Campaign: Protect Palestinian Homes

Al Aqaba and Masafer Yatta

 

It Takes a World to Save a Village

 
 

Two areas in the West Bank are facing threat to their very existence—Al Aqaba Village and Masafer Yatta. They ask your help to keep their homes standing.

Learn More: Timeline for the Villages

Take Action: Write to your member of Congress now to protect Palestinian homes in Al Aqaba and Masafer Yatta.

EMAIL CONGRESS NOW
 

Problem

  • Al Aqaba is a model of what a village in the West Bank can be without  the threat of demolition looming over it. Formerly used as a training ground by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the village was the site of dangerous live-fire drills for many years. Eight villagers were killed in such drills and 36 wounded, including the late mayor Hajj Sami Sadiq. Sami led a struggle to obtain a master plan for the village, which would enable them to issue their own building permits and keep the IDF from training there. This was finally granted, due in part to Congressional intervention. Now, however, the IDF threatens to resume training in the area, and has issued two demolition orders against buildings within the Master Plan. Residents fear that these demolitions will be the start of further demolitions against buildings in the village.

  • Masafer Yatta is located in the South Hebron Hills in Area C of the West Bank. In the 1980s, the Israeli authorities designated most of the area, comprising privately-owned Palestinian agricultural land, as a closed military zone known as "Firing Zone 918". Since then, the local Palestinian villagers have been at risk of forced eviction, demolition, and forced displacement. After a long legal battle, on May 4th, 2022, the Israeli High Court in its final ruling, stated that the area is a Firing Zone and a closed military area placing all the residents at risk of eviction.

Approach

  • Write to your Senators and Representative to contact the US State Department and Israeli Embassy on your behalf and express concern.

  • Fuelled by constituent letters & phone calls, Rebuilding Alliance arranges briefings about evictions, demolitions, settler violence, and more to inform American elected & diplomatic officials.

  • Constituents can also lead their own briefings directly with their Members of Congress.

Benefit

  • Constituents emails and call to your Senators and Representative have proven to be effective in other interventions, including the prevention of Palestinian school, home, and neighborhood demolitions. We believe this can be effective here as well.