Over 300 Palestinian, international and Israeli activists joined the inhabitants of Susiya beduin camp in a demonstration against pending Israeli Supreme Court case where the Israeli government, in support of the Susiya settlers, are attempting to expel the Palestinians from their land. 4 buses of Israeli and international activists as well as Palestinians from several villages working with PSP marched around the edge of the Susiya settlement in defiance of their attempt to take their land.

The settlers have engaged in a campaign of terror against the Palestinians of Susiya for many years now, including putting toxic chemicals on the land, poisoning the water wells and beating … Continue reading

PSP activists joined the people of Bani Naim as they went to the land that was destroyed by the settlers of Pene Hever one week before. Over 150 palestinians from from Bani Naim were accompanied by PSP activists and other Israeli and international groups as they returned to the land that was burned by right-wing settlers a few days before Christmas. On December 20, the family Manasira had to stand by and watch as over 50 dunums of their land was set afire by Israeli settlers who threatened to shoot the men if they tried to approach to put the fire out. Hundreds of … Continue reading

A group of Israeli settlers from the Susia settlement attacked two Palestinians from the village of Susiya today. Aziz Musa and his brother, Muhammed Musa, were attacked by three settlers at about 10am when they were grazing their sheep. The settlers, who were carrying rifles and wearing masks, beat the brothers on their arms and legs, and then threatened them further and ordered them to leave the area. The settlers also beat several of the sheep before leaving and returning to the settlement.

Settler attacks are a frequent occurrence in this area, making it very dangerous for the Palestinian residents. PSP’s goal is to have a permanent international presence in Susiya to deter these … Continue reading

Three Israeli settlers from the settlement of Bat ‘Ain attacked Hamad Suleiby, 60, a farmer from Beit Ommar who was working on his land near the settlement today. At about noon, when Al-Suleibi was taking a break from his work, the settlers appeared carrying guns and iron bars, and accompanied by three dogs. They hit Suleiby on the top of his head, causing him to lose consciousness. The settlers then stole his horse, saw, and pruning shears, and ran back to the settlement. When Suleiby woke up after two hours, his head was still bleeding. He managed to walk to the nearest house, where the … Continue reading

Raw sewage and polluted water from the settlement of Kfar Etzion is being dumped onto nearby agricultural land belonging to the Al-Sabarnah family from Beit Ommar. Unfortunately, this is an all too common form of terror used by settlers in an attempt to prevent Palestinians from making a living. The influx of raw sewage raises the salinity of the soil for years afterward, damages or kills the grape vines, pollutes the environment, prevents the farmers from working on their land, and creates a potential public health crisis for the Palestinian families. The trees are turned a brown or sometimes yellow color from the sewage, indicating … Continue reading

An Israeli settler named Ya’akov, together with other settlers from the Susiya settlement, has been plowing 300 dunams of land belonging to Palestinians from Imneizil, a small village near Susiya, for the past two weeks. One week ago, the Palestinian owners of the land came to plow and discovered that the settlers had already been working on the land and intending to take it over. When the Palestinians attempted to plow their land, Ya’akov ran in front of the tractor and lay down in front of it in order to prevent them from working. Ya’akov called the army who arrived and forbade the Palestinians from plowing their land.
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Tuwani is a small Palestinian village south of Yatta, very near the Maon settlement. At 8am this morning a group of settlers carrying weapons came into the village and approached the house of Juma’a Nuwajah. They surrounded the house, shouted at Juma’a and his family, pointed their M16s at them, and threatened to occupy the house. Juma’a's younger brother went out of the house to speak to the settlers and they hit him. The settlers called the army and a jeep arrived almost immediately and the soldiers began to yell at the Palestinians, ignoring the fact that the settlers had created the problem. More Palestinians arrived from the village, and more Israeli soldiers arrived, as well as Palestinians and internationals … Continue reading

Al-Jaba’a will be the focus of our Olive Harvest activities beginning this week!

The road between the village of Al-Jaba’a and the town of Surif has been closed by the Israeli occupation forces for four years now. This road connects the two areas and its closure makes it very difficult for residents to travel in the area. The Palestine Solidarity Project, in cooperation with Al-Jaba’a residents, succeeded in opening the road by removing the roadblocks, in spite of the violence of the Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, internationals, and members of the Israeli activist group Ta’ayush. The Israeli government considers Al-Jaba’a a “closed area” and will soon begin building the Apartheid Wall around the village, so that there will be one … Continue reading

This month, PSP will begin it’s olive harvest in the Betlehem and Hebron regions. We will focus on the village of Al-Jab’a who will attempt to plow land close to the settlement of Beit ‘Ain, the residents of which have terrorized the people of Al-Jab’a for years (please see previous reports from Jab’a). This land has not been plowed for over 7 years and belongs to five families. The last time the farmers attempted to plow this land, the settlers attacked them and set fire to their tractors. Therefore, PSP is COLLECTING MONEY to rent two tractors to work this land. International and Israeli activists will join with the PSP committee and the people of … Continue reading

Today, Nov. 1, PSP went to the village of Surif to visit their olive oil production factory. We intended to write a report about the olive oil process from the tree to the bottle. Instead, we found ourselves writing a report on the devestating impact of settlements on the economic survival of Palestinian farmers and business owners.

Factory owner, Mohammed Barathea, says that business in Surif used to be very busy, but now with the constant presence of soldiers and the completion of the Apartheid Wall which resulted in the annexation of more land after land had already been confisgated for settlement expansion, business is slow. Many Palestinian farmers have been cut off from their agricultural land … Continue reading