Alice Kisiya blocks the path of Israeli soldiers and settlers (Beit Jala, 2 August 2024)
On July 31, radical Israeli settlers raided the Kisiya family’s property in Beit Jala, in the occupied West Bank. Protected by Israeli soldiers, the fundamentalists from the al-Makroor Valley seized 5,000 square meters of land owned by a Christian family. The Christian family had lived there for generations and had obtained the necessary documents from Israeli authorities proving that they were the legal owners. Video and photos of the attack quickly spread on social media. Alice fought off the machine-gun-armed attackers and called the Israeli police to stop the rampaging mobs. However, they arrested her brother Jad, who defended her against the attack. Since then, villagers, international activists, and supporters have gathered almost daily in peaceful protests to fight the settlers’ land grab. In late August, Michelle and Alice were arrested and held overnight after peacefully holding a sit-in on their respective lands. But the protests continue. “Our goal is to take back our homeland,” she said. Alice explained it to her on Friday. young world“And to show the world that the Jewish National Fund is stealing land from us Palestinians.”
The Al-Makhrour Valley, located in the southern West Bank near the city of Battir, is a place of great historical, cultural and agricultural importance to Palestinians. “It represents a deep connection to Palestinian heritage and identity,” says a brochure from the activist group Save Al-Makhrour. In particular, the area around the Al-Makhrour Valley was directly granted the status of Cultural Heritage in Danger by UNESCO in 2014, due to its terraced agricultural lands. The justification listed, among other things, the construction of a wall that would “separate farmers from the fields they have cultivated for centuries.” On August 14, Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister who also oversees the West Bank administration, announced that the government had approved the construction of a new illegal settlement called Nahal Heletz. The systematic expulsion of Palestinians and the simultaneous settlement by Israelis are further driving a wedge between Palestinian villages and those in the southern part of Jerusalem.
As settlement construction and land grabbing continue, agricultural uses and the livelihoods of many Palestinian families in the area are threatened. The fanatic settlers, led by the far-right Smotrich, often refer to religious scriptures to justify the settlement of Palestinian lands forced by state violence. But the expulsions, massacres, and attacks on state-protected settlers are not “a religious war,” explains daughter Alice. jWIt is about the “ethnic cleansing of the West Bank.” She and her family will continue to fight alongside locals, Palestinians, Israelis, and international activists, and are developing various resistance strategies. The family is working with lawyers to legally reverse the land seizure. To put the fight for al-Makroor on the international agenda, activists are organizing a global “interfaith solidarity prayer vigil” on July 29.
The Kishiya family is one of about 50,000 Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank. “Relations between Palestinian Christians and Muslims are very good,” explains daughter Alice. jW. People have lived in the same neighborhoods for generations. In addition to their common history, the various religious communities are also linked by the violence and injustice of the Israeli state, which ultimately does not discriminate between Palestinians based on religion. »Jews, Muslims, Christians all face the same problems. “We all face the same job, the same oppressors,” Alice said.
