Centre for Jewish Non Violence – Update from the South Hebron Hills

2017 Jewish and Palestinians after re-opening a Palestinian home after 20 years
JVL Introduction

JVL aims to amplify the voices of Palestinians and also of Jewish people who support them.  This  email update from  Centre for Jewish Non Violence (CJNV) highlights the imminent threat to the people and way of life in Masafer Yatta (the wildlands of Yatta).  Their fate could be decided next week.  The entire premise of CJNV is that there’s power in using our privilege as Jews from the Diaspora to resist the occupation in solidarity with Palestinian and Israeli nonviolent activists. 

On March 15th 2022, the Israeli High Court is set to decide the fate of Palestinian communities there, and area designated as Firing Zone 918 with initial evacuation orders  and evacuations in 1999. This could lead to the eviction of all the people in this southernmost part of the West Bank, most of whose families have lived there since before the founding of the State of Israel.

#SaveMasaferYatta.

Massafer Yatta with green wheatfields in Spring

Massafer Yatta with green wheatfields in Spring

CJNV’s 11th March Update

Every day has been incredibly busy for the volunteers with Centre for Jewish Non Violence. “We are constantly shuttling between villages, coordinating shepherding and school accompaniment shifts, and rapidly responding to the daily emergencies created by the occupation.

It’s been a week of rampant settler harassment – settlers have been boldly showing up with livestock and vehicles on Palestinian grazing lands and near homes to intimidate and harass the communities here. The Israeli police and military either do nothing, or actively assist them, and several times this week our Palestinian partners have had to bring their flocks home early because the army ordered them off their own lands.

On March 15th, the Israeli High Court is set to decide the fate of Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta, which the army has designated Firing Zone 918. The area is home to twelve Palestinian villages and about 1,300 residents. We’ll be keeping you updated and sharing ways to support the community and #SaveMasaferYatta.

Two of our Palestinian partners, Ali Awad and Awdah Al-hathalean, published an excellent article today in +972 Magazine about how settler livestock contribute to the ongoing ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank. Read it and share with the hashtag #SaveMasaferYatta

(For more background, see this fact sheet by the  Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) – archive)

Jewish activists with T shirts stating: No to Occupation - in English, Arabic and Hebrew

Jewish activists – Sabbath prayers in Sarura 2017, with Palestinians after 20 years.

 

 

Comments (2)

  • Stephen Richards says:

    Invisible wars? Let’s start with Palestine & Yemen…………

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  • Chris Proffitt says:

    What else is happening in Palestine and other areas in the world whilst the eyes are on Ukraine, including all the laws being passed limiting our freedoms ( those that are left) in this country.

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Comments are now closed.