A letter from Thaer Halahleh, on day 75 of hunger strike against his detention without charge, to his two-year-old daughter Lamar, who he has never seen. Translated by Jalal Najjar.

“My Beloved Lamar, forgive me because the occupation took me away from you, and took away from me the pleasure of witnessing my first born child that I have always prayed to God to see, to kiss, to be happy with. It is not your fault, this is our destiny as Palestinian people to have our lives and the lives of our children taken away from us, to be apart from each other and to have a miserable life, nothing is … 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

Today, May 5th, 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.

This week, men, women and children protested in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, particularly with those on hunger strike. Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh are on the 68th day of their hunger strike, and are in grave condition. They are both held under administrative detention, and demand … Continue reading

Yesterday, May 4th, 2012, a demonstration took place in Beit Ommar following a funeral in the village. After the funeral, some children started throwing rocks at the army watchtower at the entrance of the village. Some Israeli settlers arrived with guns and started shooting in the air. Additional soldiers came and forced the residents of Beit Ommar back towards the center of the town. Soldiers then entered the village and fired rubber-coated bullets, teargas and sound bombs. The teargas was aimed at people’s homes, causing many problems for the residents.
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As in much of Palestine and around the world, Beit Ommar residents have been demonstrating in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike who are risking their lives for their … Continue reading

Originally found at NYTimes.com

By Jody Rudoren

KHARAS, West Bank — The newest heroes of the Palestinian cause are not burly young men hurling stones or wielding automatic weapons. They are gaunt adults, wrists in chains, starving themselves inside Israeli prisons.

Each day since April 17, scores of Palestinian prisoners have joined a hunger strike that officials say now counts more than 1,500 participants. And on Thursday, the Palestinian Authority’s minister of detainees said that if Israel did not yield to their demands for improved prison conditions, the remaining 3,200 would soon join in.

The two longest-striking prisoners, who have gone without food for 66 days, appeared in wheelchairs before Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday morning, pleading for their release from what is … Continue reading

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

On Thursday, April 17th, 2012, Emad Ahmed Abu Hashem (age 22) and Mohamad Za’aqiq (age 19) were arrested at the entrance of Beit Ommar. Around 9am soldiers tried to arrest Emad, but did not succeed, and at 11am special forces arrived and took both men to an unknown destination. Charges are still unknown. These arrests are the 67th so far in Beit Ommar this year, and 24 of these are of children under 18. Emad (pictured below with his daughter) is a married man with two infants at home, and is the only source of income for his family.

The … Continue reading

On Saturday, April 14, 2012, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists joined the weekly demonstration in Beit Ommar by the separation fence between Beit Ommar and the settlement Karmei Tsur. Karmei Tsur settlement is illegal according to the Geneva Convention and is built on stolen Palestinian land. The fence prevents Palestinians from accessing their land.

At today’s demonstration, protesters attempted to remove the barbed wire that was on Palestinian land in front of the separation fence. Demonstrators carried posters saying, “no more child arrests” and “free the Palestinian prisoners”. Soldiers arrived after a few minutes with a map showing that the the protesters were in a closed military zone and threatened to … Continue reading

On Tuesday, April 10, 2012, Iyad Al-Alamy was released from administrative detention. He was arrested from his home during a night raid at 2:30am on November 12, 2011. Eyewitnesses saw 5 jeeps of Israeli soldiers conduct the early morning raid. Iyad was seen blindfolded and handcuffed as he was being led to an army jeep. Iyad was 23-years-old when he was arrested, and is an active member of the National Committee in Beit Ommar, as well as the Palestine Solidarity Project. Iyad has been arrested on two other occasions, once for three months and another time for two months.

… Continue reading