The Palestine 2.0 Delegation explores current realities for Palestinians, including the repression of strategic organizing, the separation and segregation of the Palestinian population, and creative ways communities are continuing to resist.
Follow the delegation to read eyewitness accounts from the grounds, reports from meetings, and experiences with Palestinians and Israelis.
Exclusive content will also be available on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook under the hashtags #eyewitness67.
This delegation is Eyewitness Palestine's 67th, successfully exposing more than 1,300 people to the daily realities facing Palestinians in their quest for justice.
We believe in the power of eyewitness experience and transformation. Given the opportunity to speak directly with Palestinians and Israelis, delegates return to the United States better informed, more energized, and with a deeper understanding of the possibilities for true justice in the Middle East.
The delegation joined local and international activists in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem to resist the Sabbagh family’s pending eviction from their home that would displace 40 members of the Palestinian family. The Sabbagh family is one of at least 180 Palestinian families in East Jerusalem threatened with eviction by Israeli authorities.
Read MoreWe got to Checkpoint 300 separating Bethlehem and the southern West Bank from Jerusalem at 6:30am. Immediately, Palestinians told me that I should not try to take delegation through... that it was crammed and only a few minutes earlier, soldiers had used tear gas in the crowd of Palestinians waiting to get through. “They’ll get crushed... haraam. Perhaps you can go around with them?”
Read MoreWe spent 4 days in Al-Khalil (Hebron). Spending time at the Youth Against Settlement Center. It’s a scrappy little building with a few rooms and hardly any furniture. Since it is small, we spend most of our time outdoors on the patio (“patio” makes it sound fancier than it is). Like nearly every place in Palestine, a land of hills, it has a great view, but I digress.
Read MoreThe demonstration, a march into the militarized part of Hebron where expanded Israeli settlements are expected, was just a part of the resistance activities. In the same area last night, children potted up plants to represent hope being rooted in the soil and girls danced the traditional dabke, showing that the spirit of Palestinians will not be broken but be carried on by the next generation in their struggle for freedom and justice.
Read MoreI felt pride even in the protest’s moderate success. Not asserting a Palestinian presence on this important anniversary would have conceded too much to Israeli Apartheid. Although the Shuhuda market shops remained closed up and the street empty alter the protest, the activists had continued to insist on their rights and dignity in the face of overwhelming Israeli power. They — we — had been there.
Read MoreThroughout the West Bank Hebron has the reputation of having the most in-your-face examples of Israeli settlers attempting to stamp Palestinian society into the ground. We spent four days here, seeing examples of settler brutality and Palestinian resistance. It was simultaneously heart wrenching and inspiring.
Read MoreOur bus dropped us and our luggage off at the foot of the hill they are forbidden to pave up to their Center. YAS guys dashed around to help haul our bags the half-mile over rutted paths made muddy from the previous day’s rains. Their bare-bones concrete center is overtopped and surrounded by an Israeli-flagged settlement compound patrolled by Israeli soldiers.
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