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

More than 100 mostly international solidarity activists convened in the streets of Al Ma’asara on Friday, July 23rd, to march against the construction of the Annexation Barrier in neighboring Um Salamuna. The group, made alive by drummers and a chorus of anti-occupation chants, made its way onto the main road toward the now inaccessible Palestinian land. Military jeeps immediately sped down to block the alternate route. Soldiers jumped out, detained a journalist and photographer, and forcefully pushed the nonviolent demonstrators off of the road. As the crowd stood on the side of the road, soldiers attempted to arrest an international and began throwing … Continue reading

Friday, June 18, 2010 – Today between 30 and 40 Palestinians, internationals and Israelis marched from inside of Wad Rahal to the outskirts of town where the Annexation Barrier is being built, cutting off expropriating agricultural land to the Efrat settlement which is currently expanding. The demonstrators peacefully walked along the road, carrying flags, chanting songs and banging on drums until they were prevented from going further by Israeli soldiers. Beit Sahour resident Mazin Qumseyer gave a speech in English to the soldiers stating that they were 12-15 km within the 1967 green line, and therefore were breaking international law under the Geneva convention. He also described … Continue reading

Wad Rahhal
A peaceful demonstration took place in Wad Rahal this afternoon (Friday 11th June 2010). A group of around fifty activists both Palestinian & internationals marched with banners & flags from the community centre to the edge of the settlement, where they were met by the IDF whom prevented them from progressing further. Several participants made anti-occupation speeches in Arabic, Hebrew & English. The group chanted with good volume & was then told that they must disperse. The demonstration ended how it began, peacefully. There were no arrests or injuries.

Al-Ma’asara
Later Friday, a small group of activists from Al-Ma’asara marched towards their village lands. In a symbolic protest, one … Continue reading

On June 4, well over 100 people participated in the third Friday demonstration against the wall in Wad Rahhal. They walked past the settlement of Efrat, along the planned Wall route until met by two Israeli military jeeps. (Later a third jeep pulled up.)

Boys stood in front of the march, facing the Israeli military, one with a sign in Hebrew reading No Wall. Many carried flags, including the Turkish flag, and spoke words of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and with the passengers of the humanitarian aid flotilla.

The marchers were nonviolent. A handful of settlers, including two children wearing bicycle helmets, stood on a hill above the road and … Continue reading

At the weekly nonviolent protest at Al Ma’asara against the continued expansion of the Annexation Barrier, Palestinian, Israeli, and international demonstrators were slowly pushed back by a line of Israeli soldiers with linked arms. Unlike the previous week, the Israeli military shot no tear gas or sound grenades to disperse the peaceful demonstrators, but snipers stood on the rooftops of Palestinian homes until the chanting and drumming had ended and the crowd had dispersed.

On May 26, Palestine Solidarity Project volunteers joined local organizers in Wadi Rahhal to help a farmer do major trimming of some of his olive and fig trees. Ahmed Abdullah’s house was demolished a year ago . Fifteen of his twenty dunums of land have been confiscated for a settler road and for the expanding settlement of Efrat, well within the Palestinian side of the Green Line. The Apartheid Wall is going to make access to these trees as well as the graves of five family members. Groundwork for this portion of the Wall has already begun.

When asked how he supports himself now that he has lost … Continue reading

The weekly protest against the encroaching apartheid wall took place this Sunday, 23 May, in Beit Jala. Once again Palestinians were prevented from reaching the site by Palestinian Authority police, leaving the field to assorted international activists and a sizeable contingent of Israeli supporters – and, of course, Israeli security contractors, border police, soldiers and plainclothes agents.

Despite having to clamber down a precipitous terraced hillside to reach the site, a group of committed activists managed to seat themselves in the path of the leading bulldozer. By clinging determinedly to one another they managed to resist being dragged away into detention for upwards of an hour. They hung on … Continue reading