At 10 a.m. Friday, October 12th about 100 colonists, escorted by soldiers from the Israeli occupation forces, walked out of Karmei Tsur. They went in the direction of Jala at the west of Beit Ommar where several Palestinian residents have their olive trees.

Local families were harvesting their olives, but fled when they saw the group of colonists to avoid being victims of settler attacks that are common in this area. Last year a colonist killed a Palestinian boy in Saffa. The colonists were also intimidating to the people of Jala who stayed home instead of going to Beit Ommar, as they usually do on Fridays.

A local committee member, Ahmed Abu … Continue reading

On Saturday, October 13th, 2012 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists marched to protest in front of the colony Karmei Tzur in a weekly demonstration. Also former hunger striker Tha’er Halahla participated in the protest.

This week the main message was directed against the recent increase in colonist’s harassment of Palestinian farmers cultivating their land. In addition the activists protested against the terrorizing of the village of Beit Ommar conducted by the Israeli occupation forces in night raids, often to arrest children.

The Israeli occupation forces lined up and tried to stop the residents of Beit Ommar, accompanied by Israeli and International activist, from marching into their own land. The demonstrators refused to accept this and kept on walking around the soldiers blocking … Continue reading

On 10th of October a funeral procession burying the late Ihmid Abu Maria was attacked by Israeli soldiers. The cemetery in the village has been closed off by the Israelis for years. Large, heavy stones are partly blocking the entrance to the burial site.

As the mourners, this morning, tried to enter the cemetery occupation soldiers attacked the civilians with tear gas, sound grenades and rubber bullets. Some of the people were suffocating from inhaling gas.

These acts by the occupation forces are an attempt to limit the number of people participating in funerals. The Israelis partly succeed in this as people with heart diseases and people suffering from other kind of health problems no longer participate in funerals due … Continue reading

At 3 a.m. October 10th Israeli occupation forces entered the village of Beit Ommar and broke into the house of Jamil Al Alamy. The soldiers searched the family home and gave them an order for the son, Iyad Jamil Al Alamy, to meet at the military base in the colony of Gush Etzion. The son is 23 years old and he is currently studying at the Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron.

The occupation forces also went to the Safa area in Beit Ommar and they gave the same kind of order to Abdelkader Akhalil (50), Waael Abdul Hamid Akhalil (42) and two other men living in the same area. In total, five orders were given out this night.

Night raids happen … Continue reading

Israeli occupation forces dressed in civilian clothes were chasing a Palestinian, Saqar Husain al-Alami, and shot him as he tried to go to work in Gilo, an Israeli colony about 4 p.m. on Monday, October 8th.

The 26 year old Palestinian from Beit Ommar was shot by undercover soldiers with live ammunition while he was on his way to work, wounding his left arm says Ahmed Abu Hashem. Al-Alami was taken to Beit Jala Governmental Hospital where his injuries were described as medium severe.

The activists marched to the illegal fence separating Palestinians from their own land and from the illegal colony Karmei Tsur, condemned by 14 of 15 countries in the UN security council, excluding the US. As the activists walked towards the fence, a large group of soldiers from the Israeli occupation forces tried to chase them. However, despite pushing and pulling the soldiers did not succeed their attempts to provoke the activists. Provocations remained unanswered as the activists carried on in a peaceful manner and sat down refusing to leave until they had presented their message.

The last couple of weeks the house of the committee member Ahmed Abu Hashem has been raided at night twice, resulting in the arrest of his … Continue reading

On Thursday 27th of September the Center for Freedom and Justice and Palestine Solidarity Project got a visit from the Freedom Bus, an initiative of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin. The Freedom Bus is a solidarity ride through occupied Palestine.

The visitors, from Sweden, Germany, the United States amongst other countries, met members of the Popular Committee in Beit Ommar and international activists at the Center for Freedom and Justice. They got a brief lecture about the village by the executive manager of the center, Younes Arar who told them about the historically Beit Ommar and the six colonies surrounding the village. The visitors learned more about the weekly demonstrations arranged by the popular committee in Beit Ommar and the … Continue reading

This is a video from the night raid where the Israeli occupation forces arrested Hamza Ahmed Khalil Abu Hashem(14). The video shows the violent nature of the Israeli night raids and child arrests.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAZ3VXV3OmA

The Norwegian Ministry of Finance has declared that donations to organizations that support Israeli colonies on the West Bank are no longer tax-deductible, in contrast to donations to most organizations.

The Norwegian organization “Karmel Instituttet” has given financial support to Israeli colonies like Alonei Shilo, which is not only illegal to International Law but also to Israeli Law, and they work actively to support these colonies. The Norwegian Ministry of Finance has declared that these activities are violating International Law, and have thus removed the organization from the list of organization that can receive tax-deductible donations.

The Ministry of Finance have stated that this is done to ensure the Norway follow-up of resolutions made by the UN Security Council. One such resolution … Continue reading

In the last nine days two sons of Ahmed Abu Hashem, a Popular Committee member in Beit Ommar, have been arrested by Israeli occupation forces. Both arrests happened during night raids.

Mohammed Abu Hashem (16) was arrested last week and he is still awaiting his court meeting in Ofer prison outside Ramallah, which has already been postponed two times. Last night Mohammed’s younger brother, Hamza Ahmed Khalil Abu Hashem (14), was arrested by the occupation forces.

On Wednesday 3th of October at 02.30 a.m. a big number of occupation soldiers approached the house of Ahmed Abu Hashem. The soldiers surrounded the family home by dividing into three groups. They had brought a hammer, so … Continue reading