Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian nonviolent activist and journalist, was killed Wednesday. He was shot dead during an Israeli settler attack on the village of Umm al-Khair, in the southern Hebron hills. Hathaleen, known for his contributions to the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” was very sadly caught in the crossfire of a bullet. He had been standing some way off, observing or documenting the confrontation. His tragic death sparked a wave of international outrage and anger and shed further light on the continued violence that Palestinians are facing throughout the region.
The incident occurred as Hathaleen was in Umm al-Khair to raise funds for a summer camp aimed at providing Palestinian children with a semblance of childhood amidst conflict. Literally days before his assassination, he sent a message in which he called for people to take greater action to stop the settler encroachment of his village. “The settlers are working behind our houses and … they tried to cut the main water pipe for the community … If you can reach people like the Congress, courts, whatever, please do everything,” he stated, highlighting the dire situation faced by residents.
Hathaleen’s killing points to the growing dangers in the area. This is especially dire in the case of Masafer Yatta, where Israel has recently declared a live-fire military zone. Eyewitness accounts paint a picture of an unprovoked, targeted attack.
Basel Adra, a friend of Hathaleen, expressed his grief over the loss: “My dear friend Awdah was slaughtered this evening. He was standing in front of the community centre in his village when a settler fired a bullet that pierced his chest and took his life. This is how Israel erases us – one life at a time.”
The Israeli police have since arrested one suspect, Yinon Levi, to be questioned over Hathaleen’s murder. Accountability for settler violence against Palestinians has a long history of being almost nonexistent.
Hathaleen just went through an ordeal at the San Francisco International Airport. He and his cousin Eid al-Hathaleen were invited, but they were denied entry to the United States. When they arrived to start the talks that were scheduled, their visas had been cancelled. These discussions, organized by interfaith groups, were meant to shine a light on the plight back home. San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood denounced the decision. Awdah was trying to come to San Francisco to help build cross-cultural bridges and share a message of peace. He had come to raise summer camp funds to help give Palestinian children experiencing the unthinkable a semblance of a childhood back home. Instead, he was denied entry at SFO. Whatever the legal meritorium of the lawsuit, this is an absolute tragedy that needs to be condemned.
Through her activism, Hathaleen aimed to follow her son’s legacy of raising awareness for the plight of Palestinians, particularly children impacted by war and violence. He had previously expressed the psychological impact of military actions on his community: “The demolition forces enter the village. All the children run to their mothers, who scramble to salvage whatever they can from their homes before it’s too late. Everyone watches on anxiously to see who will be made homeless today.”
This recent attack on Hathaleen has ignited another round of debate about settler violence. This issue, albeit less known, has dire consequences for Palestinian communities in the West Bank. As the constant fear of harassment, violence, and murder casts a dark shadow on their lives, local demands for international attention and intervention have risen sharply.