Dear community,
I’m just back from a frightening morning in the West Bank village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, south of Nablus.
This week, a group of nine T’ruah rabbis from the U.S. joined Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) in protective presence in the West Bank, assisting Palestinian locals with the olive harvest while hopefully dissuading settlers from violence (they are less likely to attack when volunteers are present). For the most part, our experience had been peaceful, an opportunity to bear witness to the challenges facing Palestinians farmers and shepherds here, and to help Palestinian families harvest their olives, but without any immediate physical threats.
Today was different. This morning, we joined a group of about 30 staff and volunteers from RHR and Standing Together in the fields. For a while, we had no issues, aside from a settler’s drone, which he flew menacingly over our group for hours, often just inches from our heads.
Then suddenly, the drone fell — whether this was purposeful or accidental, I can’t say — striking a rabbi staff member of RHR. She was cut badly and evacuated to the hospital for stitches.
Two men then approached our group, wearing IDF fatigues and carrying guns. They seemed to be members of an emergency team from a local settlement, though they would not say exactly who they were. They yelled about their drone, aimed their weapons at us, and fired live ammunition in the air before leaving.
WATCH on Instagram: Armed settlers threaten rabbi volunteers >>
Thank God no one was seriously injured, just shaken up.
Just a few minutes before this terrifying incident, as we enjoyed lunch under the olive trees, the other rabbis and I were talking about the concept of ownership of the land. I mentioned God’s statement in the Torah: “The land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me.” (Leviticus 25:23) Unfortunately, some settlers have forgotten this message, that only God owns the land, and use violence to assert their own ownership claim.
This terrifying incident was a taste of the intimidation and violence Palestinian olive farmers living under occupation face during the harvest each year. This year has been particularly bad, with IDF soldiers rarely intervening and at times assisting the attacks.
At the same time, there is also a tremendous, organized effort by local civil society organizations and international activists to support the harvest through protective presence, and T’ruah rabbis were proud to assist this effort this week. We’ll share more about what we saw in the coming weeks.
Recently, Israeli officials have increased the obstacles to international solidarity efforts. Just last week, two American Jewish women volunteering with RHR in the West Bank were deported, a clear attempt to intimidate activists. Meanwhile, settlers like the two who harassed us today carry on with impunity.
The situation in the West Bank is in many ways worse than I’ve ever seen it. The Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations standing up to and exposing this systemic violence deserve our support. You can help by sharing this story.
In solidarity,
Rabbi Jill Jacobs
(she/her)
CEO, T’ruah