 The event was partially coordinated by the Kfar Etzion-based organization ארצשלום ("Land of Peace") dedicated to building contacts between Jewish settlers and West Bank Arabs.In 2012, a group of Harvard students were expelled from al-Walaja when they tried to visit a house which was due to be demolished due to the West Bank wall.In September 2018, four houses built without planning permission were destroyed by Israeli border police, injuring about 40 people in the process.