Fighting for a Free Jerusalem in Israel-Palestine
Dear Friend,
Free Jerusalem are here. We are an activist group that has been organizing grassroots resistance activities to Israeli apartheid since 2014 and has recently started collaborating with the Resistance Solidarity Network. With their help, made possible through the generous support of people just like you, Friend, we can keep organizing and fighting on the ground. Let us tell you a little about our work over the past few years, and what we’re bracing ourselves for in the future.
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Based in Jerusalem, over more than a decade we have been organzing demonstrations and direct actions against the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians in the West Bank, and particularly in East Jerusalem. Recently, and in light of the broader events in Palestine/Israel, we have also been organizing against human rights violations as part of the genocide in Gaza, the torture of Palestinian political prisoners, and the ongoing attacks on Lebanon and Iran.
Living in Jerusalem, our main concern is the struggle against the apartheid regime’s actions in occupied East Jerusalem, where Israel relies on its oppressive laws and biased legal system to discriminate against Palestinian residents. It has utilized these supposedly “legal” practices for decades now, openly collaborating with settler organizations to displace Palestinians from their homes across East Jerusalem’s neighborhoods.
Source: Free Jerusalem Instagram page
Since October 2023, it has only been getting worse. One of the most highly targeted areas is Silwan, a district in East Jerusalem. Recently, we’ve seen an unprecedented increase in home demolitions and deportations in the neighborhood. It is estimated that over the last 24 months, 450-500 Palestinians have been displaced in Silwan: around 300 residents had their homes demolished in the Al-Bustan neighborhood alone, and around 160 people in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood were forced to leave their homes, which have now been repopulated with settlers. Over 1500 Palestinians in Silwan are currently facing similar threats.
In the past, we at Free Jerusalem have been active in solidarity with Palestinian families’ legal struggles against ethnic cleansing and displacement. Some have been more successful than others, when the Supreme Court has ruled against or at least postponed evictions and demolitions.
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Following the recent escalation and the further threats and violence against acts of resistance shared by Palestinian and Israeli activists, we started organizing more activities also on the Western side of Jerusalem. Some of the actions we organized include:
Protests in Jerusalem’s City Center, interrupting live cultural events aimed at highlighting the “unity” of the city.
Joining Palestinian-led protests organized by Silwan’s residents; hosting screenings of the film One Street in Silwan (2025), which included discussions with the audience and the neighborhood’s residents.
Handing out leaflets with information across the city, including university campuses.
Collecting signatures from Jerusalemites, directed at the city’s mayor, demanding that he stop the displacements; holding a fundraiser for the families of Batn al-Hawa.
And, only a month ago, we joined a solidarity presence action in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood in Silwan, accompanying a family who has been subjected to harassment from settlers.
Silwan, Occupied East Jerusalem
As more and more Palestinians are at risk of eviction and displacement, our fight is far from over. We have just started operating a new group for sharing updates on the situation at Silwan, and coordinating new actions at a larger scale. We work in collaboration with Palestinian-led activist groups in Jerusalem, and hope to continue to evolve and grow our actions until all people are free.
Thanks to the support of the Resistance Solidarity Network, we can keep doing just that: remain in Jerusalem, struggle together, and promote change.
You can help RSN support movements such as Free Jerusalem, making our fight for freedom and justice for all just a little more bearable. Donate today here.
In solidarity,
Free Jerusalem activists