Protective Presence in the West Bank

The only people standing beside the Palestinians of the West Bank as they defend themselves from ethnic cleansing are protective presence activists. Celeste Marcus and Mitch Abidor have both spent time in the West Bank doing protective presence, accompanying Palestinians in their fields and with their flocks and confronting settlers who are far less likely to kill and even attack Palestinians if protective presence activists are on the ground. Mitch and Celeste will be discussing their experiences and their new organization, Protective Presence USA, which is assisting Americans in joining this effort to fight off the annexation of Palestinian land.

Mitch Abidor is a writer and translator. His latest book is Victor Serge: Unruly Revolutionary. He’s currently working on an oral history of the Israeli socialist anti-Zionist organization Matzpen.

Celeste Marcus is the executive editor of Liberties Journal and the author of Chaim Soutine: Genius, Obsession and a Dramatic Life in Art. She has written widely about settler terrorism in the West Bank.