"In its official comments, the Israeli army had said that the displaced [Palestinian] population had left voluntarily, that “civilians who wished to evacuate were permitted to temporarily leave the area”. Ahmaro was outraged at the suggestion that he had any choice about fleeing. “Never, never, never. Why should I leave my house?” he asked."

Guardian graphic. Source: Peace Now

 

... Within hours, the whole city of 250,000 people had been sealed off [by Israeli forces] and the neighbourhood of Farsh al-Hawa [Palestine], closest to the site of Friday’s attack [on Israeli forces at one of the many Israeli checkpoint chokeholds on Palestine], had been flattened. By Sunday morning, there was nothing left but rubble of an industrial area that had been full of car workshops, a big ceramics plant and other enterprises.

As the bulldozers were at work there, another district a few kilometres away was being systematically emptied. Ein Deir Baha was allegedly home to at least one of the two men involved in the attack (both of whom were killed on the spot), and on Friday its residents paid the price.

Fahed Ahmaro, who was forced to flee his home in the Deir Baha area of Hebron by Israeli security forces, looks at his house from a distance. Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

 

The imam from the local mosque, Fahed Ahmaro, was woken at about midnight by the loudspeakers from military vehicles patrolling the street, telling [Palestinian] homeowners to vacate their homes immediately for their own safety.

Ahmaro had 30 members of his family living in his house. He rushed his frail mother and some of his grandchildren to his daughter’s house in another part of Hebron, and was on his way back in the hope of picking up some of his possessions when his neighbour phoned him.

“He told me not to come back, and the [Israeli] army had blown up the gates to the house. I don’t know what they have done to it by now. I heard they destroyed the furniture,” Ahmaro said. “You don’t know what you have until you lose it. Now I realise how devastating it is to lose your home.”

At midday on Sunday, he was in a Hebron market shopping for a change of clothes for his grandchildren, uncertain how long the family’s exile would last.

He had heard that the house was being used as a base by Israeli soldiers and looking up at the house, perched on the side of a steep hill, he could see some lights on but no sign of life.

The Hebron municipality said that 370 families, nearly 2,000 people, had been displaced by the army sweep through Ein Deir Baha. In its official comments, the Israeli army had said that the displaced population had left voluntarily, that “civilians who wished to evacuate were permitted to temporarily leave the area”.

Ahmaro was outraged at the suggestion that he had any choice about fleeing.

“Never, never, never. Why should I leave my house?” he asked.... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/26/collective-punishment-palestinians-displaced-israeli-forces-take-over-hebron-homes

  [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]    

Israeli soldiers raze neighbourhood in Hebron, driving families from homes

PM Benjamin Netanyahu vows ‘to destroy this place’ in retaliation for militant attack on army checkpoinks

Israeli troops have levelled a neighbourhood in Hebron, driving out hundreds of families in collective punishment for a militant attack on an army checkpoint outside the West Bank city, local Palestinian authorities said.

The Hebron municipality estimated that 35 hectares (86 acres) had been destroyed or marked for destruction and about 1,500 people had been evicted from their homes by Saturday afternoon in the district of Ein Deir Baha. The whole city of 250,000 people was sealed off by checkpoints on every point of entry.

Videos sent by a Hebron resident showed a substantial area of devastation with every house over several blocks flattened in an urban area. One video showed soldiers marking Palestinian houses with a sprayed black cross, another showed a bulldozer tearing down a stone wall on a hillside and another showed a large residential building festooned with Israeli flags... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/24/israel-soldiers-raze-west-bank-neighbourhood-hebron-families-from-homes

  [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]     

Israeli authorities have severed Hebron from the rest of the occupied West Bank, sealing the governorate behind 106 iron gates and blocking 16 major access roads with earth mounds.

Israeli authorities have severed Hebron from the rest of the occupied West Bank, sealing the governorate behind 106 iron gates and blocking 16 major access roads with earth mounds.

 The Cradle

@TheCradleMedia

Israel seals Hebron with 106 iron gates and moves to annex Ibrahimi Mosque amid West Bank siege —— 

 

Israeli authorities have severed Hebron from the rest of the occupied West Bank, sealing the governorate behind 106 iron gates and blocking 16 major access roads with earth mounds. 

 

Hebron Governor Khaled Dodin revealed during a press conference that the sweeping military closure serves as a physical framework for the systematic annexation of the historic Ibrahimi Mosque, according to Anadolu Agency. 

 

Occupation forces have advanced unauthorized construction on the sanctuary's roof while seizing municipal infrastructure, water networks, and electrical controls. 

 

The administrative takeover was codified when Tel Aviv stripped the Hebron Municipality of its legal management powers, transferring jurisdiction directly to the nearby illegal Kiryat Arba settlement. 

 

Palestinian officials denounced the move as a flagrant assault on the historical status quo of the holy site, noting that occupation forces have banned the Muslim call to prayer for ten consecutive days and barred local worshippers. 

 

The siege on the sanctuary unfolds alongside a broader colonial land grab that has seen the establishment of over 20 new illegal settlement outposts and more than 700 recorded occupation and settler attacks across the governorate.

 

https://x.com/TheCradleMedia/status/2113939743679332534 

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]   

Issa Amro is a Palestinian human rights defender: Our lives are blighted by illegal settlements, and 22 more have just been approved. Unless Israel is held to account, we will be erased

Tents set up by Israeli settlers near the West Bank village of Bruqin, west of Salfit, 23 May 2025. Photograph: Alaa Badarneh/EPA

I told the truth about the West Bank and was threatened and assaulted.

Now I’m relying on you to act

Issa Amro

Each of the 22 illegal settlements approved by Israel last week is another nail in the coffin of the peace process, hammered in by the complicity of western governments and corporations. Israeli settlements are not benign civilian neighbourhoods – they are primary instruments of dispossession, control and apartheid. Settlements are closed militarised zones on Palestinians’ stolen land, cutting off our access to our resources, our farms, our schools, our jobs and each other. Palestinian lands rapidly shrink, our livelihoods are devastated, our rights are systematically violated and our identity is undermined.

Western lawmakers look on, expressing commitment to peace through a two-state solution but choosing to do nothing to achieve this goal. Instead, their policies and inaction enable yet further settlement activity.

In the West Bank we live in an obvious two-tier system, yet most lawmakers continue to shun the word “apartheid” despite Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations concurring on its accuracy and the international court of justice (ICJ) reaffirming it last July. The Settlers, the BBC documentary by Louis Theroux, helped expose this reality, showing me being prevented from even walking on the same streets as Israelis in the neighbourhood of Hebron, where I was born.

In response to the documentary, Israeli settlers and soldiers broke into my yard, vandalised it and assaulted me. Soldiers made no arrests but instead threatened to arrest me if I filed a complaint. Then one morning at 4am, young settlers made a bonfire on private Palestinian land outside my home and chanted that they hoped to see me killed. One individual showed up right in front of my house in army fatigues and with a semi-automatic rifle to intimidate me. Settlers then stole my pan-African flag, given to me by Black Lives Matter, and burned it among a pile of Palestinian flags.

It is the same story in nearby Masafer Yatta, featured not only in The Settlers but also in the Oscar-winning film No Other Land. Directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham called for interventions last week to help stop its destruction, and co-director Hamdan Ballal was detained and beaten in reprisal for its production.

The ICJ found Israel responsible for the crime of apartheid, yet western leaders bite their tongues. It found that not only Israel’s settlements but also its whole occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip are unlawful, and that the international community is obliged to help dismantle the settlements, evacuate the settlers and end the occupation as quickly as possible. Why are western leaders inert?

It seems that western governments would rather undermine the international justice system than hold Israel to account... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/03/israeli-settlements-west-bank-international-law-illegal

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

The speech that Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, a Palestinian American and Democrat, had hoped to give America at the DNC 2024

 My name is Ruwa Romman, and I’m honored to be the first Palestinian elected to public office in the great state of Georgia and the first Palestinian to ever speak at the Democratic National Convention. My story begins in a small village near Jerusalem, called Suba, where my dad’s family is from. My mom’s roots trace back to Al Khalil, or Hebron. My parents, born in Jordan, brought us to Georgia when I was eight, where I now live with my wonderful husband and our sweet pets.

Growing up, my grandfather and I shared a special bond. He was my partner in mischief—whether it was sneaking me sweets from the bodega or slipping a $20 into my pocket with that familiar wink and smile. He was my rock, but he passed away a few years ago, never seeing Suba or any part of Palestine again. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss him.

This past year has been especially hard. As we’ve been moral witnesses to the massacres in Gaza, I’ve thought of him, wondering if this was the pain he knew too well. When we watched Palestinians displaced from one end of the Gaza Strip to the other I wanted to ask him how he found the strength to walk all those miles decades ago and leave everything behind. 

But in this pain, I’ve also witnessed something profound—a beautiful, multifaith, multiracial, and multigenerational coalition rising from despair within our Democratic Party. For 320 days, we’ve stood together, demanding to enforce our laws on friend and foe alike to reach a ceasefire, end the killing of Palestinians, free all the Israeli and Palestinian hostages, and to begin the difficult work of building a path to collective peace and safety. That’s why we are here—members of this Democratic Party committed to equal rights and dignity for all. What we do here echoes around the world.

They’ll say this is how it’s always been, that nothing can change. But remember Fannie Lou Hamer—shunned for her courage, yet she paved the way for an integrated Democratic Party. Her legacy lives on, and it’s her example we follow.

But we can’t do it alone. This historic moment is full of promise, but only if we stand together. Our party’s greatest strength has always been our ability to unite. Some see that as a weakness, but it’s time we flex that strength. 

Let’s commit to each other, to electing Vice President Harris and defeating Donald Trump who uses my identity as a Palestinian as a slur. Let’s fight for the policies long overdue—from restoring access to abortions to ensuring a living wage, to demanding an end to reckless war and a ceasefire in Gaza. To those who doubt us, to the cynics and the naysayers, I say, yes we can—yes we can be a Democratic Party that prioritizes funding our schools and hospitals, not for endless wars. That fights for an America that belongs to all of us—Black, brown, and white, Jews and Palestinians, all of us, like my grandfather taught me, together.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/08/dnc-speech-uncommitted-movement-harris-walz-ruwan-romman/

Mother Jones illustration; Photos courtesy of Noah Lanard and Nate Gowdy

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine] 

Our hearts are with the many Palestinian communities who have been forced to flee their homes, traditions, and livelihoods in the rural West Bank due to escalating Israeli settler and military violence.

Spring 2023 in the #SouthHebronHills

EAPPI UK & Ireland

Our hearts are with the many Palestinian communities who have been forced to flee their homes, traditions, and livelihoods in the rural West Bank due to escalating Israeli settler and military violence. Many of those who remain do so at extreme risk, with 700 recorded settler attacks since 7 October alone. In the majority of cases, Israeli soldiers were also present. Even before the war, 2023 saw the highest rate of settler violence since records began.

 

"Palestinians who want to stand up to injustice or who wants his freedom must pay a heavy price in exchange for raising the voice of truth. There are those who die, there are those who are imprisoned, and there are those whose homes are destroyed." Sabah, Bethlehem

 

Keep raising the voice of truth about #Palestine. State-backed violence must end. Visit www.eyewitnessblogs.com for more eyewitness stories and the latest actions.

 

#CeaseFireNow #ThursdayThrowback #PhotooftheDay #HumansofPalestine #WestBankUnderAttack

Sending British and Irish human rights monitors to Palestine and Israel to monitor human rights and an end to the military occupation of Palestine.  https://www.eyewitnessblogs.com/

Palestinians face assault by [Israeli] gun, bulldozer and attack dog- ‘They took our home, our land, everything’: Palestinians displaced by illegal settlers tell their stories

Salah Abu Awad says he is haunted by memories of the night he was woken up by Israeli settlers who burst into his home and threatened him at gunpoint.

It was one of the many attacks that forced the 28-year-old shepherd and his family to dismantle their homes and abandon their land in the village of Widada in the occupied West Bank’s south Hebron hills.... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/01/they-took-our-home-our-land-everything-palestinians-displaced-by-settlers-tell-their-stories

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES or quotes or watch videos IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

Salah Abu Awad, 28, with his flock on Samoah lands, in the south Hebron hills. Abu Awad was forced to abandon Widada village due to constant settler violence and harassment. Photograph: Quique Kierszenbaum/The Guardian

"In July last year, Abu Awad fled Widada, where his family had lived for decades, because he felt “caged and threatened”, he said. “We were afraid all the time, living in fear. It was not life.”

Abu Awad said that days earlier, Federman tried to steal his sheep at gunpoint while he was out grazing his flock.

It was the last straw for Abu Awad, who was still reeling from the shock of the home invasion in the early hours of 12 March 2023. Abu Awad recalled: “Yinon and Ely broke into my home. Ely came with an attack dog and a M16 rifle.

“They came inside and opened everything, including cabinets, and made a mess with everything. They asked ‘where’s the money’, but I didn’t have any money. My wife and children were so afraid.”

He said he reported the incident to the police, adding: “I got official paperwork saying I’d filed a complaint but nothing happened.”"

This olive tree is situated on the Hebron Road just outside Bethlehem. It marks a contrast with the brutal and life-restricting Wall of Separation behind it, which fences in the Palestinian people.

Advent Calendar Day 7

 

The olive tree is a significant symbol of Palestine. The tree has been grown and olives harvested here for thousands of years. They are long-living and tough, surviving all weather conditions; they produce oil which is essential for the Palestinian cuisine. 

 

This olive tree is situated on the Hebron Road just outside Bethlehem. It marks a contrast with the brutal and life-restricting Wall of Separation behind it, which fences in the Palestinian people. Despite their oppression they survive, like the olive tree. This tree has seen it all and still it stands as a witness. 

 

“One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king.' “But the olive tree answered, 'Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’” Judges 8:8-9

  photos from

St.George's College Jerusalem

Growing Gardens for Palestine: The story of Randa Sedar, 8-year-old chess player from Palestine

 Growing Gardens for Palestine

The story of Randa Sedar, 8-year-old chess player from Palestine

Eight-year-old Randa Sedar has instantly earned global attention and fame. The young chess protege from Palestine is the youngest participant at the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram near Chennai, India.

  

Eight-year-old Randa Sedar has instantly earned global attention and fame. The young chess protege from Palestine is the youngest participant at the 2022 Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram near Chennai, India

The story of Randa Sedar, 8-year-old chess player from Palestine

• August 10, 2022
• Sports, Top Stories
• by pallavvjain

"The 44th Chess Olympiad is going on in Mamallapuram near Chennai, India. This city is decorated with the slogans of Namma Chennai Namma chess. The center of attraction in all this is 8-year-old chess player Randa Sedar from Palestine. She is the youngest player in this Olympiad. At a young age, Sedar is adept at playing chess. It was not easy for her to come to India from war-torn Palestine. But she came to India and is winning everyone’s heart with her talent. 

Randa Sedar is ranked second in the world for players of her age. On the second day of the tournament, Randa Sedar defeated Fahima Ali of Comoros in 39 moves. Randa may be young but big players find it difficult to understand her moves. Her height is so small that it is difficult for her to reach the chess board placed on the table. She sits on the chair with her knees bent and then plays.

Who is Randa Sedar?

Randa hails from the Hebron province of Palestine. She comes from a chess-playing family. She started playing chess at the age of 5. Sedar was taught to play chess by her father and is her coach. Her elder brother also plays chess and he is a FIED master.

Randa Sedar won the silver medal at the Palestine Women’s Chess Championship earlier this year.

In a country like Palestine, where the war is going on, girls are coming out from there and making their country shine in the world. It is a matter of great pride.  "  https://groundreport.in/who-is-randa-sedar-chess-player-from-palestine/  AS Always please go to the original link to read the story in full.

 

Randa has participated in many tournaments. Her second place in the Palestine women's championship qualified her for the #ChessOlympiad team. 

UNESCO | Building peace in the minds of men and women... Emergency Nomination- Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines - Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir, inscribed on World Heritage List and on List of World Heritage in Danger

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/palestine_land_of_olives_and_vines_cultural_landscape_of_southern_jerusalem_battir_inscribed_on_world_heritage_list_and_on_list_of_world_heritage_in_danger/#.U6gcwiRRb7k

© Jasmine Salachas/Centre for Cultural Heritage PreservationLand of olives and vines. Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem (Palestine)

Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines - Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir, inscribed on World Heritage List and on List of World Heritage in Danger

 

The World Heritage Committee today began the examination of 36 sites nominated for inclusion on the World Heritage List. The first property discussed was Palestine: Land of olives and vines, Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir, submitted by Palestine as an emergency nomination.

 

The Committee approved the inscription of the site on the World Heritage List. It also inscribed the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger after finding that the landscape had become vulnerable under the impact of socio-cultural and geo-political transformations that could bring irreversible damage to its authenticity and integrity, citing the start of construction of a separation wall that may isolate farmers from fields they have cultivated for centuries. 

Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines - Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem, Battir, is located a few kilometres south-west of Jerusalem, in the Central Highlands between Nablus and Hebron. The Battir hill landscape comprises a series of farmed valleys, known as widian, with characteristic stone terraces, some of which are irrigated for market garden production, while others are dry and planted with grape vines and olive trees. The development of terrace farming in such a mountainous region is supported by a network of irrigation channels fed by underground sources. A traditional system of distribution is then used to share the water collected through this network between families from the nearby village of Battir. 

The 38^th session of the World Heritage Committee began on 15 June and will continue through to 25 June, under the Chair of Sheikha Al Mayassa Bint Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani.

                                                           ****

The work of the session can be followed daily via webcast.

UNESCO Media Contact in Doha
Sue Williams, +33(0)6 15 92 93 62 or +974 503 16609
s.williams(at)unesco.org 

• Follow @UNESCO on Twitter using the hashtag #WorldHeritage for breaking information on important World Heritage Committee decisions during the session. Soon after tweeting, UNESCO will issue press releases about these decisions in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
• Daily recaps and discussions will be available on our Facebook page.
• B-rolls of new World Heritage sites will be available as soon as they are inscribed here.
• Photo galleries of new World Heritage sites will also be available here.
  

  Palestine: Land of olives and vines. Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem

  Located a few kilometres south-west of Jerusalem, in the Central Highlands between Nablus and Hebron, the Battir hill landscape comprises a series of farmed valleys, known as widian, with characteristic stone terraces, some of which are irrigated for market garden production, while others are dry and planted with grape vines and olive trees. The development of terrace farming in such a mountainous region is supported by a network of irrigation channels fed by underground sources. A traditional system of distribution is then used to share the water collected through this network between families from the nearby village of Battir. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  UNESCO | Building peace in the minds of men and women

  
  
   [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]