(RNS) — On the morning of March 24, Sophie Drukman-Feldstein, an American Jew and activist, was arrested and jailed for a simple gesture: Hissing at a flock of Jewish settlers’ sheep to get them to move off a Palestinian family’s land where they had been grazing.
After spending five nights in jail, Drukman-Feldstein was deported and driven across the border to Egypt.
The 28-year-old freelance editor from New York City had participated in a three-month solidarity program run by the U.S.-based Center for Jewish Nonviolence that concluded last month. The program, called Hineinu or “here we are,” brings together Jewish activists from around the world to live side by side with Palestinians as part of a practice called “protective presence.”
This year, for the first time since the program began five years ago, its 14-member cohort faced a series of new obstacles. One person was denied entry to Israel. Two people, including Drukman-Feldstein, were deported and six had their digital entry passes revoked.
“The State of Israel is just increasingly cracking down on any kind of dissenter and anyone trying to document what they’re doing, because they just don’t want witnesses to the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank,” said Drukman-Feldstein, who returned to New York City last week after a short stay in Egypt.
The Israeli government has implemented a practice of arresting and swiftly deporting international activists, often branding them as “anarchists” and “terrorists,” or threats to national security.
Since Jan. 1, 2025, at least 52 international activists have been deported, according to the Human Rights …