| Dear Friend,
As our summer campaign continues, we want to share something that happened just last week.
Jamil, the Palestinian Community Coordinator at Combatants for Peace, has spent years working alongside communities confronting the threat of displacement. Last week, that reality became deeply personal when his own home was placed at risk. This is his story.
"For the last two years, I have watched homes around us receive stop-work orders. Some families challenged these orders in court and even obtained decisions delaying the demolitions. But the bulldozers still came. One home was demolished in February this year despite a court order stating that it should not be. My family and I never imagined something like this would happen to us. On 13 July, while I was at work in our Beit Jala office, my nephew called to tell me that officials from the Israeli Civil Administration were standing outside my house. I left the office immediately and rushed home. That day, around 40 notices were distributed across Al-Khader. In my neighborhood alone, 22 homes received notices. I asked one of the officials about my property. When I bought the land, I believed it fell under a different planning designation. Instead, I was told I had until 29 July to submit ownership documents and any building permits in order to begin a legal process. Since then, I have spent my time collecting documents, opening a legal file, and preparing for a process whose outcome is deeply uncertain. What worries me most is not only my own home. My neighbours are living in constant fear. They have invested everything they have into building homes for their families, and now they don't know whether they will lose them. Our neighbourhood is not near a settlement or a main road. We are not a security threat. Yet we are still facing the possibility that our homes could be demolished. For me, this is not only about one house or one family. It is about an entire community and a wider reality that is pushing more and more Palestinian families from their land." | | | | Jamil's story is not an isolated case. Across the occupied West Bank, communities are facing growing pressure through demolition orders, displacement, and increasing restrictions.
In recent months, Palestinian communities have faced increasing demolition orders, movement restrictions, settler violence, and military incursions - not only in Area C, but increasingly into Areas A and B as well. Families are living with growing uncertainty as homes, livelihoods, and entire communities come under pressure of forced displacement.
At Combatants for Peace, we are working alongside these communities every day. We accompany families facing displacement, share human rights violations, organize protective presence, and build international solidarity through nonviolent action. At the same time, we continue bringing Palestinians and Israelis together to challenge the systems driving this reality and to build a future based on equality, dignity, and shared humanity. | | Today, we ask you to support Jamil, his neighbors, and the many communities facing the unimaginable threat of displacement. Your donation will help us respond rapidly where support is needed most, strengthen protective presence on the ground, and continue building our nonviolent movement that is essential for a just and lasting peace.
Please donate today. Every contribution helps protect communities, sustain hope, and strengthen our shared struggle for justice. | | | | | | To learn more about our response to displacement and demolition - you can still register to attend the webinar taking place today. For more information and joining instructions click here. | |
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