Hineinu is underway and activists are present in daily solidarity in the South Hebron Hills (SHHs). Follow our semi-weekly blog to hear direct updates about what’s happening on the ground with our activists and our partners.
The Problem We Address: A central mechanism of the Occupation is divide-and-conquer which isolates the efforts and struggles of communities and individuals, oftentimes pitting them against each other. This weakens and deflects those efforts away from the underlying problem, the system of Occupation.
How We Address It: CJNV strengthens and uplifts a robust and connected movement of Palestinians, Israelis and diaspora Jews committed to active shared-resistance. These relationships of solidarity and co-resistance disrupt the material and ideological systems that uphold Occupation and oppress communities on both sides of the Green Line.
In the spring of 2014, the Israeli government uprooted hundreds of fruit trees from the Nassar family farm, the Tent of Nations, located south of Bethlehem in the West Bank. In February 2015, at the request of the family, nearly 30 Jewish activists from 4 countries traveled to their farm to help replant fields and sow seeds of creative, nonviolent activism.
In October 2015, the Center for Jewish Nonviolence organized actions, protests, and solidarity campaigns with Palestinian and Israeli nonviolent activists to counter the 2015 World Zionist Congress’ deafening silence on the issue that we believe is most central to Israel’s future, and arguably the most important challenge facing the Jewish people today: ending the occupation.
In July 2016 forty Jewish activists from more than half a dozen countries spent 10 days in solidarity and nonviolent resistance with Palestinian communities throughout the West Bank. We joined with Youth Against Settlements–a Palestinian nonviolent direct action group in Hebron–and members of All That’s Left: Anti-Occupation Collective to reclaim stolen property in Hebron and build the first cinema in the city.
In May 2017, in response to 50 years since the beginning of the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, CJNV brought an unprecedented cohort of 130 Jewish justice seekers to the West Bank and East Jerusalem to participate in a week of shoulder-to-shoulder solidarity work in various Palestinian communities and culminated in a 300-person joint civil disobedience action, Sumud: Freedom Camp.
45 Jewish activists from across North America gathered in Israel-Palestine to stand in coresistance with our Palestinian and Israeli partners. Over nine days, we learned, worked, and connected with partners in the South Hebron Hills, East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Givat Amal, and Lyd/Lod. Together, we cleared roads, laid concrete, painted murals, rehabilitated land, planted trees and built relationships rooted in resistance that will carry this work forward.
For the second time in six months, 45 Jewish activists from across North America gathered in Israel-Palestine to stand in coresistance with our Palestinian and Israeli partners. Over nine days, we learned, worked, and connected with partners in the South Hebron Hills, East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Givat Amal, Abu Kbir and Lyd/Lod. Together, we laid concrete, painted murals, rehabilitated land, planted trees, reclaimed a freshwater spring and built relationships rooted in resistance that will carry this work forward.
“This experience left me deeply troubled, but also more hopeful then ever. I feel so grateful for this opportunity to see more fully the reality of the occupation and to be part of a brave, vibrant, brilliant community of people — Palestinians, Israelis, and international Jews — who are actively working to dismantle it. I feel renewed in my conviction that Occupation is NOT my Judaism, and that the work defining what IS my Judaism has tremendous spiritual, communal, and political potency for liberation.”
“The trip did so much to show us the lived experience of Palestinians, but also to problematize and not hide any of the complicated aspects of our own interactions in this space as outsiders. I was inspired by the incredible Palestinian activists we worked with and feel energized to bring this work back to the US.”
“As a member of All That’s Left who is committed to sustained, on-the-ground resistance to the Occupation, I see how engaging with CJNV – even considering the brevity of delegations – energizes and reinforces the efforts of our activist community here. I see how these delegations are opportunities to uplift the work and voices of our Palestinian partners…I look forward to continuing to work together to resist occupation and annexation and work towards a world of justice and liberation for all.”
CJNV's work—building partnerships and networks of solidarity—is what is needed to upend the systems of division and oppression against Palestinians. When those in power choose to ostracize and oppress, we choose to link arms in struggle.
