Abu Jabber, Abu Mohammed and Abu Fahed Soleiby families are farmers and long time residents of Beit Omar, a village half way between Hebron and Bethlehem. Their farmland is located in Saffa, directly
below the illegal Bat ‘Ayn Settlement. The settlement is one of the most violent in the West Bank, former … Continue reading

For the first time since the beginning of April, members of the Soleiby family have successfully cultivated their land in Saffa, Beit Omar, without the interference of soldiers or settlers. After a violent attack by the Israeli military Saturday morning that resulted in the arrest of 26 activists and the injury of dozens more, the army has agreed to provide protection for the Soleiby family as they cultivate their land near the Bat ‘Ayn settlement.

The Abu Jabber, Abu Mohammed, and Abu Fahed Soleiby families are of Palestinian farmers from Beit Ommar with land in Saffa. They are regularly attacked by settlers from the illegal Bat ‘Ayn settlement, who … Continue reading

In the early hours of Monday, June 22, 2009, settlers from the Bat ‘Ain settlement set fire and cut down more than 125 grapevines and fruit trees belonging to Hamad Soleiby. Israeli soldiers said they saw a fire in the Palestinian agricultural fields some time during the night and went to put it out, though they did nothing to collect the evidence; kerosene canisters and matches were still there the next morning when activists from the Palestine Solidarity Project accompanied the farmer’s family to survey the damage.

One week before, … Continue reading