A Personal Letter to the Mothers and Women of the Carmel Settlement in the South Hebron Hills
To the mothers of Carmel pause for a moment. Look at the children of Umm al-Kheir living beside you in fear and insecurity. Perhaps mothers can choose to see and say: enough.
We are writing to you as Israeli Jewish mothers who accompany the community of Umm al-Kheir, especially the women, mothers, and children.
We ask you to pause for a moment and look at Handi.
A mother. A wife. A widow. A woman trying to hold together her family and community within an impossible reality.
Look at Handi, whose husband, Odeh al-Hadalin, was shot and killed in the yard of their home in front of their children.
See the children who are left carrying this memory inside their lives.
You see Umm al-Kheir from your windows.
From homes with balconies, electricity, running water, and protected shelters.
You see the children, the improvised playground, the courtyards.
And we also see your teenagers walking down into the yards of Umm al-Kheir, entering the space of other children, playing in their modest playground as though even that small space does not belong to them.
We see you walking safely on Saturdays along the main road between the homes of the community, pushing strollers without fear, while at the very same time, with no real threat present, soldiers and police are repeatedly called against Palestinian women, mothers, and children.
And we know you also saw what happened during the war: While you ran to your protected rooms, you saw the children of Umm al-Kheir running in fear together with their mothers, searching for shelter under trees without bomb shelters, without concrete walls, without any truly safe place.
We ask you, as mothers: What are our children learning from this reality?
What happens to the heart of a society that becomes accustomed to one child receiving full protection while another child is denied even the most basic right to safety?
We are not writing out of hatred.
We are writing out of a deep belief that women and mothers can choose differently, a belief that women and mothers can choose to see truly, to set boundaries against violence, humiliation, and the abandonment of human life.
In the end, the children on both sides of the hill learn from us what morality is, what humanity is, and what responsibility means.
And perhaps mothers can be the first to say: enough.
To see. Not to remain silent.
Between the hills of the South Hebron Hills, in Umm al-Kheir, a daily reality unfolds that most of the Israeli public hardly sees: children struggling to reach school, a community living under the constant threat of demolition, and mothers trying to preserve routine, education, and hope within a reality of fear and uncertainty.
In recent weeks, the road to the school has been blocked repeatedly. Children have been forced to study under the open sky, beside checkpoints and soldiers. Precisely within this reality, Odeh’s Library has become a vital space of stability, learning, and community protection.
Odeh’s Library | A Space for Life
Within this difficult reality, women and mothers from the community are building a civic alternative every single day:
An educational framework for children ages 2–18
Learning activities, creative programs, and emotional support
Women’s gatherings and community strengthening
A safe space for learning and civic organizing
The library operates in partnership with women activists from Mothers Against Violence and additional partners from Israel and around the world, out of a deep belief that the politics of mothers is a politics of responsibility, compassion, and the protection of life.
What is needed now?
The community of Umm al-Kheir is under an ongoing threat of demolitions and displacement. Precisely now, civil, international, and human presence is urgently needed.
You can take action:
Join the solidarity and field activity days
Support the library and educational programs through donations
Share the story of Umm al-Kheir
Share and circulate this story
Join the growing network of mothers and women working together against violence and exclusion.
Odeh’s Library, Photo: Orna Naor, Odeh’s Library, Umm al-Kheir (11.5.2026)
