I want to provide more context on this attack on Washington Post reporter Heidi Levine because I’ve just returned from a week in the occupied West Bank gathering stories from victims of settler terrorist attacks in the Ramallah region, exactly where this attack against Levine took place. Our friend in Turumasaya gave us more context about these attacks and I’ll share his words with you. Turumasya is a village just over the hill and only one-mile apart from Abu Falah, where Levine was brutally attacked.
The morning of Oct 16th, before Levine was attacked by settler terrorists and before the IOF shot a Palestinian man in the same incident, settlers attacked olive harvesters in Turumasaya. This is footage from our friend Joey, a Palestinian American and US citizen.
The settler terrorists in Turumasaya burned three vehicles belonging to Palestinian Americans and attacked an elderly man and woman with rocks and sticks, causing them to be hospitalized. I need you to understand that when I say sticks, it means basically baseball bats, and when I say rocks, I’m talking about softball sized rocks that settler terrorists have used to kill Palestinians with in the past.
We learned from Joey today that the IOF soldiers who were supposed to be protecting the oliver harvesters in Turumasaya told the Palestinians to hurry up and pick faster because they’d gotten word that settlers were coming, and the IOF were worried about being attacked. Five minutes after that conversation the IOF soldiers abandoned the Palestinian harvesters. Masked settlers then descended on the Palestinians, they beat an elderly man and woman bloody, burned three vehicles, and prevented the olive harvest- an economic lifeline for Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank.
The settler terrorists get away with these brazen attacks because they have political and legal cover from Smotrich and Ben-Gvir. Under Gvir and Smotrich’s policies IOF troops can face trouble if they lay hands on settlers, and IOF troops are aligned ideologically with settler terrorists, we saw first hand IOF shaking hands and chatting with settlers. The IOF’s SOP is to conveniently not be around when settlers attack and only come after the damage has already been done.
During the attack in Abu Falah IOF came on the scene after the attack was complete and then shot a Palestinian man rather than confront the settler terrorists.
It’s similar to the political cover given to January sixth insurrectionists and ICE agents who shoot civilians in the US. Settlers who attack and kill Palestinians have complete immunity from consequences. Even on the rare occasion a settler terrorist is arrested for a crime, they are released just hours later. Like Yinon Levi who is accused of killing Awdah Hathaleen a Palestinian journalist who helped create the Oscar winning film “No Other Land.” Levi was released from custody less than 24hours after his arrest for murder.
No one has ever been charged with the murder of 14 year old US Citizen Omar Rabea in Turumasaya in April of 2025. The week that we were in the area an olive picker in Turmusaya was stabbed multiple times in an attempted murder by settler terrorists. Settlers invaded a Palestinian home at 3am and broke the foot of a 16 year old girl and beat her mother bloody as she defended her husband. And the IOF invaded Turmusaya after another settler attack on the town earlier in the week and shot tear-gas at our group.
Courtesy: Jessica Salas
The situation on the ground in the West Bank is worse than the reporting that you’re seeing. The olive groves makes it seem like these attacks are in remote places. No, the attacks are happening on the outskirts of towns because that’s the only area Palestinians have access to. Palestinians have been restricted from accessing area C land, which comprises about 60% of the West Bank since Oct 7 and this year Palestinians have been restricted from using half of their legally owned area B land. In recent months IOF have made routine incursions into area A land which is the town and village centers. So in total Palestinians have lost access to 71% of the land in their country- land that Palestinians legally own.
And settlements like Shilo are bulldozing the olive groves and planting vineyards and then selling wine across the globe, profiting off of the Palestinian’s stolen land.
Please stay tuned, I’ll be putting together reports on the occupation, attacks, and oppression committed by the apartheid state that we witnessed first-hand.
The most impactful things you can do is contact Ambassador Huckabee’s office and tell them to intervene in the settler and IOF’s attacks against Palestinian-Americans and you can volunteer to go to the West Bank and bring international attention to what’s happening in the West Bank.
Huckabee’s Office: 011-972-2-630-4000 email JerusalemACS@state.gov
Join the Faz3a 2026 Olive Harvest Campaign. Palestinian farmers need volunteers in the West Bank now. Sign up:
https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/i0G82IQHTRtnMX5TwjVTcuoh+4FwRMrWVXmq6dQqkns/
Pressure your senators and congress people to cut off all aid and assistance to Israel and to pressure the Israeli government to stop all settler attacks against Palestinians.
It is shameful that all this evidence leads to the grotesque display of pearl clutching by all governments and Unions without doing the bare minimum of upholding humane rights laws. This here will serve as yet another evidence that was ignored. We are not angry enough!
Thank You for all you do Jack. That’s disgusting and abhorrent what’s going on there. They are animals. Running out for NK. 💙🇺🇸✊🏽