Sari Kassis and his family, who have dedicated years to cultivating their land, now find their vineyard under threat from Israeli settlers. This cherished vineyard, where they have been growing grapes since the 1990s and olives for even longer, is in jeopardy.

This year’s harvest season, which normally spans from September to November, has been overshadowed by a significant increase in attacks. According to Kassis, the situation has become dire, threatening the livelihood they have nurtured over the decades.

“Initially, the grapes we had planted were here from the days of my grandmother and before — she was the farmer between her and my grandfather, who was usually away from home serving in the British Mandate police force,” he says.

A vineyard under threat

When Kassis arrived, what he found was a place where daily life had become fragile.

“At the centre of this zone is a new settlement outpost that follows the ideology of Meir Kahane,” Kassis says, referring to the late extremist rabbi from the United States, who moved to Israel to become a politician.

“We built a water pool on our land — invested everything — and the army waited until it was finished before destroying it.”

Israel considers the West Bank a disputed territory, not an occupied territory.

The rise of the Hilltop Youth

“Their main goal is to change the balance between Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank by forcing Palestinians to flee their farms and lands by any means.”

The Jewish Power party (Otzma Yehudit), now a six-member part of Israel’s governing coalition, has been described by Israeli media as a “legal rendition” of Kahane’s party, though its leader, Itamar Ben-Gvir, claims to have broken with its more extreme elements.

Between 2005 and 2024, Yesh Din, an organisation in Israel that works to protect Palestinian human rights, found that more than 93 per cent of police investigations into settler attacks ended without any indictment.

‘All we can do is film’

“All we can do is film,” Kassis says.

The UN has warned repeatedly that Palestinian farms and villages are facing one of the most violent periods on record.

“The olive harvest is an economic and cultural lifeline.”

A rare response

“When officials say it’s limited or that they’re addressing it, they’re not telling the truth,” she says.

In addition to attacks, there are mounting fears over the potential annexation of the West Bank, as pushed by the far-right members of Israel’s Knesset.

Under Israeli law, every bill must pass three readings before becoming law.

‘We’ll endure’

On a hot day in late November, Kassis stands in his vineyard, surrounded by grapevines that have survived seasons of uncertainty.

“My principles don’t allow me to abandon my country and my land, to stop resisting, to stop standing against a colonial system whose sole purpose is to erase me and erase my existence.

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