Take Action Now to Protect Tent of Nations

On October 8,2026, the Nassar family, owners of the educational and environmental farm called Tent of Nations located southwest of Bethlehem, learned that the military committee responsible for land registration had rejected its land registration application.

Basis of the rejection imposes new conditions for registration

The committee rejected the family’s application and required that the Nassar family register not only its own 427 dunams of land, but also surrounding land belonging to neighboring owners, encompassing approximately 1,000 dunams in total.

This demand places an unreasonable and unjustified burden on the family: requiring it to register land it does not own.

During the three years of hearings before the re-registration committee, there were no objections from neighbors bordering the Nassar property, and neighbors acknowledged the family’s ownership. The State’s Absentee Property Custodian brought no evidence to counter the Nassar’s case, and he was dismissed by the committee from the case.

A Decision That Undermines the Israeli Supreme Court’s Ruling of 2006

Even more alarming, the committee declared that the land’s current classification as “State Land” (since 1991) would remain in effect until the entire area of approximately 1,000 dunams, including the family’s property and the surrounding land, is registered simultaneously.

The Supreme Court acknowledged the family’s ownership of the land in its 2006 decision, and told the family they could apply to register the land. The committee’s decision to deny the registration therefore raises serious questions about its authority to introduce new requirements and whether political considerations underly their declaration that the land remains State land until the full 1000 dunams are registered.

The family believes that, in the absence of a legitimate legal basis to challenge their legally documented ownership, the authorities are imposing extraordinary and impossible requirements (that the family register land that does not belong to them) in order to obstruct the registration process and leave the land vulnerable to further encroachment by Settlers and the military.

Increasing Restrictions on Access to their Land

The situation on the ground continues to deteriorate. Recently soldiers have prevented the Nassar family and their visitors from walking on parts of the family’s own land: claiming that their presence could endanger settlers who have placed residential caravans along the fence surrounding the Nassar property. The family maintains that these caravans were installed illegally. The presence of these caravans is now being used as a justification to restrict the family’s access to and cultivation of their land. These restrictions further undermine the family’s ability to maintain and work their property.

In sum, the family fears that rejection of the registration, imposition of new conditions to register the land, and increasing restrictions on access to their land are being used to dispossess them of their land. We are urging all who have visited, or have connections to the farm and are committed to justice and the rule of law to urgently raise this situation with relevant authorities.

The Nassars remain determined to protect their land through peaceful and legal means. They stand for a future rooted in justice, dignity, and peaceful coexistence. They refuse to be enemies, and will continue to defend their land through nonviolence, perseverance, and faith in justice.

Please use the links below to write, call or meet with your congressional representatives or staffers soon asking them to contact State Department Officials or relevant Israeli authorities communicating their dismay with the decision not to register the Nassar land. (Re-registration cases 3714/2 and 3715/2.)

We are asking you to highlight in your outreach the importance of advocating for:

• The family’s right to access and work their land without fearing encroachment from settlers or the military, and

• their right to have their legally documented farm land registered without newly introduced and impossible to meet conditions being imposed.

If you’re able to take action, please let us know by emailing info@fotonna.org. This will help us ensure we can continue engagement with these offices as we work toward a successful resolution of this case.

Please click here for templates for a phone call or email message you can use.