I asked a friend of mine who was in that group for a picture to post here. He told he they were working so fast that they had no time to take pictures.
This is a victory. Every plot of land harvested is a plot of land not abandoned to the Israeli occupation.
They harvested olives on a Palestinian plot of land close to an illegal Israeli settlement—so close that the farmers had not dared reach that plot since October 2023. I was not in that group. I’m not such a fast runner. After 2 hours of intensive work, they left without incident.
The army tear-gassed the site of the olive presses in the center of the village, where olives are pressed into olive oil. Farmers were trapped inside for some time...
One of the groups today was composed of 5 internationals “ready to run at a moment’s notice in case settlers came to attack.
Another full day of harvesting olives as well as a fig tree. The figs are delicious by the way. We had no encounters with the army or the settlers today, but the army left its mark on the day. The Israeli army raided the village — for no reason other than to exert power and control.
The CJNV olive harvest group is on the ground and working hard. Sydney Levy, a member of CJNV's advisory committee is there and has been sending dispatches from the field. Here are some excerpts and photos from Sydney:
NOTE: Yinon Levi is the person who is on video shooting Awdah Hathaleen in July
So far tonight, settlers have added three more caravans to the new "neighborhood".
These caravans were set up in the immediate aftermath of Awdah Hathaleen's murder directly adjacent to the community center where he was shot. They effectively cut the village in half and complete the full encircling of the north side of the community.
Yinon Levi continued to oversee the bulldozers working on the village's lands. At the same time that they worked to connect the new settler caravans to water and electricity, they cut off the water of the Palestinian residents. All while the police and army were present.
Today in Umm Al Khair, settlers, using a construction excavator, broke and cut off the water pipe which brings drinking water to hundreds of residents of the village.
INTERNATIONAL CALL TO ACTION: Host a solidarity mourning tent in your area to collectively mourn Awdah, and to call on Israel and the international community to meet these demands.
Register here to learn more and receive support to coordinate your action:
tinyurl.com/yt56kjat
On Aug. 7 a Awdah was finally buried in Umm al Kheir, but the situation in Masafer Yatta is dire. The community calls on Israel to:
1. Assure the safety of communities in Masafer Yatta facing the threats of lethal state and settler violence.
2. Bring Yinon Levy to justice for the murder of Awdah.
Beloved friend, teacher, and civil resister Awdah Hathaleen was shot dead by Israeli settler Yinon Levy on Monday, July 28th while defending his community. The IDF then abducted his body, and arrested over a dozen members of Awdah’s community.
The hunger strikers will continue until their demands are met including the return of Hathaleen’s body, the release of those arrested from their community, and the arrest of Yinon Levi who is walking free today after a judge released him from house arrest
Two of the women have already been taken to receive medical treatment as a result of the hunger strike, but they will not stop until demands are met. Until then, the family and community are in a state of suspended grief, unable to mourn their loss according to their tradition.
Awdah was killed by an Israeli settler on Monday in broad daylight in the center of his village. They are also demanding the release of all the residents who had been arrested.
On Thursday July 31st, more than 60 women in the Palestinian village of Umm al Khair, in the Southern West Bank initiated a hunger strike to demand the return of the body of community leader Awdah Hathaleen
REGISTER TO HOST A SOLIDARITY ENCAMPMENT or MOURNING TENT HERE: shorturl.at/T0dSh
2) Host a Solidarity Encampment or Mourning Tent: Host a solidarity encampment or mourning tent in your community as part of an emergency action until Awdah’s body is released and his community members freed. Register here to learn more and receive support to coordinate your action
One woman has already gone to the hospital. Amplify the women’s hunger strike on social media and within your communities in solidarity with their efforts on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky
Here’s what you can do.
1) Amplify Women’s Hunger Strike on Social Media: Over 70 women in Umm Il-Kheir have begun a hunger strike demanding the release of Awdah’s body and of the remaining prisoners of Umm Il-Kheir.
3) Assure the safety of communities in Masafer Yatta facing escalated threats of state and settler lethal violence.
4) Bring Yinon Levy to justice for the murder of Awdah. The residents of Umm Il-Kheir are calling for people around the world to support them in achieving these demands.
Awdah’s family and the community of Umm Il-Kheir call on Israel to:
1) Return Awdah’s body to his family, and permit the community to bury him in Umm Il-Kheir and carry out mourning rites.
2) Release all members of Awdah’s community from prison.
EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION IN SOLIDARITY WITH UMM IL-KHIER: Beloved friend, teacher, and civil resister Awdah Hathaleen was shot dead by Israeli settler Yinon Levy on Monday, July 28th while defending his community. The IDF then abducted his body and arrested over a dozen members of Awdah’s community
In case you missed it, here is Israeli human rights group, B'tselem's report: Our Genocide about the reality in Gaza
www.btselem.org/publications...
In remembrance of Awdah Hathaleen, who was murdered by an Israeli settler on Monday, July 28th, Unsettled Podcast has created a compilation of conversations with him. Awdah was a 31-year-old father of three, a teacher, and a tireless activist for Palestinian rights
open.spotify.com/episode/6pKO...
How do we face Tisha B’Av, when we’ve been in a period of mourning for so long already? How do we connect to ancient pain, when there is brand-new suffering every day?
Read it now: bit.ly/tb5785
The children began to scream. When the soldiers came in, they tried to break the gate with a vehicle, to damage it by force, to ram the door in order to enter.”
The men of the village have announced that they, too, will join the hunger strike if Awdah’s body is not returned within
during which no man may see her except her brother, father, or other close male relatives who are permitted to. The army entered her room while she was in her ‘iddah.
“They broke into the home of the martyr’s wife, even though it’s well known that she is in ‘iddah, the four-month mourning period prescribed by Islam, 24 hours.
