West Bank Homecoming: Palestinian American Navigates Settler Siege
QUSRA, West Bank — Loui Ridi 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.
The Palestinian American, who lives in Toledo, Ohio, owns one of three homes that have been under settler siege for over a week in the village of Qusra, a case that has drawn US condemnation. After seven sleepless nights watching from the US, the 46-year-old, who grew up in Qusra before emigrating, boarded a flight from Detroit to 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.
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. The 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.
Accompanied by journalists, Ridi waited 100 meters from his home’s entrance for around half an hour before a military vehicle escorted the group through his large concrete gate. He entered the house around 7 p.m., went to the roof, and raised an American flag.
Ridi’s brother 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. The UN 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 utilities.
Violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank has been on the rise, some emboldened by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has spearheaded a massive settlement expansion. UN bodies and most countries deem the settlements illegal under international law. Israel rejects this, viewing the area as disputed rather than occupied.
The Israeli military said it has deployed forces in the area to try to rein in the settlers, 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.”
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