Joint Action - Changed Lives

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Subject: Joint Action - Changed Lives

Dear Friends,

Recently we have been discussing the consequences of turning a blind eye. What happens when society turns a blind eye to injustice? When a police force ignores crimes committed in front of them? When an army officer determines who is worthy and who isn’t. Or when a government simply disregards the rights of an entire community. Well, we are facing that reality in Area C, and witnessing first hand the spread of violence, loss of land, and erosion of human rights.

As a grassroots movement, we are on the ground in places other individuals and even other NGOs can’t reach. We have been out in force to work alongside vulnerable communities to enforce their rights, defend their sources of water, and resist the occupation in all of its harmful forms.

SUPPORT ACTIVISM, SUPPORT CHANGE

Below are some examples of the ways we have been active in bringing together Israelis and Palestinians. We are experts in non-violent resistance and our activists are leading the way in bringing attention to the forgotten, demanding rights are restored and upheld, and reminding those in power that water, land and dignity are not for sale. As demolition orders are issued at will, and settlements expand and encroach further onto Palestinian land, peace becomes further away. We will continue to block the path of the bulldozers and stand united without fear. From the rural villages of the Jordan Valley to the shiny corridors of the Knesset - we are making a difference.

Join us.

In Peace & Solidarity from Israel/Palestine

Rana Salman

Palestinian Director

Yonatan Gher

Israeli Director

Restoring water to Ein al-Hilweh

Dozens of Israelis from The Jordan Valley Activists, among them members of Combatants for Peace, went to Ein al-Hilweh, situated in the northern Jordan Valley. Settlers had taken control of the fresh spring, denying the local Palestinian shepherds access to water. The activists bought the tools and equipment needed to dig into the dry land to build ponds and dams that would restore the shepherds' access to the much needed fresh water.

Background; Around six months prior, settlers claimed the "Ein al-Hilweh" spring as their own, and set up a paddling pool for their exclusive use. They unilaterally banned the shepherds in the area from using the water source, paved the area outside the pool, and built a fence around the perimeter so that the grazing cows could no longer access it.

This fence has a demolition order. It was built without permission or a permit. But who exactly enforces the law on the settlers? Not the Israeli army or police.

This is the system: the settlers take over water sources, the state legitimizes them and they work together to make the lives of the Palestinians in Area C impossible, in order to make them despair and leave their lands.

But now, with the newly built ponds, Palestinian shepherds can once again lead their cows and herds to clean water. We will continue to stand by the shepherding communities of Area C and against the Israeli efforts to expel them from their lands.

Returning to Homesh

Our activists went to the illegal outpost of Homesh to do what the State of Israel should have done a long time ago: dismantle the outpost and return its lands to their Palestinian owners from Burqa.

Homesh should have been evacuated many years ago, though the government consistently refuses to enforce the law - we went to help them out and do it for them.

Background: Homesh is an illegal outpost located north of the Palestinian village of Burqa in Nablus area. It was built on the ruins of a settlement of the same name, which was evacuated as part of the disengagement in 2005.

Although the Israeli Disengagement Law (2005) bans Israelis from entering the area - as usual the settlers don’t comply and do whatever they want, backed by the Israeli army and the State.

The area upon which Homesh was built is private Palestinian land, registered in the land registry. The land owners, residents of Burqa, got permission to return and cultivate their land, but although they were formally given the permission, they have not yet been able to actually return to their land.

Homesh settlers have been documented using violence against residents of Burqa in order to prevent them from getting to their lands. Yesh Din documented at least 20 attacks by settlers from the outpost on Palestinians from Burqa over the last 5 years. These include both cases of attacks on property and attacks on people.

Meanwhile, Israeli governments are doing nothing. Despite the Disengagement Law, the High Court ruling that says that the land should be returned to its Palestinian owners, and the unforeseen violent attacks coming out from this outpost, this illegal outpost still stands.

In the face of apartheid, violence and injustice, it is sometimes necessary to stop talking and move on to actions on the ground.

Access to Water

The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee recently held a session on the access to water of Palestinian communities in Area C of the Occupied Territories. Representatives from Combatants for Peace who appeared before the committee, stated that “It is the responsibility of the State of Israel to supply water to people living under its control”.

Representatives from Combatants for Peace, who are leading the campaign to connect Palestinian communities in Area C to water, were heard by the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, headed by MK Ram Ben Barak (Labor), in a session initiated by MK Mossi Raz (Meretz).

Combatants for Peace representatives – Chairperson Tuly Flint and Campaigns Director Adv. Shai Eluk, testified before the committee:

“We urge the committee to call on the Minister of Defence to instruct the army to cease the demolition of water pipes and facilities in these communities, and to allow people who have been living in these areas for decades – according to aerial surveillance even before 1967 and even before 1948, to provide themselves with water, and to connect them to the water grid.

"The current reality is obscene: The Jewish Settlement Havat Avigail receives 240 litres per person per day, from the national water company, including illegal outposts in the surrounding areas. At the same time, Palestinians in the same area only receive ten or twenty liters per day, and that’s on a good day in which the water wasn’t blocked altogether. It is Israel’s legal and moral obligation to first and foremost supply water to the local residents in the land that it holds.”