HaKol HaYehudi Investigation: Several left-wing activists who accompanied Arab shepherds in the Jordan Valley with the group "Looking the Occupation in the Eye" recently left the group. They detail the real goals of the group and the aims of Guy Hirschfeld, its leader.
The group Looking the Occupation in the Eye was in the news recently after several of their activists were shot by a terrorist as they were on their way to support Bedouin in the Jordan Valley.
The leader of the group is Guy Hirschfeld, a well-known left-wing activist. He is in touch with foreign diplomats and led efforts to impose sanctions on settlers. He often refers to soldiers and police officers as "terror supporters" and "Jewish trash," advocating for their prosecution and was convicted of insulting an Ethiopian Border Police officer after telling him to return to his ‘pen.’
Now, we are revealing a conversation with two activists who worked with Guy for an extended period. They describe how he casted them out as "terror supporters" after they tried to make peace between Bedouins and Jewish farmers in the Jordan Valley. The two later even received threats.
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The rare meeting between the activists and ‘settlers’ took place about two years ago at Moshe Sharvit's Tirza Valley farm. A woman named Dorit and another activist, who was afraid to reveal her name, said that after a long period of accompanying the Bedouin shepherds they concluded their efforts were not effective and decided instead to try to create a dialogue and reach an agreement between the Jewish farmers and the Bedouin on where each group would graze its animals. However instead of being applauded for their efforts to make peace, Hirschfeld cast them as "terror supporters” for daring to speak to the ‘settlers’ and expelled them from the group.
The two describe how Hirschfeld recruited activists from left-wing protests against Netanyahu. Even now, Hirschfeld and other "Looking the Occupation in the Eye" activists are leading demonstrations at the Knesset and the Prime Minister's residence.
"Most of the new activists came from Balfour. We were there at night, we guarded the tent and we talked. He said he needed to go to the Jordan Valley in the morning. We asked why, and I just said, ‘Ok, let's go,'" one of the activists retells.
The two are what Hirschfeld calls “Zionist sheep.” They and others who joined him thought they were going to participate in human rights activism. However, after a year of accompanying shepherds and working with Hirschfeld, including editing a video for his birthday, they suddenly found themselves castigated as "terror supporters" for daring to speak with Omer Atidiya, a farmer in the Jordan Valley and an officer in an elite IDF unit.
"I accompanied the shepherds and tried to make peace. I eventually realized that they didn’t want us to make peace, and I don’t come to the Jordan Valley anymore,” one of the activists began her conversation with Sharvit.
"Guy attacked us today. You and us are the same to him more or less. You are a terrorist, and we are terror supporters. I can be scared and stay at home in fear of Guy, or I can explain to him, ‘You don’t own this activism and I'll do what I want,’” she continued.
According to the two, they then received threats online and via phone calls. “He didn’t like what we were doing, but how does he dare to pick up the phone and threaten me just because I wasn’t doing his bidding. He lied that he wanted to help the shepherds, but I actually wanted to help the shepherds because in the end I go home after two or three hours, and Guy goes home a bit later. In the end, those who remain to fight are them (the Jewish farmers and the Bedouins)," one former activist said.
Sharvit described things from his point of view. "They want to make provocations, rather than peace. They want to get a video of 'Sharvit being violent' rather than help the shepherds.”
Activist S, who accompanied Bedouin shepherds in the valley for about a year, agreed. "When there's a quiet day, it's not good for him."
"Do you think he cares if the sheep are hungry at night?" Sharvit asked. "If he did, he would bring the Bedouin fodder, rather than drinking their coffee before going home.”
Dorit agreed with the statements. "All the energy, all the money that he invests in accompanying shepherds to make provocations, he could buy them fodder, help them with construction. I know what he wants, you know what he wants. Only the Israeli public doesn't know what it wants."
One of the activists described being afraid of Hirschfeld to the extent that she requested anonymity. Both noted that Hirschfeld not only threatened them but even the Bedouins themselves, whom he supposedly was trying to help.
They described meetings with Bedouins near Jericho in the southern Jordan Valley and with a sheikh, named "Abu Ismayil."
"When we were with Abu Ismayil, you could feel that he was nervous we were there. He didn’t want to cooperate," Dorit recounted.
“The Bedouin are afraid to make any move that could change the status quo change because someone will snitch on them. I heard with my own ears that he's afraid someone snitch on him. Who? Hirschfeld," S said.
“Snitch on him for what?” Sharvit asked.
"That he spoke to settlers." S. also recounted a meeting with an Arab who sat in a Palestinian Authority prison and underwent severe torture after a left-wing activist snitched on him. She refused to mention any names out of fear.
This latest report is not entirely new. In 2018, an IDF incident report described a case where Bedouin encroached on a region near the community of Maskiot in the Jordan Valley. When the IDF responded and spoke with the Bedouin, they told the soldiers that Guy Hirschfeld "threatened them that if they didn't approach Israeli settlements on a daily basis, he would report them to the PA security forces.”
Hirschfeld claims his "master and teacher" is Ezra Nawi, whom the “Ad Kan” organization exposed as snitching on Arabs who sold properties to Jews. The alleged perpetrators underwent severe torture, and according to reports, one died from the torture.
The “Im Tirzu” movement stated in response to HaKol HaYehudi’s report, "We demand that the Israeli Police immediately open an investigation against the anarchist Guy Hirschfeld for making these threats. The main instigators inflaming the region in the Jordan Valley are the extremists from 'Looking the Occupation in the Eye.'"
We contacted Guy Hirschfeld for a response but were unsuccessful. His response will be published if it is received.
