Volunteers Needed
Volunteers needed for Palestine olive harvest! Join International Women’s Peace Service (IWPS) in Palestine this autumn! The months of October/November mark the harvest season for olives in Palestine. Whole families take to the fields to bring in the fruit that is…
Harvesting Olives, Resisting Violence
The olive harvest this year is poor. Maybe because it is one year good, next year not so good-like apples; maybe because there is not enough rain. But olives remain the core of the economy here around Salfit and Nablus. Around Al…
Settlers Invade, Leave Death Threats, in Salfit Village
‘‘Arabs Must Be Deported or Killed”: Settlers Sneak into Town at Night, Vandalise Property in Kufr al-Dik Death threats At around 3.30am on 10th November 2018, a group of 20-25 settlers armed with guns entered the town of Kufr al-Dik, in…
Wadi Qana: the ‘Natural Reserve Zone’ that can only be built on by Zionists.
This morning IWPS joined Riziq – a poet, activist, and farmer from Deir Istiya known by most local Palestinians and internationals in this area – for a walk. We went to a place close to Riziq’s heart, Wadi Qana….
This Close!
This close? Yes, the Bruchin settlement next to our most recent pick was this close. A fence, a tarmac road (constructed by Palestinians) and then settler houses, smart cars in the drives, playgrounds, shutters down. The farmer had…
School in a Cage
From a meeting the headmaster of the coeducational High School in Burin We arrive in the schoolyard, surrounded by big metal fences. Young boys are playing basketball. A loud “How are you? What is your name? Where are you from?”…
Olive Harvest – Impressions of Burin
During the last days we have been picking olives with different families in Burin, a Palestinian village south of Nablus. Our time in the fields was spiced with cooking Arabic coffee and frying eggs over small fires, eating homemade hummus…
Yitzhar Settlers Attack Urif Olive Harvesters
IWPS in Palestine 2017 Urif is a Palestinian village located 13 kilometres south of Nablus. Urif has the bad luck to have an unwanted neighbour; the Yitzhar illegal settlement, with radicalized Jewish Orthodox residents known for their brutality toward all…
The Olives of Beit Furiq
On Saturday 28 October IWPS and ISM joined farmers from the Palestinian village Beit Furiq who were picking olives near the settler road leading to the nearby Itamar illegal settlement. This Orthodox settlement is known for its history of violent…
Non-violent action to resist the illegal confiscation of land in Jordan Valley
On Nov 17, IWPS joined a convoy of around 15 cars carrying about 75 people including Palestinians, local media and Israelis activists, from the village of Ein Al-Baida in the north of the Jordan Valley to the hill of Tel…
Deir Istiya: No Room to Move
Deir Istiya continues to face restrictions on movement, and access to agricultural roads. Today, villagers reported continued construction on the settler road that surrounds the village, and the introduction of a flying checkpoint at the village entrance.
Unprecedented Settlement Expansion in Salfit
Kufr Dik and Bruqin – an update on the ongoing cycle of water shortages, settler sewage problems, and unprecedented settlement expansion. “This [Netanyahu’s] government has destroyed all hope of peace”, resident of Kufr Dik The water issue The two villages…
Deir Istyia Demands Safe Access to Wadi Qana
Busy Highway 5066 connects parts of the illegal Settlement Bloc of Ariel with Tel Aviv. It also has become a de-facto check point for the farmers of Deir Istyia. Their agricultural land lies on the other side of Hwy 5066,…
Salfit Villagers Harrassed During Jumma Prayers
A peaceful demonstration and prayer took place yesterday, Friday 4 December ’15, on a hilltop between the Salfit’s villages Kafr ad-Dik, Bruqin, Sarta and Biddya. These villages are surrounded by the illegal Israeli settlements and industrial areas. As IWPS readers…
Picking Olives…Picking Hope
Little Mohammed has gone to the field this morning with his father Amjad and two IWPS activist-volunteers to harvest olives. The sun is bright and the air is fresh. Amjad is working hard and fast to pick olives from his…
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