17 Cheshvan 5787October 28, 2026Dear Chaverim,“You are here to resist isolation and desolation.”
This is our first call to action from our partners here in the occupied West Bank, just south of Nablus, during the olive harvest. It is our purpose that we are to come back to each day for the next two weeks. I am here with a group from Rabbis for Ceasefire and the Center for Jewish Non-Violence providing protective presence and solidarity during the annual olive harvest.
I am so deeply humbled to be here in this moment of increased violence and repression against Palestinians and their access to their ancestral lands. In October alone, there have been a reported 482 incidents of violence targeting the olive harvest, which is crucial for the economy of the Palestinian farmers. Two days before we arrived in this village, settlers descended from the ridge and attacked the olive groves and farmers. As a result, the army has been in the village ever since, arresting Palestinian community members and keeping the area on lockdown. There are reports that those arrested have been interrogated and beaten, and that several homes have been taken over by the army. This is collective punishment on the village while the violent settlers are allowed to roam free and continue their campaign of ethnic cleansing.
While there are those who shrug off this violence as coming from individual militarized settlers, we know that they are acting as an extension of the Israeli government and occupying forces. They move freely and arm themselves heavily with blessings and support from the state. It is a strategy of the state to paint the settlers as out of control villains while the military increases collective punishment, mass home demolitions, and deportations across Hebron.
At the same time, Israeli citizens are flying home from all over the world to vote in this week’s election. Our flights were full of people with dual citizenship, flying in for three days to vote, then retreat back to their comfort abroad. They will not see the consequences of the vote, but Palestinians will face the same repression and state power until the apartheid system is taken apart.
Those of us here as internationals are merely accomplices in the struggle for freedom of movement, safety, and autonomy. The families who have tended to and survived off this land for decades deserve so much more than that. I am here representing Tzedek Chicago, an honor I do not take lightly, as a synagogue that requires us to live out the politics we hold as our deepest values. This delegation is a practical manifestation of our commitment to dismantle Jewish supremacy. We must commit to do what is needed to expand Palestinian autonomy, and uproot the systems that produce their oppression. That is both our ethical work and our spiritual work.
If you would like to stay updated on our delegation, please follow @rabbisforceasefire on Instagram for dispatches from the harvest.
With deepest solidarity and love,
Sasha