This campaign is for legal aid for a Bedouin shepherd community located in the West Bank in Palestine. The village of Umm Al Khair has 35 families. There are 220 people in total, of which 78 are below the age of 18. The inhabitants are refugees displaced from their ancestral village
and grazing lands in 1948. After 1948 the people relocated to the South Hebron Hills and in 1952 were able to purchase a significant portion of grazing land, including land for their village. All of this is legally documented.
Umm Al Khair is only 3 meters from the large Israeli settlement of Carmel, which overlooks the village from a hilltop. Since the establishment of Carmel in 1982, settlers have encroached on the Palestinian grazing land and restricted the movement of herds. The suffering of the residents has
markedly increased in the aftermath of the current Gaza war; Settlers relentlessly trespass onto their land and there are frequent army and settler raids into the village. In addition, settlers routinely prevent the shepherds from accessing their grazing fields. Lack of access to their legal
grazing lands profoundly and negatively impacts the community’s economy and the well being of its members. As such, the community decided to pursue legal action through the Israeli court system to a) stop settler harassment and b) regain access to their lands.
The community has hired a competent and well-established private lawyer to reach these goals that are crucial for the community’s mere survival. The legal fees are $37,000 of which $7,000 has already been donated. The community has only two months to raise the remaining $30,000 for legal fees. The lawyer is confident of their success in court. Your donations will enable this Bedouin community to pursue their legal rights in court and preserve access to their grazing lands.