Yesterday, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) announced the “postponement” of a talk by extremist pro-settler group Regavim in London due to opposition from British, Israeli, and Palestinian activists.
Regavim, which receives funding from the Israeli government, is not only anti-Palestinian and openly racist, but also lobbies for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the West Bank and destruction of their homes and schools, in clear violation of international law. A range of voices have been raised in opposition to Regavims visit including the International Solidarity Movement, Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Stop the Demolitions, with criticism also coming from Yachad UK and New Israel Fund. In the words of Regavim General Director Meir Deutsch, the protests planned against Regavim’s London lecture “represent a whole new level of cooperation between…organizations operating in Israel and abroad with Palestinian organizations”
We strongly reject UKLFI’s claim that most of the objections to the proposed talk related to irrelevant statements by a co-founder of Regavim who has since stopped working with the group. Regavim’s racism has been clear since the beginning, and it continues to do so, spreading discriminatory and hate filled messages.
While UKLFI claims it “is not aligned with any particular political viewpoint or party in the UK or Israel”, their actions show they are anything but a neutral or objective group. In March this year, an UKLFI document describes itself as an “association of lawyers” who “invok[e] laws in support of Israel and against Israel’s enemies”, “combat” the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign, and “work[s] closely with other pro-Israel organisations in the UK and around the world”. They devote most of its energy to lobbying public bodies in order to suppress activism for Palestinian rights, and target organisations promoting the Palestinian-led BDS movement, lodging complaints with regulatory bodies and sending letters threatening legal action. UKLFI seeks to frame groups advocating for Palestinian rights as extremists, but happily invites to the UK an organisation that has promoted violent racist narratives, and the violation of international law. UKLFI itself refuses to accept the illegality of Israeli settlements under international law.
While Regavim’s propaganda lecture has been postponed, it is still planned to take place at a later date, while on the ground in Palestine Regavim continues to lobby for the demolition of Palestinian communities and eviction of UNESCO from Jerusalem. We call on those committed to human rights, international law, and justice in the Middle East to continue to oppose both Regavim’s attempts to propagate its extremist views and discriminatory organizations like UKLFI that play in supporting role in Regavim’s destructive actions.
– International Solidarity Movement
– Stop the Demolitions
– Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Border police guard a bulldozer at it destroys a Palestinian home in the South Hebron Hill’s village of Um al Khair in 2016
On September 1st, UK Lawyers for Israel is hosting a talk by Regavim, a pro-settler NGO with charitable status, pivotal in speeding up demolitions of Palestinian homes across the West Bank and displacement of Bedouin villages in the Negev.
What is Regavim?
Regavim, ‘dedicated to the preservation of Israel’s land’, petitions courts to demolish homes and infrastructure in Palestinian communities. The NGO uses loopholes to ensure that only Palestinian structures, and not illegal settler outposts, are demolished and dismantled, leaving entire communities without proper roads, houses, or even water systems. Regavim has never filed a petition against an illegal Jewish settlement built without a permit, revealing that their goal is not to ensure Israel’s laws are upheld but to displace Palestinian communities.
Founded as a legally-oriented NGO to counter grassroot organisations fighting for the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank, Regavim has received a surge of state funding in recent years, reaching 2,1 million shekels in 2016. It also receives donations through the US charity One Israeli Fund which monetarily supports illegal settlements in the West Bank. Demolitions have more than doubled this year due to Regavim’s actions, doing the work of the Israeli Civil Administration and speeding demolition orders through.
Most recently, Regavim’s work has included lobbying EU to cease funding for the Union of Agricultural Work Committees which supports Palestinian farmers left vulnerable under occupation.
A Regavim drone monitors the demolition of water wells near Um al Khair
Stand against Regavim:
Palestinian grassroots groups in areas affected by Regavim are calling on Solidarity Groups in London to protest the appalling actions the NGO wrecks on their communities. Show your support for communities under constant threat of demolition and hear their testimonies at the demonstration in north west London at 5:30pm. The exact location will be released a day prior. Check the Facebook event page below for updates.
Testimonies from Palestinian activists fighting Israeli demolitions:
Ali Awad, (pictured below) the Field Coordinator of Palestinian grassroots group Youth of Sumud based in the South Hebron Hills, says:
‘Regavim receives these international donations and now they are able to employ workers on the ground to spy on these Palestinian communities. All of the South Hebron Hills now see Regavim workers when they graze their goats and sheep. When they go out to plant their fields Regavim is there. When they go to harvest their olives, Regavim is flying their drones. The people are more scared of Regavim then they are the settlers. Because before maybe the settlers throw stones or harass us. But now with Regavim, because they have the financial resources, instead of having a sheep killed by the settlers, now our whole animal barns are destroyed. Instead of the settlers breaking a few of our olive trees, now Regavim files a petition to take the whole olive grove. Those who are really concerned about Palestinian rights and peace will work to stop the flow of money to Regavim and stand in solidarity with us.’
Nasser Nawaja, (pictured below) Fieldworker for B’Tselem and resident of Susiyah, says:
‘More than 450 people in the village of Susiyah, including children, women and elderly people, are facing imminent expelling from their land and homes. We live under this constant threat because of Regavim’s legal work in the Israeli courts and the political pressure on the Israeli authorities. At the beginning, Regavim was just a small organization – but now people can’t tell where Regavim starts and the Israeli government begins. I ask all those who are concerned with justice and oppose racism stand against Regavim, raise awareness and defund it.’
Village elder Hajj Suleiman violently arrested during demolition of public park
July 4 | International Solidarity Movement | South Hebron Hills, occupied Palestine
The South Hebron Hills have faced two consecutive days of demolitions starting early yesterday morning, with bulldozers destroying water wells and uprooting over 500 trees in two villages.
An elderly Palestinian activist from Um al-Khair was also hospitalised yesterday after being violently detained by occupation forces.
Five JCB bulldozers accompanied by Israeli Civil Administration vans began uprooting trees – some of which were over 14 years old – and demolishing water wells in a public park between the villages of Hashem Daraj and Um al-Khair at around 9am yesterday morning.
70-year-old man Hajj Suleiman, was aggressively dragged out of the road, where he had tried to stand in the way of the bulldozers, by soldiers and pushed to the ground. He was later seen unconscious before being taken to hospital for medical attention.
Some hours later, the village elder was discharged. Despite his ordeal, Suleiman was back the next day to try to disrupt the violence of the bulldozers. He was briefly detained again before being driven in a military jeep to Um al-Khair in a attempt by soldiers to prevent him carrying out further direct actions.
Unconscious village elder carried to safety after being aggressively detained and pushed to the ground by Israeli soldiersHajj Suleiman receives medical attention
His nephew Tariq described yesterday’s demolition spree by the Israeli Civil Administration – the body that governs Area C in the West Bank – as “brutal.”
“They don’t leave anything alone,” he told ISM. “They demolish the peoples houses, they demolish the animal barns and now they’re starting from this year to demolish trees and water cisterns.”
The park, which is now a heap of uprooted trees, was one of the few public spaces belonging to Palestinians in the region.
This morning, the bulldozers came again, destroying two water cisterns and uprooting more trees in Dkeika, a village close to the West Bank border.
The cisterns are vital during the summer months for shepherds to graze their sheep and goats.
While the villagers’ resources were being demolished, a drone belonging to far-right Israeli NGO Regavim was documenting the scene. The group, which receives Israeli taxpayers money, is dedicated to evicting Palestinians from Area C and within Israel through court petitions. It’s likely they played a direct role in the two day demolition spree.
A drone operated by Israeli far-right NGO Regavim hovers over bulldozers wrecking water cisterns
Many Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills, which is located within Area C, live with the constant threat of having their homes, water systems, roads and farms bulldozed by the Civil Administration.
Structures built by Palestinians in Area C without building permits (less than 1% are approved by the Civil Administration) are served demolition orders while illegal Israeli settlement outposts have free reign to build with impunity.
Olive trees, some 14 years old, unearthed by bulldozers
On Thursday 31st January the Supreme Court will hold two sessions regarding two petitions affecting the future of the Palestinian village Susiya. One will discuss the organization Regavim’s petition to expedite the demolition of most of the village. The other petition seeks to prevent the villagers’ remaining lands from being rendered off limits to them.
Susiya, a Palestinian village in the south of the West Bank, which is not connected to any water, electricity (sic) or sewage infrastructure, faces imminent demolition. The village’s future remains shrouded in doubt after its original inhabitants were driven from their homes in the 1980’s, when the area was declared a closed archaeological zone, and Palestinians were barred from entering. With no other options and no alternative location, the residents moved to their nearby farmlands, where they could not get building permits.
The first session involves a petition by the far-right organization Regavim, which petitioned the Court together with the nearby Jewish settlement of Susya, to expedite the demolition of most of the buildings in Palestinian Susiya. Such demolition will in all likelihood mean the complete disappearance of the village. The petitioners have also requested and received a temporary injunction that prohibits any further development in the village until a decision is issued. RHR is representing the villagers. The petition was submitted against the Minister of Defense and the inhabitants of Palestinian Susiya.
The second hearing covers a petition by the villagers, with Rabbis for Human Rights, responding to the blockage of about 3,000 dunams of their farmland in the area. The petition names the Minister of Defense, the heads of the Civil Administration, the Chief of the Hebron Police, the Susya Cooperative Association, and the Har Hevron Local Council.
Practices that must end:
A. Unlawful collaboration between Susya settlers, the illegal settlement outposts and the IDF in the area
The Palestinian complainants are unable to access their farmland, as a result of the use of threats and violence by the settlers of Susya and neighboring outposts. The illegal actions of these settlers are executed in collaboration with security forces that remove the complainants from their lands without military orders to do so, or with temporary, one-day orders. Moreover, police enforce the orders against the complainants and their escorts, and fail to properly investigate Palestinian complaints of violence from the settlers’ side and land encroachment. Finally, the Civil Administration refuses to arrange for the complainants to enter the areas from which they have been blocked. The authorities’ behavior is in violation of Israeli, international humanitarian, and human rights law, which require the occupying military government to protect the local Palestinian population and its fundamental rights.
B. Blockage of Palestinians’ entry to their farmlands as usurpation by the settlement
As Palestinians are blocked from accessing their land, Susya residents have gradually encroached on this private land, all the while committing crimes such as attacks, threats, encroachment, malicious property damage, etc. By the time the petition was submitted, settlers from Susya and neighboring outposts had seized about 400 dunams, representing about 15% of the area “prohibited” to Palestinians on their own lands.
This petition therefore makes two demands: to require the respondents to guarantee freedom of movement of the claimants to their lands and to protect the claimants from violence committed by extremist settlers.
Attorney Quamar Mishirqi-Asad, Rabbis for Human Rights:“We fear that the Court will draw an un-based symmetry between the two petitions and reject them both – because prima facie the state and security forces are already addressing the issue, at their own pace: both in demolitions and in blocking access. But in both cases the state is harming Palestinians in a way that is fundamentally unconstitutional, implementing a policy that is contradictory to basic democratic principles. In the first case the state prevents equal planning and representation in planning bodies for the Palestinian residents. In the second, it ignores the harm being done to Palestinians when they attempt to enter their lands; often the security forces collaborate in preventing this access. The Court must know the following: the state is not working to repair what is distorted; it is the very source of the unfair actions against which the Court’s involvement is requested. Both the law enforcement and planning bodies flagrantly discriminate against Palestinians.”
Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Rabbis for Human Rights:“Regavim declares that its goal is ‘to protect the lands of the nation.’ When that slogan is compared to the organization’s actions, its agenda becomes clear: Regavim is petitioning for the destruction of buildings on private Palestinian lands, with ‘planning’ pretexts – indicating that Regavim considers even private Palestinian land to be ‘the lands of the nation’ that should be protected from its lawful owners, whom it considers foreign invaders. That agenda glorifies discrimination and the trampling of rights; it is based on a distorted interpretation of Jewish sources, setting an agenda which debases the giants of Jewish thought who deem such discrimination and theft from non-Jews sinful. Rabbi Akiva himself, in a ruling (that did not apply only to the Diaspora), said that even a non-Jew who fails to uphold the seven Noahide commandments may not be stolen from, oppressed or defrauded, and anything stolen from him must be returned (Bava Kama 113b; Hulin 94a; Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Robbery and Loss 1:2; Laws of Theft 1:1; Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 348:2, 359:1). All of Regavim’s actions must be seen in light of its overarching goal.”
22 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khan al Luban, Occupied Palestine.
The far-right settler organisation Regavim has filed a lawsuit against Khan al-Luban, taking the Darragmah family and various other Israeli institutions and groups to the Israeli Supreme Court. They claim that their home is a historical site on Israeli state land.
Regavim, who state on their website that their vision is for a “Zionist agenda for Israel that will lead to clear Zionist policies for all of Israel’s government systems”. The image on the right is a still from one of Regavims promotional videos; it claims that all Palestinian land including the Gaza strip is Israel and that Palestinians are illegally building on it.
Hypocritically Regavim are using international law to say that the historic building in which the Darragmah family are renovating should be preserved as a historic site. Khan al-Luban is surrounded on all sides by three settlements, which under international law are illegal, notably, but not exclusively, under the Fourth Geneva Convention and UN Security Council Resolution 446.
The appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court unfortunately seems to be working. Soldiers arrived once again in Khan al-Luban with documents, this time stating that all building work must stop prior to a hearing, scheduled in less than a week.
Regavim at the same time as harassing people through the courts, have also been linked to violent attacks on Palestinians; this is consistent with what is happening to the Darragmahs. In recent weeks attacks have been again on the rise, an ISM activist and Khaled Darragmah have both been threatened with guns in separate circumstances. Khaled’s friend had two of his van windows broken when parked in the driveway to the family home. The family’s dog was attacked with sticks and stones, leaving him with open wounds on his neck and legs. The property was attacked with stones which broke the outdoor security light and damaged the newly fitted front doors.
