In the early afternoon today, in the middle of a direct, nonviolent action against the Apartheid system of walls and fences in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli citizen was shot in his leg by soldiers of the Israeli army. Gil Na’amati, whom I hadn’t met until today, was on the front line of Israeli activists who went to the fence to cut it or break it down. I was a few meters behind him, watching the soldiers and helping to take care of the barrier of the road just behind the fence. Israeli student peace activist Dan Shohet recounts what happened. Photos by IWPS. Read more about An account of the shooting of Israeli protestor Gil Na'amati 

A protest camp in Dir-Balut village is a joint Palestinian, Israeli, and international action against the Apartheid Wall. The protest camp was created on Friday the 19th, and will stay there till next Friday, January 2nd. The camp is located in the yard of the newly built primary school of the village of Dir Balut. The works on the new school were stoped by the occupation authorities, as the building stands on the path of the Wall, and is now due to distruction. Dan Shohet offers some details about the camp. Read more about Protest camp in Deir Balut village, Salfit district 

We start out from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) HQ in Al Bireh (next to Ramallah) for a pick up and transfer of patients south of the Qalandya Israeli army check point. Our ambulance, donated by the Norwegian Red Cross, is well equipped for most emergencies. The ambulances are clearly recognizable as such. I am riding with two Emergency Medical Technicians, Emad and Mohamed. They dress in bright red uniforms with large Red Crescent patches and reflective tape. Scott Weinstein writes from Occupied Jerusalem. Read more about View from a Palestine Red Crescent ambulance 

Night has fallen, and I am staring at mounds of rubble. This used to be a neighbourhood in the Jenin Refugee Camp. For the Jenin survivors, their tragedy is known worldwide. Numerous foreigners like me come to gape at what Abdul calls “Our Ground Zero”. The U.N., NGOs and a few Arab states have pledged assistance to rebuild — a process that is slowly happening. What I find depressing is that almost daily throughout the occupied territories, Palestinian are being killed and their houses demolished in virtual obscurity. Scott Weinstein writes from Jenin. Read more about Sharon's pattern of provocation 

I am shocked by what I am witnessing in Palestine. No, there wasn’t anyone shot, beaten or arrested in the region I visitied during the few days I have been here. I have not heard or seen a tank, helicopter, F-16, nor a raid. Most of the Israeli checkpoints were open. There have been no suicide bombers. It is actually so “uneventful” that journalists in my hotel are retuning home because “nothing interesting is happening”, only ordinary daily life. Scott Weinstein, a member of the Montreal based Jewish Alliance Against the Occupation, writes from Hebron. Read more about Hebron - Another dull day in fear 

When his alarm clock goes off every day at 6am, Saif, my 11-year-old son, barely moves his body out of his bed. His mother and I must go to extraordinary lengths to get him up and ready to go to school. This was never the case before. Saif studies in the Lutheran Church School in Beit Sahour, which is also known as the “Shepherds Field” according to the Bible. Located east of Bethlehem, Beit Sahour is the last Christian majority town in Palestine and used to enjoy the reputation of having the smallest percentage of immigration. This is also not the case any more. Read more about Children in Bethlehem under siege 

Where the rubble once filled the streets it has now been pushed to the side, clearing the way for cars and people trying to go on with their daily lives. Everywhere twisted remnants belie their attempts to continue on life as normal. Twisted pieces of metal, once the support of houses, puncture the piles of crumbled, sterile, grey concrete that line the streets. Children play in the bombed out remains of houses where families once lived. Everywhere skeletons of houses remain, here and there one or two walls standing in a pile of debris. Melissa writes from Rafah. Read more about Picking Up the Pieces 

Al-Baqa’a is Jordan’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, located on the outskirts of Amman and home to more than 100,000 refugees. Many of Al-Baqa’a’s youth are becoming increasingly disenchanted with life at the camp. When you ask about the Geneva Accord on the streets of Al-Baqa’a, people answer with disgusted looks as they see it as nothing but the further dismissal of the history of the Palestinian struggle in its failure to recognize that the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Stefan Christoff reports from Jordan. Read more about The Geneva Accord and the Right of Return as seen from Al-Baqa'a Refugee Camp 

Our house is located close to the mosque of ‘Azza refugee camp and so we hear the muezzin or call to prayer five times a day. Even though the sound is loud, you get used to it and we usually sleep through it in the early morning. During the day Tamer enthusiastically shouts “Akka, Akka,” after hearing the sound of “Allahu Akbar!” He then listens to his own echo. Here in Bethlehem, the prayer calls somewhat differ in time from mosque to mosque. This has the effect that the songs “wave” across the land. Toine van Teeffelen writes about the song of the land. Read more about Song of the Land