On Saturday, 18th June 2011, around 50 Palestinian, Israeli, and international demonstrators staged a protest at the Israeli Karmei Tsur settlement. The purpose of the demonstration was to highlight the confiscation and restriction of access to land owned by Palestinian farmers in the village of Beit Ommar. The main contingent of the demonstration was stopped by the Israeli military, preventing access to the Palestinian farmland. A few demonstrators who approached separately were able to place several Palestinian flags atop the fence surrounding the settlement. These demonstrators were detained and escorted back to the area where the rest had been stopped by the military.

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Demonstrations began again this week in Deir Qaddis, a small town in the Ramallah district, against the expansion of the Nili settlement onto village land. Residents, joined by Palestinian activists from nearby Ni’lin and Budrus, as well as Israeli and international solidarity activists, have successfully stopped the bulldozers destroying village lands in successive demonstrations. On Wednesday, June 15, two residents, aged 22 and 24 were shot with live ammunition by Israeli forces who invaded the village following protesters retreating after having stopped the bulldozers for nearly an hour. While a small group of residents and activists sat in front of a bulldozer, Mohammed Amireh, member of … Continue reading

On Saturday, June 11th, roughly 30 activists gathered for a demonstration against Karmei Tsur. The group, comprised of Palestinians, as well as Israeli and international solidarity activists, marched towards the settlement chanting against the occupation. The protesters held posters saying, “Awakening of Consciousness,” and, “No Sound Louder than People’s Sound,” as well as flags from countries around the world that have recognized Palestine’s right to statehood.

As the protest climbed up the hill, a line of soldiers blocked off the road. … Continue reading

On Friday, June 10, about 40 people gathered for the first of what will become regular, weekly demonstrations in At-Twani, a small Palestinian community south of Hebron. Protesters marched through town towards the nearby settlement of Ma’on, often a source of settler violence and harassment. Before they could get there, they were stopped by a group of about twenty Israeli soldiers. The army refused to let the demonstration pass. Protesters and soldiers argued for about ten minutes. Then the military grabbed a member of At-Twani’s Popular committee and an Israeli activist and pushing the rest of the activists back. One soldier threw a sound … Continue reading

One Israeli and one international solidarity activist were arrested in the village of Al Ma’asara during the village’s weekly demonstration against the Israeli occupation and annexation barrier. About 40 demonstrators marched from the center of the village to the main road, holding flags and banners and chanting against the occupation and for freedom for Palestine. The demonstration then marched away from the village, down the main road toward the Efrat settlement. Soldiers flanked the demonstrators, pushing them off the road onto the shoulder. About 15 minutes down the road the soldiers halted the procession and forced the demonstrators up onto a hill next to the road. One Israeli solidarity … Continue reading

On Saturday, April 2nd, 2011, around two dozen Israeli and international solidarity activists joined with an equal number of Palestinian residents of Beit Ommar to protest the prolonged road closures in the village. While the main gate was opened by security forces late on Friday evening, other roads leading into the village remain blocked by cement barriers.

Waving Palestinian flags, the protesters marched down the main street towards the front gate of Beit Ommar. They were stopped before the gate by large numbers of Israeli Forces. The soldiers produced paperwork to show that the area around Beit Ommar remained a closed military zone, and threatened … Continue reading

On the evening of Sunday, March 27th, Israeli Defense Forces from Karmei Tsur and Gush Etzion settlements entered the village of Beit Ommar. The soldiers arrested fifteen young men, then left the village.

Jameel Ahmad Za’aqeeq, 14, Allam Yousif Awad, 14, Hasan Majed Solieby, 14, Mahamad Yasir Za’aqeek, 19, Ahmad Yasir Za’aqeek , 19, Ahmad Mohamed Ehklail, 16, Ahmad Yousif Sabarnah, 18, Mohamad Yousif Sabarnah, 16, Mohamad Azzam Za’aqeek, 16, Montasir Mohamed Ehklail, 16, Ameer Alkam, 17, Mohamad Jadallah Solieby, 19, Malik Naif Solieby, 16, Shareef Fathy Abu Ayyash, 18, and Yousef Ayesh Sabarneh, 14, were all taken in the operation. No reason was given for their arrest.

The next morning, around 7:00 am, another group of IDF soldiers took … Continue reading

On Saturday, March 26, 2011, international and Israeli activists joined with Beit Ommar villagers to protest the road closures of the area, now in their third day. Around fifty participants and twenty journalists gathered near the village cemetery, where Israeli Defense Forces had closed off the road with large blocks of cement. The strongest members of the group began pushing one of the blocks, attempting to roll it aside to allow the passage of cars. Israeli military forces arrived and looked on until the group began to lever the block with a long steel pole. At this point, a soldier approached and confiscated the pole. An Israeli activist was arrested, but was released after an … Continue reading

On Tuesday, March 8th, 2011, about 70 Palestinians, supported by international solidarity activists, blocked Route 60 (a road that is heavily trafficked by Israeli settlers) near the entrance of Beit Ommar village, between the cities of Hebron and Bethlehem. Traffic came to a halt for almost half an hour as activists waved Palestinian flags and chanted against the occupation. The demonstration was organized as a collective response to increasing settlement expansion in the West Bank and frequent attacks by Israeli Forces on the Palestinian people.

Israeli Forces arrived at the scene just as the demonstrators were returning home. Several of the soldiers … Continue reading

On Friday, February 25th, 2011 at around 1pm, more than 1000 Palestinians, supported by Israeli and international solidarity activists, rallied in the city of Hebron to demand the opening of Shuhada street. Shuhada street was once one of the main economic and transportation hubs in Hebron, but now the street is completely closed to Palestinians and only Israeli settlers are allowed to use it.

This demonstration was particularly important as Israel, with the support of the United States, has increased settler expansion in the West Bank. The date chosen was also significant because it coincided with the anniversary of the massacre of 29 Palestinians inside the Hebron Ibrahimi … Continue reading