A Palestinian American’s journey to his West Bank home under settler siege

By Pesha Magid

QUSRA, West Bank, Aug 17 (Reuters) – He watched from thousands of miles away on a security camera feed as militant Israeli settlers encircled his West Bank house, fearing he could lose his home forever amid increasing Israeli seizures of Palestinian property in the occupied territory.

Loui Ridi, a Palestinian American living in Toledo, Ohio, owns one of three homes that have been under Israeli settler siege for nearly a week in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, a case that has drawn U.S. condemnation.

After watching anxiously from the U.S. for seven sleepless nights, the 46-year-old, who grew up in Qusra before emigrating, decided to board a flight from Detroit for the Middle East and try to visit his home on Monday.

“I can’t let the settlers steal my house while I was watching,” he told Reuters upon arrival at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport.

Reuters documented Ridi’s journey from the Detroit airport to his home on the outskirts of Qusra, a tiny village in an area of the West Bank that has seen frequent settler attacks and land seizures.

As Ridi travelled up a windy, rocky road to his house, perched on a hilltop, several settlers could be seen milling about in the distance and Israeli military troops patrolled the area.

Accompanied by several journalists, Ridi waited 100 metres (yards) from his home’s entrance for around half an hour before a military vehicle escorted the group through his large concrete gate.

Ridi began construction on the house three years ago on land owned by his grandparents and farmed by his family for generations. He said he wanted his daughters to have a home in Qusra so they could connect to their roots.

He entered the house around 7 p.m., the sunset casting a purple glow on the horizon. Ridi went to the roof and raised an American flag.

Ridi said that his house is in an area that Israeli-Palestinian peace accords in the 1990s put under Palestinian Authority control.

“The settlers shouldn’t be here,” he said.

Ridi’s brother, Qusay, and a nephew have been staying in the house to protect it without running water and electricity after settlers cut it off, according to townspeople.

SETTLERS EMBOLDENED BY ISRAELI GOVERNMENT POLICIES

Violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank has been on the rise, some emboldened by the government of right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has spearheaded a massive settlement expansion in the territory.

U.N. bodies and most countries deem the settlements illegal under international law regarding military occupations. Israel rejects this, viewing the area as disputed rather than occupied.

The U.N. has said that some 15 Palestinians, including two children and the two people in Ridi’s house, have been trapped by settlers inside homes in Qusra without running water and electricity.

The Israeli military said it has deployed forces in the area to try to rein in the settlers and maintain security for residents.

But more than a week after the siege began, settlers were still outside, and the families were still afraid to leave their homes.

Asked what he would do now at his house, Ridi said he wanted “to sit with my brother, catch up and see how they’re doing.”

(Reporting by Pesha Magid; editing by Rami Ayyub and Cynthia Osterman)