On Thursday Mar 31, 2022 a large Israeli force entered the tiny village of A Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. They were confiscating a legally registered tractor parked in the privately owned yard of the Raba’i family. A simple machine used by the villagers to traverse the rocky terrain. Mufaddi Raba’i, a 72 year old village elder, protested the confiscation nonviolently with other elders, women, and children.

Raba’i was restrained, thrown to the ground, and beaten in order to facilitate the confiscation. He was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital. The tractor was confiscated, and will be impounded for weeks until the family can pay the enormous fines to reclaim it. It’s an economic punishment that the village can barely sustain.

We ask – what is the purpose and what is the cost? What can Israel gain by confiscating a tractor, and what price must a 72 year old man pay?

Please watch this video. Please re-tweet or share it on Facebook.

Israeli occupation forces confiscated a Palestinian tractor and beaten the farmer in the South Hebron Hills today. Targeting Palestinian agricultural tools belonging to poor framing communities is part of an ongoing effort to remove them from their lands. #SaveMasaferYatta pic.twitter.com/pE1vaGMVF4

— South Hebron Hills Watch (@SoHebronWatch) April 1, 2022

South Hebron Hills Watch is a group of Israeli American volunteers who forged a strong connection with Palestinian residents of the South Hebron Hills and Jewish activists who are providing witness and physical support to these communities. We are not affiliated with any political party or organization but partner with like-minded people and organizations that support nonviolent activity on the ground and amplify the plight of these Palestinian families in the face of a broader effort to remove them from their lands. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.