HEBRON (Ma’an) — A shepherd sustained facial injuries on Thursday, December 29th, 2011, when Israeli soldiers threw sound grenades at him during clashes near Hebron, a local official said.

Israeli forces raided Beit Ommar and briefly detained and attacked several locals, popular committee spokesman Muhammad Awad told Ma’an. Soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs after residents came to defend their relatives, he added.

Ayed Mahmud Abu Maryeh, 42, was guarding his sheep when soldiers fired sound grenades at him, Awad said. He was taken to Hebron Hospital with minor injuries to his face, Awad said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the incident.

On Dec. 9, a 28-year-old man was killed when soldiers fired a tear gas canister at his … Continue reading

On December 23rd, 2011, residents of the Palestinian village of Beit Ommar, accompanied by Israeli and international solidarity activists. held a peaceful demonstration against the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur, and the stealing of privately owned agricultural land.

Demonstrators approached the settlement fence and were able to remove a post and some barbed wire before many police arrived and forced them back. The demonstrators remained peaceful, even when the police shoved some of them roughly to the ground. After several speeches were given explaining the illegality of the settlement and the grievances of the Palestinians, the demonstrators ended the protest peacefully. There were no arrests.

The … Continue reading

On Sunday, December 18, 2011, 550 Palestinian political prisoners were released from Israeli prisons as part of the second phase of the prisoner exchange for Gilad Shalit. Thousands of loved ones gathered all day long outside of Ofer prison in the Ramallah district of the West Bank to await the release of their friends and family members.

During the day the families celebrated with dances and speeches. At a certain point, Israeli Forces attacked the gathering shooting tear gas, rubber bullets, and using the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), otherwise known as the scream. LRAD emits high pitched frequencies that have the capacity of leaving those affected dizzy, nauseous, and at times incapacitated. At least … Continue reading

On Saturday, December 17, 2011, several dozen Palestinian women and their children from several villages and towns in the West Bank were supported by a group of Israeli women as they visited Jerusalem, defying the arbitrary Israeli laws that make Jerusalem and the rest of Israel forbidden zones for most Palestinians living in the West Bank. Occupied East Jerusalem is held out by many Palestinians as the future capitol of their state, and it is a city of great religious, cultural, and historical significance to Palestinians. This past Saturday was a continuation of Israeli-Palestinian women actions which challenge the apartheid policies of Israeli Authorities, that have been occurring for the past year and a half.

Young Israeli … Continue reading

On Saturday, December 11, 2011 around 40 Palestinian villagers in Beit Ommar held their weekly demonstration land close to the Israeli settlement of Karmei Tsur. The villagers were joined by a group of Hebron University female students and they were also supported by Israeli and international solidarity activists.

This week’s demonstration decried the murder of Mustafa Tamimi, a 28-year-old Palestinian activist from the village of Nabi Saleh, who was shot in the face from close range with a tear gas canister fired by Israeli Forces during an unarmed demonstration two days before. Mustafa died of his wounds early … Continue reading

Today, Saturday, December 3, residents and the Popular Committee of Beit Ommar, along with international and solidarity activists, held their regular demonstration at the illegal Israeli settlement, Karmei Tsur. Demonstrations have been held at Karmei Tsur, a religious extremist settlement built on privately-owned Palestinian land, regularly for nearly 3 years. Today, the demonstration was met with a small force of soldiers, and though demonstrators were pushed and hit as they tried to pass the line of soldiers, there were no arrests and the demonstration ended without incident.

At approximately 8pm the same night, a group of about 25 settlers, believed to be from Karmei Tsur, arrived … Continue reading

November 30.th 2011: Center for Freedom and Justice and PSP arranged a party for all the students who have attended English classes at the center this autumn. Approximately 25 students came to the event. Both the coordinator of the Center – Younes Arar, and the two volunteers who have been teaching the students for three months, gave speeches.

All the students got a small certificate and the volunteers received a nice diploma and a gift.

The volunteers expressed their gratitude for the party and wished the Center, PSP and all the students good luck in the future.
“The experiences from our three months stay … Continue reading

Three youngsters arrested in another night-raid in Beit Ommar.
Munib Jahed Alqom (18)
Rami Ibrahim Haled Sabarna (20)
Sayed Mohammed Mahmoud Awad (17) were arrested from their houses at 3:00 am in the morning November 27rd, 2011.

Many arrests have occurred lately.
Thaer Ahamd Abu Hashem, 23
Iyad Alami, 23
Abed Helail, 41, Mohammad Yousef Bahar 17 years old, and Ahmad Mahmoud Sohaibe 20 years old
Yousef Ahmad Halil Abu Hashem, Ahmad Abu Hashem,
Munib Jahed, 17, Nadim Khalil, 21, and Fares Al-Owewy, 25.

The previous night-raid was a couple of days ago. Report here

Munib was arrested only a few weeks ago. Now … Continue reading

November 26th. 2011: PSP accompanied with international activists and residents of Beit Ommar arranged a peaceful demonstration against the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur.

As the demonstrators walk towards the settlement with their slogans against the occupation, they discovered that garbage from the settlement had been thrown on their land.

Many soldiers stopped the demonstrators before they even could walk up to the settlement fence. “This is a closed military zone, you are not aloud to walk here,” said the soldiers and showed a paper confirming their message.

The illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur was established in 1984 and has confiscated several hundred … Continue reading

At 1:30am in the morning November 23rd, 2011, Yousef Mohammad Kamel Za’aqiq (21) and Haidar Falah Abu Maria (24) were arrested from their homes.

The two young men were taken to Gush Etzion, no reasons were given for the arrest.

As part of the Israeli apartheid strategy to suppress the Palestinian non-violent peace activism, several arrests and other forms of harassment of the residents of Beit Ommar have occurred this autumn. Report here