"Settlers are waging war. Together we will stop them."
Recently we were in the West Bank village of Jannatah – with Rabbis for Human Rights and Bnei Avraham – to install protective fencing around Palestinian homes to help prevent settler attacks. Masked settlers from the nearby Kochav Yehuda outpost assaulted our group with clubs, stones, and pepper spray, also smashing vehicles and slashing tires.
We want to be clear: This violence is not rare. It is a fact of the occupation, and it happens on an almost daily basis to Palestinians, who bear the worst of it. And these settlers have the full backing of the army and government, affording them almost total freedom to terrorize.
We saw this in action as Israeli soldiers did nothing to stop the attack as it happened. Not one attacker was arrested at the scene. Five people needed medical treatment for their injuries.
Our shared fight is so important not only because it strengthens solidarity, but because it shines a public light on a subject that mainstream media usually hides, allowing us to then mobilize our society around a recognizable problem.
Jannatah is enduring an escalating campaign of Israeli settler terror aimed at intimidating residents, restricting their movement, and driving them from their land. Settlers have blocked roads, attacked homes and assaulted people traveling through the area. For example, they attacked a Palestinian Red Crescent team near Abu Njeim, injuring four people – including two paramedics – and damaging emergency vehicles and a water tanker. Just nine days later, settlers reportedly attacked Palestinian doctor Majed Alyan Dwayat with sticks and stones, breaking his hand.
What’s happening in this village is just one part of a wider campaign across the West Bank. It’s the reality we have to change.
But we can’t do it alone. When you give monthly, you enable our Solidarity Guard to continue providing protective presence on the ground, even as the risks continue to grow, and our movement to mobilize even more of our society against the occupation and for Israeli-Palestinian peace.