sumud freedom camp

A building destroyed by the Israeli Civil Administration in the South Hebron Hills, West Bank. (Elias Newman))

Why rebuild homes in the U.S. while destroying homes in Palestine?

The Jewish Federations of North America support disaster relief at home but human rights abuses in Israel/Palestine. Why don’t they see the contradiction? by Elias Newman I arrive to the same scene each day—drenched clothing, scattered photo albums, a small mountain of moldy furniture. It has been more than two months since Hurricane Harvey devastated…

By +972 Magazine November 23, 2017

Activists listen to a speech given by a Palestinian elder from Sarura, West Bank, May 19, 2017. (Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

What happens when teaching diaspora Jews about occupation gets ‘too political’

An item on Israel’s top news program falsely accused a volunteer program that allows young diaspora Jews to directly engage with the occupation, of sending its members to clash with IDF soldiers, causing it to lose its main source of funding. Now one of ‘Achvat Amim’s organizers is speaking out: ‘I hadn’t experienced being lied about and mischaracterized in…

By Edo Konrad September 19, 2017

Israeli soldiers stand in front a cave in Sarura, where a Palestinian family lives, during the second military raid on Sumud Freedom Camp, May 25, 2017. (Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

Beyond protesting occupation, ‘Sumud’ is protecting life

This movement has triggered in my soul something bigger than Sarura, more sacred than my political rights as a Palestinian, and more profound than reaching a political settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. By Sami Awad For over a month now, I have been involved with a group of Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals in a new…

By +972 Magazine July 6, 2017

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Palestinians, internationals, and Israelis dance together in Sarura, south Hebron Hills. (Rami Ben Ari)

40 days and 40 nights: Building a new reality in Sumud Freedom Camp

For 40 days and 40 nights, Palestinians, diaspora Jews, and Israeli activists learned to speak a new language of nonviolence, empathy, and steadfastness as we put our bodies on the line to protect Sumud Freedom Camp. By Sophie Schor Plato is famous for his allegory of a cave. In it, he employs a metaphor that if you were…

By +972 Magazine July 3, 2017

Dozens of women block traffic on Rothschild Boulevard to protest violence against women, central Tel Aviv, July 17, 2017. (Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

This summer’s wave of protests gives us reason to be optimistic

From asylum seekers demanding their wages to protests against the Gaza blackout to raising awareness over disappeared Yemenite babies, this summer’s protests give us every reason to stay optimistic about this place. It’s hot outside. The Israeli summer often brings with it a new wave of social and political protests, and yet it looks like summer 2017 will be…

By Haggai Matar June 24, 2017

An activist with IfNotNow is carried away by Israeli police during a Jerusalem Day protest, Jerusalem, May 24, 2017. (JC/Activestills.org)

The Israeli Left can learn a thing or two from American Jews

Where was the Israeli Left when the army tore down a joint Palestinian-Jewish protest camp, or when the police broke the arm of a Jewish American activist in Jerusalem? By Amitai Ben-Abba Freedom Camp in Sarura, South Hebron Hills. On May 29, large army and Border Police forces raided the little that was left in Sarura after…

By +972 Magazine June 8, 2017

Jewish protesters are arrested after disrupting the Celebrate Israel parade in Manhattan, New York City, June 4, 2017. (Jewish Voice for Peace)

Jewish activists arrested for protesting New York pro-Israel parade

New York’s annual, lavishly-funded Celebrate Israel parade was interrupted by scores of American Jewish activists, several of whom were arrested in the process. Seven Jewish protesters were arrested in New York on Sunday afternoon as over 100 activists disrupted the annual Celebrate Israel parade. The event, which sees thousands of participants march down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue accompanied…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland June 5, 2017

Israeli forces raiding the Sumud Freedom Camp, Sarura, West Bank, May 29, 2017. (Nasser Nawajah)

Israeli forces raid Palestinian-Jewish protest camp for third time in 10 days

Israeli soldiers and police officers showed up at the Sumud Freedom Camp in the south Hebron hills on Monday morning, confiscating and destroying property and detaining three Palestinian activists. Israeli soldiers and Border Police raided the Sumud Freedom Camp in the south Hebron hills for the third time on Monday morning, destroying and confiscating property…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland May 30, 2017

Activists listen to a speech given by a Palestinian elder from Sarura, West Bank, May 19, 2017. (Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: A week of joint struggle in Sumud Freedom Camp

For over a week, Jewish activists from across the globe have joined Palestinians in an effort to rebuild a depopulated village in the West Bank. By: Ahmad Al-Bazz / Activestills.org It has been over a week since 250 Palestinians, Israelis, and diaspora Jews came together to establish the “Sumud Freedom Camp” on the site of Sarura,…

By Activestills May 28, 2017

Sarah Brammer-Shlay (Eliana Fishman)

U.S. Jewish activist to undergo surgery on arm broken by Israeli cops

Sarah Brammer-Shlay, whose arm was broken by Israeli police as they forcibly removed her from a Jerusalem Day protest, will be undergoing a $25,000 operation on Thursday. An American-Jewish activist whose arm was broken by Israeli police as they forcefully dispersed a Jerusalem Day protest last week will need to undergo surgery. Sarah Brammer-Shlay, 25,…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland May 28, 2017

Jewish and Palestinian activists at the Sumud Freedom Camp, Surara, West Bank, May 19, 2017. (Gili Getz)

Diaspora Jews must place our bodies on the line

As internationals and Jews, we are unjustly privileged — and therefore obligated to take part in nonviolent direct action in support of the Palestinian struggle for freedom. By Leanne Gale My first protest in the West Bank was in 2012. On the advice of a college professor, I went to a demonstration in Susya, a Palestinian…

By +972 Magazine May 23, 2017