February 3 to February 15, bring Murad Shtewi's village Kufr Qaddum to your campus or community to create awareness about how illegally built Israeli settlements and the crackdown on peaceful protests are a violation of international human rights. Sign up here and use #IAmKufrQaddum on social media or on your Facebook events to join the conversation.

E-mail nmir@aiusa.org for a how-to guide

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About Murad Shtewi and Kufr Quddum: As we begin a new year, Amnesty International is working to ensure that Israel respects Palestinian human rights. Prisoner of Conscience and human rights defender Murad Shtewi was upholding the universal right to peaceful protest when Israeli forces arrested him in April 2013. More than five months later, he was convicted of “unauthorized” protest, and sentenced to nine and a half months in prison. His crime, as we see it? Leading 12 years of peaceful protests against Israeli occupation, illegal settlements, and the closure of the main road connecting his village, Kufr Qaddum, to nearby Nablus.

Palestinians across the occupied West Bank face the same harassment and intimidation by Israeli forces that Murad is subjected to - simply for daring to raise their voices in protest. Israeli forces regularly respond to peaceful demonstrations in villages like Kufr Qaddum with excessive and unnecessary force, firing tear gas, rubber-coated bullets, and live ammunition directly at protestors – including children. Murad’s village, Kufr Qaddum, is just one of hundreds of towns and communities that have been uprooted and cut off from daily routine by illegal Israeli settlements. Join Amnesty International in making sure that his rights and the rights of all Palestinians to live in dignity are respected.

Kufr Qaddum is but one of hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages that have been squeezed and suffocated by illegal Israeli settlements in many ways. From seizures of roads and homes to arrests, indefinite detention and the use of teargas and rubber bullets against peaceful protestors, these communities are in jeopardy. Whether you have a group of 5 or a group of 20, you can shed light on these human rights violations by educating the people around you.