Showing up
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Awdah Al-Hathaleen, 27, Palestinian human rights activist, English teacher, & volunteer coordinator, 27, Umm al-Khair, Occupied West Bank:
“…but we decided to go ahead and do it. We found the results were really great. The most important thing that got us excited about hosting subsequent delegations was the unbelievable communication and relationships with them. The first delegation from CJNV was one of the strongest proofs for our people that our problem is not with Jewish people, not with the religion. We built a really strong relationship. They were really honest with us. They never made promises they couldn’t keep, and this is something that we really appreciate. Some people when they come to Umm al-Khair they make promises to you like ‘Palestine will be free’ or ‘whatever you guys want, you will get’. CJNV is the first group that helped the southern West Bank to be united. Like everywhere in the world, here too there are internal issues and conflicts, but
“CJNV was the first group to gather all the south[ern West Bank villages] in one meeting. They kept building on that and now the south is united… These people from CJNV didn’t say ‘we are in solidarity with you’ and then disappear. These people act for justice. This is something that not everyone can do.”
“The Palestinian people here had felt that if you are a Jew, then that means you are supporting Israel. But we found Jewish people coming from abroad who were, in fact, against the occupation.”
Awdah Al-Hathaleen, 27, Palestinian human rights activist, English teacher, & volunteer coordinator, 27, Umm al-Khair, Occupied West Bank:
“In Umm al-Khair, we lost the best person in all the south [Haj Suleiman al-Hathalean, 75, who was killed when he was run over by an Israeli police vehicle in January 2022], the oldest fighter, a friend of everyone. In all my dreams, I never expected that the next morning after an event like this, we would welcome Jewish people to be with us. When Haj Suleiman passed away, CJNV people saw us and joined us in our sadness just like they join us in happiness.”
Bob Suberi, 72, St. Louis, Missouri, American Jewish activist:
“I had never really considered Palestinian people, and who they were and that they even existed. They were so completely erased from the histories that I’d read. So I wanted to meet Palestinians; I wanted to see for myself. So I came and it was a very worthwhile experience. We came to the South Hebron Hills and visited several different Palestinian villages and met people. They were not what I had imagined: they had a culture, they had values, they had needs. They had land that they don’t have anymore. It’s taken me quite a while to absorb the fact that this was a living, vibrant country… that was colonized. The indigenous inhabitants have been so completely erased - unless you start looking. But if you just go to Israel, they have just been erased.”
Awdah Al-Hathaleen, 27, Palestinian human rights activist, English teacher, & volunteer coordinator, 27, Umm al-Khair, Occupied West Bank:
“Relationships can exist at various levels - and a few people from CJNV have become like brothers and sisters. We even ask them what they think about decisions the people of Umm al-Khair are debating. They never forget Umm al-Khair, and I often tell them ‘You are like us. You are not guests. You guys - I consider you the sons and daughters of Umm al-Khair for all that you have done, and all that you have built’.”
Awdah Al-Hathaleen, 27, Palestinian human rights activist, English teacher, & volunteer coordinator, 27, Umm al-Khair, Occupied West Bank:
“You just asked me why I became a human rights activist: So, you heard that dog barking in the background? An Israeli settler just passed through the very center of our village with his dog. This is what I mean when I said we don’t have any other choice but to be activists. Every day here there are Israeli attacks and resistance and we of course want the world to know what is going on. We don’t have any other choice… Years ago, when someone would say they are in solidarity with us, we’d feel really happy but we didn’t think about the next step. Over time, we became more educated and understood that this isn’t enough - you need to act for justice. Do something as a human who cares for others.”
An American Jewish activist cares for a baby in the village of Umm al-Khair.
American Jewish activists listen to a Palestinian elder during a work day in the southern West Bank that is often the target of violent attacks by Israeli settlers and military forces.
Margaret Hughes Robinson, 28, Brooklyn, NY, Rabbi and American Jewish activist:
“It feels extremely important to ‘show up’ as a Jew - whether by wearing my T’ruah t-shirt or another t-shirt with Hebrew writing on it. Sometimes I feel so performative but it also feels important to show up and to let people know… It often feels like a pious act to be involved in a protest as a member of a Jewish group. It feels like a moment of soul alignment, when I deeply understand what I’m showing up for and why. And to stand not just as another person who cares, but as an expression of my faith, feels extremely powerful. My first year of rabbinical school when Trump was elected… [the week-long T’ruah emergency gathering of rabbis] ended with a large action in front of Trump Towers. Eighteen or 19 rabbis were arrested, we were singing, and it was just spiritually intense and powerful to address what felt like a political tragedy and a risk to so many lives and to basic well being. To draw on something liturgical to express the enormity and the tragedy and the hope that doesn’t exist but you want to perform it so that it manifests felt like a deeply Jewish and deeply spiritual act.”