Bethlehem and al-Makhrour, occupied West Bank – For Alice Kisiya, a Palestinian Christian activist from Beit Jala in the occupied West Bank, this Christmas season is special.On Tuesday, Kisiya was able, for the first time since 2019, to set foot on her family’s land in the Christian village of al-Makhrour after an Israeli court ruling in June eventually forced Israeli settlers to leave the land and dismantle an illegal outpost.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“This victory, which forced the settlers to dismantle their outpost in preparation for leaving for good, confirms to me that one must never tire of continuing the struggle, despite all the methods they used to pressure me and my family into leaving the land,” Kisiya told Al Jazeera. Alice Kisiya standing on her land on December 23 after winning the court case [Ahmad Jubran/Al Jazeera]“They left our family’s land after four months and moved on to build an outpost on land belonging to our relatives. Yet, I have prevailed once again, because every time I saw them on my land, it strengthened my commitment to pursue my legal struggle,” she said.The Kisiya family’s legal battle was prolonged and hard-fought after an Israeli settler organisation claimed to have bought the land from “other owners” and provided ownership documents. After years of legal proceedings, an Israeli court recently rejected the settlers’ allegation and ruled that the documents presented were fabricated. The court stated that the Kisiya family was the legal owner of the 5 dunams (0.005sq km) piec …
