‘It’s like whack-a-mole’: Volunteers document West Bank violence

SAM STEIN: Jewish advocates are staying in Palestinian villages to report settler violence and military activity to Israeli police.

A group of Israeli and Diaspora Jews are living in West Bank Palestinian villages to document violence and support shepherds and farmers.

The Center for Jewish Non-Violence’s (CJNV) Hineinu project brings Jewish activists to live in Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta and engage in full-time solidarity activism.

Masafer Yatta is a region in the southern end of the West Bank that faces rampant settler violence from notorious settler outposts such as Havat Maon, Mitzpe Yair, and Havat Talia. Many residents of Masafer Yatta also face expulsion from an area the Israeli military has declared “Firing Zone 918.”

While on Hineinu, which is Hebrew for “we are here,” participants spend three months living in Masafer Yatta. According to CJNV, they learn Arabic and “accompany local residents while they are shepherding, farming, commuting, and engaging in a variety of activities in which they may face military or settler violence.”

Being on-site means they are well-placed to document settler violence or military activity, help file police reports, or pick up arrested Palestinians from the police station.