On Sunday at 12:30pm, three internationals, one Israeli and two Palestinians, including the former Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, were arrested in an attempt to block settlers from entering a Palestinian home of the Hijazi family in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. As they were arrested settlers entered the home and began to destroy the house from the inside. At 3:30pm three internationals tried to enter the Palestinian home to stop the destruction and were also put under arrest. A protest in solidarity with the arrestees and against the actions of the settlers was called for at 4pm on Monday…. Continue reading

On Tuesday July 21, 2009, the Beit Ommar Municipality held a meeting with the Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Ismail Da’iq, to present updated information on the recent and ongoing of farmland in the Saffa area of Beit Ommar village, and discuss possible remedies that the PA can provide or assist with. The meeting was one in a series of meetings to assess the impact on farmland and farmers in land in and around the Bethlehem area.

In attendance was Beit Ommar Mayor Nasri Sabarneh, Beit Ommar municipality council members, along with representatives of the Soleiby family whom own affected land in the Saffa area and members of Palestine Solidarity Project. Minister Da’iq, said he … Continue reading

Late Saturday morning, Beit Ommar village residents, along with activists from Israeli organizations Ta’ayush and Anarchists Against the Wall (AATW) and a large group of international activists, including several from Palestine Solidarity Project, entered farmland in the Saffa area in order to challenge the continued illegal use of temporary closed military zone orders in the area. These orders put a financial strain on the farmers whom are often unable to harvest their land, and provide no protection against settler attacks on the land (which the military claims is their reasoning for establishing a permanent presence in the area). … Continue reading

Monday, July 13, 2009, PSP received reports that farmland in Saffa area of Beit Ommar had been set on fire by settlers from neighboring Bat ‘Ayn. Initially, a PSP committee member and the mayor of Beit Ommar went into the valley, owned by Abu Jabber Soleiby, to assess the damage. In the afternoon, when the fire had still not be put out, international activists arrived with a large group of Beit Ommar residents along with media representatives. Fire trucks from Hebron initially could not reach the fire from the Beit Ommar/Saffa side and there were only two tools available to fight the fire, … Continue reading

On Saturday, July 11, 2009, Members of Ta’ayush Movement, along with international supporters, continued their creative protest against a newly-constructed one-room outpost outside the illegal Israeli settlement of Susiya, which is built just above the Palestinian community of Susiya. This week, activists held a picnic next to the outpost, bringing a blanket, watermelon, and other summer foods, informing the Israeli military when they arrived that it was not a demonstration, but merely an outing.
Along with the construction of a “Palestinian outpost” on the land last month, the activists are attempting to bring light to the outrageous bias in Israeli policy; while the picnic was interrupted within … Continue reading

Christian Peacemaker Teams, AT-TUWANI: Israeli Police, Accompanied by Israeli Settlers, Arrest Palestinian: Three Palestinians Arrested Within Eight Days for Grazing Sheep

[Note: According to the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of
Justice in the Hague, and numerous United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal.
Settlement outposts are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

In the early evening of Friday, 3 July, Israeli police detained a
Palestinian from the village of Tuba, located in the South Hebron hills.
Mohammed* was on his way to Yatta for a doctor’s appointment. He stopped to speak with his brother, who, accompanied by internationals, was grazing the family flock on private Palestinian land beside the nearby village of At-Tuwani.

At 5:00 pm three Israeli settlers accompanied … Continue reading

Another success! For the first Saturday since the beginning of April, the Soleiby family has worked their land in Saffa, Beit Ommar, without the accompaniment of Israeli or international activists. This temporary victory comes on the heels of 3 months of Israeli and international activists accompanying the farmers into the valley to protect them from settler attacks, a job which until now the Israeli military has failed to do.

The Abu Jabber, Abu Mohammed and Abu Fahed Soleiby families are farmers and long time residents of Beit Omar, a village half way between Hebron and Bethlehem. Their farmland is located in Saffa, directly
below the illegal Bat ‘Ayn Settlement. The settlement is one of the most violent in the West Bank, former … Continue reading

For the first time since the beginning of April, members of the Soleiby family have successfully cultivated their land in Saffa, Beit Omar, without the interference of soldiers or settlers. After a violent attack by the Israeli military Saturday morning that resulted in the arrest of 26 activists and the injury of dozens more, the army has agreed to provide protection for the Soleiby family as they cultivate their land near the Bat ‘Ayn settlement.

The Abu Jabber, Abu Mohammed, and Abu Fahed Soleiby families are of Palestinian farmers from Beit Ommar with land in Saffa. They are regularly attacked by settlers from the illegal Bat ‘Ayn settlement, who … Continue reading

In the early hours of Monday, June 22, 2009, settlers from the Bat ‘Ain settlement set fire and cut down more than 125 grapevines and fruit trees belonging to Hamad Soleiby. Israeli soldiers said they saw a fire in the Palestinian agricultural fields some time during the night and went to put it out, though they did nothing to collect the evidence; kerosene canisters and matches were still there the next morning when activists from the Palestine Solidarity Project accompanied the farmer’s family to survey the damage.

One week before, … Continue reading

Soldiers operating in village of Asira al-Kabaliya, which was attacked by settlers Saturday, find group of left-wing activists in one of houses. ‘It was our duty to arrive and express our solidarity with the residents,’ explains activist Yonatan Polak

By Ali Waked

An IDF force which raided the West Bank village of Asira al-Kabaliya near the settlement of Yitzhar on Saturday night, apparently as part of an operation for the arrest of wanted Palestinians, was surprised to discover a group of left-wing activists in one of the houses.

The activists arrived in the area following the riots which broke out in the village Saturday after a Palestinian stabbed a nine-year-old Jewish child and settlers flocked to … Continue reading