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

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 May 24th at around 9:00 a.m. the people of Nahalin woke up to see Israeli Bulldozers razing their land. The occupation forces targeted an area of about 5 dunums, called Jabal Abu Alqruun, in what is believed to be part of a plan to bulldoze and take over 2000 dunums belonging to this village south-west of Bethlehem. Some trees in the area were destroyed last year and were replanted. These new trees, along with dozens of older trees, clearly used and cared for for decades, were all uprooted.

The proprietors of the land have been identified as Nahalin residents Daoud Mahmood, Jameel Mahmood, A’ali Muhammad Taha … Continue reading

On Sunday, May 9, residents of Beit Jala were joined by the mayor of Betlehem and the Palestinian Authority’s Minister for the Wall in their weekly demonstration against the construction of the Annexation Barrier which began in a new section of Beit Jala last month. Israeli and international activists, as well as residents of nearby villages joined in the demonstration which used the opportunity to announce the expulsion of products made in Israeli settlements. Boxes of these products were set on the barbed wire that blocked the procession from accessing their agricultural land and were set on fire.

On Wednesday, March 3, the Israeli military accompanied 2 bulldozers onto privately-owned Palestinian land in the village of Beit Jala, north of Betlehem. Olive, walnut and other fruit trees were being uprooted in preparation for the continued construction of the Annexation Barrier (also referred as the Apartheid Wall), which had been halted in almost all of the West Bank for over a year.
A group of Beit Jala residents, led by Leila Awad, a landowner who believes she is under threat of eviction because the Barrier will be built within 5 meters of her home, protested the bulldozing. They were joined by Israeli and international solidarity activists, as well as Palestinians from PSP as they attempted to block the … Continue reading

On Saturday, February 13, 2010, a group of farmers from Beit Ommar and Saffa were accompanied by members of the Beit Ommar popular committee, Palestine Solidarity Project under the new Center for Freedom and Justice of Beit Ommar, and international and Israeli solidarity activists to march into the valley below Saffa, which has been under threat of confiscation through settler violence and the Israeli military declaring the entire area a closed military zone in perpetuity.
PSP had organized a series of tree-plantings along with Israeli anti-occupation activists last month. The Israeli military attempted to prevent the tree-plantings and went so far as to announce they would … Continue reading

On Wednesday, December 9th volunteers from PSP joined other international and Palestinian solidarity activists and farmers in Um Salamuna to continue the planting of olive and almond trees. This planting project is an effort to reclaim the land around South Bethlehem in an attempt to prevent the surrounding settlements from expanding into and occupying it. This project began in early November and has been very successful, despite repeated harassment from local settlers and the Israeli military. However, on Thursday, December 3rd settlers uprooted and burned several dozen olive trees that had been recently planted. When the landowner complained to the Israeli Police, he was told that it … Continue reading

As a close to a week of demonstrations, informational sessions, and visits to various communities in the Betlehem District, the “House of Abraham” group, sponsored by the Lutheran Church of Beit Jala, along with the Beit Jala Prisoners Society and leading muftis throughout Palestine, including the high Mufti of Jerusalem, marched arm in arm through the streets of Beit Jala signifying both their opposition to Israeli Occupation and the need for unity within Palestinian communities. They were followed by drumming scout troops, representatives of the Prisoners Society with banners reading “imprisoning youth is against international law”, and hundreds of youth from summer camps sponsored by the House of Abraham from Hussan, Deheishe Refugee camp, Beit Jala and Beit Ommar. … Continue reading

Israeli forces closed down the northern section of Hebron on Saturday, declaring the entire half of the city a “closed military zone” as soldiers occupied five houses and forced shop owners, at gunpoint, to close early.

“No sooner had Israeli soldiers handed me a warrant saying that military forces planned to occupy my home did 20 soldiers storm the house,” said 42-year-old Bassam Al-Ja’abary, whose home was one of the five taken over by Israeli soldiers.

“Then they climbed up to the roof and prevented my family from leaving,” he added.

His and the other four houses are located in the Wadi An-Nasara neighborhood, close to the home of the Rajabi family home, which Jewish settlers occupied in March 2007.

Other homes belong to … Continue reading

On October 30, over a dozen Israeli Occupation soldiers invaded the Al-Arroub Technical College and University and began pulling students from their classrooms, blind-folding them, handcuffing them, and marching them out of the buildings and towards the military watchtower at the entrance to Al-Arroub refugee camp across the street. Several students, between the ages of 15 and 23, were taken into an area beneath the watchtower surrounded by high concrete walls where they were beaten severely about the head and stomachs, out of sight of the photographers who had gathered. The president of the school was told that the arrested students were wanted for throwing … Continue reading