Nayef Hashlamoun considers himself a true believer in nonviolence. He worked with Palestine’s leading nonviolent leader, Mubarak Awad, during the period preceding the first intifada, and he later initiated the Watan Center for Culture in his hometown of Hebron. Hashlamoun told Al-Monitor that he credits what he learned about nonviolence in his latest effort to lead and encourage Hebronites to avoid public gatherings as a way to stem the sudden spike in the spread of the coronavirus in the Hebron district.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health had announced July 4 that 2,576 out of the 4,013 Palestinians who had tested positive for the coronavirus come from the Hebron district. During the same period, nine out of the 16 deaths from the coronavirus also came from Hebron. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh sent four Cabinet ministers to Hebron to assess the situation. 

Hashlamoun told Al-Monitor that when he noticed the spike in cases, he took the initiative to try and stop the spread through his own family tribe. “Our family belongs to the Ayoubi tribe, and we have a council of elders and a young council. I am active in our tribal affairs because of the need to raise awareness and to address problems from a humanitarian view.”

Hashlamoun says that when he contacted the two tribal councils and expressed the need to act quickly, they gave him the green light. “It was hard to meet face to face, so we were in contact by cell phone. And after discussions, I was given the OK to write an appeal to the members of our own extended family tribe about the need to put a stop to the spread of this virus, which had reached a dangerous level.”