Picnic in Susya Disrupted By Israeli Soldiers, 2 Arrested

On Saturday a group of 45 activists, myself included, held a creative protest against a newly-constructed outpost outside the illegal Israeli settlement of Susya, just above the Palestinian community of Susya. We held a picnic in the outpost, bringing blankets, watermelon, and other summer foods. The action brought to light the outrageous bias in Israeli policy - while the picnic was interrupted within 5 minutes and two Israeli activists were arrested, the outpost, which has been in the area for months and is certainly more illegal than a picnic, has not been removed.

The action followed a similar action last month, in which activists constructed a “Palestinian outpost” on the land. Activists set up a tent next to the illegal Israeli outpost, then filmed as the army demolished the Palestinian tent while leaving the settler outpost untouched.

I spent the next two nights in Susya in case the action provoked a settler retaliation. Luckily it did not. Susya was lovely as usual - I got to spend some quality time with the sheep, and planted tomatoes, cucumber, and peppers in the newly constructed greenhouse.