Tag: Bethlehem

South Bethlehem villagers protest at worksite of shame

by the ISM media team, March 9th

Villagers from the South Bethlehem region came together again this Friday to protest at the annexation and destruction of their agricultural land. After prayers held on land belonging to Umm Salamuna village, speeches were given by representatives from the local communities and national organisations, and one speech was given in English for the around 30 international and Israeli activists appealing for support in the upcoming struggle.

The 200-strong crowd then marched along the razed land which is currently being leveled for the Apartheid Wall by diggers.

Some of the diggers moved away to work in a different area and soldiers then blocked the path of the marchers to this area. The villagers pointed out the injustice and illegality of the Wall but the soldiers were unmoved and grabbed and pushed them back.

Residents from Wadi Annis sat down in front of the line of soldiers and anti-occupation slogans were chanted before the crowd dispersed.

Ten villages surrounding Bethlehem will have agricultural land annexed and destroyed by the Wall with the villages of Wadi Anniss, Um Salamuna, Wadi Rahhal and Al Ma’sara most effected.

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Francesca et Margot

Comme tous les vendredi depuis environ un mois et demi, les habitants des ” 10 villages au sud de Bethléem ” organisent des manifestations pour tenter de stopper la construction du Mur. Aujourd`hui, un peu plus de 150 villageois et une trentaine d`internationaux s`étaient rassemblés. Après la prière du midi et quelques discours contre l`occupation, les manifestants munis de drapeaux se sont déplacés vers les pelleteuses en chantant.

Les engins “contraints” de se déplacer, ont repris leur travail 100 mètres plus loin. Les manifestants se sont retrouvés face a face avec les militaires qui les ont alors empêchés d`aller plus loin. Les villageois qui tentaient d`avancer ont été retenus par la force alors que les internationaux étaient relativement libres de leurs mouvements.

Après une demie heure, le cortège a pris la direction du village de Wadi an Nis. Tout les manifestants se sont alors rassemblés pour une réunion afin de parler de l`avenir de la lutte au sein des “10 villages au sud de Bethléem”. Evidemment celle-ci doit continuer et s`amplifier [ notamment avec des internationaux qui sont a la fois des témoins pour leur pays ainsi que des présences indispensables pour atténuer la violence envers les palestinniens ] mais il est aussi nécessaire de trouver des ripostes juridiques.

Umm Salamuna anti-Wall demo and tree planting in Hebron this Friday

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This Friday the villagers of Umm Salamuna and neighbouring villages in the South Bethlehem region will protest against the bulldozers which are currently razing their land for the Apartheid Wall. The villagers will hold midday prayers on their land before marching to confront the bulldozers.

Last Friday villagers held a rally and blocked a settler road in protest at the Wall which will annex 700 dunums to the Israeli settlement of Efrat and destroy 270 dunums. Although the villagers are challenging the route of the Wall in the Israeli Supreme Court, a Court order freezing work was lifted two weeks ago and the bulldozers have been razing the village’s agricultural land daily ever since.

In Hebron’s Tel Rumeida district olive trees will be planted to replace trees belonging to local Palestinian families that have been burned or destroyed in recent years by Hebron settlers. Two hundred will be planted in Tel Rumeida this Friday including one for CPT member (Christian Peacemaker Teams) Tom Fox who was kidnapped and murdered in Iraq on March 9th 2006. Tom volunteered with CPT in Hebron in 2005. The meeting place will be Shuhada Street at 9am and the planting will continue until around 1pm.

Between 2003 and 2006, 2,400 olive trees owned by Palestinians have been reported to have been uprooted or cut down by settlers, according to Israeli Attorney General Menachem Mazuz.

South Bethlehem villagers appeal for solidarity in resistance to Wall

by the ISM media team, March 2nd

South Bethlehem villagers today gathered on the land of Umm Salamuna to appeal for international solidarity in their struggle against the Apartheid Wall being built across their land. Speeches were given by local representatives and head of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouti. International solidarity activists were urged to join the villagers’ struggle and to tell their home countries about the theft of land in this region. The villages of Wadi Rahhal, Um Salamuna, Al Ma’sara and Wadi Al Niss stand to lose most from the Wall.

After the speeches the around 300 protesters marched to a nearby settler-only road which they blocked. The Israeli army arrived at the scene, and pushed people off the road but no injuries were reported. The demonstration then returned back to the village, where it ended.

Today’s demo comes at a critical time for the South Bethlehem villagers as work on the Wall has just restarted and is continuing every day. Last Tuesday farmers were beaten and arrested for resisting the razing of their land and on Wednesday international and Israeli activists managed to stop the bulldozers for two hours.

Rashid Zaqatka, son of Village Council Head Mahmoud Zaqatka, was released today after three days in captivity on the trumped charge of assaulting a soldier. Rashid was beaten by soldiers for resisting the razing of his family’s land by bulldozers on Tuesday.

This report was updated on Saturday 3rd March.

PNN: “Palestinians mount nonviolent resistance campaign as Israeli forces escalate land confiscation”

by Najib Farag, March 1st

Israeli forces have escalated land confiscation throughout Bethlehem during the past several days, targeting Umm Salamuna in the south and Beit Jala in the west.

The Israelis are building the Wall through Bethlehem, further isolating the West Bank from Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinians will be segregated from one another, human rights sources report.

In the Bethlehem District’s southern town of Umm Salamuna the confrontations continue between the large contingent of Israeli forces who are confiscating the land and the residents who are trying to stop them.

Joined by foreign and Israeli supporters, the land owners have taken to standing in front of heavy equipment in the campaign of nonviolent resistance mounted over recent weeks.

On Wednesday demonstrators held sticks to the soldiers’ machine guns. Israeli forces violently arrested five Israeli and two foreign supporters. Mahmoud Zoahrah is a member of the Wall Resistance Committee in southern Bethlehem. The group represents 10 area towns and was formed several months ago to combat land confiscation and Wall construction.

“The most tragic situation is occurring,” Zoahrah told PNN. “The bulldozers raised trees from nuts and lemons, to grape vines. In a few months 1,500 dunams of land are isolated in Umm Salamuna, in addition to the complete isolation that the coming weeks and months have in store for the entirety of southern Bethlehem.”

The western Bethlehem District will also be hemmed in by the Wall. Chairperson of the Committee to Defend against Land Confiscation, Khalid Al Azzeh, informed PNN that “the so-called Israeli Civil Administration distributed 11 home demolition notices in western Bethlehem where the Israeli settlement of Gush Etzion is encroaching.”

Ibrahim Attallah is among residents of western Bethlehem’s Beit Jala City whose home is slated for wrecking. He has two weeks to appeal the Israeli decision in the Israeli court system. The 100 residents who the Israeli authorities intend to evict in order to expand the settlements and Wall have agreed to collective action and say they will not leave their lands or homes.

In addition to destroying the stone fence surrounding agricultural land near the Talitha School in Beit Jala, over which the Israelis have under full control as Area C, Israeli forces are targeting the entire area for Wall construction.

Al Azzeh said that Israeli forces deliberately demolish houses during the early morning hours to avoid any major protest by land owners. He pointed that the Israelis claim the reason behind the destruction is that Palestinians have not solicited them for licenses for the existing structures. But the real reason, says Al Azzeh, is completing the Wall. Beit Jala will be surrounded by settlements, the settler bypass road and the Wall after the land is confiscated.

The same appeal that is circulated almost daily was issued again to international human rights institutions to pressure Israel to abide international law and stop the decades of looting Palestinian lands. “Dredging and demolition do not enable the search for a just peace,” commented Al Azzeh. Beit Jala’s Mayor said that the demolition order to establish the Wall here will lead to the isolation of approximately 7,200 dunams of agricultural land.

The only access will be through an iron gate in the Wall, and that is dependent on the mood of the Israeli soldiers, forewarned sources in the municipality.

Six activists arrested for blocking work on Wall

UPDATE 3PM – all the activists have been released after being made to sign conditions saying they wouldn’t return to the site of their arrest for 15 days

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Six activists have just been arrested for trying to stop work on the annexation barrier in the South Bethlehem area. The four Israelis, American and Japanese activist were attempting to stop bulldozers razing the agricultural land of Umm Salamuna village, south of Bethlehem, which is being confiscated for the route of the annexation barrier around Efrat settlement.

The activists blocked the bulldozers for two hours this morning before a special unit of the riot police arrived to remove them. The activists have been taken to Gush Etzion police station.

Yesterday three Palestinians from Umm Salamuna were arrested for protesting the annexation of their agricultural land, including the Village Council Head Mahmoud Zaqatka. His son, Rashid remains in detention.

Israel plans to annex 700 dunums and confiscate 270 dunums of agricultural land for the route of the Wall in Umm Salamuna. Although the villagers are challenging the route of the Wall in the Israeli Supreme Court, a Court order freezing work was lifted last week and the bulldozers have recommenced razing the village’s agricultural land.