Photo Credit: Awad Al-Hathalean

Our work in the West Bank  has never been more crucial. Amidst historic rates of settler violence against Palestinian communities, NIF grantees are hard at work on the ground, in the courts, and even online, working to block the worst of settler violence, document human rights violations and the failures of law enforcement, and build towards a better tomorrow.  

Recently, we registered a very special victory, when Israel’s High Court ruled that the state must ensure the safe return of villagers from Zanuta, a small village in Area C of the West Bank whose residents had fled—twice—out of fear of settler violence. NIF grantee Haqel—In Defense of Human Rights took their case to court, and won. We are proud to support Haqel’s work, helping block the worst outcomes of settler violence and insisting on the rule of law.

But NIF’s work goes well beyond one village—we are looking at the big picture. First, we are working to hold law enforcement to account for settler violence against Palestinians. Yesh Din recently published an updated data sheet which shows that 94% of all investigation files monitored by Yesh Din over the past 20 years regarding settler violence ended without an indictment. Following a series of violent rampages of settlers in Palestinian villages throughout the West Bank, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) contacted the army and police with urgent demands that they both enforce the law, and work to prevent further outbreaks of violence and protect Palestinians from future attacks. ACRI’s appeal emphasized that the army is obligated to protect Palestinian residents, prevent violence, remove inciting and violent elements from the field, and use their powers of enforcement against settlers who break the law.

We are also going out into the field to stand with Palestinians and then bring their stories back to the Israeli public. Over the past month, Breaking the Silence (BtS) continued its essential anti-war and anti-occupation public advocacy. From leading tours in Hebron and the South Hebron hills, to holding information booths at universities and protests in Israel, Breaking the Silence is working to fight the erasure of the occupation and settler violence from Israeli discourse.  

Finally, we are partners in a “Planting Justice” campaign in the West Bank and Negev alongside one of our most incredible grantees, Rabbis for Human Rights. They are leading weekly trips on Fridays to plant trees in Palestinian communities in the West Bank and the Negev. In January, the organization led 235 volunteers and planted 470 trees. Its visit to al-Walaja was an interfaith trip and concluded with Jewish, Christian, and Muslim prayer. Two of their staff members—one Palestinian and one Jewish—spoke to members of our younger community last week in a powerful webinar.