Urgent appeal from West Bank after rampaging settlers evict ten villages, threaten more

Ominous sight - armed settlers with military jeep watch Susiya - Feb 2022 Image: Jessica_EAPPI

Jessica McGarty is an Ecumenical Accompanier, who served in the South Hebron Hills, in 2019 and 2022. She writes:

"The situation is so dire that ten villages have been compelled to forsake their ancestral lands and flee in abject fear. Susiya village now stands as the next target. We urgently beseech you to intervene without delay …"

This was part of an urgent message sent by a resident of Masafer Yatta (South Hebron Hills) to me, other friends and organisations on Saturday night.

Masafer Yatta is a rural area lying to the south and east of the city of Yatta in the Hebron Governorate of the occupied West Bank, Palestine. Part of the area was designated as a Firing Zone by Israeli authorities more than 20 years ago and Palestinian residents of this area have been struggling against forcible expulsion from their ancestral lands ever since. The plight of Firing Zone residents was highlighted by ICN in January of this year here and you can find out more about the struggles of the residents here.

Over the last few weeks, however, Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank have been emboldened by a lack of international attention due to the horrific situation in Gaza. They have intensified efforts to forcibly expel Palestinian communities from their lands whilst attention is focussed elsewhere.

The Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din have documented cases that have been reported to them. They, along with 30 other Israeli human rights and civil society organisations:

"… call upon the international community to urgently act to stop the surge in settler violence, supported by the state, which leads and will lead to the forcible transfer of Palestinian communities in the West Bank …". You can find the link to their signed plea here:

Over last weekend, the remaining residents of Zanuta packed their possessions and left. Zanuta was once a welcoming rural village of more than 200 residents whose livelihoods were dependent on subsistence farming. However the intensifying state-backed settler violence over recent years has forced them from their ancestral lands. The remaining residents of a neighbouring hamlet of An-Najada were also forced off their lands this weekend.

Israeli settlers also threatened residents of Susiya village that if they do not leave within 24 hours, they will return to kill them.

"… Every day they attack homes, search homes, terrorize residents and children, and threaten to kill them …" was part of a message received yesterday from a resident of the area.

These threats of harassment and violence are not isolated events, and they did not start this month. In 2021, B'Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights organisation, emphasised that:

"Settler violence against Palestinians serves as a major informal tool at the hands of the state to take over more and more West Bank land. The state fully supports and assists these acts of violence, and its agents sometimes participate in them directly. As such, settler violence is a form of government policy, aided and abetted by official state authorities with their active participation."

Now is the time to speak up! There are actions that you can take today:

• Write to your elected representative and ask them to raise your concerns to the highest levels.

• Write to your faith leaders raising your concerns.

• Follow and share stories from Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations on social media.

• Find out more by inviting an Ecumenical Accompanier to speak, either online or in person.

You can find EAPPI UK & Ireland's suggested easy actions to take in this moment of crisis by clicking here.

There are template letters/mailings to sign (or to copy and use as a base for sending a more personal correspondence), links to organisations to follow and more.

LINKS

EAPPI: www.quaker.org.uk/our-work/eappi

Btselem: www.btselem.org/publications/202111_state_business

Eyewitness report from Zanuta: www.eyewitnessblogs.com/everyone-in-the-village-is-under-extreme-pressure/