Confronting violent settlers in the occupied West Bank, together

Like every morning, there was tension.

It crackled in the air like static. So much was happening lately that only a fool would walk into the hills and not be on their guard.

The sun was already high, pulsing heat across the stillness of the land. There was the sound of the animals’ bells, men and boys whistling to call in the dogs.

High on the hill opposite was the Jewish settlement of Rotem. Close by was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) post. There to protect the settlers.

Anybody looking down would see the gathering at Ahmad Daraghme’s home: the Palestinian shepherd; the Israeli activists who support him; the foreign journalists with their camera.

Chatting to Ahmad was a 71-year-old Jewish man who regularly accompanies the shepherd into the hills, in spite of violence and harassment.

A man who, I sense, is not going to back down from any fight he believes to be righteous. “When I am convinced that my positions are true, I am ready to fight for my beliefs. Call it stubborn? All right,” says Gil Alexander.

He belongs to the Jordan Valley Activists, a group of Israelis committed to protecting Palestinians. They accompany shepherds to and from the grazing lands.

Maybe the settlers would appear around al-Farisiyah this morning, maybe not. The harassment was more frequent since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping 251.

Settler violence that had been going on for years in the West Bank was escalating sharply, aimed, the Palestinians believe, at driving them off the land.

According to OCHA – the UN office for Humanitarian Affairs – there have been more than 1,000 attacks by settlers against Palestinians since October, external, with at least 1,390 people – including 660 children – displaced.