Back home after deportation by Israel, British activist urges UK to call out state-backed settler violence

A British activist detained by settlers over the weekend in the West Bank is back home after being deported by Israel earlier this week.

In his first interview since returning to the UK, Finn Joughin tells Times Radio he expects his government to condemn settler violence as well as the Israeli government’s complicity in it.

“My first concern is the duty of the British government to protect British citizens. I would be most interested in hearing a strong condemnation of the settler violence, but also the undeniable state complicity in allowing this violence to continue,” he says.

Settlers kidnapped Joughin on Saturday from the West Bank village of Umm al-Khair where he was conducting a volunteer activity known as protective presence in which Israelis and foreigners try to stave off attacks from nearby settlers.

The settlers dragged Joughin to their nearby illegal outpost before handing him over to the police.

Israeli law enforcement claimed Joughin was suspected of having conducted an indecent act against a minor, but the footage officers apparently relied on merely showed the British activist using his body to try and block a settler child from breaking into Umm al-Khair. Israel’s decision to deport Joughin rather than prosecute him for the alleged offense, further indicated the weakness of the case against him.

Joughin uses the Times Radio interview to highlight the difficult situation that Palestinians are currently facing in the West Bank, where settler attacks have been taking place on a daily basis, with near-complete impunity.

“It’s an absolutely awful scenario that [Palestinians] are living through every day,” he says. “They’ve been barred from allowing their sheep to graze on their own land. They have been banned from harvesting their own olive trees, from planting in their own gardens and fields.”

“It is a continual battle by the residents of Umm al-Khair to even keep their village standing. In a week, Israeli courts will proceed likely with an order to basically demolish the whole village. Nearly 40 families, dozens of children will be basically left without a home,” he laments.

Recalling his detention by settlers, Joughin says, “I had been explicitly told that when dealing with settlers, you must not be aggressive. You must not give them any recourse to strike back or call the police on you. So I was very firm. I was standing my ground. I was making sure that I recorded the whole incident.”

“All of a sudden, I was approached by one of the adults with an assault rifle. They were pushing me, shoving me, screaming in my face. Before I knew it I had been grabbed. I was put in a choke hold. I had my arm twisted behind my back and I was kidnapped, made to sit, locked in a bomb shelter, as I understand it, for at least half an hour under threat of gunfire,” he says.