Freedom Advocacy Network

On April 1, 2026, we hosted Issa Amro, live from West Bank. Long time Freedom Advocacy Network member and supporter, Karina Q, who also has also presented on two different topics, has kindly brought us our next three guest speakers after her visit to the West Bank a few months ago.

Agenda: Annexation of the West Bank, Hebron city as a case study.

About the organization: Working for Peace and Justice: Friends of Hebron focuses specifically on the Palestinian community in Hebron and supports the nonviolent resistance taking place on the ground there. It provides hope and support for the community living under some of the most difficult conditions of occupation. Working for Peace and Justice, Inc. is a 501(c)3-registered nonprofit in the United States. Donations are tax-exempt (EIN: 82-1109691).

Notes:

• Living in West Bank itself, existence is resistance
• Israeli occupation works day and night to evict people
• They are not evicting people physically, but, constantly being harassed by Israelis and made feel unsafe
• Palestinians are not allowed violent or non-violent resistance
• Settlers steal everything – houses, cattle, etc. – Palestinians are not allowed to defend themselves
• Palestinians even just making video of their properties being destroyed are harassed and policed and killed routinely
• Majority of Israeli soldiers are settlers too
• Palestinians don’t feel safe in their own houses
• Many people lack basic services – electricity, water, gas, roads, internet – Israeli policies deliberately make policies to make life difficult
• Palestinians themselves are not allowed to have other Palestinian visitors
• They have no privacy – “living in a high tech lab” with biometrics – Issa’s own parents and siblings and friends are not allowed to visit him
• In Hebron city alone, it’s divided into 17 sections
• Drones would come into Issa’s own backyard – from IDF terrorists and settler terrorists
• Palestinians are not allowed to have any national identity – majority of Palestinians are not allowed – Issa gets away with is because of his relative fame and connections in the West
• Hebron is a prime example of annexation and apartheid
• Israeli settlers get completely different standards life than Palestinians living right next to them across the fence/road
• The Israeli terrorist that committed the Ibrahimi mosque massacre are now part of the Israeli governments and making Israeli laws
• Import and Export is almost impossible
• Not allowed to generate electricity – and not allowed to dig for water – doesn’t allow Palestinians to even control their own telecom – they even control “how many cows we can import” – the occupation is making their life harder and harder – they force Palestinians buy water, electricity and internet from Israel – and limit each of those severely
• They changed names of the streets from Palestinian names to Hebrew names
• There are few hundred settlers amongst more than 200,000 Palestinians – The Israeli government is making a law that all zoning will be in the control of the Israelis – this is an extension of ongoing ethnic cleansing – apartheid and annexation without any rights
• Can’t even choose the mayor of his own region – few hundred settlers control everything
• Israel is applying the “Hebron” model to other cities, towns and villages – and the checkpoints have incrased significantly since Oct 7, 2023
• Palestinians are intentionally completely divided from each other
• Violent Settlers are considered heroes in the Israeli society
• Palestinians are living under “military law”
• Israel controls everything – food, movement, internet, everything
• Youth Against Settlements – direct actions – protest, rallies, etc. Ahmed and his org teaches Palestinians to resist peacefully
  • E.g. giving families cameras since 2016 cameras to document Israeli war crimes
  • Open to tours for international friends
  • If anyone has any doubts about apartheid, “come to Hebron and we are happy to give you a tours”
  • Do “olive harvest campaign”
  • They try to make life more bearable by doing community activities, like movies, art, and other forms of non-violent resistance
  • Train people how to do story telling – how to talk to local and international media
  • Sumud, steadfastness, 
  • Requesting that people all over the globe continue to visit them
• Palestinian Authority
  • They have no authority
  • They have no elections
• “Is there an org that organizes the trips to Hebron?” – there are many organizations –
  • Breaking the Silence
  • Friends of Hebron
  • Sabil – Christian group – that does tours for Christians in Palestine and Israel
• “do you interact with the settlers and their families in normal life like shopping in the same grocery stores?”
  • They don’t interact at all – even when Ahmed says “Shabat Shalom”, they respond with vile evil responses
  • These Jews don’t follow basic tenets of Judaism – they terrorize, they steal, they burn, they are war criminals
• “Are bombs from Iran falling in West Bank”
  • The Israeli occupation deliberately tries to intercept missiles in West Bank sky
  • It’s not our war – it’s the war of the Israeli greedy government – they are wild and they want to live in wars
  • We are sure this war will not bring peace to anybody
  • 4 women were killed by falling intercepted missiles
  • Because of the war the prices of everything has increased significantly – 70-80% unemployment now
  • We support food packages, education for kids, tuition fees, training centres
• “Q: in the West, when we protest against US-backed Israeli ethnic cleansing in Palestine, we  routinely get accused of “antisemitism”. Out of curiosity, do those who make your life so unbelievably challenging also accuse you, their victims, of the same thing?”
  • We are against any type of racism – Islamophobia, antisemitism
  • They try to shut of your voices – but despite that many Jews are speaking up against Israel – and they are called self-hating Jews
  • Israelis on the other hand regularly befriend real antisemites – Epstein files are the proof of that
  • They call us terrorist even when we engage in non-violent resistance
  • “We love the Jews, we love the Christians… every human being should be protected – and is part of the movement”
  • “Human beings are more important than states… human beings should not be slaves to the state”
• People around the world speaking up help give hope to the Palestinians
  • “We need to make the Occupation costly”
  • There are many donors that support settler violence – for example Hebron settlers are funded by New York based “Hebron Funds” – Many other similar organization exists
• “What do you feel that international orgs should be doing?”
  • Be united in your activism
  • Continue with the same passion – don’t stop – don’t slow down
  • Israeli settlers and have increased attacks since the Oct 7 and even more since Iran war
  • Keep it up – the movement is changing public opinion – keep this level of activism up – be proactive
  • We are winning the public opinion –  we are on the right path – but now it needs to changed to Political reality
  • For Americans especially, it’s easy to come to West Bank