Driven by faith, activists stand up to fellow Jews to protect Palestinians

Jannatah, a Palestinian territory, witnessed an incident on September 2 when 32 Israeli activists, predominantly religious Jews, traveled to the West Bank to defend Palestinians from violent settlers. Ziva Sharp, one of the activists, explained that her Jewish faith motivated her to join the effort, driven by the belief in humanistic Judaism rooted in compassion and justice as per religious texts.

The activists' mission was to build a protective fence around the Faraj family's home, which had been encroached upon by settlers. In March, Faraj's brother, Mohammed, was killed during clashes with settlers, and several relatives were wounded. The activists faced retaliation, including car vandalism and attacks by settler reinforcements.

These settlers, part of the extremist Hilltop Youth movement, dismantle and rebuild their outposts repeatedly, often with Israeli authorities' acquiescence. The conflict has intensified since the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, leading to increased violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers. The activists come from diverse religious backgrounds, including Bnei Avraham, a movement founded by religious Jews to confront injustices against Palestinians, which puts them at odds with more conservative religious Zionists.