May 2017 – Justice Justice You Shall Pursue – Center for Jewish Nonviolence

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.

As part of a coalition including the Popular Committees of the South Hebron Hills, Holy Land Trust, Combatants for Peace, and All That’s Left: Anti-Occupation Collective, we stood with the village of Sarura and reclaimed their village lands from which they were displaced in 1997.

This was nothing short of a historic demonstration of support for the Palestinian nonviolent resistance movement by the Diaspora Jewish community and it garnered significant international attention. Never before has such a large and diverse cohort of Jews from around the world joined Palestinians on the ground in the Occupied Territories.

We joined with Palestinian communities in Existence-is-Resistance projects in Issawiya, Batan al-Hawa, Um Al Khair, Susiya and Hebron. We worked with community leaders in Issawiya, Batan al-Hawa and Um Al Khair, with the Rural Women’s Association of the South Hebron Hills and with Youth Against Settlements in Hebron. Members of Free Jerusalem joined our efforts in Issawiya; Ta’ayush, Breaking the Silence and Holy Land Trust supported our education and logistics efforts.

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