Applications to join our next cohort of Hineinu, our 4-month sustained solidarity project in Masafer Yatta, are open until December 1!
Apply Now!
“I encourage everyone to take part of this work and come to live with us and experience our lives. The presence of solidarity groups is not only important to document the occupation violations and stand against them. It is important to build relationships…[and] that the people who come will be messengers for us.”
— Tariq, Umm al-Khair
Background and Context
We know from our experience that the presence of solidarity activists mitigates settler and military violence against local activists and community residents in Area C of the occupied West Bank. CJNV has forged dynamic, sustained, and trusting relationships in solidarity with communities throughout the region across eight years of coresistance against the occupation.
For communities in Masafer Yatta, shepherding is the primary economic driver and way of life. Late-Winter/Early-Spring is an essential period in the region when the grasses and hillsides are in full bloom and the shepherds are out every day with their flocks. Because of this, it is also a time of increased tension and violence as settlers and the army try to prevent Palestinians from accessing their lands. Over the last years we have come to learn more intimately how vital this time of year is for the communities of Masafer Yatta and how significant it can be for there to be a presence of international activists accompanying and standing with shepherds and their communities. This year, in response to the asks of our partners and needs of the shepherding season, we have expanded Hineinu to four months to cover the entirety of the shepherding season.
What is the Project
Hineinu activists support local communities, shepherds, and activists in Masafer Yatta resist land dispossession through accompanying shepherds and documenting settler attacks, military violence, home demolitions, and land seizures. Hineinu activists amplify these events and stories from the field as part of larger coordinated efforts with Palestinian and Israeli activists. Our partners have made clear that this presence is meaningful and important, has the potential to shift violent power dynamics in the field, and therefore must continue.
Throughout the four months, participants will work to communicate their experiences to transnational audiences, crafting narratives that can advance coresistance efforts. They will work with Palestinian activists to highlight their stories and experiences living and resisting under occupation, serving to further amplify partners’ voices. As a part of a network of activists and organizations, Hineinu activists will support legal, media, and archival efforts to resist the ongoing displacement and violence targeted at Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills. Over the course of the program, participants will build relationships that will expand and strengthen CJNV’s working network of solidarity and coresistance.
During the four months, CJNV will provide participants with room and board, logistical support, nonviolent direct action training, orientation, workshops and group facilitation. There will also be Arabic classes with local teachers to empower you in your work as a Jewish solidarity activist in the South Hebron Hills.
Purpose and Desired Impacts
This project will offer urgent solidarity while expanding the capacity for joint civil disobedience and sustained action in the South Hebron Hills. We will leverage international Jewish privilege to mitigate violence against residents of the region. We will amplify the voices and stories of our Palestinian partners while meaningfully contributing to nonviolent popular struggle and resilience in the region.
We also want to model a Jewish ethical vision anchored in values of solidarity, justice, and equality. In past delegations and actions, CJNV has modeled an embodied vision of the shared future we are working toward. Hineinu is expanding this work by bringing Jewish internationals to live with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, contend with and struggle against the daily realities of state violence, and actively demonstrate a Jewish commitment to joint resistance and collective freedom.
Program Dates
*Program Dates: February 1st – May 31st, 2024 (dates subject to change)
*Application Deadline: December 1, 2023
Are you considering joining this project and supporting our partners in Masafer Yatta by practicing sustained solidarity? Fill out this form as an expression of interest and to apply.
Who are we looking for
We are looking for experienced activists who have backgrounds in some of the following:
- Civil Disobedience and Direct Action
- Nonviolent Theory and Practice
- Cross-Community Organizing
- Human Rights Accompaniment and Documentation work
- Communications and Media (narrative and visual)
- Facilitation or Mediation
- Arabic and/or Hebrew a plus (ideally, both)
- Experience in the region preferred
Cost
Fee for participation is offered on a sliding scale. The program cost is all-inclusive and subsidized. Fees cover housing, transportation, food, insurance, projects, training, and supplies. Please note that the cost DOES NOT include airfare. Participating activists are responsible for making their own international travel arrangements to and from the region.
- Scholarship rate is $3000 ($750/mo). This is a subsidized rate that we offer in an effort to make this important solidarity work financially accessible both for us as an organization and for interested activists. If you are interested in applying for the scholarship rate, please fill out the following questions in the application.
- Base rate is $4800 ($1200/mo). This rate covers program costs such as housing, food, transportation on the ground, and equipment, but it does not cover CJNV’s operational expenses.
- Solidarity rate is $7200 ($1800/mo). This rate covers program costs and contributes toward CJNV’s operational expenses, as well as supporting our scholarship fund for participating activists. We ask all those who are able to pay the solidarity rate to help subsidize the cost of participation for those with fewer financial resources.
CJNV is committed to making solidarity activism financially accessible. We do not turn participants away based on ability to pay, though we do ask that participants pay as close to the top of the slide scale as is possible for them. Our sliding scale programming is sustained by grassroots fundraising and volunteer support. If you are unable to pay any of these rates, please be in touch.
Participating activists are encouraged to utilize grassroots sources and online crowd-fundraising to help offset the costs of their participation. In the past, participating activists have been able to raise the entire cost of their program through these platforms. CJNV organizers will support individuals with their grassroots and online fundraising initiatives.
Accessibility
We are committed to creating an environment that is comfortable, safe and supportive for all participating activists, but individuals must decide for themselves if this kind of activity is within their capability. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Days during Hineinu are long! Some days will involve many hours outside in the heat or cold, and some activities may include physical labor. Participating activists will often be accompanying shepherds and schoolchildren which can involve walking over hilly and rocky terrain. In the villages, there are unpaved or poorly paved roads and uneven terrain and participants will be spending time driving in cars to different parts of the region. No one will be asked to over-exert themselves, and everyone will be encouraged to set activity schedules and pacing that is comfortable for them.
Spending four months in a group of new people under intense political conditions can be emotionally draining. There will be some time off each week during Shabbat, though the majority of time is spent as a group.
Not all sites have the same types of bathrooms; while some have indoor plumbing with running water, others are more in the style of an outhouse. In the communities where participants will be staying, there will be “sit” toilets, though outside those villages, the toilets may be different, such as “squat” toilets.
If you have more questions about accessibility during CJNV’s on-the-ground programming, please reach out to a member of CJNV’s on-the-ground staff: Oriel (oriel@cjnv.org) or Dina (dina@cjnv.org)
Apply Now!