This week PSP began its annual farmer accompaniment program. Around dawn, international activists joined Beit Ommar farmers in harvesting grapes on land close to the illegal settlement of Kfar Etzion. In a busy but sucessful morning, volunteers assisted the famrers in picking and packing over fifty crates of grapes, which will be sold through the local farmers’ market.

Such accompaniments are neccessary as Beit Ommar farmers face the constant threat of harassment and violence from setllers and the Israeli military. Settlers regularly attack famrers trying to work in fields close to the five … Continue reading

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, 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

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

More evidence has emerged this week that Israel and its settlers are preparing to use extreme violence in response to peaceful Palestinian protests this Septemeber.

The International Middle East Media Center reports that extreme right-wing settler groups have prepared plans to attack peaceful Palestinian protests following the UN vote on statehood in Septemeber (original article here). In a chilling echo of the Israeli rhetoric used before the Cast Lead attacks on Gaza in 2008, an eight-page document urges settlers to “transform September from a threat to a historic opportunity to change the rules of the game”.

In this document, the settlers themselves acknowledge that the demonstrations are likely … Continue reading

The lack of access to clean water represents a major problem in the West Bank, particularly for rural farming villages such as Beit Ommar. The problem has escalated since 2005, as Israel steals more and more Palestinian water, allocating less each year to the Palestinian Authorities to distribute.

For example, the settlements surrounding Beit Ommar have unlimited access, all week, to water for their many swimming pools. Simultaneously, the Israeli authorities stopped the water supply to the Palestinian village of Beit Ommar for four days each week. As a result, residents of Beit Ommar have to travel many kilometres by foot, donkey, or motor vehicle, to buy back the water … Continue reading

On the 29th of July, 2011 a large group of settlers was observed passing through the land of Beit Ommar and Surif. The group, which consisted of 40 settlers, 2 of whom were armed, and 4 soldiers, walked through farmland in Beit Ommar and crossed through the town of Surif.

They were observed by a group of residents from the towns as well as two internationals. Members of the group harassed residents as they passed through Surif, and briefly sat down near the entrance of a Palestinian house. They were seen carrying maps and taking pictures of the land and Palestinian homes.

… Continue reading

At mid-day Wednesday June 1st, Israeli soldiers closed portions of Route 60, the north-south highway in the West Bank, to make way for about 400 Israeli settlers who were cycling to Jerusalem. For two hours, 15 military vehicles, including two APCs, were stationed near the entrance of the Beit Ommar and alongside the road. All traffic was stopped in both directions, and the soldiers forced everyone present to leave the area immediately. Vehicles and people attempting to exit the village via the main gate were also blocked.

After an hour and a half, three jeeps and an Israeli … Continue reading

Soldiers from the settlement of Karmei Tsur detained two members of the Popular Committee on Friday, May 13. Ali Ayad Awad and his family had been on their land, some of which lies very close to the Karmei Tsur fence. A group of settlers arrived, yelling at them and throwing stones from within the settlement.

Popular Committee members Mohamed Ayad Awad and Ahmed Abu Hashem were informed of the harassment, and came out to the land where the farmers were trying to work. By the time they arrived, the settlers had gone, and instead, a group of soldiers from Karmei Tsur was waiting.

The soldiers detained both Ahmed Abu Hashem and Mohamed Ayad Awad. A half hour later, Popular Committee member Mousa … Continue reading

On the night of Sunday, April 24th, settlers from the Gush Etzion settlement bloc opened a valve at a wastewater facility, flooding nearby Palestinian fields with untreated sewage. 10 acres of Palestinian farmland belonging to the Sabarneh family were flooded, soaking hundreds of grape vines and fruit trees in human waste and effectively destroying the crops. A field awaiting cultivation was similarly poisoned. Sewage water soaked into the ground, leaving thick mud that precluded any opportunity to dredge the sludge out with tractors or other heavy machinery.

This is not the first time that settlers from Gush Etzion have released raw sewage onto Beit Ommar land. Seventy-five dunams of land … Continue reading