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At-Tuwani and Ar-Rakeez villages, Hebron, West Bank – 25 January 2019
1. Wide of rabbinical students with Palestinians walking past olive tree plants
2. Back of Combatants for Peace t-shirt reading (Arabic/ Hebrew/ English) "Not through gun sights"
3. Various of rabbinical students with Palestinians carrying olive tree plants
4. Wide of rock with Star of David spray-painted by a cut down olive tree
5. Various of olive tree planting
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rabbi Ian Chesir-Teran, T'ruah's Rabbinic Educator in Israel:
"We're in Ar-Rakeez which is the Palestinian village in Area C, in the occupied Palestinian territories and T'ruah's Rabbinic Call for Human Rights has organised a programme today, an experiential programme, for rabbinical, cantorial and Jewish education students from America who are here for the year to come and learn the facts on the ground. They've seen olive trees that have been uprooted by (Jewish) settlers. They've seen Hebrew graffiti sprawled on property, private property, belonging to Palestinians. And, so, we've come to show solidarity for our hosts by replanting trees that have been uprooted. And so that they know that there are Jews and there are also Americans who stand in solidarity with them and who are against violence against them that is perpetrated by settlers."
7. Mid of olive trees being planted
8. Close of man smoking pipe, olive trees being planted in background
9. Wide of olive trees being planted
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Tyler Dratch, 26, rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Boston:
"When we come to this village and we see the graffiti that these Jewish settlers are leaving... Jewish stars and Hebrew, the word revenge in Hebrew. When they cut down olive trees, it just feels there's something profoundly troubling about seeing the religious symbols that are very important to me and to my Jewish community being used in an act of violence and terrorism. So, and also just very sad to hear about the effect that it has on the community. Some of the fear and some of the anger makes it very hard for people to live in peace. So, I think that it is, so it's really hard to hear that and also there are some helping us coming here getting to plant trees with the community and seeing how this village is trying to use non violence to both live as a community and also to speak out against some of the injustices that they see."
11. Various of woman digging hole to plant tree in
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Tyler Dratch, 26, rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Boston:
"As future rabbis we know that a Jewish connection to Israel is important for our communities. We hope that Jews will continue to visit here and to live here and to study here and to see this as an important, just an important place for Jewish life and for... All Jews pray facing Jerusalem because it's a central point of our history and our memory. And at the same time we know that if we want all that to be true we can't turn our backs on human rights issues. So, our hope is that we can integrate these stories and continue to have basically continue to allow Israel to be a part of our Jewish story, while also making sure that we're caring for the most vulnerable people as our neighbours and in our community."
13. Wide of woman digging hole
14. Mid of woman planting tree
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Musab Rabie, Palestinian villager of At-Tuwani in south Hebron Hills:
"All the respect to every person who is trying to look in a peaceful way to the region and is trying to help. Planting trees is not only useful to people, it makes the view more civilised and it increases the connection of the people to the area. That's why all the people try to care about the olive trees in order to keep the land."
16. Wide of people planting trees
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Musab Rabie, Palestinian villager of At-Tuwani in south Hebron Hills:
"Of course, it feels a bit strange because we are attacked by the Jews themselves. In general, we look in a positive way to anyone that is trying to help."
18. Wide of group photo
19. Wide of group departing
LEADIN:
A group of rabbis have joined Palestinians in the West Bank to help replant olive trees uprooted by Jewish settlers.
They aim to show solidarity with Palestinians, as well as help rabbinical students to "learn the facts on the ground".
On a crisp morning, Rabbi Ian Chesir-Teran and dozens of rabbinical students from the US walk past the Biblical-looking landscapes of dust roads and olive groves to reach the area of South Hebron hills.
They join Palestinian villagers whose olive groves were uprooted by Jewish settlers living in the vicinity, and have come here to help them replant.
When Rabbi Ian Chesir-Teran crosses from Israel to the West Bank he takes off his kippah, a traditional skullcap worn by religious Jews, for fear of being targeted by fellow Jews.
Chesir-Teras is a rabbinic educator with T'ruah's, a US-based network of rabbis and Jewish communities committed to the protection of human rights in North America and Israel.
As the group walk to reach the olive groves, they pass by rocks with the Star of David spray-painted, a mark left by Jewish settlers.
But, Chesir-Teran is not discouraged. He says helping replant the trees is an attempt to show solidarity with the Palestinians and for the rabbinical students to "learn the facts on the ground".
"They've seen olive trees that have been uprooted by (Jewish) settlers. They've seen Hebrew graffiti sprawled on property, private property, belonging to Palestinians. And, so, we've come to show solidarity for our hosts by replanting trees that have been uprooted," he explains.
The villages of At-Tuwani and Ar-Rakkes are in the West Bank's part known as Area C, which remains under exclusive Israeli control and is home to dozens of Israeli settlements.
Israel places severe restrictions on Palestinian development there and home demolitions are not unusual.
In rare cases, Israel has also evicted Jewish settlers who have squatted illegally.
But settlers generally have a much easier time receiving building permits, and the government often retroactively legalises unauthorised outposts, looks the other way or offers compensation to uprooted settlers.
As part of interim peace deals in the 1990s, the West Bank was carved up into autonomous and semi-autonomous Palestinian areas, known as Areas A and B, and Area C, which is home to some 400,000 Israeli settlers.
The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and say that Area C, home to an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Palestinians, is crucial to the economic development of their future state.
26 year-old Tyler Dratch, a rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Boston, says human rights are essential to religious teachings and helping the most vulnerable is a duty of each person.
"Our hope is that we can integrate these stories and continue to have basically continue to allow Israel to be a part of our Jewish story, while also making sure that we're caring for the most vulnerable people as our neighbours and in our community," he says.
Musab Rabie, a Palestinian villager of At-Tuwani, welcomes the support.
"Of course, it feels a bit strange because we are attacked by the Jews themselves. In general, we look in a positive way to anyone that is trying to help," he says.
This gesture of replanting trees has been arranged by the organisation "T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights".
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