17th September: Residents of Beit Ommar were joined by Palestinians from across the West Bank, Israelis, and international activists for their weekly demonstration at the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur.

Around 70 demonstrators marched from the center of the town, carrying flags of various UN member states alongside those of Palestine, and the Libyan Revolution. Protesters from Beit Ommar were joined by Palestinian activists from Al Arub refugee camp, Hebron, Yatta, and Ramallah, who chanted slogans in support of the Palestinian bid for statehood.

The march was halted … Continue reading

This morning at around 7.30 am, Beit Ommar farmers Ali Thalji, aged 70, and his son Ahmed, 40, were harassed by a group of Israeli soldiers as they tended to their sheep on fields in Safa, Beit Ommar.

The group of soldiers approached from the direction of the illegal settlement of Bat Ayn, telling Ali and Ahmed that the land they were on – their own fields – had been appropriated by the Israeli State, and repeatedly told them to leave the area.

After approximately half an hour, the soldiers left without any major incidents, but it is a development of great … Continue reading

[caption id="attachment_3871" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The Israeli army bulldozed the house at 4am"][/caption]

Tuesday 13th September – In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Israeli army bulldozers demolished two buildings, one home in Beit Ommar, and one car parts shop in the neighbouring Al Rub refugee camp.

[caption id="attachment_3884" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Fayiz at the site of his demolished home."][/caption]

In Beit Ommar, a army bulldozer demolished a house which was under construction near the Route 60 highway, which runs past the entrance to the town. The building’s owner, Fayiz Nasr Khalyir, 47, had planned to house … Continue reading

This morning, Beit Ommar farmers arrived at their lands to discover that large areas of grape vines had been attacked by settlers from the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur. The farmers immediately notified Mahmoud Ahmad Coql, who owns the destroyed fields.

In total, the settlers severed two dunums (two thousand square meters) of Mahmoud’s grape vines in fields near the illegal Karmei Tsur settlement.

Israeli authorities and the Israeli civilian police – upon seeing a number of Palestinians, press, and international activists – soon arrived on the scene accompanied by roughly twenty-five soldiers.

The shock of seeing so much of his work and livelihood destroyed overwhelmed Mahmoud, and … Continue reading

Sunday 11th September: In the early hours of Sunday morning, at around 2am, Isreali military forces raided several houses in Beit Ommar, firing teargas and throwing concussion grenades.

Three houses were surrounded by dozens of soldiers, who arrested Munib Jahed, 17, university student Nadim Khalil, 21, and Fares Al-Owewy, 25.

All three are being held in Gush Etzion prison, where lawyers were able to visit them yesterday afternoon (Sunday).

All three reported that during their interrogation, they were repeatedly told to sign documents or give statements incriminating local Palestinian organisers, by claiming they encouraged children to throw stones. This is a tactic used repeatedly by the Israeli occupying forces, where children and youths are detained late at night, denied any sleep … Continue reading

9th September: PSP joined residents of al-Nabi Saleh for their weekly demonstration. Around sixty protesters – comprising local residents, Israelis, and international activists – marched towards the area of several local springs which have been stolen by the nearby illegal settlement of Halamish.

The march left from the village, centering around a small group carrying a ‘coffin’ for “the soul of the Oslo accords”. The demonstration was a symbolic funeral for the Oslo accords on the seventeenth anniversary of its signing. The route of the march took the protesters to the edge of the village, planning to descend the hill into a valley close … Continue reading

Today, twenty-five Palestinian, international, and Israeli activists peacefully marched towards an Israeli Apartheid fence built on Palestinian land in the village of Beit Ommar. When they reached the fence, several activists attempted to pull the fence down as an act of symbolism against the occupation and apartheid system in Palestine, while others peacefully demonstrated on the other side of the fence on Route 60. After ten minutes of trying to bring down the fence and protesting, several Israeli military jeeps arrived and the activists stopped pulling on the fence, and joined the others on the other side of the fence on the road.

… Continue reading

9th September: PSP joined residents of the Al Ma’sara village in Bethlehem district for their weekly demonstration against the Israeli occupation. Around fifty Palestinian protesters – accompanied by Israeli and international activists – marched from the town and attempted to cross an Israeli-built road to access their fields.

The march was met by around 25 Isreali soldiers, who prevented the villagers from crossing the road to reach the Palestinian fields. Protesters chanted in support of Palestine’s Spetember bid for statehood at the UN, and demanded an end to the occupation. The entirely peaceful protest was then pushed back by the heavily armed soldiers, who … Continue reading

On 6th September, at 11:00 am, a group of Israeli soldiers and police attacked a group of fifteen local farmers who were selling local fruits at the entrance to Beit Ommar village, on the Route 60 highway. The soldiers then proceeded to confiscate and destroy 15 large stalls of the locals’ produce (consisting of tomatoes, plums, grapes and peaches) without citing any reason or justification. Farmers estimated the cost of the damage at around $10,000. More worrying for the vendors is the possibility that Israel intends to permanently prevent them from selling their fruit on Route 60, the main highway connecting Jerusalem … Continue reading

Saturday 3rd September: At around 11am, residents of Beit Ommar witnessed an unmaned Israeli surveillance plane enter the village, and fly at a very low altitude over areas of the town.

The plane appeared only a few hours before the town’s weekly protest against the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur, and circled low over buildings where Palestinian and international activists were gathering.

Unmaned planes such as the one spotted over Beit Ommar are often used in order to gather photographic evidence and intelligence on Palestinian villages and popular resistance activities. This is the first time such measures have been used against Beit Ommar’s peaceful protests.

After circling several … Continue reading