I’ve never been to Umm Al-Kheir, but I’ve heard a lot about it. One of my predecessors as Church of Scotland mission partner, Rev John McCulloch, went regularly to sit with the Bedouin of the village, to take small gifts for the children, and small sums of money. My colleague Rev Dr Stewart Gillan has visited at least once and I know the people hold a place in the heart of many former Ecumenical Accompaniers.
Um-Al-Kheir sits on land occupied by the Israelis in 1967. The settlement of Carmel occupies land their sheep once grazed. Um Al-Kheir has been the focus of activists highlighting the occupation and the oppression of the Palestinians for many years. One activist once observed the chickens in Carmel have more access to water and electricity than the villagers of Umm Al-Kheir.[1]
Today the bulldozers rolled in, accompanied by IDF soldiers. Messages started to arrive by What’sApp first thing. A procession of police vehicles, army vehicles and bulldozers were filmed snaking up the dusty track. Their first destination was the community tent which has stood since 2008. There has been a demolition order against it since then.
Photographs arrive showing a lone woman, arms folded, faced by a line of soldiers and Police, all armed of course. Right behind is the fence of the settlement of Carmel. Next to the fence, almost within touching distance, is a modern house with air conditioning units, pitched roof and shuttered windows. The tent in front is dilapidated, insubstantial. I commented on the contrast in our What’s App stream and my colleague (who had been an EAPPI some 10 years ago) responded that more shocking is the contrast between the lush vegetation of the settlement and the arid desert which was home to some 600 people in 2017.
There has been repeated demolition and rebuilding of houses in Um Al-Khair. The residents have receipts for land tax paid in one hand and demolition orders in the other.[1]
Within a few short minutes, messages are received showing photographs of the destruction. A voice message reports that so far three houses have been destroyed and twenty-five are scheduled to be destroyed. ‘This means that one third of the village will be homeless today. The weather is really hot and the house have been destroyed and the people cannot do anything. We need your help now. If you can do anything, please just act.’
What can we do? Stewart is off to talk to some media contacts. I am writing this blog. We can get some funds to the village via intermediaries but we are not able to visit ourselves.
Anton from Rabbis for Human Rights https://www.rhr.org.il/eng reports he will visit on Monday. RHR have been delivering food aid to villagers since October 7th. The road blocks, blockades and aggression experienced by Palestinians in the West Bank, the lack of work, the impossibility of grazing flocks leaves an already vulnerable community in a parlous situation. Since 7 October 2023 and until 10 June 2024, across the West Bank the Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced Palestinian owners to demolish 990 Palestinian-owned structures, of which 34 per cent (366 structures) were inhabited homes displacing, 2,155 people, including 1,036 children.[1]
One of the houses destroyed today, according to the Villages Group https://www.facebook.com/villagesgroup/ belongs to Eid Suleiman Adalin and his wife and five daughters. In 2011 Rabbis for Human Rights recorded Eid’s testimony, which The Villages group reposted today. https://www.facebook.com/RABBI4HR/videos/2015954087730/ His dignity and compassion shine through. He can empathise with Israelis under fire from Hamas rockets (this was in 2011) and asks why they can’t understand the pain he feels when his house is destroyed.
In her regular newsletters https://villagesgroup.wordpress.com/ Erela tells of sitting with village elders and young mothers. She reports on their stoicism and dignity and their non-violent resistance, which is ‘sumud’ writ large. Yet, though the villagers of Umm al-Kheir, many already displaced several times in their lives, have been resilient it seems that while attention is on Gaza and while there are few foreign national observers, and it is increasingly difficult for Israelis like Erela to get access, the bulldozing will continue with impunity. Where is there left for the villagers to go? Who is listening to them?
‘We need your help now. If you can do anything, please just act.’
If you can raise your voice, do. Ask questions of prospective MPs about recognition of Palestine and illegal occupation. Rabbis for Human Rights and The Villages Group both give small amounts of aid. If you donate online to the congregation (Jerusalem in the drop down menu) and mark your donation Umm Al-Kheir we can make sure it all gets to the people there. https://cos.churchofscotland.org.uk/donate/
[1] https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-178-west-bank
Stepping out of the boat... 
Thanks Muriel. Great post about a disastrous development. Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist Eric Tlozek says it is increasingly difficult to get stories from outside Gaza into the news loop, which has not been easy all along anyway. All the more important therefore that we redouble our own efforts, God being our helper. Eric said he went to Umm Al Khair in 2019 when the military firing range was extended, and water deprivation was employed as a tactic to move people off the land. The IDF destroyed wells and water tanks, he recalls. When the community, refusing to move, began to bring water in by truck, the IDF stopped the trucks and blocked access to the water pipe used as a source. Still they stayed on and found a way to get on with life. The war giving ‘cover’ now to acts of aggression and violence all over. ‘Sumud writ large,’ I’ll say.
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