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Israeli occupation forces carried out a series of invasions, across the Hebron district, abducting an elderly man, a woman, and four children from the towns of Yatta and Beit Ummar. Local activists and eyewitnesses described the operations as part of an ongoing pattern of intimidation targeting residents in the southern West Bank.

Israeli forces sealed all entrances to Beit Ummar with dirt barriers and iron gates and detained about 100 Palestinians in a dawn raid, turning the town’s municipal stadium into a field detention and interrogation center. The raid followed the previous day’s attack at the Gush Etzion junction, in which an Israeli settler was killed and the two attackers, one of them from Beit Ummar, were shot dead.

Israeli forces welded shut the entrance to the home of slain Palestinian, Walid Sabarna, with a sheet of iron in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, and prevented his family from entering the property on Saturday night, the Wafa news agency reported.

Sabarna was one of two Palestinians who were shot and killed on Tuesday evening near the Gush Etzion illegal settlement south of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, following what Israel said was “a ramming and stabbing attack” that left one Israeli dead and three others wounded.

Israeli forces have shot and killed two Palestinian children in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli settlers torched and vandalised the Hajja Hamida Mosque in Salfit amid continuing attacks on Palestinians, as Israeli forces launched widespread raids and mass arrests across the territory.

On Tuesday evening, Israeli occupation soldiers abducted three Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, during invasions in Hebron and Tubas, in the southern and the northeastern parts of the occupied West Bank.

In the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, occupation troops stormed residential areas and abducted two young men.

Sixty years ago, the world stood on the brink of catastrophe. The colonial war in southeast Asia, which saw American involvement begin under President Eisenhower, who sent arms shipments and “advisors” (1955), continued to escalate under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon toward a wrenching US defeat, roiling the American political scene. Shadowing the Vietnam War (1955-1975) on the international stage, the domestic US political landscape was riven by the civil rights movement (1953-1965), which was reaching a crucial turning point in its battle for a desegregated, democratic America.

In recent events, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from Jenin and Nur Shams refugee camps to Al-Ain Camp in Nablus. Over 500 homes have been demolished under the pretext of achieving the goal of creating "a land without people." This act represents yet another chapter in the ongoing tragedy faced by the Palestinian people.

Gallup’s annual poll on U.S. attitudes toward the Middle East found a shift: for the first time, more Democrats sympathize with Palestinians than with Israelis.

56% of Democrats view Israel favorably, slightly below the 60% to 74% range of the past decade. 49% of Democrats said their sympathies lie with Palestinians, while 38% said they sympathize with Israelis.

On Friday, Israeli soldiers shot a young man and caused many Palestinians to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.

Several army jeeps invaded the town and attacked a nonviolent procession organized by several factions and civil society institutions demanding the release of the bodies of slain Palestinians killed by the soldiers in previous invasions.

The soldiers attacked the protesters with rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs, and concussion grenades.

Longtime commentator and former KGNU news director Joel Edelstein interviewed Hala Zahalka – a Palestinian sister from Nablus on a Fulbright scholarship at the University of Idaho; and Sergio Atallah – Colombian-Palestinian brother, math teacher and long-time colleague and friend. The interview centered on the state of relations between the Israeli government and the Palestinians living under Occupation.

On Thursday dawn, dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron in the southern part of the occupied West Bank, searched and ransacked many homes, abducted sixteen Palestinians, including children and siblings, and injured a former political prisoner. The soldiers also abducted a young man in Hebron city.

Israeli forces raided Defense for Children International - Palestine’s headquarters in the central occupied West Bank early Thursday morning.

Israeli forces raided DCIP’s headquarters located in Al-Bireh’s Sateh Marhaba neighborhood, located just south of Ramallah around 5:55 a.m. on August 18. More than a dozen Israeli soldiers forced open the office’s locked front door and removed a computer, photocopier, printer, and client files related to Palestinian child detainees represented by DCIP’s lawyers in Israel’s military courts, CCTV footage showed.

This is a one-hour webinar (YouTube or Facebook) featuring staff from the East Jerusalem YMCA, whose therapists treat Palestinian child detainees and other youth who have been traumatized by Israel's defense and police forces. The program also features a member of No Way to Treat a Child, a program of Defense for Children International-Palestine. These organizations are supporting Rep. Betty McCollum's House Resolution 2590. This bill prohibits Israel's use of U.S. military aid to detain and incarcerate Palestinian children, demolish Palestinian homes, and annex Palestinian land.

On 1/22/22, Joe Drexler of CFJ-CO interviewed Mousa Abu Maria, resident of Beit Ummar, Palestine, and CFJ-Beit Ummar representative. They discussed Mousa's background (including his time in prison), life under occupation, Mousa's principles of non-violence and sustainability to resist the occupation, all of the accomplishments CFJ-Beit Ummar is making, and the importance of international support.

The interview can be seen on Facebook or YouTube.

On 11/22/21. CFJ-Colorado interviewed Gary Anderson, Colorado-based water engineer, who has spent many years all over the Middle East working on water projects, including in Palestine. We discussed the Palestinian struggle for water use, how most water in the West Bank is diverted to illegal Israeli settlements, and how the struggle for water plays into the broader Israeli policy toward the Occupied Territories. Unfortunately, we were unable to record this event due to technical issues, but we encourage everyone to research the water situation in Palestine, to become better informed of the reality there. A great place to start is with the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, which raises awareness about Israel's use of water as a weapon against the people of Palestine.

On Thursday, Israeli soldiers poured fortified cement into a Palestinian water spring near Beit Ummar town, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

This is the latest example of how the Israeli government systematically uses control of water to make living conditions unbearable and destroy the town's agricultural economic base.

The United Nations General Assembly on July 28, 2010 enacted Resolution 64/292, explicitly recognizing access to water as a human right.

CFJ-CO interviewed Katie Miranda about her experiences in the West Bank, her activism and past/current work, and her motivation for getting involved in supporting Palestine.

The interview can be seen on YouTube or Facebook. Please start at the 40-second mark.

Describing herself, Katie says, "I'm a painter, illustrator, calligrapher and jewelry designer. I'm the founder of Palbox, a quarterly subscription box featuring products from Palestine and my jewelry, and a former International Solidarity Movement (ISM) nonviolence trainer and coordinator. My cartoons have been published in Mondoweiss, Middle East Eye, Middle East Monitor, Dissident Voice, and Al Jazeera. I was selected as a Muslima Ambassador for the International Museum of Women in 2012 and as an exhibitor at the Capital of Islamic Culture in Sharjah in 2014. My illustrated short story Stop Being So Picky or Why I Didn’t Marry My Cat was published in the anthology Muslim American Writers at Home in 2021."

During the recent vote of sending an extra $1 billion to Israel for the Iron Dome, there were 9 "no" votes in the House: Democrats Cori Bush, Andre Carson, Chuy Garcia, Raul Grijalva, Marie Newman, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, and Republican Thomas Massie. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced opposition but voted "present," as did Hank Johnson.

Nadeen Ibrahim discusses her organizing work and activism, as well as her master's thesis on how the Israeli government weaponized a variety of land policies to increase and fund settlement construction as a means to change the demographics on Palestinian lands. The interview can be seen on YouTube and Facebook.

Nadeen M. Ibrahim is a seasoned community organizer with more than 7 years of experience in Colorado. She has largely and intersectionally organized for the Palestinian, Muslim, immigrant, and refugee communities, given her identities. Some of her flagship projects include co-founding the Colorado Muslim Leadership Council, Denver Day of Dignity, and Muslim Youth Empowerment Conference.

Her unwavering commitment to advocating for Palestine and Palestinians is driven by her identity. She was born in the city of Jerusalem during the Oslo Accords and maintains deep connections with her family and land in Palestine. Nadeen most recently completed her Master's of Public Policy at the University of Oxford, England.

CFJ-Colorado interviewed Jeff and Janet Wright on Monday, 8/16/21. The Wrights discussed their years of service to the people in Palestine. Retired from pastoral ministry, Jeff serves KairosPalestine as a global service worker appointed by the Disciples Of Christ and the United Church of Christ. Janet, a licensed clinical social worker retired from private practice, supervises and consults with clinicians in the areas of trauma, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). They host annual alternative pilgrimages to Palestine/Israel. View the interview on YouTube or Facebook.

A 20-year-old Palestinian man died hours after being shot on Thursday by Israeli forces during the funeral of 12-year-old Mohammed al-Alami, who was killed the day before, also by Israeli military gunfire.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Shawkat Awad sustained gunshot wounds to his abdomen and head and was taken in critical condition to a hospital in Hebron, where he succumbed to his wounds.

He was reportedly hit in clashes that erupted between hundreds of Palestinian mourners and protesters, and Israeli troops in the town of Beit Ummar, near Hebron, where al-Alami's body was laid to rest.

What happened during this war was really terrible mostly in Sheikh Jarrah and Gaza. Gaza was destroyed. The situation was very bad here in Beit Ummar and the West Bank in general. Israeli soldiers were coming into the town daily even more than once a day. The soldiers caused many troubles for those who were coming to or leaving the town. They were spread everywhere on the entrance of Beit Ummar and on the balconies or roofs of citizens' houses, and their guns were always pointed at people. To be honest, we didn't fear them at all; even the youngest went out to resist. Yes, Gaza was destroyed; many people were killed, many arrested; and there was always tension - but our voice reached many countries around the world. Huge numbers of people became our supporters and saw the truth. Israel definitely had not expected that or the destruction that happened in their living area.

Currently, it's not as bad as before, but we don't know what might happen later.

Dr. Asi speaks about the discrepancy between how Israel dealt swiftly and effectively with the COVID-19 pandemic within Israel’s borders but has largely failed to do likewise among Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories (West Bank and Gaza). Yara M. Asi is a non-resident Fellow at the Arab Center Washington D.C., a Policy Member of Al-Shabaka, and a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Central Florida specializing in health in fragile and conflict-affected states.

The interview can be viewed on Facebook or YouTube.

“We saw how the Israeli occupation forces were systematically working at destroying the livelihood of the Palestinians on their own land.” According to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture, more than 3 million trees, mostly olive and citrus trees, were uprooted by Israeli forces between 2000 and 2012. Rob Prince from CFJ-Colorado interviewed Rami Barhoush, Vice Chair of the board of APN. Topic: The effects of military occupation on the land and its residents.

The interview from 3/21/21 is posted on YouTube.

Sergio Atallah of CFJ-CO interviewed Jennifer Bing and Shaina Low on Monday 2/22/21. The interview covered the Israeli military detention of Palestinian children, Jennifer & Shaina's work on HB 2407, and information on the ways the public can help work for justice for these Palestinian minors.

The interview can be viewed on the CFJ-CO Facebook page or on YouTube.

Jennifer Bing directs the Palestine Activism program for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and currently works with Defense for Children International Palestine on their joint advocacy campaign, “Israeli Military Detention: No Way to Treat a Child.”

Shaina Low serves as an Advocacy Officer at Defense for Children International Palestine and currently serves on the American Friends Service Committee's Palestine Advisory Committee.

On January 11, 2021, Gary Anderson of CFJ-Colorado interviewed Zarefah Baroud, who wrote her Master’s thesis on U.S. military aid to Israel. The interview included a discussion of U.S. laws that prohibit arms sales to human rights violators, provided background on how U.S. aid has been used to harm Palestinian children, and tackled the issue of what can be done. Watch the interview on YouTube.