Aug 1, 2025
This Sunday I hosted the monthly meeting of the Green Olive Solidarity Network with my dear friend Awdah Hathaleen from Umm Il-Kheir. I didn’t know then that joining would be one of his final acts in this world.
Listen to the last message of solidarity, steadfastness, and coresistance Awdah shared with us on the last day of his life.
He was shot dead by a settler the next day while defending his community. On Tuesday as mourners gathered to pray and grieve his death, soldiers arrived en masse to disrupt the proceedings, declared the village a closed military zone, and forcibly dispersed us.
Awdah was an essential coordinate in a constellation of coresistance communities and one of my dearest friends. His creativity, mirth, humour, and undying love for his friends and his community were guide posts for many of us in the work of building solidarity and a vision of justice.
He was also a central point of contact for the Green Olive Collective in Masafer Yatta and speerheaded a project with us to rehabilitate a honey bee farm in Umm Il-Kheir in April. Last week he called bursting with excitement to let me know that the first batch of honey from the bee farm we built together had been harvested.
We will continue with others in Umm Il-Kheir to rehabiliate the honey farm, replant the olive trees settlers destroyed this week, and carry on the projects Awdah stewarded and the justice community he built. But the honey will be less sweet and these next days more bitter even as we cherish the memory and carry on the legacy of our dear friend, colleague, teacher, and coresister Awdah Hathaleen.
Watch the full recording of our meeting with Awdah.
In solidarity,
Erez Bleicher
Advocacy and Membership Director
Green Olive Collective
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