London, United Kingdom – British student Finn Joughin has been deported from Israel following his pro-Palestine activism in the occupied West Bank. The 22-year-old worked in the village of Umm al-Khair as an international volunteer with Proactive Presence, the movement that aims to protect Palestinian communities from settler attacks. He was kidnapped by Israeli settlers at gunpoint on August 29 after intervening to protect Palestinian children playing football in the village in Masafer Yatta. Umm al-Khair is an area of the southern West Bank under Israeli administrative and security control, which was designated as Area C under the Oslo Accords.
Palestinian communities there have been under continuous attack by Israeli settlers in recent months and years. “I had just taken a seat on the side of the pitch when maybe five or six teenagers arrived and attempted to kind of take over the pitch from the Palestinian kids,” Joughin told Al Jazeera. “Soon the parents and settler families surrounded the pitch and were egging the kids on, shouting at the Palestinians. Local and foreign activists intervened to protect the children, with young settlers trying to force open the gates of the home of one of Umm al-Khair’s residents. Joughin tried to block the settlers from tearing down a fence but was kicked and shoved by the group. Adult settlers arrived and put Joughin in a chokehold and twisted his arm around his back.
Videos shared on social media showed him being taken back to the illegal Carmel settler outpost at gunpoint. “I was placed in I what I’d call a concrete shed, which I was later told was a bomb shelter. They took my phone and wallet off me. They demanded to see my passport. They were kind of making accusations at me,” he said.
Settlers accused him of being an “anarchist” and commented on his supposed “friends in Iran”. Joughin was held captive by armed settlers for around 30 minutes before the Israeli army arrived and he was taken to a police station in the settlement of Kiryat Arba in Hebron. When he told soldiers that he had been kidnapped by settlers, he said he was insulted and shouted and spat at. “This was my first realisation that the Israeli police and military were going to be no less cordial or sympathetic to my situation than the settlers themselves,” he said. “So, I realised it was best not to try and resist or make any strong moves and to hope that maybe I could wait it out. But once I heard the police arrived, maybe half an hour later, it dawned on me that I was about to be arrested.” A lawyer told Joughin that police were investigating him on suspicion of assault.
However, police later told him that a “higher authority” had decided to keep him in custody, before he was formall arrested. The next day, he was taken in handcuffs to the magistrate’s court in occupied Jerusalem. His lawyer and the public prosecutor agreed that instead of continuing legal proceedings, he would be deported to the UK. At an immigration detention centre near Ben Gurion International Airport, investigators questioned his reasons for being in the West Bank, his positions on Israel and the war on Gaza and Iran.
During his detention, Joughin saw a badly bruised Palestinian detainee begging his mother not to protest, fearing she would also be arrested. “My escort officer witnessed this and kind of laughingly turned to me and went, ‘Welcome to Israel’,” he said. “Whether he meant that somewhat bittersweetly or whether he was entirely laughing at the situation, I couldn’t quite tell, but either way it felt pretty real.” After being threatened with extended detention, he signed deportation papers and waived his right to appeal. He was deported to Britain on August 31 and has been barred from returning to Israel or the occupied Palestinian Territory for 10 years. “It’s scary and of course it was a surreal experience to go through, but it’s something I don’t regret at all doing. It’s something that I am proud to say that I was there for… after seeing some of the bravest people I’ve ever met,” he told Al Jazeera. “I’m working as quickly as possible on trying to clear my name, repeal my ban, and, if I can, return to Umm al-Khair.” The village has been repeatedly targeted by settler attacks in recent years. A local Palestinian activist was shot dead last year and a settler has been charged with his death.
Masafer Yatta is among the Palestinian communities in the West Bank to suffer a series of pogroms by Israeli settlers in recent weeks. Settlers and Israeli troops have carried out 11,074 attacks in the West Bank during the first half of this year, according to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission. When reached for comment, a UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We provided consular support to a British man who was detained in Umm al Kheir and were in contact with his family and the Israeli authorities.” Al Jazeera approached the Israeli military for comment.
