This Friday, February 12, 2010 once again saw demonstrations against the Annexation Barrier in Ni’lin, Al-Ma’asara, and Bil’in, and against settlement expansion and dispossession in Nabi Saleh and Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem.
In Al-Ma’asara, approximately 30 Palestinians were accompanied by 10 international and Israeli solidarity activists as they marched down the main past Al-Ma’asara village, connecting villages east of Betlehem with the main throughway, Route 60. They were quickly stopped by Israeli soldiers at the edge of Al-Ma’asara, where they declared the area a closed military zone. The demonstrators insisted they were trying to reach the site of the Annexation Barrier, which was partially constructed on Palestinian land in 2007-2008 but has not been completed or worked on … Continue reading
Either the Israeli military’s intelligence isn’t that good, or the unit(s) assigned to the Beit Ommar were just looking for a clash. This morning, Saturday, February 6, 7 military jeeps with 30 soldiers arrived in Saffa, a district of Beit Ommar that has been under intense military repression and settler violence for more than 8 months. They came, despite the fact that there was no planned action this week, as in weeks past during several tree-planting missions and follow-up visits after farmers were informed that the land was being declared Israeli “state land” and therefore the more than 800 trees planted in the area would be uprooted.
Their arrival, and closing of the only street in Saffa, provoked local … Continue reading
In the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, February 4, several units of Israeli soldiers stormed Beit Ommar, invading several houses and forcing women and children out into the rain, some standing for several hours. In the end, 9 men were arrested:
Murshid Muhammad Murshid Al-Aqeed, 35
Ayesh Ahmad Murshid Za’aqeeq, 23
Rami Bassam Khalil Za’aqeeq, 32
Muhammad Bassam Khalil Za’aqeeq, 20
Murad Amer Ahmad Abu Juda, 21
Muhammad Amer Ahmad Abu Juda, 20
Sharif Fathi Muhammad Brageith, 22
Ashraf Ali Khalawy Sabarna, 27
Jihad Khalawi
This makes a total of 16 people arrested from Beit Ommar in the last 2 weeks alone. We know that several of the previously arrested youth were taken directly to Al Mascobieh (Russian Compound), usually reserved as an Israeli intelligence interrogation center. No … Continue reading
On Tuesday afternoon, January 26, an Israeli military patrol of 3 jeeps entered the village of Beit Ommar and began harassing residents. After driving into the center of the village, they began shooting tear gas from the jeeps into groups of residents gathered on the street. Some local boys responded to the presence of occupation forces by throwing rocks at the jeeps. Israeli soldiers then left their jeeps and began chasing some of the boys and opening fire with live ammunition in at least one case. At one point, soldiers detained 16 year old Fathi Ahmed Mohammed Abu Maria outside his home. His grandmother approached the soldiers and Fathi and tried to prevent the detention … Continue reading
In the pre-dawn hours of Thursday, January 21, more than 50 Israeli soldiers invaded Beit Ommar, entering several homes and ransacking them. In the home of Muhsen Awwad, soldiers broke the window in the front door and tore open furniture. His 35 year-old son Mohammed Awwad was then arrested. Soldiers also took 800 shekels from the home before leaving. Three other men were also arrested during the raid which lasted for over 5 hours. The others arrested were Allam Bregeith, Jamal Ibrahim Ikhlayl, and Mohammed Soleiby. All four men were taken to Gush Etzion settlement prison. Beginning at 6 am, and lasting for over 2 hours, at a time when many residents were … Continue reading
