Burin Palestinians launch kite festival as symbol of resilience amid settlement tensions

Colourful kites ascend over Burin, a Palestinian village in the Israeli‑occupied West Bank, as children dart across a sun‑baked hillside, watching their creations glide skyward.

Nearby, the red‑roofed houses of Har Bracha, an Israeli settlement, sit overlooking the village.

Founded in 1983, the settlement—deemed illegal under international law—is one of several that surround Burin, a village home to a few thousand residents.

Since 2009, residents have convened each summer on the hill for a kite festival, held on land they claim was partially confiscated by settlers.

“We want to tell the settlers that this is our land, this is our sky. If we can’t reach those lands anymore, our kites can,” Ghassan Najjar, one of the festival’s organisers, told AFP.

Although chiefly a children’s event, the gathering conveys a “political message,” he noted.

Daily conversation in Burin seldom strays far from settler incursions or the relentless expansion of Israeli settlements across Palestinian land.

As early as 2008, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had cautioned about settler attacks in the area, noting shootings against Burin residents and the felling of their olive trees.

Since the Gaza conflict began in October 2023, the United Nations has recorded a sharp rise in violence linked to Israeli settlers in the West Bank, while several Israeli ministers keep advocating for the annexation of all or part of the territory.

– ‘Our roots’ –

For a few hours, the hillside transforms into a bustling village fair.

A clown paints children’s faces, music fills the air, and families spread picnic blankets across the grass.

Kites in the black, white, green and red of the Palestinian flag soar above, accompanied by an Egyptian‑coloured kite honoring the national football team.

“Our children have the right to play and to enjoy a real, good life,” Najjar says.

Even this celebration, however, unfolds against the backdrop of ongoing conflict.

Before gathering, residents report checking that no Israeli settler groups were nearby.

“Sometimes we are scared… Last year we didn’t come because settlers attacked the village,” says 15‑year‑old Sanaa Bashar Najjar.

“We stay only half an hour or an hour, just to get a bit of fresh air. With the war and economic hardship, we’re simply trying to breathe,” she adds.

Another resident, Dalia Zaban, says her parents’ home was attacked, its windows shattered and cars vandalised.

“Today we just hope they don’t come down here,” she says.

As the afternoon progresses, the wind wanes and the kites gently descend back to earth.

Nevertheless, villagers vow to return next summer, determined to reclaim at least a patch of sky.

Wearing sunglasses and dressed neatly, Burin resident Qusai Walid Eid says he attends the festival each year to reinforce “our roots in this land.”

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