A week in photos: October 11-17

Olive harvests in the West Bank, protests against settler violence, refugees from Israel to Germany demonstrate for the their rights, and more: Activestills images tell the stories of the week.

A week in photos: October 11-17
Israeli soldiers arrest Ashraf Abu Rahma from Bilin, as Palestinian and international activists block Road 443, which connects Tel Aviv and Jerusalem through the West Bank, during a protest against  violence from Israeli settlers, October 16, 2012. The direct action was organized to protest increasing settler attacks against Palestinians and their property during the current olive harvest season. Road 443 is built on Palestinian land but Palestinian access is severely restricted. (photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

 

A week in photos: October 11-17
A girl from the West Bank town of Awarta harvests her family’s olives in the midst of frequent patrols by the Israeli military, October 13, 2012. Because the Israeli settlement Itamar lies on a neaby hilltop, the residents of Awarta are forced to coordinate permission with Israeli authorities to harvest olives on their own land. (photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
A week in photos: October 11-17
Despite the presence of Israeli settlers (background), Palestinians pick olives on their family’s land in the West Bank village of Susya, South Hebron Hills, October 13, 2012. (photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

 

A week in photos: October 11-17
Palestinian farmers from the West Bank village of Ni’lin wait to cross the separation wall on the way to harvest their olive trees in the land confiscated by Israel and located in the other side of the wall, October 17, 2012. For the first time since the wall was built in 2008, the Israel authorities gave permits to farmers to cross the wall and to harvest their olive trees. The olive trees behind the wall are in bad condition, since the farmers could not reach them in recent years. (photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

 

A week in photos: October 11-17
With the Israeli settlement Gilo visible on a nearby hilltop, an international volunteer organized by the YMCA Joint Advocacy Initiative harvests olives in Wadi Ahmad in the West Bank town of Beit Jala, October 16, 2012. Access to Wadi Ahmad is restricted by the Israeli military, making it difficult for families there to harvest their olives without help. Gilo, like all Israeli settlements, is considered illegal under international law. (photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

 

A week in photos: October 11-17
A Sudanese woman shows her UNHCR refugee identification card from Egypt as Sudanese refugees protest in front of the government’s offices in central Tel Aviv against the plan to imprison refugees, October 14, 2012. Israel is building a new facility that could house thousands of additional asylum seekers in the Negev Desert. (photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

 

A week in photos: October 11-17
An Israeli settler from Mitzpe Yair talks with an Israeli soldier, just before a Palestinian shepherd and his flock were driven from the area by the Israeli army, October 13, 2012. Israeli soldiers routinely deny Palestinians their legal right to graze on land adjacent to the Mitzpe Yair settlement, which like all Israeli settlements, is considered illegal under international law. (photo by Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

 

A week in photos: October 11-17
A Palestinian farmer tends his sheep beside an Israeli watch-tower in the West Bank village of Huwwara, near Nablus, West Bank. Forming an enclave between four Israeli settlements, the village contains the main Israeli military checkpoint to enter the nearby city of Nablus. (photo by Ahmad Al-Bazz/ Activestills.org)

 

A week in photos: October 11-17
The Israeli military uses the “Skunk,” a foul-smelling liquid sprayed to disperse protesters during the weekly demonstration against the occupation in the West Bank village of Kfer Qaddum on October 5, 2012. (photo by: Activestills.org)

 

A week in photos: October 11-17
Israeli activists cover the logo of McDonald’s with a banner reading, “All the horrors,” at the Dizengoff shopping center in Tel Aviv, a day before “International Day Against McDonald’s,” October 15, 2012. (photo by: Activestills.org)

 

A week in photos: October 11-17
More than 5000 refugees and supporters march in Berlin against the German government’s refugee policy. The demonstrators marched from the protest camp in Berlin to the German government building (Bundestag) and called to stop deportations, stop the “Residenzpflicht” (obligatory limited residence) and to close asylum camps in which they are forced to live, October 13, 2012. After leaving their refugee camps and establishing protest tents in nine cities in Germany, asylum seekers from various places started a protest march from Wuerzburg to Berlin. (photo by: guest photographer Mareike Lauken/Activestills.org)

 

A week in photos: October 11-17
A resident of the village of Khirbet al Fakheit gazes from her tent, October 17, 2012. This village of nine families is one of the eight Palestinian communities slated for demolition in the area of the South Hebron Hills designated by the Israeli military as “Firing Zone 918.” The residents of the villages, assisted by Israeli human rights organizations, are resisting the demolition through legal battles. (photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)