al-Walaja

Members of the Palestinian women's carpentry workshop Rweisat for Wood Art at work, in al-Walaja, West Bank. (Courtesy from their Facebook page)

Carving sumud out of wood

A carpentry workshop is providing Palestinian women in al-Walaja a creative outlet in an agricultural community stifled by Israel’s separation wall.

By Natalie Alz December 31, 2021

Israelis swim in a spring belonging to the destroyed Palestinian village of Walajeh, near Jerusalem. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

How one Palestinian spring became a leisure spot for Israelis only

The spring that once belonged to the Palestinian village of Walajeh is now off limits to its residents. As of last week, it is open to Israeli settlers alone.

By Aviv Tatarsky October 22, 2019

A home demolition in East Jerusalem. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

East Jerusalem hit by wave of home demolitions

Nine families are made homeless in a series of demolitions in East Jerusalem. The pace of demolitions so far in 2017 outstrips that in 2016, currently the worst year on record. By Aviv Tatarsky Israeli forces conducted a wave of demolitions in East Jerusalem on Thursday, destroying four homes in al-Walaja, one house and four…

By +972 Magazine May 5, 2017

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The destroyed village of Al Walaja, West Bank, now used by Israeli settlers as a bathing and picnic area, July 5, 2007. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

One destroyed village and the ghosts of the past

For decades, Jews and Palestinians alike would wander through the abandoned village of al-Walaja, encountering ghosts of the past, and facing the intimacy of a stranger’s home. By Natasha Dudinski A spring walk in Nahal Refaim. Blue sky, cheerful sun, red anemones, white almond trees, and the rocky green Jerusalem hills. It is the most…

By +972 Magazine February 21, 2017

Construction takes place in the illegal Israeli settlement of Har Homa in between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, West Bank. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Dispelling the myths about building in Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, construction of Jewish neighborhoods continues unabated, while Palestinians are still struggling for basic infrastructure. By Aviv Tatarsky There is no construction freeze. As opposed to declarations by right-wing politicians such as Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat or Education Minister Naftali Bennett, construction in Jerusalem was never frozen, while the cranes and bulldozers keep working…

By +972 Magazine July 7, 2016

Construction on a road ostensibly connecting the Cremisan Monastery to Jerusalem threatens to uproot olive trees belonging to Hisham Abu Ali and other residents of al-Walaja, West Bank. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Jerusalem demolishes Palestinian homes beyond the wall for first time

Israeli authorities destroy three homes in al-Walaje, a village that was partially annexed to Jerusalem, yet has been totally neglected by the municipality. By Aviv Tatarsky Israeli authorities demolished three homes in the Palestinian village of al-Walaja on Tuesday. Bulldozers accompanied by Israeli soldiers raided the village at approximately 4 a.m. and began demolishing a…

By +972 Magazine April 14, 2016

Children from Aida Refugee Camp carry keys symbolizing the right of return toward the Israeli separation wall during a Nakba commemoration event, Bethlehem, West Bank, May 14, 2014.

PHOTOS: Nakba commemorations from Gaza to the Galilee

Photos by: Ahmad Al-Bazz, Mustafa Bader, Keren Manor, Ryan Rodrick Beiler, Yotam Ronen, Omar Sameer, and Oren Ziv Palestinians from Nablus to the Gaza Strip Israel/Palestine marked Nakba Day, to commemorate the events of 1948. Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” is the term given to the forced displacement of some 750,000 Palestinian refugees from 500 communities by…

By Activestills May 16, 2014

The separation wall being built in al-Walaja, December 7, 2010. Once completed, the wall will completely surround the village. (Photo by Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

WATCH: Separation wall engulfs village of Al-Walaja

Between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, Israel is building the separation wall on land confiscated from residents and village of Al Walaja. The village’s farmers are not willing to give up on the little land they have left but the state is planning to build a national park on the site. Social TV joins a group of…

By Social TV February 24, 2014

Al Walaja land loss illustration (Screenshot)

WATCH: Al Walaja – The story of a shrinking Palestinian village

Beginning with the 1948 war and continuing with the the illegal annexation of land to Jerusalem, the canton-like divisions created in the Oslo Accords and now with the separation barrier, Israel has, piece by piece, chipped away at al-Walaja’s village lands for 65 years. This is the story of how it happened. By Julie Land and…

By +972 Magazine December 23, 2013

Hisham Abu Ali stands near road construction that threatens to uproot his olive trees in the village of Al Walaja. (photo: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

A letter from al-Walaja: Wars, walls and now roads

A new Israeli-planned road, ostensibly meant to give the Cremisan Monastery access to Israel and Jerusalem, will cut off the Bethlehem-area village of al-Walaja from its lands. Its lands were taken and villagers displaced in first in 1948; in recent years Israel began completely surrounding it with the separation wall, taking even more land. Village resident…

By Activestills December 10, 2013

Palestinian and International activists remove a gate built by the Israeli army blocking the road between the village of Al Walaja and the West Bank town of Beit Jala, October 3, 2013. (photo: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: Palestinian activists dismantle Israeli roadblock

Palestinian activists, accompanied by international supporters, descended on an Israeli military roadblock in the Palestinian village of Al Walaja at noon Thursday, quickly dismantling it before Israeli forces could arrive on the scene. The activists used a sledge hammer to break the lock on a steel gate blocking the road between Al Walaja and the…

By Activestills October 3, 2013

The Wall, 10 years on / part 7: A village turned prison

There is no place quite like it in the entire West Bank. Residents of the village of Walajah petition the courts, demonstrate, initiate protest theater and music shows – yet still see the wall is expanding and surrounding them from all directions. Project photography: Oren Ziv / Activestills The last time I visited Walajah I…

By Haggai Matar May 11, 2012

Harvard students on the bus in Al-Walaja (Anne Paq / Activestills)

Report: Busload of Harvard students detained in West Bank

Activestills photographer Anne Paq has just released the following information: A bus full of US students from Harvard University were stopped by the Israeli army and police during their visit to Al-Walaja, led by Shereen Al Araj, member of the popular committee against the Wall and the local council. The bus with Israeli soldiers who…

By Haggai Matar March 13, 2012