Yahav Zohar - Settlement Peace Activist Volunteer

Citizen Paul and Yahav on balcony over-looking Israeli settlement

During our trip, we met Yahav Zohar, an Israeli who has worked as a journalist and translator but also commits at least one day a week to volunteering his time to work toward a just peace –– to end the Israeli occupation. Yahav was the official guide for the anti-demolition group The Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD), an organization that opposes the demolition of Palestinian homes and unjust tactics taken by the military and housing authority in demolishing homes and granting permits, or simple access to and from Palestine.

On the day we met, we had attended a presentation by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territory. We were briefed on the humanitarian crisis and consequences that need to be addressed:

Lack of protection for civilians and continuing violence
Closure, movement restrictions and lack of access
Political geographical and institutional fragmentation
High Food Insecurity
Continuous Decline in the Economy and Socio-Economic Conditions
Agricultural Livelihoods Threatened
Health-Care Quality Deteriorating; Mental-Health-Disorder Symptoms on Rise
Access to Quality Water and Sanitation Problematic
Basic education standards Deteriorating
Palestinian Civilians at Risk and in Need of Protection
Children Exposed to Violence and Rights Violations on a Daily Basis
Increased Humanitarian Coordination Needed
Gender-Based Impact of the Crisis

Following the meeting, Zohar took us to some key areas where Israelis have demolished Palestinian homes and expropriated land to build new Jewish-only settlements. Despite announced agreements otherwise, this practice continues to make the prospect of a two-state solution less possible.