Tag Archives: West Bank

Human Rights in the Shadow of War

In the latest newsletter from Rabbis for Human Rights, NPR follows the Olive Harvest in the Shadow of War – Palestinian farmer Ayoub Abuhejleh is arrested as he tries to harvest this crucial crop. Click the photo below to hear the story from NPR.

Far from Gaza, the war between Israel and Hamas upends lives

At the same time, with the rise in settler violence across the West Bank (with three times the number of attacks on previous years), RHR are reaching out to their Palestinian partners to express solidarity and ask how they can help.  This has led to the purchase and distribution of emergency medic kits across the Northern West Bank.

Samir Awad, Avi Dabush, Rabbi Michael Marmur & Anton Goodman of RHR at the Hizme Checkpoint

Rabbis for Human Rights have, alongside a broad coalition of organisations and partners, been able to provide hundreds of boxes of food parcels to be sent to isolated and marginalised communities including Bedouin villages in the Negev and at risk Palestinian towns in South Hebron and the Jordan Valley. You can donate to support this emergency appeal on JustGiving. Continue reading →

Emergency Food Boxes Appeal

At this crucial moment, in the shadow of war, underserved communities find themselves in dire circumstances, grappling with food insecurity and the struggle to live a dignified life.

The British Friends of Rabbis for Human Rights are supporting Rabbis for Human Right’s appeal to get aid to communities falling between the cracks

With your support they aim to deliver food boxes to survivors of October 7th and families in Southern Israel facing poverty; Bedouin communities in unrecognised villages in the Negev; Palestinian communities in the West Bank facing settler violence; asylum seekers and migrant workers. The Torah teaches us that social solidarity is measured by caring for the most vulnerable and excluded.

Together, let us rally behind our shared mission and recognise the power of solidarity during these testing times. 

Donate via JustGiving here

100% of proceeds will go towards food parcels

Escalating Jewish terror is forcing Palestinians from their homes

As we have been reporting, there is a worrying and escalating trend of strategic Jewish terror in Area C, aimed at small Palestinian agricultural communities.

Escalating Jewish terror is forcing Palestinians from their homes

Communities of Rashash and Wadi a-Sik have requested a round-the-clock activist presence to provide some protection.

We are committed to this effort, but desperately concerned as we see members of these communities packing up and leaving.

The settler strategy is to empty vast swathes of Area C and stamp Jewish sovereignty through their violence.

Read more in this article published in +972 written by Tash Lever of Rabbis for Human Rights. Continue reading →

In the Name of Judaism – Thoughts on Parshat “Chayei Sarah”

Rabbi Lana Zilberman Soloway shares testemony from a soldier in the IDF as well as her own observations from a visit to the historic city of Hebron in the West Bank where up to 800 soldiers are stationed to protect settlers.

Many things happened to our mother Sarah during her lifetime, but the the greatest impact she had on the Jewish future was in her death.

“Sarah died at Kiryat Arba, that is Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her”. (Genesis 233, 2) Continue reading →

Kolot: Voices of Hope – A Different Judaism

This essay is the latest in RHR’s series of ‘Kolot: Voices of Hope’ profiles of Israelis and Palestinians furthering the cause of peace and equality and is also presented as part of their END THE EXPULSIONS matching grant campaign from June 1 to June 30. With only one day left in RHR’s campaign, please help them to reach our goal and double the impact of your gift by giving now. 

On the 21st of January 2022, Palestinian and Israeli activists gathered together at the West Bank Palestinian village of Burin to plant olive trees. Roughly corresponding with the holiday of Tu B’Shvat, olive tree planting in Palestinian villages as well as participation in the Palestinian olive harvest are longtime Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) traditions. While the activists were working, settlers from the Givat Ronen settlement descended down the hill, threw rocks at them, attacked them with clubs, and torched a car. This attack was carried out in the name of Judaism—or, should we say, in the name of a distorted version of Judaism that, among other things, subscribes to the belief that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jews, and the Jews alone.

Education – RHR’s Education program brings Israeli gap year students to Jerusalem to learn about
human rights & Judaism on the ground. Credit: RHR

Continue reading →

Avi Dabush: This Purim: Join us in UNMASKING Jewish Terror

Dear Friends,

Purim is well known as a time for celebration, partying, dressing up, wearing our masks and thinking about Jewish resilience and perseverance over oppression. That, in short, was the story of Purim.

Today, however, some of us have taken things too far. When we look at the steady rise of settler violence/Jewish terror in the West Bank we see that some, too many, of us have gone from perseverance to extremism and hate. We are witness to too many instances of Jews moving beyond resilience to perpetrating violence against Palestinians and solidarity activists. Continue reading →

Avi Dabush: Settler Militias are Terror Organizations and those they attack must be recognized as Victims of Terror!

Rabbis for Human Rights Executive Director, Avi Dabush, in a special hearing before the Knesset Law and Constitution Committee (Chaired by MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv), held following attack on our activists this past Friday in the West Bank village of Burin: “This hearing was held following one of the most brutal attacks that we have seen in our many years of activism. Masked men, with no fear of God, attacked with clubs and stones, our volunteers, some of them over 80 years old, thinking that they can impose their vision of Jewish supremacy over the land, from which Palestinian farmers must sustain themselves while living under impossible circumstances.

“I expect that out of this committee, from the Government and from law enforcement to act swiftly to declare these Jewish militias as terror groups and the people harmed by their violence as victims of terror. We demand the mapping and evacuating these illegal outposts. Continue reading →

Tree Planting Met With Terror: We Will Not Be Intimidated

Dear Friends,

I am writing to you following the events of this past Friday, January 21st, that took place in the village of Burin. We were engaged in a tree planting activity together with our friends from the Olive Harvest Coalition, side by side with Palestinian farmers. Suddenly, we were set upon by a group of masked, messianic attackers. There is no other way to describe this attack other than an act of terror. They stormed down from the nearby hill, from the illegal outpost called Givat Ronen, and began to beat activists with their clubs, to stone them and to set a car ablaze.

Continue reading →

Be With Us: From the Harvest, To Planting and Accompanying Palestinian Shepherds

Following a successful harvest season, in which volunteers went out to harvest with Palestinian over 700 individual times in the Northern West Bank. There, on the ground and in the olive trees the truth of solidarity was revealed. Standing together for justice, peace and human rights is the only way that each olive harvested will grow again into another tree that can be harvested in peace and with equality.

Unfortunately, the harvest this year, while it was a success in terms of how many people we brought out, the solidarity and awareness we raised, we cannot help but be profoundly disturbed by the frustration, anger, pain of the farmers. Continue reading →

The Olive Harvest Continues: Over 500 Volunteers So Far!!

Dear Friends,

The Olive Harvest continues and this week, as we reported, has been one of excitement, pain and success. As we reported to you earlier in the week, on Monday our staff and volunteers were attacked as they participated in the harvest near Awarta. However, even in the face of violence, threats and indifference we continue and are proud of the over 500 volunteers who have joined us thus far, where we all work to show that justice and solidarity can overcome violence and oppression. Continue reading →