After Decades of Resistance, a West Bank Village Faces Israeli Demolition Orders

This article was originally published on Waging Nonviolence .

In the hills of Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank, a small Bedouin community in the village of Umm al-Khair has fought for decades to remain on their land, a rocky landscape dotted with olive trees, where they farm and raise livestock. As a community with a steadfast commitment to nonviolent struggle, they document and fight back against increasing settler violence and land annexation for the illegal Israeli settlement expansion that surrounds their homes.

In an attack on Oct. 28, the community of 300 people was raided by the Israeli occupation forces and handed a series of final demolition orders for 11 residential homes, a community center, a playground and a greenhouse. Since 2007, Israeli settlers and the milit