On Friday, May 11th, 2012, two Palestinian farmers were attacked in Beit Ommar by Israeli settlers from Karmei Tsur.

Walid Sabarna and Ibrahim Abu Maria were working on their land 150 meters from the settlement, when two security guards from the settlement accompanied by six soldiers approached them at 5 pm. The guards asked the farmers what they were doing here, and they gave the obvious answer: working on their land. The guards responded that this was not the case, but that the land belonged to them and that the farmers should go away.

They then attacked Walid, beating and kicking his right leg. He had an operation on this … 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

On Friday April 27th, PSP activists from Beit Ommar traveled to Nabi Saleh to participate in their weekly demonstration.

The residents of Nabi Saleh – a town of 550 residents, located 20 kilometers north-west of Ramallah – host demonstrations every Friday to protest against the theft of their land by the Halamish settlement, a religious settlement which began stealing land in 1978. A Peace Now report stated in 2006 that one third of the settlement is built on private Palestinian land.

In 2009, in response to the theft of yet more land, the village began holding weekly demonstrations, which have become notorious for the levels of violence and repression … Continue reading

On Saturday, April 21, 2012, Palestinian, Israel and international activists joined together for the weekly demonstration in Beit Ommar. The demonstration took place by the fence between Beit Ommar and Karmei Tsur settlement. The settlement, which is illegal under the 4th Geneva Convention, was built on stolen Palestinian land, and the fence prevents many Beit Ommar farmers from accessing their land. The demonstration was in protest against the settlements, the fence, and the occupation.

During the demonstration, about 25 activists were stopped from reaching the fence by about 50 soldiers, while border police waited nearby. The Israeli soldiers pushed several demonstrators with their shields and their guns, knocking several people to the ground and into the bushes. Soldiers hit Hamza … 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 Sunday, April 1, 2012, PSP volunteers joined farmer Arsalon Abu Ikhdair in Surif to plant olive trees. Volunteers planted around twenty trees in an area called Al-Deir, which is close to the Darit settlement. An Israeli-only road and separation fence prevents Abu Ikhdair from accessing the land that used to belong to his family before 1948.

On Tuesday, April 3, 2012, activists from the Hebron district and Beit Ommar joined the municipality from Surif to assist farmer Yousef Hamad in planting olive trees on his land. Activists planted olive trees on six dunams of land in an area called Wad Assour. Wad Assour is very close to the Israeli settlements, and the separation fence is only 200 meters from … Continue reading

On Saturday, March 31, 2012, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists held the weekly demonstration in Beit Ommar, by the fence separating the town from the illegal Karmei Tsur settlement. Karmei Tsur is built on stolen Palestinian land and makes it impossible for the farmers of Beit Ommar to access parts of their land. The settlement is highly secured by military forces and fences. Today’s demonstration was in honor of Land Day, which was yesterday, March 30, and in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strikes.

Israeli soldiers started throwing sound bombs at the demonstrators within the first five minutes of … Continue reading

On Tuesday, March 27, 2012, PSP activists went to Om Al Kheir in the southern West Bank to meet with the Bedouin living there. They are surrounded by the Karmel settlement, and face daily attacks and injustices from the settlers and the court systems. At night, settlers throw molotov cocktails and stones at the Bedouin’s homes, or shoot into their village, trying to scare them off the land. One man explained that their small tents are their homes, and they have nowhere else to go. Settlers also throw chemicals onto the Palestinian land, which their sheep and goats eat, causing them to die and destroying another source of livelihood. Settlers … Continue reading

On Saturday, March 24, 2012, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists held a demonstration in Beit Ommar against the Karmei Tsur settlement. Karmei Tsur is built on stolen Palestinian land and makes it impossible for the farmers of Beit Ommar to access parts of their land. The settlement is highly secured by military forces and fences. Today’s demonstration was against the settlement, and against any further encroachments on Palestinian land. It also marked the 38th day of Hana Shalabi’s hunger strike in protest of her administrative detention. Additionally, demonstrators protested the recent arrests of 8 minors from Beit Ommar, to be followed up in Ofer … Continue reading

On Saturday, February 25th, 2012, Palestinian villagers from Beit Ommar, supported by international and Israeli solidarity activists, rallied against the Israeli occupation during the community’s weekly unarmed demonstration. As usual, the demonstrators headed towards the illegal Israeli settlement of Karmei Tzur, which is built on Beit Ommar village farmland. Demonstrators could not get anywhere close to the settlement fence; instead they were met with scores of soldiers preventing them from going any farther by pushing them back. The activists chanted and called upon the soldiers to act more humanely. Farmers in Beit Ommar want to access the land that the new fence separates them from; this is why these demonstrations take place. The increasing amount of land … Continue reading