In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP’s Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with journalists Basel Adraa and Yuval Abraham about the conditions of life in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills of the West Bank, and how things have changed – and gotten far worse – since the May 2022 Israeli Supreme Court decision that authorized the IDF to expel communities in Masafer Yatta. Basel and Yuval co-authored “The Destruction of This Palestinian Community Was Green-Lighted by Israel’s Supreme Court,” the cover article in last week’s The Nation magazine (July 10, 2023 edition). In the article, Basel and Yuval write “The mass expulsion of Masafer Yatta’s residents has not yet been carried out, but the lives of all the people of these villages have changed beyond recognition in the months since the ruling. Soldiers have begun detaining children at impromptu checkpoints they’ve erected in the middle of the desert under the cover of night; families watch as bulldozers raze their homes with increasing frequency; and, right next to the villages designated for expulsion and demolition, soldiers are already training with live fire, racing tanks, and detonating mines.” Their article is a joint project of The Nation, +972 Magazine, and Local Call/Sikha Mekomit.

Basel Adraa is an activist, journalist, and photographer from the village of a-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills.

Yuval Abraham is a journalist and activist based in Jerusalem.

Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP’s Director of Programs and Partnerships.

For more resources on Masafer Yatta:

• The cover article in The Nation’s July 10, 2023 edition: The Destruction of This Palestinian Community Was Green-Lighted by Israel’s Supreme Court
• On Basel’s arrest on Saturday, July 15, 2023: I was handcuffed and blindfolded for reporting on settler violence 
• Basel Adraa’s archive on +972, including “Under settler terror, Palestinians tear down and flee their village” (May 2023, about Ein Samia) 
• Yuval Abraham’s archive on +972, including “‘Who hits a 64-year-old woman with a bat?’” (March 2023, on settler violence in Masafer Yatta) and “Classified document reveals IDF ‘firing zones’ built to give land to settlers” (July 2022) 
• FMEP’s ongoing coverage of Masafer Yatta, including podcasts and resource lists on each podcast landing page
• The “Not on our Dime” campaign that Basel mentioned
• On the seizure of Palestinian land: “For the Common Good: Military Expropriation Orders in the West Bank, 1967-2022,” a new report from Haqel and Kerem Navot
• Fast-tracked war crime: Israel informs Palestinians from Masafer Yatta of imminent expulsion (B’Tselem, January 2023)
• For photo essays and interviews with residents of Masafer Yatta: Humans of Masafer Yatta on Instagram and Subtack and #SaveMasaferYatta
• From ACRI (Association for Civil Rights in Israel), which accompanied the affected families of Masafer Yatta through their legal proceedings in front of the Israeli High Court of Justice, including their background on the case, Update on petition for additional hearing (English, June 2022), Synopsis of judgment (English, May 2022), Analysis of Judgement (English, May 2022)