Palestine Solidarity Project » Betlehem

1 Injured in Ma’asara’s Anti-Wall Demonstration

PSP — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:12:04 +0000

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 sound bombs and tear gas directly into the crowd. As the gas cleared and the demonstrators regrouped, the soldiers were seen leaving the area – a bizarre act after such excessive use of “crowd dispersal methods.” A French international was injured in the side of the head by shrapnel and sent to the hospital to have her wound stitched and checked for hearing loss.

1 Arrested in Bethlehem Area Anti-Barrier Demonstrations

PSP — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 18:45:06 +0000

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 activist set fire to an Israeli flag. He then forcibly attacked and arrested by Israeli soldiers. The remaining demonstrators, Palestinians, Israelis, and Internationals, sat down in the road to protest his arrest, insisting they would not leave until he was released. The soldiers agreed to a release, providing the group would back up 15 meters. While the activists complied, the soldiers did not keep their word (surprisingly), and drove away with the organizer. Israeli soldiers also began pushing the group further back, and eventually dispersed the demonstration.

Fruit Trees Uprooted by Israeli Military in Nahalin

PSP — Mon, 24 May 2010 17:26:54 +0000

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 and Hasan Muhammad A’ali Salah. Although they possess documents that prove their ownership, the Israeli military has refused to recognize them and claims that the land is owned by the Israeli state.

Members of the Palestine Solidarity Project arrived at 10:30 a.m. to find dozens of uprooted grape, fig and olive trees. The bulldozer was being accompanied and protected by Israeli civilians and military personnel. In addition, military vehicles and border police blocked the main path towards the lands, leaving the horrified residents of Nahalin impotent to do anything but observe from a distance the destructive advance of the machines.

Villagers and internationals eventually approached the soldiers blocking the path to inquire about the destruction of cultivated Palestinian lands, particularly during an alleged Israeli “construction freeze” and “peace negotiations” between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. As usual, the occupation forces immediately declared the area a “closed military zone” and proceeded to threaten and attack the activists, threatening a man with a video camera while attempting to take his footage, as well as pushing and hitting another international activist attempting to document the destruction.

Demonstrators Destroy Settlement-Made Products at Beit Jala Demonstration

PSP — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:25:33 +0000

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.

Construction of Annexation Barrier Begins Again in Betlehem District

PSP — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:41:30 +0000

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 work of the bulldozers. The Israeli military managed to push the group back away from the work site several meters, until the protesters sat on the ground, refusing to leave and demanding to see a closed military zone order.

Demonstrator being carried away March 3, 2010

Some were then dragged away as the military finally produced the paper declaring their presence in the area illegal. 3 solidarity activists were briefly detained, no one was arrested.

The next day, Thursday, March 4, residents, accompanied by solidarity activists again, returned to the site, where a few solidarity activists chained themselves to olive trees in the vicinity. In addition, they took advantage of a lull in the bulldozers’ work to plant some trees to replace those that had been uprooted.

In this area, the Annexation Barrier is being built between the Palestinian town of Beit Jala and a settler-only road near the Cremisan monastery. While part of the Barrier was completed in this area as early as 2004, construction on the Barrier, with the exception of the work near the village of Ni’lin in the Ramallah District, had been on hold since 2008. Several reports from the Israeli military and Israeli news sources cited both a financial crisis and “improved security” as reasons for not completing the Barrier in the past year, which is only two-thirds complete (though it is allegedly for the prevention of infiltration of Israel by Palestinians). However, it appears that in areas where Israel is particularly interested in setting borders–around Jerusalem especially–they intend to complete the Barrier, creating more facts on the ground.

Reclaiming Land, One Tree at a Time

PSP — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:23:06 +0000

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 uproot hundreds of the trees planted in the area (this is currently being challenged in the Israeli courts).
This Saturday, the group demanded their right to free and unfettered access to their agricultural land. Carrying signs and Palestinian flags, they were met by several jeeps of Israeli soldiers at the edge of town who began checking the ID’s of all of the Palestinians, stating they would allow Palestinians into the area but not their Israeli and international supporters. The landowners countered that they had every right to bring whoever they choose to their own land, and that the need for Israeli and international accompaniment was due to the lack of the Israeli military to stop Jewish settler attacks.
In the end, though the Palestinians were allowed to get slightly closer to their goal, the Israeli military quickly decided to disperse the group, throwing tear gas and sound grenades. 5 people were severely affected by tear-gas inhalation.

The next day, February 14, 2010, members of Palestine Solidarity Project and The Center for Freedom and Justice of Beit Ommar joined volunteers with the Beit Sahour YMCA to plant 400 trees on the lands of the Bregieth and Abu Ayyesh Families of Beit Ommar, along with the land of Diyah Abdah of Betlehem all near the Israeli settlement of Mijdal Oz, on the eastern side of Route 60. This land has been encroached upon by the expansion of Mijdal Oz and Kfar Etzion in the last two years and has been almost totally inaccessable to the Palestinian land owners because of its location between settlements and its proximity to a large highway, route 60. Dozens of international volunteers came out to help with the planting, which is the first to be done in this area.

Re-Planting Trees in Um Salamuna

PSP — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:06:00 +0000

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 was only a few trees, and that he should be grateful more trees had not been destroyed, as they have been in surrounding villages. The Israeli civil administration showed up a few days later and told the landowner that unless he stops bringing internationals to the field, they will declare the hills a “closed military zone,” effectively preventing anyone — internationals or the landowner — from venturing onto the land. These threats did not work, however, and international activists have continued to work alongside Palestinians in an effort to repair the damage done by the settlers. On Wednesday, members of PSP and other international volunteers were questioned by Israeli military soldiers, but ignored their intimidation tactics and continued working in the fields all afternoon.

Hundreds March in Beit Jala Against the Occupation and for Palestinian Unity

PSP — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:41:56 +0000

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. After a march through the town, the people gathered at a sports club where various representatives of Palestinian religious society addressed the crowd, renewing their commitments to Palestine as a multi-religious society, where Christians and Muslims share common dreams and goals. The entire week was attended by a large delegation from Germany, including religious leaders, community leaders, and a mayor who were there to show solidarity with the people of Palestine.

Ma’an: Israeli Military Declares Section of Hebron “Closed Military Zone” After Settler Riot

PSP — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:12:23 +0000

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 Minwir Jabir, Abed Jabir, Munthir Adnan and the Idreis family.

Al-Jaâ€™bary added that despite the presence of Israeli soldiers on the tops of buildings, the deployment did not prevent Jewish settlers from attacking Palestinian homes in the area, some of which were pelted with stones.

The latest Israeli military activity comes under unusually tense circumstances in the city, following an Israeli Higher Court-ordered evacuation of Jewish settlers from the Rajabi house 20 months after they occupied it.

Israeli sources reported that the army had sent several infantry units to the area. They added that security services were “placed on alert” in anticipation of the arrival of more than 20,000 settlers to Hebron for the Jewish Shabat, which coincides with an annual religious feast.

Israeli sources said on Friday that the army expects settlers to attempt to remain in Hebron in order to prevent evacuation of the occupied Ar-Rajabi house.

Hebron Governor Hussein Al-A’raj had asked Israeli authorities to speed up their implementation of the Higher Court’s decision because “settlers have rendered the lives Palestinian citizens unbearable” in recent weeks.

University Students Arrested in Their Classrooms, Beaten by IOF

PSP — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 22:14:02 +0000

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 stones at the cement watchtower at some undetermined time “earlier”. While a few students were eventually released, the remaining youth were taken to Israeli police stations where they still remain in custody.