Watering the Tree of Nonviolent Resistance in Firing Zone 918, in the South Hebron Hills

“Nonviolent resistance is like a tree: it needs water to grow.” That was the motto behind Saturday’s gathering of Italians and locals in the Bedouin community of Al-Mufaqara,

which lies just inside Firing Zone 918, in the South Hebron Hills.   We went with a van of other Palestinian news agencies to report on the event- as usual, not sure what to expect.  To add to my confusion, everything was in Italian and Arabic. So this post is based on the kindness of translators. Two Italians had come to share their experiences participating in nonviolent resistance, and to show solidarity with the resistance of local Palestinians, who are currently fighting for the right to stay on their ancestral land.

Al-Mufaqara, home to some 15 families, is wedged between the Green Line to the south, and a band of illegal settlements to the north.  The settlers, most of whom are radically religious (as opposed to settlers in other areas who are just enticed to live in settlements for financial reasons, because of the huge subsidies settlements receive from the Israeli government) are known to harass children on their way to school and burn Palestinians’ crops.  Additionally, the Israeli army continually demolishes homes and other structures in the community.  When we visited on Saturday, the village’s mosque, which Israeli forces demolished twice, was little more than a pile of rubble.

The village's mosque

Sara, an Operation Dove volunteer who has been in Al-Mufaqara for over a year, explained that the group escorts children to school and provides an international, peacekeeping presence, while supporting Palestinian nonviolent resistance.  This resistance, Sara explained, takes the form of daily acts such as re-building demolished structures, continuing to shepherd and attend school despite being attacked, and most importantly, staying on the land.

Sara continued, saying the people of Al-Mufaqara don’t just wish to survive this systemic violence; instead they are fighting to bring electricity and water to the community, part of affirming their presence and their right to thrive on their land.

Operation Dove, which has been working in Al-Mufaqara since 2004, organizes one annual event for the community, in which they invite guests to share their experiences participating in nonviolent resistance. The goal of this initiative, which was started on request of the local Popular Committee, is to “water the tree of nonviolent resistance” that thrives in Al-Mufaqara.

Some girls took me to the sheep's pen, where these birds were taking advantage of the shade. 

Two men, active during the 1970’s “Years of Lead” conflict in Italy, shared their paths to non-violence.  One man was part of the armed resistance, and during one occasion had killed a cohort of Italian police. The other was the son of one of those police officers.  While the first spent 30 years in prison with multiple life sentences, the other spent those years with a ‘heart full of hatred,’ as he put it. 

Eventually, the prisoner joined a hunger strike advocating for humane conditions in the prison. “When I began to fight in a nonviolent way,” he said, “I no longer felt isolated, and it became possible for me to connect and communicate with people.” That initial step in nonviolent resistance impacted him deeply, and he began to advocate for a cessation of armed struggle. Meanwhile, the man whose father was murdered realized that his wound could not heal while he was still full of hate.  Eventually the two men decided to meet one another. 

“We are not here to give advice to the Palestinians in their struggle, but simply to share our experiences,” they said. “We want to testify that it is possible to meet [one’s adversaries] as human beings.”  In this particular interview, the questions were asked by two journalists in Arabic, translated into English by a Palestinian woman, then translated from English into Italian by an Operation Dove volunteer. The answers then went through the reverse process.  

Al-Mufaqara lies within Area C, which constitutes some 60% of the West Bank and is under complete Israeli military and administrative authority. Firing Zone 918 is a 30 square-mile area within Area C in the South Hebron Hills, which has been illegally declared a “military training zone” by the Israeli regime. The area’sresidents were evicted in 1999, however they successfully petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice, which allowed for their “temporary return.” For over a decade since, the approximately 1000 people in the area have been living with uncertainty of their future and continued harassment by the Israeli military and illegal settlers.

The families of Al-Mafuqara, along with the other residents in Firing Zone 918 will continue to resist Israeli military and settler attempts to displace them or delegitimize their right to continue living on the land their ancestors have farmed and shepherded for over two centuries.   

photos and post by Jesse