Targeting Al-Baidar: Palestinian rights group confront Israeli settler violence and incitement

Al-Baidar Organisation for the Defense of Bedouins and Targeted Villages has emerged as a primary target of extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank. With its ongoing work documenting the legal and humanitarian violations faced by Palestinian Bedouins, the organisation has come to be seen by settlers as a real obstacle to the settlement expansion project. For settlers, the very existence of an entity that exposes their crimes undermines their narrative, which seeks to portray the Bedouins as illegitimate residents or as obstacles to what they call the “development of the land.”

Against this backdrop, Hassan Mleihat, the organisation’s General Supervisor and a lawyer, has become the focus of fierce incitement campaigns. Over recent days, extremist settler groups have flooded social media platforms with inflammatory messages targeting him, some amounting to open calls for harm. Certain Hebrew-language and local outlets aligned with settler discourse have reinforced this image, portraying Mleihat and the organisation as a “tool of the Palestinian Authority to control land,” thereby attempting to justify attacks against them.

In response, Al-Baidar continues its fieldwork, documenting waves of escalating settler militia violence and forced displacement against Bedouin communities, particularly in the Jordan Valley and Area C. This insistence on exposing the facts places the organisation in the crosshairs of political and media fire, intensifying pressure on its staff and activists, who operate in an environment rife with threats and intimidation.

Practical goals of the organisation

Al-Baidar defines itself as a Palestinian human rights framework dedicated to defending Bedouin communities and targeted villages across the West Bank, especially those facing displacement in Area C and the Jordan Valley. The organisation is led by lawyer Hassan Mleihat, who has become its public face—not only through his supervisory role, but also by representing the organisation in local and international media.

Mleihat frequently appears in interviews and field reports, presenting Al-Baidar as a legal and rights-based voice that exposes settlement practices and defends the Bedouins’ right to remain on their land. This public visibility has made both him and the organisation a direct target for incitement and attacks by settlers, who view him as a primary opponent of their expansionist agenda.

Al-Baidar’s objectives revolve around field and legal work to protect Bedouin communities. Its mobile teams document daily violations, including home and tent demolitions, livestock confiscations, and direct assaults carried out by Israeli settlers.

Beyond documentation, the organisation engages in legal advocacy, filing cases before Israeli courts and submitting detailed reports to international human rights bodies and the United Nations, seeking to keep the plight of Bedouins on the global agenda.

The organisation also carries out support initiatives on the ground, such as providing tents and basic construction materials to families, alongside awareness programs for children and women to strengthen community resilience against displacement efforts.

Mechanisms of action and impact

Al-Baidar’s role goes beyond emergency response. It produces regular reports—monthly or quarterly—that include precise statistics, photographs, and testimonies. These reports have become key references for media outlets and human rights organisations and are sometimes used as supporting evidence in political and diplomatic advocacy against Israeli policies.

Through these mechanisms, Al-Baidar has transformed from a local organisation into a significant human rights actor, unsettling settler strategies and placing them under international scrutiny—explaining the escalation of incitement campaigns against its leadership.

Between Al-Baidar’s data and international documentation

Al-Baidar does not limit itself to issuing general statements; it compiles detailed data on Bedouin communities across the West Bank—tracking their numbers, the families displaced, and the violations they endure from armed settler militias supported by the Israeli army. These figures are widely cited by local media as a central reference on the scale of targeting faced by Bedouins.

Yet the picture only becomes complete when compared with broader international data, such as from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which confirms that forced displacement of Bedouin communities is not merely a local narrative but a documented reality, directly tied to settler violence and Israeli administrative measures in Area C.

Thus, Al-Baidar’s numbers serve as crucial first-hand evidence, reflecting the daily pressures of life under threat. Their full significance emerges when integrated with broader documentation by UN agencies and international human rights organisations, forming part of a comprehensive picture of systematic violations against Bedouin communities.

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Why do settlers target Al-Baidar?

The escalating incitement against Al-Baidar is no coincidence; it is directly linked to the organisation’s role in the field. Settlers see any legal or rights-based effort documenting Bedouin existence as a direct threat to their expansionist project.

The presence of Bedouins in areas like the Jordan Valley and Area C is not only a humanitarian issue but also, for the settlement movement, a strategic obstacle to achieving full territorial control and linking Israeli settlements into one bloc. For this reason, targeting Al-Baidar has become a strategic necessity for settler leaders, who aim to silence any voice exposing their crimes or mobilising public opinion against them.

Incitement campaigns against Al-Baidar are part of a broader struggle over land control. Backed by official Israeli policies, settlers seek to empty Area C of its native inhabitants through a dual strategy: direct violence on the one hand, and administrative measures on the other—such as declaring grazing lands “closed military zones” or issuing demolition and construction bans.

In this context, Al-Baidar becomes a serious obstacle because it documents each violation and transforms it into legal and media files that expose the real aims of the settlement project.

Despite intense pressure, Al-Baidar continues its work in the field. Its teams collect testimonies and photographic evidence; its lawyers pursue cases in court; and its statements reach international organisations and media outlets.

This persistence, however, comes at a high cost; increased targeting and intensified incitement. Yet the organisation’s continued activity demonstrates its determination to act as the “human rights guardian” of Bedouin communities, even if it means entering into direct confrontation with extremist settlers.

Tools of repression and pressure

Palestinian Bedouin communities in the West Bank face multiple layers of repression carried out by settler militias and the Israeli army. These range from armed violence to systematic sabotage of livelihoods. Reports have documented cases of poisoned livestock, civilian property burned, and denial of access to grazing lands. Such attacks—often accompanied by partial or full security cover—make community survival increasingly difficult and heighten vulnerability to forced displacement.

In addition, Israeli authorities frequently employ administrative measures to assert control over the land, declaring areas as “closed military zones” or issuing demolition and building bans, directly undermining the ability of families to remain.

The pressure is not limited to the field. Incitement and personalization campaigns—particularly online—have become central tools for undermining human rights work. Settler-affiliated platforms target leaders of organizations like Al-Baidar, including Hassan Mleihat, seeking to intimidate them and foster isolation.

Possible scenario if the status quo persists

If these policies continue unchecked, Palestinian Bedouin communities face the prospect of further waves of displacement—especially in the Jordan Valley and areas near major Israeli settlements—along with the gradual loss of key livelihood resources such as grazing lands and water.

On a larger scale, ongoing settlement expansion will entrench facts on the ground, complicating prospects for a two-state solution. This could either heighten international pressure for accountability or, conversely, further entrench global passivity, cementing realities that will be difficult to reverse—especially amid looming Israeli plans to extend sovereignty claims over parts of the West Bank.

Conclusion: Between threat and resilience

Al-Baidar operates at the heart of a politically volatile arena, where its legal and rights-based presence directly threatens beneficiaries of Israel’s settlement project. By documenting violations, pursuing legal cases, and disseminating field-based evidence, the organisation has become a constant target of incitement—through settler-aligned media outlets and online platforms attacking its leadership and credibility.

Hassan Mleihat, the organisation’s General Supervisor, has become a symbol of this targeting. Yet he is not alone: his efforts intersect with those of the entire administrative body—lawyers, researchers, field activists, media staff, and the Commissioner for External Relations—placing the whole organisation under siege from campaigns of intimidation and delegitimisation. These attacks are not isolated events but part of a systematic strategy to dismantle any rights-based resistance to settlement expansion.

In this context, the human rights resilience of Al-Baidar and its leadership is more than a professional duty—it is essential for the survival of Bedouin communities themselves. Protecting the organisation requires local and international support, alliances with human rights groups, legal safeguards for leaders and staff, and precise documentation of all violations. Without such measures, the land risks being gradually transformed into irreversible settlement facts.

Today, Al-Baidar is more than just a civil society organisation, it is a legal and human rights shield for Palestinian Bedouin communities, and a voice refusing to let the Palestinian narrative be erased under the weight of violence, administrative repression, and digital incitement—making it a pivotal actor in the struggle for existence on the land.

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