On Wednesday, May 23, 2012, Israeli forces entered Beit Ommar and arrested seven people during a night raid, the second one in two nights. We expect many more night raids before the end of the month, as the Israeli military rounds up those who participated in demonstrations on Nakba Day and in solidarity with the Palestinian hunger strikers earlier this month. Those arrested last night were:

Alaa Fahmy Za’aqiq, 32 years old
Hamad Ahmad Abu Maria, 20 years old
Jihad Ahmad Abu Maria, 25 years old
Yousef Ali Said Sabarna, 19 years old
Nasr Ali Said Sabarna, 27 years old
Hossam Sabr Zaml Abu Maria, 16 years old
Mohummad Wajee Ahmad Abu Maria, 19 years old

Night … Continue reading

In the past twenty-four hours, three male Palestinian children have been arrested in separate raids by Israeli soldiers in Beit Ommar.

Jowad Muhammad Jameel Za’aqiq (15 years old) was arrested at around 5pm on Monday, 21 May, 2012. He was helping his father tend to his family land when the arrest took place. His father asked the soldiers present why his son was being taken. He was informed that Jowad (his son) had been seen throwing stones.

Muhannad Mershad Awad (12 years old) and Alaa Yousef Mohammad Abu Maria (14 years old) were both arrested from their respective family homes in night raids at around 2am on Tuesday, 22 May, … Continue reading

Today, May 12, 2012, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists joined together for the weekly demonstration in Beit Ommar. Today’s demonstration was in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike and to commemorate the 64th anniversary of the Nakba. Khader Adnan, who was released from administrative detention on April 17th, 2012 and was on hunger strike for 66 days, also took part in the demonstration.

The demonstration began with a march from the center of Beit Ommar to Karmei Tsur settlement, which was built on stolen Palestinian land. As soon as the demonstrators arrived near the settlement, about 30 heavily armed Israeli soldiers came to meet them. … Continue reading

On May 8th, 2012, multiple demonstrations were held in Hebron, Beit Ommar and surrounding villages in solidarity with the prisoners on hunger strike.

In Hebron, students from the Hebron district came together and marched in the center of town. Close to one thousand people were present with posters and flags, and youth from all the surrounding areas were present in the march.

In Beit Ommar, Israeli soldiers entered the town in the afternoon and occupied several people’s homes, firing teargas and rubber-coated bullets at the children in the street. In the evening, villagers marched in the town supporting Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla. … Continue reading

On Saturday, April 28, 2012, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists joined together for the weekly demonstration in Beit Ommar. The demonstration took place by the fence separating Beit Ommar from the illegal settlement Karmei Tsur. The settlement is illegal under international law according to the 4th Geneva Convention, and is built on stolen Palestinian land. The fence prevents farmers from entering and working on their land. The demonstration was in protest against the settlement, the Israeli occupation and imprisonment of Palestinians, and was also in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.

In total around 50 soldiers appeared during the … Continue reading

On Tuesday, April 24, 2012, Israeli soldiers arrested 21-year-old Nabil Mahmoud Salem Al-Alamy at about 9am at the entrance of Beit Ommar. Nabil is a student at Ahlia Univerisity in Bethlehem, and was on his way to the university when he was arrested.

Beit Ommar residents face daily harassment and arrests from the soldiers at the entrance of the town, disrupting their daily life and interfering with their ability to go to school, work, and other places.

On April 23, 2012, at about 3:00 am, Israeli soldiers broke into the house of Ahmad Abu Hashem, a member of the Popular Committee of Beit Ommar, for the second time in a week. This time they arrested his 15-year-old son Mohamad Ahmad Khalil Abu Hashem. In total, four people were arrested during the raid last night. Three of them are under the age of 18. Those arrested were:

Mohamad Ahmad Khalil Abu Hashem, 15 years old.
Tareq Jamal Khalil Abu Maria, 17 years old.
Badran Jalal Badran Abu Ayash, 15 years old.
Wahed Hamdi Abu Maria, 44 years old.

The soldiers broke into their houses at night and harassed the families and fired … Continue reading

Basel Abu Maria was arrested on March 6, 2012, when a total of sixty soldiers in ten military jeeps raided houses in Beit Ommar at 2 a.m. He was taken by the soldiers without getting time to put on more clothes in the cold night.

This was of course a frightening event for the whole family. Basel’s little sister was especially upset by the event, and is now scared at night, refusing to go to the toilet alone.

She and her other siblings talk about their big brother every day.

That same night, two other boys were arrested, with another three arrests taking place the following night. None of these boys … Continue reading

Today, April 19, 2012, two 15-year-old boys, Fady Abu Fanoos and Hakeem Nasr, were arrested from Beit Ommar at about 2pm. Nasr was released after about 30 minutes. Israeli soldiers tried to arrest a third boy, but he escaped. A woman fainted when they tried to arrest her nephew, and an ambulance came to take her to the hospital. Soldiers shot teargas into the town and at people’s homes prior to the arrests.
[gallery columns="4"]
This makes 5 arrests out of 7 attempted arrests in Beit Ommar in the past 12 hours, including last night’s raid.

Last night, at 3am on Thursday, April 19, 2012, yet another night raid occurred in Beit Ommar. Israeli soldiers broke into the house of Ahmad Abu Hashem, a member of the Popular Committee of Beit Ommar. The soldiers have a way of breaking a door lock without making any noise, so that the residents can’t hear them coming. Ahmad’s small children woke up and saw the soldiers, and began crying in fear. Yousef Abu Hashem, Ahmad’s 19-year-old son who was released from prison two weeks ago, began to argue with the soldiers, telling them to leave. They took him outside and pushed on the … Continue reading