Though pouring rain and even hail fell throughout the West Bank yesterday, demonstrations against land confiscation, the Annexation Barrier, and settler expansion in East Jerusalem continued on Friday.

In Nabi Saleh, which has been demonstrating for several weeks against a move by settlers from the nearby Halamish settlement to take over a a spring and other privately-owned Palestinian agricultural land, several dozen residents, along with Israeli and international solidarity activists, again marched from the village towards the land being annexed by the right-wing settlers. They were confronted by Israeli forces, who used tear gas, sound grenades, and rubber-coated steel bullets to deter the crowd. The army then invaded the village, using a jeep-mounted tear-gas launcher that shoots … Continue reading

A relatively newly formed Nationalist Committee (Al Lajna Al Wataniya) in Beit Ommar has been working on a program to increase Palestinian participation in local actions and demonstrations. Around 70 Palestinians marched towards the outer fence around Karmei Tsur settlement, carrying flags and demanding that they be allowed through the perimeter fence to privately-owned Palestinian land which was cut off from its owners when the secondary fence was built on Beit Ommar’s land in the summer of 2006. Settler security arrived quickly and began threatening to shoot any Palestinian who touched the fence (which a few farmers proceeded immediately to do). Soon after, the Israeli … Continue reading

From Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove

AT-TUWANI – The past two weeks have seen a marked rise in settler activity outside the illegal settlements* of Ma’on and the Havat Ma’on (Hill 833) outpost. This has varied from settlers crossing Palestinian grazing land, to grazing their sheep while shooting rocks from slingshots at nearby Palestinian shepherds, to abducting young Palestinian shepherds with the aid of the Israeli military and police.

On Friday afternoon, 19 February, 2010, Israeli settlers, soldiers and
police detained a 12-year-old boy from the Palestinian village of Saadet
Tha’lah, located near the Israeli settlement of Carmel in the South Hebron Hills. The boy had been grazing his family’s flock alone in their regular grazing area, just above Umm Zeitouna … Continue reading

Update: Preliminary research done by Peace Now has revealed that the area in which farmers from Saffa planted trees (to replace what was destroyed by settlers from Bat ‘Ayn) that the Israeli military announced it would uproot last week was not registered as Israeli ’state land’ in the 1970’s as they previously claimed. They are, however, in the process of declaring it state land, a legal maneuver to confiscate the land from the Palestinians who have been using it since the before the creation of the state of Israel.

Update February 1, 2010: Farmers Prevented from Accessing Land Ahead of Uprooting

On Saturday, January 30, a group of farmers from Beit Ommar and Saffa, including those from the Thalji family whose … Continue reading

(Photography from Palestine Solidarity Project. Video of Nabi Saleh from Activestills Collective, Video of Sheikh Jarrah from Yisrael Putermam)

This Friday, January 22, demonstrations were again held against land confiscation, the Annexation Barrier, and the expulsion of Palestinians from East Jerusalem for the settlement of right-wing Jewish settlers.

In Al-Ma’asara, Bethlehem District, approximately 70 Palestinians, Internationals and Israelis marched from the center of town towards the barrier set up by the Israeli military. Tensions were high as a larger-than-usual presence of Israeli soldiers and border police lined the route of the march on the roofs of buildings. The demonstration included the imposed Palestinian government’s minister of agriculture who participated in a symbolic tree-planting near the entrance of the village. … Continue reading

In one of the most extreme shows of force used against a tree-planting action, today around 1pm, dozens of Israeli soldiers entered the neighborhood of Saffa, in Beit Ommar. They began to attack farmers from the ‘Adi and Soleiby families, who had been planting trees they obtained with Israeli and international support as part of a larger tree-planting program of the Palestine Solidarity Project for several hours in the Wadi Arish area below the Bat ‘Ayn settlement. Soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at the farmers and amongst the … Continue reading

Three farmers from the Soleiby family, Jabber Soleiby, 42, his brother Hassan, 37, and cousin Fathi Soleiby, 42, were working their land in the Wadi Abu Rish area of Saffa, just under the Bat ‘Ain settlement early this morning when a crowd of approximately 40 settlers descended on them from the settlement, throwing stones, some with slingshots. The farmers fled the area, fearing they would be harmed. All three men, sons of Mohammed Soleiby and Abdullah Soleiby, know all too well how dangerous large crowds of settlers can be: Abdullah Soleiby, 82, had his skull fractured in April, 2009 by settlers who attacked him and his brother, holding Abdullah down as they bashed his head in with stones.

Israeli … Continue reading

From Maan News

Video from Yisrael Putermam

Friday, December 25–Members of the As-Sabbagh family were attacked in their home by four Israeli settlers who broke into the building in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah Saturday morning, witnesses said.

The settlers were attempting to take over the home and settle in it, onlookers alleged.

The act prompted clashes, injuring Tamer, Dalal, Um Mohammad, and Abed Al-Sabbagh and his pregnant wife before Israeli forces arrived and detained the settlers.

Residents of the neighborhood ran to help the family when they heard the noise of the initial break-in. Following the detention of the four settlers, several others came to the scene, … Continue reading

On December 20, 2009 at 9am four farmers from Beit Ommar, Mohammed Ikhlayl, ‘Ayed Ikhlayl, Kalil Ikhlayl, and ‘Ali Nayef, were plowing their agricultural land approximately 700 meters from the Bat ‘Ayn settlement, alone. Suddenly, they were shot at four times from inside the settlement. No one was hit but Israeli soldiers arrived shortly after, acknowledging that they knew settlers had shot at the farmers, and demanding that the Palestinians leave in order to “avoid problems”. The farmers refused, and remained on their land for another 2 hours before they were finally forced to leave by the Israeli soldiers. At no time did the Israeli soldiers, in theory in charge of security for the area but … Continue reading

Updated: Video

Today at approximately 12 noon, settlers from the Karmei Tsur settlement between the Palestinian villages of Beit Ommar and Halhul, blocked Route 60, the main highway between Jerusalem and Hebron, used by settlers as well as Palestinians. They began attacking Palestinian cars on the road, jumping in front of them and forcing them to stop before damaging the vehicles and in at least 5 cases, opening the car doors and beating the Palestinians inside. Shortly afterward, scores of Israeli military and civilian police … Continue reading