PALESTINE - ISRAEL - JORDAN - SINAI

Off the beaten track tours • Visit sites • Meet locals • Discuss Human Rights & Politics

Escalating Settler Violence in Beit Sahour: A Call for Urgent Action

Jocelyn Qassis _ April 2026 In recent days, the areas of Harasa and Ush al-Ghurab in Beit Sahour have witnessed a disturbing surge in settler gang activity, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing violence against Palestinian communities. These acts of aggression, ranging from the destruction of agricultural livelihoods to direct attacks on homes, are […]

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Khallet Al-Nu’man: Daily Life Under Restriction and Settler Pressure

Jocelyn Qassis / April 2026 Khallet Al-Nu’man, a small Palestinian village located east of Bethlehem, has become increasingly isolated in recent years due to movement restrictions, lack of services, and repeated settler attacks. The village is home to around 150 residents, including approximately 40 children. Although it was annexed by Israel in 1967 into what […]

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Against the Approval of the Death Penalty Law: A Statement from the Green Olive Collective

– March 2026 – The Green Olive Collective strongly condemns the recent approval by the Israeli Knesset of legislation enabling the execution of Palestinian prisoners. This decision marks a dangerous and unprecedented escalation, not only in its legal implications but in what it represents: the normalization of state-sanctioned killing under the guise of law. It […]

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Fools of War: When Failure Becomes Strategy

Yahav Zohar / April 2026 This April fools’ day, more than a month into the American-Israeli attack on Iran, it is time to ask, who are the fools in this story?  Going into the war, we were told of two goals- to remove the oppressive Iranian regime and to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. A month […]

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Palm Sunday in Palestine: When Faith Meets Restriction

Jocelyn Qassis / March 2026 Palm Sunday arrives this year under a sky heavy with uncertainty. In a region shaped by ongoing tension, the familiar sounds of celebration church bells, hymns, and processions feel more subdued. What is usually a day of public joy is now unfolding quietly, shaped by restriction and absence. In Jerusalem, […]

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When Celebration Becomes Conflict: The Reality of Eid in Palestine

Yahav Zohar / March 2026 Last Friday and Saturday, at the new moon, Muslims celebrated the Eid al Fitr holiday. Traditionally, in Palestine this is a time to visit relatives, share meals and exchange gifts, but for many in the West Bank celebrations were marred by the threat of Iranian missiles and escalating settler violence. […]

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Forever war?

Yahav Zohar / March 2026 Sitting at my desk in Jerusalem, looking at the lovely spring outside, occasionally the windowpane shakes in its frame. High above interceptor missiles are exploding, trying to stop an Iranian missile heading toward Tel Aviv. Once every few hours the interceptions are particularly close and a siren goes off and […]

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Notes from another Unnecessary War – 2026

Yahav Zohar / March 2026 Israelis whose work is not considered “vital” were mostly at home for the first days of this war. Like the first days of the pandemic, it was a good time to tend one’s home and garden, clean out drawers and closets, and catch up on correspondence.  By now, day 11, […]

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No War With Iran: A Statement from the Green Olive Collective

As missiles, drones, rockets, ballistics, and counter-ballistics collide in the skies above us, we stand united against this war of aggression. Like all those living in the region or observing it with any attention, members of the Green Olive Collective know that bombing is not the way democracy, stability, justice, or collective freedom are built. […]

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Life Under Closure: The West Bank After October 2023, Intensification Within an Engineered System

by Jocelyn Qassis , March 2026 From Escalation to Entrenchment In the months following October 7, 2023, mobility across the West Bank tightened in ways that were immediately visible yet historically familiar. Entrances to Palestinian towns were sealed with earth mounds and metal gates. Flying checkpoints appeared without warning along major transport corridors linking northern […]

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Vanishing Villages: The Silent Redrawing of the West Bank

by Jocelyn Qassis – February 2026 – They did not leave all at once. They left slowly, until nothing was left. In conflicts shaped by headlines, numbers often blur into abstraction. Yet sometimes statistics point to something far more concrete: land that is no longer accessible, homes that no longer stand, and communities that no […]

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Ethical Tourism in the West Bank: Why Responsible Travel Matters in 2026

A Reality Beyond the Headlines At 5:30 in the morning, the bulldozers arrive before the sun. In parts of the occupied West Bank — from the rural hills of Masafer Yatta to the divided streets of the old city of Hebron — families wake not to alarm clocks, but to demolition orders and military patrols. […]

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