This week the International Solidarity Movement has been targeted in the Israeli media. Articles have appeared naming and showing pictures and videos of ISM Volunteers and Israeli activists accusing them of spreading ‘a false campaign against settler violence’ and of being Hamas supporters and ‘Nazi helpers’. In the current atmosphere of violenceagainst dissent this puts the individuals accused at considerable risk.
The right-wing attack on the ISM began after we called on supporters to contact international embassies over the situation in Masafer Yatta. Our callout must have touched a nerve, and we would like our supporters to renew efforts to pressure representative offices and embassies in the coming week.
The attack on ISM and other Human Rights Defenders is an attempt to ensure that there are no witnesses to report the attacks of Israeli colonial settlers on Palestinians, so that the settlers and military can continue committing ethnic cleansing across the West Bank with the support of the occupation. They claim that we are falsely posing as Human Rights defenders along with another 22 organizations who have called to stop the ethnic cleansing in the South Hebron Hills.
They are also accusing us of “fueling the false settler violence” campaign in order to cause significant damage to Israel in the international arena. In fact, our statements and documentation of the reality of the situation on the ground have only covered a fraction of the atrocities being committed by settlers. In September, the UN reported that settler-driven displacements had already been increasing in number throughout 2022, and that those Palestinians remaining in isolated communities were at “elevated risk.” Of the nearly 2,000 Palestinians displaced amid settler violence since 2022, 43% of these displacements by persistent settler attrition have occurred – in just over one month – since October 7th 2023.
We will not be intimidated, we will continue to provide protective presence to communities that ask for it, and we will continue to call-out and nonviolently resist the ethnic cleansing that is going on. Now is a critical moment in the Palestinian struggle, and in the global struggle for justice. Solidarity is needed now more than ever.
Since the beginning of the attack on Gaza our volunteers have reported on and witnessed uniformed settlers terrorizing small Palestinian hamlets, making threats to kill and opening fire at civilians with live ammunition. ISM’s role in Masafer Yatta – along with our Israeli comrades – is to maintain a protective presence to deter further violence, and to report on the colonial settlers’ attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians from the area.
Some of the articles in the Israeli right wing media have focused on an American former ISM volunteer who they claim is a founder and ‘the leader of ISM’. The person in question, although they were in the past an ISM volunteer, they were not a founder and nor were they a leader of ISM. In fact, one of ISM’s four guiding principles is that we are a non-hierarchical movement and do not have individual leaders. This individual is no longer a part of ISM following an internal process addressing ethical disagreements that ended with the individual in question leaving the group in 2017. ISM is not responsible for the actions of this – or any other – individual who do not operate within our principles aND are no longer connected to our support groups
The articles also say that ISM is “an operational arm of Hamas”, when in fact the ISM is independent. We are not proponents of any political parties. We use only nonviolent tactics, and believe that nonviolent actions are a powerful tool in fighting oppression, occupation and apartheid.
Attacks of this kind have recently escalated, but they are not new. Last November Bezalel Smotrich stated that human rights organizations are “an existential threat to Israel” and that their real purpose is “to undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel.”
As well as the ISM, the attack targets 22 other Left-wing organizations that recently issued a call to the international community to stop the ethnic cleansing and forcible displacements in the West Bank. The letter sent by the organizations reads: “The international community is called upon to act urgently to stop the wave of settler violence, which is carried out with the support of the state, and which leads and will lead to the expulsion of Palestinian communities in the West Bank. We believe that the only way to stop the deportation in the West Bank is through direct, strong and unequivocal intervention by the international community.”
The situation in the West Bank has rapidly deteriorated since the most recent war on Gaza began on October 7th. Since the start of the war on Gaza, more than 169 Palestinians – including 46 children – have been killed in the West Bank, and more than 3,000 have been arrested. As Gaza suffers from ceaseless and criminal bombing, settlers have expanded their attacks on herding and isolated rural communities in the West Bank to force Palestinians to leave by making their lives unbearable. In herding communities in the South Hebron hills, armed settlers close off access roads, attacking those who try to leave. Villagers are regularly injured by settlers opening fire with live ammunition. No food or fodder can get into communities, children cannot access their schools, and the community members are in a persistent state of anxiety and dread.
The ISM has maintained a continuous presence in the West Bank since the beginning of the Second Intifada. Our role is to support the Palestinian struggle for freedom, and provide an internationalist platform for volunteers to stand side-by-side with Palestinians, enhance Palestinian voices and bring the truth of ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing to the international community.
ISM Volunteers, side-by-side with Israeli human rights defenders, provide a protective presence in these West Bank communities. We are hosted by members of the community. Our presence is intended to deter settlers and the Israeli Occupation Forces carrying out acts of violence in these communities. Volunteers document human rights violations and act as night guards in the communities staying awake overnight so that the families can get some sleep.
As the world’s eyes are rightly upon the Israeli genocide taking place in Gaza, many horrific episodes of ethnic cleansing of Palestinian communities are taking place in the dark in the West Bank, unnoticed by the majority of the international community.
We ask people around the world to pressure their governments to take immediate action to stop the attacks happening in the West Bank
Script for communication to Embassies and Representatives:
I am writing to demand rapid action be taken by this body to defend human rights in the West Bank. As violations of International Humanitarian Law continue to be committed against occupied Palestinians, world leaders who do not take every action to defend human life and dignity are complicit in the denial of them.
Daily incidents of violence committed by Israeli settlers against isolated and vulnerable Palestinian families in the South Hebron Hills are being documented and transmitted to the world. Daily transgressions of the rights of Palestinians to live their lives without being harassed, searched, arbitrarily arrested and held without charge, raided, shot at and humiliated by the army and settlers -who are being emboldened by the silence of the international community. These violations are being reported by human rights organizations across the globe. With the whole world watching, what side of history will you be on?
Colonial violence and ethnic cleansing is quickly escalating in Masafer Yatta, a rural region south of Hebron, in the West Bank.
Settler militias are terrorizing Palestinians by invading their villages during pogroms, armed with assault rifles, often wearing Israeli army uniforms and accompanied by Israeli soldiers. Palestinians and ISM activists have reported and documented cases of settlers beating up Palestinian residents, including women, children and the elderly; settlers and soldiers shooting towards Palestinian houses and houses, destroying water pumps and electric grids, uprooting trees and taking up Palestinian fields, planting Israeli flags on Palestinian land and houses, and even forcing Palestinians to sing pro-Israel chants and to wave an Israeli flag while holding them at gun-point and filming them.
Last night, settlers and soldiers invaded the village of Susyia and threatened residents that if they don’t leave within 24 hours, they will be back and start killing Palestinians in the village. A similar threat to residents of the village of Khirbet Zanuta has already resulted in the community leaving the land in order to save their families.
CALL TO ACTION: Residents call on people around the world to “check in” to Masafer Yatta on FB and Instagram in solidarity with the villagers facing imminent violence. This will throw off Israeli security forces tracking the online activities of both Palestinians and local solidarity activists speaking out against settler violence. It will also show settlers and soldiers that the world is watching and that the residents of Masafer Yatta are not alone.
Check out the hashtag #savemasaferyatta and share content on Masafer Yatta from pages like:
What follows is just a summary of some outstanding cases of settler violence
On October 25th Israeli settlers and soldiers invaded the land belonging to a Palestinian family in Tuwani and used a bulldozer to uproot trees and destroy the family’s garden.
The soldiers then shot a half a dozen warning shots towards ISM and Israeli activists who were filming the scene.
On October 13th, an Israeli settler invaded Tuwani and shot a Palestinian man in the stomach at point blank range, while being protected by an Israeli soldier. The day before, Israeli settlers dressed in Israeli army uniforms had invaded Palestinian agricultural land, planted Israeli flags and started shooting towards Palestinians and solidarity activists. Israeli soldiers robbed ISM activists of their phones.
On October 26th, a resident of the village of Khallet al-Dabaa was arbitrarily arrested by Israeli soldiers. When he was released two days later, he showed clear signs of abuse and turture on his body.
On October 26th, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) flew drones over villages in Masafer Yatta transmitting the following message in Arabic: “We can see you everywhere. Wherever you are, we are coming for you”.
On October 27th, Settler militias destroyed over 200 trees, along with irrigation pipes, water pumps, electrical cables, and a water tank belonging to local Palestinian residents in the Al-Ain Al-Bayda village in Masafer Yatta.
They also severed the water supply pipeline for the community in Saddet al-Tha’ala village, while making death threats against local residents.
The same day, a large group of settlers attacked residents in the village of Susiya, who confronted the colonists and forced them to run away after an outbreak of a fistfight. Several people suffered bruises. The settlers threatened that they would come back at night with Israeli soldiers, and they did.
On October 28th, armed settlers forcibly removed a Palestinian man from his car, in the village of Umm Al-Khair, and then destroyed his car by throwing large rocks and by shooting at it.
On the same day, two armed Israeli settlers dressed in Israeli army uniforms assaulted and detained 6 Palestinians, including a 16 year old girl, who got her hand broken by the settlers during the attack.
On October 29th, armed settlers and soldiers raided the village of Susiya again and threatened Palestinians there that if they did not leave the village within 24 hours, they would come back and start shooting and killing residents.
The same day, armed settlers invaded the village of Khirbet Zanuta and told residents: “If you don’t leave, we’ll do to you what we are doing in Gaza”. The community decided that they had to leave to save their families, knowing that they have nobody to protect them.
The same day, armed settlers raided the village of Tuba and stole 6 sheep from a Palestinian family, as well as a gas cilinder, a phone and a sheep feeder. A few days earlier, settlers had entered Tuba during the night and damaged the water tanks with knifes. Palestinians and ISM activists in Tuba have reported that the settlers appear to be building a new illegal outpost just meters away from the houses of Palestinians in Tuba.
On October 29th, armed settlers invaded the village of Umm Al-Khair and forced some Palestinians to raise the Israeli flag over their houses and to record videos of themselves in which they spoke against Palestinians in Gaza. The settlers then said that they would come back the next day and that if they did not see the Israeli flags on people’s houses, they would displace Palestinian families.
On October 29th, Israeli settlers and soldiers assaulted an elderly man and his children in his home, in the village of Sha’ab al-Butm.
The International Solidarity Movement maitains its presence on the ground in Masafer Yatta, with ISM activists standing with Palestinians as they face colonial violence in their villages.
Mohammed Hathaleen, a disabled resident of Umm al-Khair who was shot at by Israeli soldiers next to the settlement fence of Carmel (pictured behind)
16 October, 2023 | International Solidarity Movement | Masafer Yatta
In the week since Israel began its onslaught on Gaza, soldiers and settlers have bulldozed homes, carried out night raids and attacked Palestinians across the Masafer Yatta region.
Occupation forces have taken advantage of the state of emergency to escalate their violence and displacement of Palestinians in the southern region of the West Bank.
Olive trees have also been uprooted and rampaging settlers have opened fire on shepherds and villagers.
Villagers in Umm al-Khair have been documenting the growing number of attacks by settlers in Masafer Yatta. The community shared this information with ISM, which we are reporting here.
On October 7, settlers set up road blocks throughout Masafer Yatta, preventing villagers from accessing vital services and disrupting their daily lives.
On the same day, a group of settlers entered the village of Khalet Adabe, attacking one resident and breaking his arm.
On Tuesday, October 10, settlers in military uniforms entered Umm al Khair and proceeded to detain the young people of the village, checking their IDs and confiscating cell phones.
The settlers claimed that they had seen someone from the village walking ‘dangerously’ close to the fence surrounding the settlement of Carmel. This turned out to be Mohammed Hathaleen, a disabled man, who was left with severe brain damage after being brutally beaten by Carmel settlers 23 years ago.
“Mohammad currently lives in a state of unawareness of his surroundings,” his brother Tariq Hathaleen said. “In his condition, he is unable to perceive or react to danger, particularly when walking near the settlement fence.
“It’s difficult to fathom or even endure such an accusation, given that the Carmel settlement is located merely one metre from Umm al-Khair village.”
The settlers left with a warning that they would shoot anyone who comes in close proximity to the fence that separates the settlements from the village.
On Monday, October 16, the village of Umm al-Khair was terrorised once again when a military patrol stopped and soldiers pointed their guns at Mohammed Hathaleen. They are said to have put down their guns after villagers shouted at them to stop.
Carmel was built in 1981 on the doorstep of Umm al-Khair, a Bedouin village that has lived under constant threat of demolition for many years.
Also on Tuesday (October 10), settlers accompanied by the military demolished five Palestinian homes and two animal barns in the village of Simri.
On Wednesday, October 11, several villagers including Susyiah, at-Tuwani, Adirat, Umm Al-Khair, Al-Karmel and Ajawaiah came under gunfire by settlers.
A military patrol also opened fire on a shepherd near the village of at-Tuwani without warning. He was left unharmed but two of his sheep were shot and injured.
As previously reported by ISM, a settler shot at-Tuwani resident Zakarya Adra in the stomach on Friday, October 13.
Hathaleen continued: “What is happening is unlike anything before; nobody can predict what tomorrow may bring. There seem to be no openings for hope or a clear vision of tomorrow at this time.
“As the ordeal enters its second week, the people endure immense suffering, despite limited media coverage of these distressing events. It begs the question: How much longer must Palestinians endure before the world takes notice and acts?”
In the fourth episode of the International Solidarity Movement podcast we speak to Hafez Hurreini, a veteran organiser from the village of At-Tuwani. Hafez is the father of Sami, who we interviewed in episode three.
When we did our interview, Hafez had a metal pin in his arm after a brutal attack by settlers in September 2022. His attackers had claimed that it was Hafez that attacked them, and he was arrested and imprisoned. It was only because of footage of the attack taken by international volunteers proving what really happened that Hafez escaped a long prison sentence.
We asked Hafez about the work of the Popular Resistance Committee of the South Hebron Hills, and about the successes they have had in their struggle.Hafez was also involved in founding the Popular Struggle
Co-ordination Committee, and he talks about that too.
(you can also see this by clicking transcript in the player above)
Length: 24:50
Introduction 00:01
Hey, welcome to international solidarity movement podcast [followed by Arabic translation]
Tom 00:18
Hello and welcome to episode four of the International Solidarity Movement podcast. In the last episode we heard from Sami Hurreini, about the anti-colonial struggle of young people. In this episode, we’ll hear from his father – Hafez Hurreini. omomWhen we did our interview, Hafez had a metal pin in his arm after a brutal attack by settlers in September 2022. His attackers had claimed that it was Hafez that attacked them, and he was arrested and imprisoned. It was only because of footage of the attack taken by international volunteers proving what really happened that Hafez escaped a long sentence. Hafez is a veteran organiser, who helped to establish the popular resistance committee of the South Hebron hills in the early 2000s. Popular Committees as a method of resistance have a long history in Palestine, going back to the late 1970s, and we’ve included a historical article about these committees as part of our show notes. We asked Hafez about the work of the Popular Resistance Committee of the South Hebron Hills, and about the successes they have had in their struggle. Years later, Hafez was also involved in founding the Popular Struggle Co-ordination Committee, and he’ll talk about that too. Right now International Solidarity Movement is calling for volunteers to come and support the struggle in Masafer Yatta and the South Hebron Hills. You can find out how by taking a look at the ISM website at palsolidarity.org We hope you enjoy the interview: Okay, so we’re here with Hafez Hurreini in At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. And we’re going to talk about the history of the struggle here in the South Hebron Hills. I wanted to start off by asking about what it was like growing up. And first of all, did you grow up in this area? And what was it like growing up for you?
Hafez 02:13
Yes. I was born and I grew up in the village of At-Tuwani. Now I am 51 years old. Yeah, when, when I was growing up and when I opened my eyes, around, you know. I start[ed] like seeing all these injustices around by, you know, [them] stealing our land and establishing settlements, settlers attacks against us, all these things, you know. You know, as a child at night that this is like kind of occupation, and colonization or whatever. But, you know, little by little, I thought, like, knowing about this. This is an occupation. This is an apartheid. This is an ethnic cleansing against our people and injustices in this area.
Tom 03:09
Can you tell me when was – when did you first start to be active and to organize against the occupation and the settlements in the area?
Hafez 03:20
Practically, I started the end of 1999 and in 2000. After the eviction crime that coincided with Israeli occupation of evicting Masafer Yata villages, which in the area that [was] declared by the Israeli authority as a Firing Zone Area, and I remember that. Like it was in November 1999, that big Israeli military forces raided these villages with big military trucks and bulldozers. And they started just like destroying tents, caves, wells for the water, and then they just put the Palestinian families’ things on these military trucks, and they threw them to the other side of [the road] Route 317. that they consider it as kind of broader way to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians, the big Palestinian town here. So at that time, I started like my activism, and by you know, involving, in bringing media attention and bringing solidarity for the area, and just to – you know – try to resist that crime at the time, the eviction. Yeah, and then I started like, involving [myself] with more Palestinian activist[s] in the area, and you know, we manage to create, like, a body for the area to resist the occupation and the settlements around. Activists from all over the South Hebron Hills. And we founded the Popular Committee of the South Hebron Hills. Yeah, at that time, and according to what was happening around, it was completely clear that all the Palestinian human rights [was] violated under this occupation by the Israeli forces and by the settlers, it means we must like defend our rights.
But at the same time, we have to think deeply about – about which [what] is like an effective way to resist that? According to our experience and our knowledge, that [the] occupation has the power – I mean, internally inside the Israeli society, and outside, that, you know, they control the media and they show the Israelis and the internationals that the Palestinians always like kind of terrorist – yeah, like terrorist people. And they want just like, you know, to convince the Israelis. It means you – we have to like switch the way of the resistance, you know, we shouldn’t like follow our anger and just like to respond in a violent way. And it means we have to organize our own selves to go through non-violent means at that time. Yeah. And then we started our activities in non-violent means. I mean demonstrations, actions all over the area.
And then, at the same time, we, we also – we fighted them by their own law and their own rules. So back to the eviction – we contacted like Israeli lawyers, Palestinians, internationals, and we managed like to raise the issue of eviction to the Israeli Supreme Court. So after about three months of eviction, there was like, this decision that said that the Palestinians can get back to their villages. But at the same time, you know, the case is still open, like, kind of negotiation between the Palestinians. And the resistance of Masafer Yatta and the military administration, you know, to find some kind of a solution. So since 2000, until last May 2022 there was like the final decision, that the Supreme Court gave the army the green light to evict again, and to destroy again, Masafer Yatta.
Tom 07:37
You mentioned around 20 years ago, the formation of the Popular Committee in the South Hebron Hills. So can you explain the idea of a Popular Committee? And where this idea comes from? Is it an idea that existed already in Palestine? Were you organizing with, with other popular committees in other areas?
Hafez 07:58
So, South Hebron Hills and Masafer Yatta is [an] integral part of the whole West Bank and integral part of the Palestinian villages, that they are resisting in Area C, according to [the] Oslo Accords. When we started, like organizing resistance from South Hebron Hills under this kind of principle, you know. We have to defend our own rights, like by non-violent means. It means we have like to achieve a progress on the ground, you know, and we have, and we must, like, share the reality here. So I mean, in this way, because, you know, all the Palestinians, you know, [are] under threat of the occupation. And even if they are like silent, if they – if they don’t resist. But already, it’s, it’s kind of, you know, the daily resistance of the Palestinians, you know, for example, freedom of movement, you know, usually, and almost every day, we have like checkpoints, or harassment, and between the villages… We talk about the confiscation of the land under different excuses, you know. So the Palestinians go to defend their rights. I mean, to stop the stealing of the Palestinian land, usually they’ve got arrested and, you know. The Palestinians, even when they go to cultivate, to work on their land, you know, they end up [with] threat of being, you know, attacked by settlers, or being arrested. And, you know, the children when they go to their school, you know, the same story. We have the struggle with children until today, you know, that Palestinian children, you know, they can’t like reach their schools safely. They have to be escorted by Israeli soldiers, you know, to protect them from the settlers. So, in general, all the Palestinians, they are resisting. But you know, we took the responsibility, how to unify, I mean, this resistance, by creating this body that represents all the villages in Masafer Yatta, and how to keep going and defending our own rights.
So, yeah. So we, we can see that we succeeded, like to keep the resistance, like alive until this moment, and we can see, say that, you know, we get to successes. But at the same time, we can say that, the big success [is] that you know, we are still existing on our land, and in our villages until this moment. If you can imagine the whole and the huge suffering of the Palestinians, you can see around, you know, all the Palestinian villages around without any basic human services for life, you know; water, electricity, roads etc. So you can see, they have none of these.
In addition to all these crimes that’s committed by the Israeli army and by settlers, but you know, at the same time, until this, this moment, you know, the Palestinians you know, they are practicing sumud, which is a kind of reality that people still have the steadfastness to stay, and the determination to continue even so with all these, you know, crimes that’s committed by the occupation. So with this we, you know, we continue, and we have, like, even relationships with other popular committees in different places, you know, in the West Bank, from here until the north.
And me personally, I am one of the founder[s] of the PSCC, which is like the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee that [was] established in 2009. And I am a board member of this committee that represents the Palestinian popular committees in the whole West Bank. And we still going and, you know, recently, because, you know, like, we are getting old and you know how to keep the resistance and defending of the Palestinian rights alive. So, me personally, I am the founder of the Youth of Sumud group that, you know. They are continuing to struggle, I mean, because, you know, all the younger generation, you know, they are following the way.
Tom 12:20
And you mentioned that the Popular Committee was like helping to organize resistance for all the villages of Masafer Yatta. And I wondered how would you organize? Would there be representatives from each of the communities who would take part in the Popular Committee? I wondered how that how that was.
Hafez 12:39
As I said before, like, the Palestinians, they are struggling and resisting in their daily life, but when there’s like a big action that, you know, to respond [to], for example, for stealing Palestinian land under you know, [the] military, army, [or] whatever. So, we invite everyone, you know, just to come. Because, you know, actually, there exists on the ground a big resistance. This is like, additional things to do it. So, it’s like, an open for everyone. So, is it free, you know, to join that. And most of the Palestinians here, like, you know, they are involved and we are like, you know, activists in this, because – if they today, if they steal your own land, tomorrow, they will steal mine. It means, you know, we have to be together in order to just stop that, you know.
Tom 13:33
And has the resistance organized by the popular committees, has it been open for men and women to take part?
Hafez 13:40
Yeah, we have a very long experience with that. So we can say, in 2006, the occupation army started like establishing a wall to separate the whole area. I mean, establishing this wall along the bypass Route 317. It was completely clear for us, like, you know [if] they succeed, like to build this wall, it means they will cut the movement. And they will prevent the Palestinians to move from the [one to the] other side of the road. Okay. So, at that time, we started, like organizing weekly demonstrations, and the participants were everyone: Men, women, young, old, you know – even children, you know. They participated in that. So we used to go down to the roads, to sit down and block the road. Okay, so for about more than one and a half years for that, I mean, weekly demonstrations. Okay. At the same time, they keep, like, you know, working on that, which was along, about, 41 kilometers in the south in one way [direction]. And really they finished that, but at the same time, you as I said before, usually we go through – we fight them through their own law. Because, you know, the army, they were like saying “this is for security reasons, you know, [that] we are building that wall”, which it is completely not, okay.
And then by lawyers, you know, there was like another decision by the Supreme Court that said that the wall was illegal. Building that wall was illegal. It said it should be dismantled, okay. But as usual, you know, that was like a decision. If we, if we didn’t continue, you know, demonstrating against that [wall] they will never dismantle the wall. So we demonstrated until, you know, we forced them to dismantle and remove that wall. That was one of the big successes for the non-violent resistance and, you know, the participants. Everyone participated, you know, so the role of the women in particular, it was, you know, completely clear for everyone.
Tom 16:07
And you said that the formation of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, it was a way to kind of work together with other Popular Committees around around the West Bank?
Hafez 16:16
Yes, yes. Well, you know, when we thought about like founding like this committee, the main goal was to unify the non-violent resistance all over the West Bank, so we succeeded to do it. I mean, if there’s like a demonstration for them in Bil’In Okay, so all of the committees, you know, they join or they participate in the demonstration there. So if we had demonstrations in Kafr Qaddum, or Nabi Salih, or in Jordan Valley, or here, there is something for everyone, everyone is joining.
Tom 16:51
And you and your comrades in the popular committees, do you have like a shared vision for what you’re working towards, amongst yourselves?
Hafez 17:00
Actually, you know, we are struggling. And mainly we are work[ing as] human rights defenders, and, you know, we defend our basic human rights, you know. That’s like, you know, we are activists, but you know. We must like keep this alive, because we are fighting a state, okay? And [it is a] colonizing state, you know, that, you know, [they are] working day and night, just, you know, to ethnically cleanse all of us, you know. It means that, you know, we must do our best, I mean, to continue the struggle and never give up, you know. If we give up and stop for a day, you know, it means we will die, and we will leave soon.
So, yeah, that’s why, you know, we are thinking about, you know, how to keep this choice of the resistance to keep it alive through the, like, the new generation, I mean, let people to keep going with that. But at the same time, you know, the site, you know, we trust, like our determination, you know, but also we ask in everyone who believe in the human rights and to the whole world – just to take part and to be part of this struggle,
Tom 18:14
Okay. And one of the concepts that you’ve talked about in the interview so far is the concept of sumud or steadfastness and that’s a term that we hear very often here in Palestine, when people talk about their resistance, but the people listening outside of Palestine might not be so familiar with this idea. So could you just explain kind of what it means to you here in Palestine?
Hafez 18:38
You know, sumud became like, kind of a very deep meaning for the Palestinian life itself, that [is] present [in] the Palestinian life itself. For example, in here, I mean, being – or living in – in this situation, if you can imagine. That all your basic human rights is violated every single day, okay. And if it’s like violated, it means [either] to defend your rights, or to give up and you know, to help [to] let the occupation to reach their goal. But as the people, you know, believe in their own rights, and they know, well, that the goal of the occupation with all these aggressive tools, all these violations, with all these attacks, their main goal is to kick you out. So practicing your life, defending your own rights under this such situation, it’s like the resistance and this, like this is the sumud itself. This became kind of part of our own culture, that sumud is being connected to the land, defending your rights, whatever the price is. So that’s why you know, you can see the Palestinians for, for example: me myself, you know, my mother, many times got attacked by settlers, like, on our own land. She was hospitalised, she got fractured in her jaw, in her leg, in her head, okay. But she never thought about [to] give up and to go away from the land.
And what happened also with me, myself, [I have] been attacked so many times, and you know. Just like three months ago, [on] September 12 [2022] I also got attacked, you know, I fractured my two arms, and I [got] arrested and so on. But even so, whatever happened and whatever will happen to me: I never, I never will leave my land. Because you know it’s completely clear what they do. It’s like, pushing me to leave my land, but I never do it. And this is, you know, practicing my life. Okay. Under all these, you know, violations. Under all these crimes, under all these attacks, this is the real sumud, this is like, for me surely, it’s like the the meaning for sumud.
Tom 21:08
Thank you. Is there anything else you’d like to say to people listening from from outside?
Hafez 21:13
Yeah, for sure. You know, like, it’s kind of a message for everyone who believe in human rights, who believes in peace, who believes in dignity. [They] must like take steps in that. That’s like, you know, all the people all over the world. They have like their own government, but maybe most of them will see and they never trust like those governments. Because you know, they are under pressure by the global policy. We can say, that [will] never be on our side, but you know, we are calling every human being who believes in peace and dignity and believes in human rights – [they] must stand with us to get our rights, you know. What’s going on that, you know, we are facing here in Palestine in South Hebron Hills we are facing the ethnic cleansing which is a big war crime. And everyone must like stand with us, you know, even [when] you know, probably you can’t come – here – to see by your own eyes,
what’s going on. But at least you know, you can try just to learn more about what’s going on here. Because, you know, we can see all the Western people and the Western world, they are victims, mostly they are victims of the Israeli propaganda around the whole world. And you should open your eyes, and to see the reality and to be part of the struggle to stop the crimes that’s being committed since decades against us in Palestine
So this is my message, you know, you have to act and you have to be part of our own struggle against, like, the Israeli occupation and against apartheid, and the ethnic cleansing that we are facing.. Finally, would you like to see more international volunteers coming here to join the struggle in Masafer Yatta? So, really, I invite everyone to come down and to be part of our own struggle here, you know. We feel that you know, we can breathe through like all these activists who are coming from all over – around the world – just like to, I mean, to join us and to be with us like on the ground. Because I said before, and I keep saying: we are fighting in our daily life. Yani to survive and to defend our rights. And the basic human rights is really violated every single day. That’s why, you know, I am calling everyone to and invit[ing] everyone just like to come down and to be part of, to be with us in our struggle.
Tom 24:08
Thank you very much Hafez, and yeah, if people want to learn more about the struggle in Masafer Yatta you can take a look at the Save Masafer Yatta website. And to learn about joining the struggle as an internationalist you can, you can look at the International Solidarity Movement website, which is palsolidarity.org. But thanks so much for, for talking, talking to me this evening. Yeah, thanks so much. And, yeah, we wish you victory in the struggle and we wish for a free Palestine.
In this third episode of the ISM podcast our guest is Sami Hurreini, who is a really inspiring youth organiser from At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. He’s part of a group called Youth of Sumud.
Sumud is an Arabic word meaning steadfastness, and its a central concept in the Palestinian popular resistance to the occupation.
We spoke to Sami in December 2022 about what people are doing to survive in the face of the occupation’s policies, and about what drew him to organising paricularly with youth.
(you can also see this by clicking transcript in the player above)
Introduction 00:01
Hey, welcome to international solidarity movement podcast [followed by Arabic translation]
Tom 00:18
Hey and welcome to the third episode of the ISM podcast. Our guest this episode is Sami Hurreini, who is a really inspiring youth organiser from At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. He’s part of a group called Youth of Sumud.
Sumud is an Arabic word meaning steadfastness, and its a really central concept in the Palestinian popular resistance to the occupation.
The South Hebron Hills is a rural,sparsely populated area in the South of the West Bank. Its incredibly beautiful, but subject to intense violence from the Israeli army and colonists.
I first met Sami in 2018, when Youth of Sumud were first becoming active. Youth organisers decided that they had had enough of watching the occupation taking more an more of their land, they decided to try to take some of it back. They did this by starting to renovate caves in the village of Surura, and establishing a community centre there, in order to restablish a Palestinian presence in the area. Youth of Sumud had a lot of success in Surura, but they were also met with repression. Sami has been imprisoned for his organising, and hospitalised by the violence of the settlers. But Youth of Sumud refuses to be intimdated. Right now in the South Hebron Hills, the Israeli occupation is preparing to evict the residents of the villages of Masafer Yatta, something that has been being planned for decades. Residents have been resisting the evictions in the courts for more than twenty years, But in July last 2022, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the evictions could go ahead.
Local people are standing their ground, in the face of massively increased pressure from the Israeli state – which includes demolitions of houses and schools. The International Solidarity Movement is supporting the resistance of the people in Masafer Yatta – and is calling for international volunteers to join the struggle there. We spoke to Sami last December [2022] about what people are doing to survive in the face of the occupation’s policies, and about what drew him to organising paricularly with youth. Okay, so we’re here with Sami from Youth of Sumud. And that’s an organization based in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills. But right now we’re waiting outside of Ofer Military Prison close to Ramallah, for a comrade from At-Tuwani to be released from prison. And we thought we’d take the opportunity to do an interview about Youth of Sumud. So Sami, could you introduce yourself? And well, first of all, could you explain the pressure that people face from the occupation in the South Hebron Hills, and particularly the current situation? And in Masafer Yatta? If that would be okay.
Sami 03:01
Yeah, and thank you for being here with us today, and for this interview. Okay, so I’m Sami Hurreini, I am an activist from Masafer Yatta. I’m 25 years old. I was raised up and born in Masafer Yatta, in a family – in like a very struggling family against occupation. Starting from my grandmother [who was a] refugee in 1948, and then to my father. And my grandmother, when she was evicted from her land in ’48, coming to Masafer Yatta, growing up her family and raising up her family in, very awareness, to raise awareness of the situation and to continue to be involved in this struggle against occupation.
So my father and my uncles were all in the same path she did, resisting and struggling [against] the occupation. She was supportive of my dad’s choice in Masafer Yatta, in beginning of 2000, to support him in the choice of non-violent resistance against the occupation. Moving forward to election, she was also joining the protest he was organizing, and all those efforts he was doing, and continuing to encourage him. So as well as my dad was the leader, I grew up in this family. And me personally, so I am going on in the same path to continue this resistance and this struggle in the – against occupation. And despite all this aggression, and daily harassment and violent aggression, we live [in] and we face from this occupation, we need to continue to resist and struggle.
Tom 04:51
You were involved in establishing a group called Youth of Sumud. Could you tell us about that group and why you decided specifically to organize as youth in Masafer Yatta?
Sami 05:05
Yeah, I am the coordinator of small local youth group from Masafer Yatta, called Youth of Sumud. Our group was established in 2017. Our group was established after an activity called Sumud Freedom Camp where we all as activists started to go back and to live in [an] evicted Palestinian village in Masafer Yatta called Sarura. But we as youth, we saw like, yani, step by step, like we start to see a few people start to be present. So we start[ed] to have internal discussion that we would like to continue to live [in] this village and to go on with activity of Sumud Freedom Camp: Rehabilitating the caves and rehabilitating the life in the village, encouraging families who are evicted from the village due to settler violence and Israeli military harassment. So to encourage the people who were evicted to come back to their land to their villages.
And since then, we, as we expected, everyone went after some months, so we remained there, we continue with the idea and step by step we called ourselves you know, Youth of Sumud. And also we wanted to practice our activism and our role in our community, led by our decision, by our determination. So we started to say that we are here to, yani, to move on from a new generation perspective. Not to continue following the lead of the – yani – being haunted by the old generation. So we can be independent in our work and in our struggle and really to occupy this youth energy against occupation from you know, yes, youth perspective. Then we started moving on from Sarura to other activities, like with the children and their shepherd accompaniment with international activists, then we started to move on, step by step by step to get involved in more and more with organizing protests and activism.
Tom 07:08
Just about Youth of Sumud – I wanted to ask you about that name, Youth of Sumud, because that, that word is really important in Palestine, but people listening, they probably won’t understand what it means. So why did you choose this name? And what does it mean? What was the concept of Sumud, steadfastness in Palestine?
Sami 07:28
Yeah, good question. Yani – sumud means in Palestine, exactly; sumud means steadfastness, means resilience, means resistance. We have like, it’s a very known word in Palestine, which is – yeah – sumud. And we are also, yani, in Youth of Sumud with strong youth, with very powerful youth. Because yani, especially with what we lived, and we have, what we faced in Sarura, due to occupation, harassment – it wasn’t something easy. We were beaten, were attacked, we were arrested, we were imprisoned in order [for them] to evict us from the place and from the land. And this didn’t succeed. And that is what’s the meaning of Sumud. Despite all this violence, despite all this craziness, you are continu[ing] to resist and never giving up. This is [the] meaning of Sumud.
Tom 08:22
So this is this is a term, which existed before the group, right. It’s a term which is really important for Palestinian resistance.
Sami 08:29
That is very true, yani Palestinian[s] have been doing a lot of great stories of sumud and steadfastness in front of this occupation since more than since ’48. You know, we are continuing until today to [be] steadfast, to struggle, and never giving up.
Tom 08:47
And what were the difficulties that you faced in organizing the youth? Was it easy for people to be involved and what were the obstacles that you encountered?
Sami 08:56
It’s not easy work. Because we are facing so many challenges and threats by the Israeli occupation that since the beginning of creating our group, we were fighting hardly, we had army coming in raiding us in the middle of night. Taking us to interrogations to – in the end of these interrogations – threatening us to stop us from what we are doing. And we [were] still in the beginning of the idea. So in the end of the interrogation, a lot of guys were interrogated, uh even minors because… Okay, [they said] “in the end, why, what you’re doing here is causing to troubles, if you continue to be there, you will be imprisoned, go home, don’t try to stay there, blah, blah, blah.” And so that means there, there was like really, so many challenges and even yani, this is the occupation side, which wanted – don’t want any movement from going on.
And additionally to that we have the also internally which is very difficult sometimes because it is also [that] people have commitments, you need people to be committed 24 hours. But we try and we had some challenges of university and schools to make this continue to happen, because our goal in Sarura [was] to maintain 24 hour presence. So we started really hardly in the beginning, gathering all the guys together, but in the end, we managed to succeed to go out with a proper plan, when someone had lectures in school and others can cover. People stay for nights and some people stay for day[time]. And so in this way we could manage to continue this presence and to continue to the idea to move on with… you know, even sometimes families [are] scared for their children because as I told you, like I was personally ran over by settlers [with a] car. This is also mak[ing] them scared for their kids, but also this is [happening] there to prevent us from really having the group existing. And having the group continuing on working and reaching to where we are now a more and more involved in, in the political situation.
Tom 11:06
When you were run over by the settlers and was that Sarura or the village that you were trying to bring people back to?
Sami 11:13
Yeah it happened in Sarura during our working program, we were organizing, we were building a toilet for a cave which belonged to a family. [That is] like one of the things we are doing is to build and to plant the land and to really recreate a total life in evicted places in order to get, encourage, people to get back [to the villages]. So during this activity: Yeah, I was run over by settlers from Havat Ma’on with the car. It says like targeting also me personally as my role was appearing in the group – so they really wanted to target me, and hit me, so… that’s what they did. I was not able to work for months [because of] that.
Tom 12:04
And you think they targeted you because you were an organiser in the group?
Sami 12:08
Yeah, yeah. For my role and for my you know, I was appearing a lot in my role, and my work there.
Tom 12:16
And have people faced prison also for their organising?
Sami 12:20
For sure, yani, this is something if you’re [an] activist in Palestine, something you will have to experience here, which is prison. Also me personally, during Sarura I was in prison, based on pressure from settlers and the military. There was also my colleagues in the group – most of them also were in prison and [experienced] interrogation because of being and working in Sarura and resisting there. Because the main goal was there to maintain presence in order to stop settlement expansion because Sarura is very close to Havat Ma’on [an illegal settlement], and presence of people there – it is the best way for stopping the settlement from expanding. And so they were trying to all the time do all the ways – prison and whatever – to pull us out of there. And besides, you know, all this, the main goal, we went in that place because there was also settler strange movement around that land and in that area in that period, where we moved us to go there [to Sarura].
Tom 13:23
And the settlers in the area – can you say a little bit about them – that they’re a particularly violent group of settlers, right?
Sami 13:29
Yeah. We have like really very violent settlers in the South Hebron Hills and especially where Sarura and At-Tuwani is, where I come from, that is my village. Sarura and At-Tuwani are next to Havat Ma’on outpost, which is known in the area as one of the most violent [places where] settlers [are] in the area. Which is, they are organizing a lot of activity: violent and criminal activity against us in there. We [can] talk about attacking shepherds with sticks and with stones, or by slingshot, yes slingshots. We’ll talk about burning fields, destroying olive trees, attacking kids who are going to school. We’re talking about stabbing people. A cousin of a colleague in our group was stabbed by settlers from Havat Ma’on from his way, from Tuba to At-Tuwani. We have poisoning of water wells that [is] where we gather water for Masafer Yatta. And these wells in the ground – settlers came and poisoned them, poisoning the fields of the grazing area where our shepherds go. We are well known in Masafer Yatta for grazing and with planting the lands. So the settlers – for grazing, they throw poison wheat seeds and barley seeds, so sheep will eat them and die. And also, we talk about yani, we talked about burning fields where people after a long time harvesting and gathering their fields or crops, they come and burn them or burn the caves, like what happened in Sarura, destroying cars [that belong to] us. I mean, attacking kids – like I said it was last September in 2021. Settlers made a big violent attack in Mufaqara – attacking people, kids. [A] small child, his skull was fractured. We talk about something you can’t really imagine, all these acts done by settlers.
And who help[s] the settlers to continue moving on with these criminal programs? It is the Israeli soldiers and police because they give them the full protection and immunity to do all these criminal attacks. When they don’t face any consequences or judgment for [what they] actually do they just continue to be more and more professional in this, in this violent and criminal attack[s]. This is continu[ing] to confirm to everyone that what’s happening here: cooperation between Israeli settler and military and police in order to kick Palestinians out from their land, ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their land and to, yani, confiscate Palestinian land. What we see in Masafer Yatta, there are settlements, even inside what the military has, what the so called Firing Zone 918, and the settlement and the settlers face no consequences. But the one – the only ones to face consequences is Palestinians. We have a new [Israeli] settlement expanding in the firing zone, they face no consequences, they face no threat of demolition.
So this is confirmed that the main goal of evicting villages in Masafer Yatta under the title of firing zone is to kick us out and then give the land to the settlers. So, big settler colonization, colonial project, of Palestinian land here [is] happening, full cooperation between military and between settlers to kick out Palestinians, to put settlers [here], to delete our identity from this land after evicting us.
Tom 17:02
So you talked about the evictions going on from, and then the demolitions going on inside the firing zone. And just yesterday, there were confiscations of tents and demolitions which happened. And just this year, the court ruled that there was no legal barrier to the eviction of villages inside the firing zone. Is that right?
Sami 17:26
No like I think what’s happening in Masafer Yatta, 40 years ago, more than 40 years ago, Israeli authorities designated the area as a firing zone area to train them Israeli military. This is the excuse they found to target our land, where we live exactly. So all the villages in Masafer Yatta, live inside what is designated as a firing zone area, which we are living here in this land, and for decades went peacefully and with a beautiful life. But then when the Israeli military came and these military rules and with the settlement in the beginning of the ‘80s, as well, the life started turning upside down from the, the ongoing demolishing, from the ongoing harassment, preventing any main services of life to access to us. So the main goal really, between these two, like what’s the wider goal is this: because they wanted to make an environment of forcible transfer – for forcible transfer – for our people to leave the land. This didn’t work. So then in ‘99, there was the first crime of eviction and demolition Masafer Yatta, where the Israeli military trucks and forces started to raid the villages, demolishing homes, transporting people with their properties, and throwing them out from the area close to the city of Yatta in the South Hebron Hills.
When this didn’t work, because they were evicting people, people were coming back in the same day in the same night, digging their caves, again – that the military has demolished – to live inside them. So all the area was evicted in that time. But by the beginning of 2000, because of so many activism and struggle and pressure, there was a decision by the Israeli court, that Palestinians are allowed to go back to their land and to their villages.
But it is a temporary decision, [it] will continue to be a temporary decision until a new decision will come and cancel it. So since 2000 until May 2022, we were in courts, in the Israeli courts, facing and judging and having different court sessions and court hearings in order to… against the eviction, but since the same decision in 2000, came out in May 2022, is the eviction again. So this is confirmed that Israeli – because Palestinian[s] bring the ownership of the land in Masafer Yatta, Palestinians brought all the proofs and testimonies, testimony of the ownership of the land and of the history of living in that place. From shop registrations and other examples. This all was brought to the court, but all this was thrown into the garbage because the head of the court also was a settler. So, and then the decision of eviction was again. Now the eviction decision saying now for eight villages. But that is a big lie – because if eviction takes place for eight villages, it will take place all others that are not mentioned in the decision, because [inaudible]. And as I said, settlement is existing and they are not facing anything.
Yesterday in Masafer Yatta there was the the demolition and confiscation of tents in Khallet a-Daba’ for example. Khallet a-Daba’ is one of the eight villages which now have demolition order for all the structure, and everything there. So now they are using the policy of demolishing stuff step by step, which is they don’t want to make the same way they used in the ‘99 which is carrying people in trucks. they now want to use demolishing, homeless-ing people – making people without a home. I’m not allowed to have any shelter: and then people will go away. That’s that’s the Israeli plan. But on the other hand, we as an activist, we started also trying to organize some other, I dunno, small initiative on the ground now. Because investing in the caves, the renovation of the caves – so there will be plan B if demolition is carried out. But this is not a solution because the eviction will continue to run after our people. So we need a really serious solution for this and which is to stop the eviction, stop the occupation, [and] racist policies against Palestinians.
Because if we succeed to have in Masafer Yatta, then it will succeed to happen in other places, because in this century, where we are living, which is all the international law, international law exists. And international law and [the] international community eyes are open to the situation. Israel is brave to do this because of the hypocrisy of the international law. Maybe Israel will also show that the international law will not do anything. So that is also a big problem; we are facing a war crime in our land, which is considered – this is [considered a] crime by the Fourth Geneva Convention, and we don’t see any really serious acts against this by the international community, which is making us all really upset and angry. And this is confirming the hypocrisy of the international law towards [the] Palestinian cause and Palestinian rights.
Tom 22:20
Can you explain the work you’re doing as Youth of Sumud with people in Masafer Yatta to resist at the moment. And also what would you need from people from outside and in terms of support, to support your resistance?
Sami 22:34
Yeah in Masafer Yatta, yani, we really call upon everyone to come down to Masafer Yatta and spend time in Masafer Yatta. We have really so many different spots now. We have the village of Khallet a-Daba’, we have Sfey school that was also recently demolished, we have schools now [that] will be demolished in Fakheit, in Jinba – we are having a big problem that we also need people to be here on the ground with us to support us, to support our work, to join our work, to resist this occupation to bring to help us to transfer our message from the reality of what we are living on the ground. And to really help us to stop this eviction from happening. We ask everyone abroad to visit, to talk, to contact to his elected person in parliament in the government, to put pressure on them to take act[ion] for Masafer Yatta to put more pressure on the Israeli government to stop this from happening. And do it everyone should get involved on the ground. Beside this, to join BDS [Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement] to put more sanctions. And in Israel, because Israel [is] without facing any sanction without any boycott, Israel will just continue to do whatever it wants without taking into consideration of an international law or an international agreement in this settler colonial project of Palestine that Israel is doing. So we need really immediate act[ions] right now from people to do and to have. And we have really a lot of activities, people can come and help us. They can join us with the protests, they can join us with working programs who are organizing to support our people, to document, to be there to help us to defend when bulldozers come… and I have so many things people can join and participate [in] and we call upon everyone to come here to be here to work, and help us here and resisting this war crime that is happening.
Tom 24:30
Okay, and just a final question like, so you’ve been involved in youth organizing now for five years. And I wonder if you could share some successes of the youth organizing that you’ve done in Masafer Yatta in those years?
Sami 24:45
It is important to be organizing [as] youth because we are living in a community which is always preferr[ing] to be led by old[er] generation, which will not give you the space that you will decide what you want to do, and the way you want to resist, or the way you want to act and anything. So, we want to go out from being all the time linked to this old[er] generation – that we will have our own space. We can – through our collective – take our own decision[s] from youth perspective. And the new generation, with a new vision – not to be stuck to the same vision that [the older generation] have, or anything you want to ask them or to be involved with them. So we took this space. So we have our own decision and what we want to do will not wait, [without] anyone to tell us what to do. We started to do this work because we believe now youth have more energy than [the] old generation. We want to occupy this energy on the field itself. We are really able to handle so many things, really youth has so [much] energy – that’s the main thing we have, so from this point we wanted to do all this activity really more fastly – not to be waiting, and maybe, not tomorrow. No, we take our decision we do stuff now. This is as a first motivation point for me, as a personal level, why [I] wanted this to be led by youth – why this should be all the time by youth. So yeah, I will say that. And we were happy to cooperate with them – with [the] old generation. That in fact is the main point for me, we are happy to work with them to cooperate in things – not to fight, not to be against each other. But also we want to have our own body, our own choice, decision, to take to work our work [and] working space. Because also we want to be independent.
Tom 26:42
Do you work with other youth organizations around Palestine also?
Sami 26:46
Yeah, we started with the Youth of Sumud to [make] other connections with different youth groups, Hebron and Bethlehem and Ramallah, north west Jerusalem, Nablus. We want to started to build like this, networking, and doing different activities together. Like go and do activities and work in north west Jerusalem, invite them to Masafer Yatta, invite them to do activities with children, with activist[s], with youth. It was like a lot of youth exchange activities we have done and we are doing, and doing really good.
Tom 27:18
And in those years of youth organizing can you can you pick out like, have you had some successes, like, are there moments where you think – where you thought – that you’re being effective and successful?
Sami 27:28
Yani we had a lot of yani efforts and things we did. And we are happy that at least we are doing all these efforts towards [resisting the] occupation to support the sumud of our people. And that is something we are happy to say, that we are proud that we manage. And we succeed to do this. Because all our activities we are doing [are] mainly aiming to really continue to support sumud of our people in all levels. I mean, logistically, also with some intellectual lectures, with lawyers – with so many different things of raising awareness, all this stuff, we were very proud of it as a step in the ground. We were very happy and proud of launching [a] campaign like joining [the] olive harvest farmers in different places, in the whole West Bank, against settler violence. In order to continue to encourage people to go to their land, despite all the violence they see. So the people in connection to their land wont be weak. So we want to continue to support it. Even with the violence of the settlers etc., We have a lot of campaigns we have launched online, and we were very proud that we are doing all this work, to raise awareness to ask people to take actions, to defend Masafer Yatta or defund racism and moving on with so many campaigns. And the other thing we have, like we see that the work we are doing is getting [an] audience. Like we started with also a few people listening and watching to what we do, but we see now a lot of people are following us and our work, especially in social media, we now have, what, 7000 followers on our account and this stuff. This also means that we are kind of having our place, our own seat, and our own work, which is – we are very happy and very proud about, and moving on with other activities. And I see now, the recent project of renovation of caves. I’m so happy about it, because we as Youth of Sumud started in 2017 from the caves and now we are continuing with [it]. It’s a heritage; we need to protect it, and we are now with the political situation. We are starting to [with] people – we need to renovate the caves because they are a heritage thing and also for political reason that now if eviction happened, they will be emergency spot[s] where people will take it as a shelter to live inside again. And people were very excited and happy to go back to this one.
Tom 29:53
Well there’s some amazing organizing that has been going on over the years and how many people want to know more about Youth of Sumud and the campaign, the solidarity with Masafer Yatta. You can look at the Save Masafer Yatta website. We’re here volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), who supports and works with the people from Youth of Sumud and Masafer Yatta. And you can take a look at our website palsolidarity.org. Is there anything else you wanted to add?
Sami 30:23
Yes, and I’m sorry that I forgot this point, which is thanks for ISM for all the organizing and the work and effort they’re doing, representing the international solidarity, support and solidarity in Palestine. Because something also on a personal level – very, very important – when my dad was attacked and imprisoned in September and jailed, how much the international presence was important as a testimony and as [a] documenter for the attack that happened to my dad, which has saved him from years and years of prison. When the activist from ISM had recorded a video [of] 23 minutes showing the whole incident, when settlers attacked my dad. Even [though] he was [the one] attacked, my dad was in prison. And settlers said my dad attacked them. But the video of the ISM guy saved him from prison for life. And for all the work of defending Masafer Yatta, [that] ISM is doing for all this time – is very important for us and really supporting our work there so much.
We ask everyone to, yeah, to be connected with ISM, to follow and to connect and come here, InshAllah, and to see all of you and to get more involved in resistance here, and in supporting Palestinians.
