Flanked by peace activists with smartphones, members of a displaced Palestinian family marched onto land occupied by armed Israeli settlers, chanting “Out! Out!” while broadcasting the confrontation live on Instagram.
After being turned away by Israeli security forces, they retreated to their makeshift base: a fast-growing tent camp for the family’s supporters – the Kisiyas – which has thrown a spotlight on their plight amid increasing settler attacks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Parallel to the war in the Gaza Strip, violence in the West Bank has also increased. Since the Hamas attack on October 7, at least 640 Palestinians have been killed there by Israeli troops and settlers, according to a count by the AFP news agency based on data from the Palestinian Health Ministry.
According to Israeli authorities, at least 19 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period.
But weeks of demonstrations outside the tent near the Kisiyas’ home in Beit Jala, south of Jerusalem, have brought attention to their cause and attracted anti-settlement activists, politicians, rabbis and Palestinians from other communities facing similar attacks.
Daily gatherings include meals, prayers, communal singing and classes on non-violent resistance. Usually, a caravan follows to the disputed site to demand that the settlers leave.
In one such encounter on Thursday, members of the Kisiya family grabbed whatever they could get their hands on — mattresses, electrical cables, fruit from a pomegranate tree — while activists tried to tear down fences erected by settlers.
It is a kind of expression of solidarity that was once common again, but had become extremely rare during the war, the organizers said.
“We will stay here until we get our land back,” 30-year-old Alice Kisiya told AFP.
The settlers “took advantage of the war. They thought it would end quietly, but it did not.”
– “An example we want to show the world” –
Some details from the history of the Kisiyas have helped to make it a battle cry.
They are one of the few Christian families in the area and the land’s stepped agricultural terraces lie in one of the few accessible green spaces.
But Knesset member Aida Touma-Suleiman told AFP that while the mobilization was unusual in their struggle, the challenges facing the Kisiyas were commonplace.
“I wish we could support every family in this way, but maybe this can be an example to show the world what is happening,” she said.
Earlier this month, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the approval of a new settlement in the same area of the Kisiya camp, which the United Nations says would encroach on the UNESCO World Heritage site of Battir.
The news sparked an international outcry, with Washington and the United Nations declaring that the settlement, known as Nahal Heletz, would threaten the viability of a Palestinian state.
All Israeli settlements in the West Bank occupied since 1967 are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have an Israeli building permit or not.
The Kisiyas have been threatened by settlement activities for years and in 2019 the civil administration demolished the family’s house and restaurant.
The latest clash occurred on July 31, when settlers from a nearby outpost, accompanied by soldiers, “raided the land and attacked members of the Kisiya family and activists, attempting to force them to leave the area,” according to Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now.
– ‘Is it dangerous?’ –
A little over a week later, the Kisiyas joined forces with activists to set up the camp, but it got off to a slow start.
“I wish there had been a camera when we started. We were just sitting on chairs, there was nothing here. And we were discussing something like, ‘What are we doing here?'” said Palestinian activist Mai Shahin of Combatants for Peace.
“The first week was really hard because people called and said, ‘What do you think, is this dangerous?'”
As it grows, Palestinians from other countries see the camp as a safe place.
“It is a great trauma for me to wear my own keffiyeh (headscarf) and display my identity for everyone to see,” says Amira Mohammed, 25, from Jerusalem.
In the camp, “we could actually be ourselves, wear our keffiyehs and sing our songs in our language with our Israeli colleagues.”
But some activists point out that despite the energy in the camp, the current Israeli government appears to be intent on expanding settlement activity.
“No anti-Israel and anti-Zionist decision will stop the development of the settlements,” Smotrich, who himself lives in a settlement, posted on X this month.
“We will continue to fight against the dangerous project of creating a Palestinian state by creating facts on the ground.”
Activist Talya Hirsch said such statements left her with “no hope for this country” and “no vision of a better future.”
She added: “But I will not leave this place. I have no hope, but a strong sense of responsibility.”
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