Protective Presence arose in a time marked by fear, violence, and deepening division. Thanks to them, week after week, across the occupied West Bank, Israeli, Palestinian, and international activists stand together in acts of solidarity and protection alongside Palestinian communities facing dispossession, violence, and displacement.
In 2026, the Garden of Rescuers honors not a single individual or organization, but a growing community of people who have committed themselves to a “protective presence”: to whit, accompanying Palestinian families in their daily lives, documenting abuses, helping deter violence, and standing beside communities under threat. Their actions are grounded not in power, but in shared humanity.
Palestinians in communities in Masafer Yatta, the Jordan Valley and the South Hebron Hills have endured home demolitions, land confiscation, settler violence, arrests, and forced displacement. After October 7, 2023, conditions became even more severe, with escalating attacks, sowing fear. In response, Palestinian activists invited others to join them in solidarity—and many answered that call.
Jihad al-Nawaja’a, former head of the Susiya Council, captured the significance of this partnership:
“After many years of struggle, confrontations, arrests, beatings, and demolitions, I know—not think, I know—that without people like the Jewish activists from Israel and from around the world, half of the lands of Masafer Yatta would already have been confiscated and flattened today… Our steadfastness here exists thanks to the help of the activists.”
With the organization of Protective, Palestinians open their homes and invite activists into the rhythms of ordinary life: accompanying shepherds to their grazing lands, walking children to school, remaining presence during olive harvests, and responding when violence erupts. These acts may appear simple, yet they require courage, persistence, and moral clarity.
The people involved come from many different backgrounds and beliefs. They are Jews and Palestinians, Israelis and internationals, religious and secular, young and old, Zionists and non-Zionists alike. Some belong to established organizations, while others act independently. What unites them is a shared refusal to accept violence, racism, and dispossession as inevitable.
The participating organizations include Bnei Avraham, Rabbis for Human Rights, Jordan Valley Activists, Looking the Occupation in the Eye, Residents of Masafer Yatta, Torat Tzedek, Peace Bearer, Standing Together, the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, the International Solidarity Movement, Operation Dove, Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine, Engaged Dharma Israel, and many independent activists.
Why we honor them in the Garden of Rescuers: Many of these activists face isolation within their own societies. Yet together they are building something larger: a community rooted in solidarity, mutual responsibility, and resistance to injustice. Their work reminds us that even in the darkest times, there are people willing to place themselves in the path of violence in order to protect the dignity and lives of others.
