A leader of the movement in Budrus, Ayed organized the first “Popular Committee Against the Wall” in the West Bank by uniting all local Palestinian political factions, including Hamas and Fatah, and encouraging hundreds of Israelis to cross into the Occupied Palestinian Territories and demonstrate in support of his village. When challenged by his teenage daughter, he welcomed the launch of a women’s contingent that quickly moved to the front lines. Ayed chose nonviolence “because it is in the best interest of the Palestinian people to follow this path.”