West Bank Story
Over the past three years, attention has been focused on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran and somewhat on Syria and Yemen. Little attention has been focused on the West Bank. While no one in the Israeli government planned this situation, the cover of war has been a bonus for those elements of the current Israeli regime which sees its mission to make sure that area C, the 65% of the of the West Bank under Israeli military and civil administration, is vacant of Palestinians and ultimately annexed. Annexation, however, is not some distant goal to be achieved at the right moment when all the stars are aligned, annexation is happening daily. Some data from 2025 gathered by Peace Now:
- 86 new outposts established
- 54 new official settlements approved by the government
- Almost 30,000 new housing units were approved by the Israeli Higher Planning Council
www.peacenow.org.il/en/summary-of-2025-in-settlements
Even more disturbing has been the ongoing violence against Palestinians from Jewish settlers. The United Nations for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported that in 2025, there were 1,800 settler attacks that resulted in casualties or property damage to Palestinians in about 280 communities across the West Bank. Settler violence resulted in at least 9 Palestinian deaths, but the cause of another 6 deaths is uncertain. https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-352-west-bank
In many cases, Israeli security forces are not present or are present but do not intervene. According to Yesh Din-Volunteers for Human Rights, an Israeli human rights organization, over 90% of investigations into crimes by Jewish settlers against Palestinians end without an indictment. https://www.yesh-din.org/en/data-sheet-law-enforcement-on-israeli-civilians-in-the-west-bank-settler-violence-2005-2025/
Between January and December 2025, despite the large number of settler attacks on Palestinians, I only found a record of 7 arrests of Jewish settlers. In fact, following an attack in Jinba, West Bank, by Jewish Settlers on Palestinians, 22 Palestinians were arrested, but no Israeli settlers were arrested.
It should be noted that violence goes in both directions and that during this same period, Palestinians killed 17 Israelis, including one child and six members of the IDF in the West Bank. In addition, Palestinians from the West Bank killed three Israelis inside of Israel (OCHA).
These statistics are horrific and indicate a complete lack of morality and respect for human rights, and an abandonment of any pretense that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is anything other than an attempt to displace the Palestinian people.
Some may distrust such statistics coming from leftwing Israeli organizations or biased international organizations. I have many friends and colleagues who have spent time volunteering in “protective presence” programs. Brave Israelis and internationals have been willing to stand alongside Palestinians during olive harvests, and shepherding activities, sleeping in villages, while witnessing and recording settler violence. I have heard and read firsthand their frightening stories, of Jewish terror and I do not doubt their accuracy.
Over the past few months, I have been working on an EU funded project to introduce an off-grid solar powered mobile wastewater treatment and reuse plant (WWTP) in a Palestinian agricultural village. Untreated wastewater from a major Palestinian municipality runs in a stream through a small Palestinian village in the Jordan Valley in area C (the area under Israeli military and civilian control). Our project’s goal is to demonstrate that the untreated wastewater which currently pollutes ground water, is a major health hazard and ends up in the Jordan River, can be treated and reused safely in agriculture. If the pilot works, this off-grid system could be scaled and replicated to solve many similar environmental hazards throughout the West Bank. To implement the project, our Palestinian partner, Damour for Community Development, engaged the head of the Local Farmers Association; essentially the mayor of the village with a population of about 1,000. The villagers all grow vegetables in plastic-covered green houses and have small olive and citrus orchards. The vegetables are sold together and sent to markets in West Bank cities but the primary market for the crops from the village is Tel Aviv.
Though the WWTP is mobile, can unload off a truck, and be installed in a single day, a certain amount of infrastructure must be built prior to installation: 2 buried settling tanks, a concrete platform, pumps, and pipes. We began the project at the beginning of March, in the middle of Ramadan. Among the many challenges we faced due to Israeli restrictions of movement and building placed on the Palestinian residents of the West Bank, we also had to deal with the fact that the Palestinian contractors were mostly fasting during the day. The infrastructure work, therefore, had to take place at night.
I arrived in the village one afternoon during the infrastructure construction to see how the project was progressing and to meet with our Palestinian partner and the head of the Local Farmers Association, Khaled (I am not using his real name), on whose land the pilot is being installed. Khaled and my partner from Damour greeted me warmly and proudly showed me the progress on the infrastructure and the farmer’s green houses. We also walked over to the sewage stream flowing through the village. My original intention had just been to stop by for a short visit on my way home to Ketura from a day in the Galil on another project. I arrived around 4:30 in the afternoon. By the time we were finished touring the project, the sun was setting and it was time for “Iftar”, the evening meal served at sunset to break the fast during the month of Ramadan. It soon became clear that I was not going anywhere soon, as the coffee was poured and the table was set. I was introduced to Khaled’s son, and to the infrastructure contractor, Mahmood (once again, not his real name) and his team of workers. I had been in contact with Mahmood over email and the phone, so it was nice to put a name to a face. Khaled’s son began to bring the dishes of food. I saw no women present, but I am sure that it was Khaled’s wife or daughters who were producing the sumptuous dishes from some unseen kitchen. The main course was Maqluba, one of my favorite Palestinian dishes of rice, vegetables, and chicken (other meats are also used), served with yogurt on the side. The dish is cooked as a stew and then turned upside down onto a large plate. It was a very filling meal followed by more coffee and special Ramadan sweets from Nablus.
Over coffee, we talked about the war, the occupation, and the politics in Ramallah. Khaled also told me about the many incidents of settler violence his village had experienced including both physical attacks on residents as well as vandalism damaging property. The village is surrounded by Jewish settlements and IDF bases. As I was about to leave, Khaled told his son to go out and get me some vegetables to take with me. His son returned with an enormous bag of cucumbers and tomatoes. About two weeks later, I returned to the village to see the installed and operating WWTP churning out treated water used to irrigate a citrus orchard. Unfortunately, it was still Ramadan, and I came mid-day so no sumptuous feast but still a warm welcome.
I do not see how dispossessing these peaceful Palestinians of their land and homes in this picturesque agrarian village in the Jordan Valley will serve the interest of the State of Israel. These people supply Palestinians and Israelis with fresh healthy local fruits and vegetables and welcome an Israeli Jew during their holy fast day in the middle of a war. I do not know how this West Bank Story will end but I am sure it will not end with a winner and a loser. It will end with either everyone losing or everyone winning, and not by chance, but by choice.
