Yesterday, Thursday, March 8th, 2012, people from the Palestine Solidarity Project took part in two demonstrations in solidarity with women’s day.

[caption id="attachment_5005" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="water level can be seen from recent flooding"][/caption]The first activity was in Al-Walaja. The town of Al Walaja is a town on the 1967 ceasefire border. In 1948, most of Al-Walaja was annexed by Israel, and depopulated. A small portion of Al-Walaja remained on the Palestinian side. Currently, the Israelis want to build a wall, and a family’s house will be separated from the Palestinian side, so the army dug a tunnel for the family to be able access their house. This caused the house to have … Continue reading

9th September: PSP joined residents of the Al Ma’sara village in Bethlehem district for their weekly demonstration against the Israeli occupation. Around fifty Palestinian protesters – accompanied by Israeli and international activists – marched from the town and attempted to cross an Israeli-built road to access their fields.

The march was met by around 25 Isreali soldiers, who prevented the villagers from crossing the road to reach the Palestinian fields. Protesters chanted in support of Palestine’s Spetember bid for statehood at the UN, and demanded an end to the occupation. The entirely peaceful protest was then pushed back by the heavily armed soldiers, who … Continue reading

On Friday, May 6th, Al Ma’asara Popular Committee member Mahmoud Zwahre was arrested during a peaceful demonstration organized by the village’s popular committee. Around twenty international and Israeli solidarity activists joined with about thirty Al Ma’asara residents in a march towards the proposed site of the Annexation Barrier. Many carried signs decrying Israel’s recent withholding of almost 90 million dollars of Palestinian tax revenue and promising that the nonviolent struggle for a unified Palestinian state could not be bought. Four carried a prop coffin draped in Palestinian flags as a reminder of the true costs of occupation.

As the demonstration approached the … Continue reading

A children’s circus was tear gassed in Al Ma’asara today following the weekly demonstration against the annexation barrier. Like every week, protesters gathered in the center of the village after midday prayer. A crowd of about twenty demonstrators marched to the edge of the village carrying banners, waving flags and chanting against the occupation and the settlements. This week’s demonstration commemorated the anniversary of the second intifada, a popular uprising against the Israeli occupation which began in October of 2000. The demonstration also marked the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, an Indian activist famous for leading his people in a nonviolent revolution against the British occupation of India.

[caption id=”attachment_1771″ align=”alignleft” width=”300″ caption=”A Palestinian flag hangs from the back of an … Continue reading

On Friday, September 24th, 2010, weekly nonviolent Palestinian demonstrations continued in the villages of Ni’lin, Bil’in, al-Walaja, an Nabi Saleh and al-Ma’asara. In al-Ma’asara in the southern West Bank, villagers were joined by Israeli and international solidarity activists after noon prayers. Together, the demonstrators marched towards the entrance of al-Ma’asara, where their path was blocked by around a dozen Israeli soldiers and border police and three army jeeps. Villagers wore T-shirts reading, “Stop supporting Rami Levi, Stop Supporting Settlements” and carried cardboard boxes representing settlement products.

When the demonstrators moved to set the boxes on fire, Israeli forces threw sound bombs and at least one tear gas canister at the crowd. The sound bombs themselves … Continue reading

A crowd of about 30 Palestinian, international, and Israeli activists gathered at 1 o’clock in Al Ma’asara to protest against the settlements and the construction of the Annexation-Barrier. It was the first day of Yom Kippur, so a more tense atmosphere was expected. Demonstrators chanted against the settlements and the occupation, and gave speeches commemorating the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Yom Kippur, the Jewish “Day of Atonement,” is the holiest day in Judaism. Jews are required to refrain from doing any form of work, including driving a car or even flipping a light switch. The irony of this day is that while Israelis aren’t allowed to work … Continue reading

A crowd of around thirty protesters gathered in al-Ma’asara today in protest of the direct negotiations that began Tuesday between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The demonstrators marched from the center of the village to the main road waving Palestinian flags and carrying a large banner that read “No Peace Show, We Want Justice, Freedom and International Law.” The protesters were met at the main road by five army jeeps filled with Israeli soldiers who immediately began throwing sound grenades at their feet. The soldiers pushed the demonstrators back about 30 feet, throwing dozens of sound grenades and some tear gas into the crowd. Demonstrators chanted against the … Continue reading

Two activists were arrested today in al-Ma’asara as demonstrations continued against the construction of the Annexation Barrier and the theft of the villages land by the Efrat settlement. A group of about 25 protesters marched with flags and a bullhorn from the center of town to the main road, where they were confronted by a line of heavily armed Israeli soldiers. Protesters chanted “soldiers go home” and gave speeches against the occupation and settlement expansion. Soldiers pushed back against demonstrators, who sat down and raised their arms in protest. After about twenty minutes soldiers began shooting sound grenades and tear gas into the crowd. Several activists were hit, but no serious injuries were reported. Two Israeli activists were arrested from … Continue reading

Protesters gathered in al-Walaja, al-Ma’asara and Bil’in this Friday for weekly demonstrations against the Annexation Barrier. Protesters in al-Walaja raised a large puppet in protest of the wall, while protesters in al-Ma’asara and Bil’in symbolically bound and blindfolded themselves during the demonstrations. The blindfolded protesters were intending to protest the recent Israeli “Facebook Scandal,” which erupted when news media began reporting on Israeli soldiers who had posted pictures of themselves on Facebook posing with bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoners. The scandal has caused an international outcry, exposing the degrading treatment suffered by Palestinian prisoners and the extent to which the Israeli military has dehumanized Palestinians. One Norwegian activist was arrested during the Bil’in demonstration. A journalist was wounded, and … Continue reading

Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals, this time with a large group of Canadians, convened in Al Ma’asara on Friday to march toward the site of the unfinished Annexation Barrier visible from the edge of the village. Although construction of the barrier is currently halted, most of the work is done with the base of the wall and the patrol road already cutting through land belonging to residents of Al Ma’asara, Um Salamuna, Wadi An-Nis, and others in the area.

Demonstrators were stopped, per usual, by soldiers before reaching the main road. In honor of the 65 year anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, participants chanted slogans calling out parallels … Continue reading