Israeli Forces Attack Progressive International Delegation

Dear Iqbal ,

Yesterday morning, Israeli armed forces attacked the Progressive International delegation as it deployed to Qusra, Palestine.
While accompanying the olive harvest, delegates were bombarded with tear gas and stun grenades by both settler armed forces and the Israeli army that accompanied them. “We are dealing with something as simple as harvesting olives,” said lead delegate and former mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau. “And even this has now been turned into an act of war by the illegal settlers and the army.”

For decades, the Palestinian olive harvest has been marred by violence. Settlers have long burnt entire olive groves to the ground, blocked Palestinians from accessing their land, cut off water access and attacked farmers. In 2023, at least 96,000 dunums of olive-cultivated lands across the Occupied West Bank were left unharvested due to this repression.

This year, amidst Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, this brutality has intensified. Less than two weeks before our delegation arrived in Palestine, UN experts demanded Israel stop violent settler attacks on Palestinian farmers that threaten their olive harvest. “If the olive trees knew the hands that planted them,” wrote Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, “their oil would become tears.”

In Qusra, our delegation witnessed exactly the kind of systematic violation of international law that they had travelled to Palestine to investigate. “In the West Bank it’s lawlessness,” said Mustafa Barghouti during a meeting with the delegation in Ramallah on Monday. “You have 700 checkpoints and the military can do whatever it likes to the people who pass through them. The settlers have been distributed over 100,000 weapons, and they work day and night to terrorize us: shoot, burn, kill, evict.” Yesterday, these weapons were turned on our delegation as they sought to document the crimes of apartheid.

Meanwhile, as our delegates visited the Balata Refugee camp, the Knesset voted to expel UNRWA from Israel. First hand, our delegates reported how the elimination of UNRWA will starve communities of food, medicine, and education – while Israel accelerates its war on the Palestinian people.

Today, the delegation continues, collecting evidence that will populate its dossier of findings on Israel’s systematic violation of international law. From site visits with local communities to high-level meetings with elected officials, the delegation aims to contribute to the Progressive International’s ongoing efforts to drive legal and diplomatic action toward a total embargo against Israel.

From Palestine, we want to express our gratitude to everyone who has so far supported the delegation with a donation toward its activities. Without your financial support, none of this would be possible. Our delegation would not have reached Palestine and Israel’s assault on the farmers of Qusra would have gone undocumented.

If you would like to join the growing community of donors who have made this delegation possible, we invite you to consider a small contribution today. All proceeds will go to cover the costs of the delegation and its subsequent work to compile, present, and promote its findings.

In solidarity,
Progressive International