1/20
Imagine this: you and your family live on the land you’ve owned for decades - maybe even close to a century. You live a simple, peaceful life in a small village within a community of people you’ve known for as long as you can remember. #velshi
Imagine this: you and your family live on the land you’ve owned for decades - maybe even close to a century. You live a simple, peaceful life in a small village within a community of people you’ve known for as long as you can remember. #velshi
2/20
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a new group of people, build their own village right on your village’s land. Not like neighbors though - rather, they are intent on displacing and replacing you. #velshi
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a new group of people, build their own village right on your village’s land. Not like neighbors though - rather, they are intent on displacing and replacing you. #velshi
3/20
They build THEIR homes on YOUR land with the sanction of the government, and the protection of the military. Now, there is barbed wire where your sheep used to graze. #velshi
They build THEIR homes on YOUR land with the sanction of the government, and the protection of the military. Now, there is barbed wire where your sheep used to graze. #velshi
4/20
Now you live in the shadow, literally, of homes that look like they were transplanted from 21st century America to your rustic village. All while you and your fellow villagers lack basic necessities like land to grow food, water, and electricity. #velshi
Now you live in the shadow, literally, of homes that look like they were transplanted from 21st century America to your rustic village. All while you and your fellow villagers lack basic necessities like land to grow food, water, and electricity. #velshi
5/20
Still, you’d be one of the lucky ones, because your home - humble as it may be - remains standing. And for now, you are still allowed to live in it. Almost weekly, you watch government forces demolish houses, confiscate property, and arrest your neighbors. #velshi
Still, you’d be one of the lucky ones, because your home - humble as it may be - remains standing. And for now, you are still allowed to live in it. Almost weekly, you watch government forces demolish houses, confiscate property, and arrest your neighbors. #velshi
6/20
This is what is happening, right now, to Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank. And has been happening for years. The West Bank was occupied by the Israeli army during the 1967 war. #velshi
This is what is happening, right now, to Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank. And has been happening for years. The West Bank was occupied by the Israeli army during the 1967 war. #velshi
7/20
International law forbids countries from settling on lands that they occupy as a result of a conflict, if there is no treaty or agreement in place about the transfer of control of that land. #velshi
International law forbids countries from settling on lands that they occupy as a result of a conflict, if there is no treaty or agreement in place about the transfer of control of that land. #velshi
8/20
Israel disputes that interpretation of international law, and asserts its rights in the West Bank, actively promoting what the rest of the word sees as illegal settlements on land taken from Palestinians, often with the support of the United States. #velshi
Israel disputes that interpretation of international law, and asserts its rights in the West Bank, actively promoting what the rest of the word sees as illegal settlements on land taken from Palestinians, often with the support of the United States. #velshi
9/20
Palestinians in the Occupied Territories live under Israeli military rule – even in areas that are nominally under the political control of the Palestinian Authority & Israel continues to take what little Palestinian land is left under false pretenses every year. #velshi
Palestinians in the Occupied Territories live under Israeli military rule – even in areas that are nominally under the political control of the Palestinian Authority & Israel continues to take what little Palestinian land is left under false pretenses every year. #velshi
10/20
According to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, as of 2019, more than 688,000 Israeli settlers live in 150 settlements which are spread disruptively across the West Bank and East Jerusalem. #velshi
According to the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics, as of 2019, more than 688,000 Israeli settlers live in 150 settlements which are spread disruptively across the West Bank and East Jerusalem. #velshi
11/20
This is Al Haj Suleiman al-Hathaleen. Known locally in the South Hebron Hills as Haj Suleiman. He was a shepherd, and a well-known anti-occupation activist. Suleiman was a small man with no weapons. He resisted the occupation through civil disobedience. #velshi
This is Al Haj Suleiman al-Hathaleen. Known locally in the South Hebron Hills as Haj Suleiman. He was a shepherd, and a well-known anti-occupation activist. Suleiman was a small man with no weapons. He resisted the occupation through civil disobedience. #velshi
12/20
While Israeli bulldozers destroyed the homes in his neighborhood, he stood in peaceful defiance w/ a Palestinian flag and his shepherd’s staff. Two fellow activists from Suleiman’s village wrote in an article for 972 Magazine, “Haj Suleiman is… #velshi
While Israeli bulldozers destroyed the homes in his neighborhood, he stood in peaceful defiance w/ a Palestinian flag and his shepherd’s staff. Two fellow activists from Suleiman’s village wrote in an article for 972 Magazine, “Haj Suleiman is… #velshi
13/20
"…an anti-occupation activist in his late 60s, who we've known our whole lives. Every time we go to his house in Umm al-Khair, he greets us with a cup of tea and a smile. Everyone in the South Hebron Hills knows him well, especially the Israeli occupation soldiers.”#velshi
"…an anti-occupation activist in his late 60s, who we've known our whole lives. Every time we go to his house in Umm al-Khair, he greets us with a cup of tea and a smile. Everyone in the South Hebron Hills knows him well, especially the Israeli occupation soldiers.”#velshi
14/20
I met Haj Suleiman on my last trip to Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank at the end of 2019. In this photo, we are standing in front of his village’s communal bread oven. Just feet away, an Israeli settlement encroaches on their livelihood. #velshi
I met Haj Suleiman on my last trip to Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank at the end of 2019. In this photo, we are standing in front of his village’s communal bread oven. Just feet away, an Israeli settlement encroaches on their livelihood. #velshi
15/20
The new Israelis settlers didn’t appreciate the smoke that wafted from the bread oven into their settlement next door. So, they sent the authorities to demolish one of the only food sources in the village. #velshi
The new Israelis settlers didn’t appreciate the smoke that wafted from the bread oven into their settlement next door. So, they sent the authorities to demolish one of the only food sources in the village. #velshi
16/20
Israeli soldiers literally destroyed a bread oven to satisfy illegal settlers. The harassment continued – the goal was, and always is, to get Palestinians to leave the land, allowing more Israeli settlers to populate it. And it came to a head days ago. #velshi
Israeli soldiers literally destroyed a bread oven to satisfy illegal settlers. The harassment continued – the goal was, and always is, to get Palestinians to leave the land, allowing more Israeli settlers to populate it. And it came to a head days ago. #velshi
17/20
On Jan. 5th, Israeli forces entered Suleiman’s village of Umm Al-Khair & began confiscating unregistered Palestinian cars. Suleiman did what he'd done for decades: he peacefully resisted. Then he was run over by an Israeli tow truck, under contract to Israeli police.#velshi
On Jan. 5th, Israeli forces entered Suleiman’s village of Umm Al-Khair & began confiscating unregistered Palestinian cars. Suleiman did what he'd done for decades: he peacefully resisted. Then he was run over by an Israeli tow truck, under contract to Israeli police.#velshi
18/20
Haj Suleiman was on the ground, battered and bleeding. Israeli officials say Suleiman charged at the truck. Witnesses, and there were many of them, say otherwise. But what happened next was the real tragedy. #velshi
Haj Suleiman was on the ground, battered and bleeding. Israeli officials say Suleiman charged at the truck. Witnesses, and there were many of them, say otherwise. But what happened next was the real tragedy. #velshi
19/20
Witnesses say the tow truck driver & their police escort simply fled the village. They did not render aid to Haj Suleiman. They did not even call for an ambulance. The protestor Al Haj Suleiman al-Hathaleen never emerged from his coma & died of injuries this week. #velshi
Witnesses say the tow truck driver & their police escort simply fled the village. They did not render aid to Haj Suleiman. They did not even call for an ambulance. The protestor Al Haj Suleiman al-Hathaleen never emerged from his coma & died of injuries this week. #velshi
20/20
Suleiman was a man w/ little to his name, except for his land, his village, & his ability to stand up to an illegal occupation. He was a thorn in the side of the Israeli occupation, because he'd become a symbol of resistance, and an emblem of the Israeli occupation. #velshi
Suleiman was a man w/ little to his name, except for his land, his village, & his ability to stand up to an illegal occupation. He was a thorn in the side of the Israeli occupation, because he'd become a symbol of resistance, and an emblem of the Israeli occupation. #velshi
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