UK activist detained and deported while helping Palestinian olive harvest - Assalamu alaykum
Assalamu alaykum. A volunteer from the UK says he was detained while helping Palestinian families with the olive harvest in the occupied West Bank and then deported in what he describes as a calculated move by Israeli authorities.
Rudy Schulkind, 30, was among 31 foreign volunteers picking olives in the village of Burin, near Nablus, on October 16 when he was taken into custody. He travelled to Palestine to assist farmers during a time of increased attacks by settlers on Palestinian harvesters.
Rudy says he was held for 72 hours in harsh and degrading conditions before being put on a plane and deported. He describes prison cells infested with bed bugs and cockroaches, poor hygiene, verbally abusive guards, and some volunteers being denied essential medication for days.
The volunteers came from several countries and were arrested after Israeli forces declared the harvesting area a military zone. Rudy says this is a familiar tactic used to restrict Palestinians’ access to their land.
He also reports that during interrogations some activists were accused falsely - of illegally entering the West Bank, of being violent, or of refusing to leave a military zone, without being given a fair chance to comply.
Human rights groups say the military orders appear aimed at stopping foreign volunteers from supporting Palestinian farmers during the olive season. The deportations happened as settler violence against Palestinians has risen during this year’s harvest.
Since the Gaza war began in October 2023, Palestinians in the West Bank have faced more attacks from settlers and troops, and the UN says there has been a sharp increase this year in assaults on olive farmers - including beatings, theft of crops and tools, and damage to trees.
A widely shared video showed a masked settler beating a 55-year-old Palestinian woman who was harvesting olives, an attack that sparked outrage. Officials at the UN and local resistance groups describe the current season as among the most dangerous in decades, with many incidents of physical assault, gunfire, arrests, movement restrictions and intimidation.
Local activists warn that declaring agricultural land as closed military zones is being used to disconnect Palestinians from their land and to facilitate settlement expansion. Observers note that recent political moves toward applying Israeli law to parts of the West Bank have raised fears of further dispossession.
May Allah protect the farmers and those trying to help them, and may justice and peace come to the region. Please keep the families affected by these events in your prayers.
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