On Aug. 13, Israeli and international human rights organizations will hold another round of protest activities in the Khirbet Susya village in the West Bank in the South Hebron Hills. The activists, who view the Susya campaign as their life work, have recently learned that their protests have borne fruit: The US administration, as well as the European Union and Britain, warned Israel not to demolish the village and expel its residents.

The Palestinian village of Khirbet Susya has been in the South Hebron Hills since the 19th century. The Israeli Susya settlement was erected near the village in 1983 on Palestinian lands that were confiscated by Israel as state lands. Human rights activists claim that ever since then, Israeli authorities, pressured by the settlers, have been trying to drive out the Palestinian villagers from their lands. In 1986, the area was declared an archaeological site, and so the Khirbet Susya villagers were expelled from their lands, moving into caves and tents they erected on agricultural lands that they owned. Since then, Israel has been waging a battle against Khirbet Susya residents, claiming that they have constructed illegal buildings and taken over lands that do not belong to them.

In July 2000, after Palestinian terrorists murdered Yair Har Sinai, a resident of the Susya settlement next to the Palestinian village, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began destroying buildings in the village and banished some of the residents. This was in retaliation of the murder, which was not committed by the villagers. The court issued an interim order that halted the demolition work, but the threat remained. Additional attempts were made over the years to destroy structures in the village and expel its inhabitants. Recently, the civil administration issued demolition orders for most of the village’s structures.

However, it seems that the international strategy adopted by human rights activists might accomplish what dozens of demonstrations and petitions to the High Court of Justice couldn’t: the removal of the demolition threat for good. On Aug. 10, US State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said, “If the Israeli government proceeds with demolitions in Susya, it would be very troubling.” She added that the US administration hopes that a solution will be found to avoid the demolition.