Sansana (Meitar Crossing), South Hebron Hills
Meitar crossing
No one is left by the time we cross.
Highway 317
Deserted. Families on both sides of the road gather the harvest into sheaves. We see only women and children; the men are probably herding flocks or working in Israel.
Khirbet Tuwani
The visit lasted a long time because G. was home and didn’t let us go… We drank a lot of coffee.
The most recent incident occurred last Saturday evening. Here’s what happened:
At about 6 PM settlers from Havvat Ma’on came to Umm G’s house. Many Palestinian children were playing outside; the settlers yelled at them. The children fled back to the house. When it got dark they discovered a six-year-old boy was missing. He’s the only child of one of G’s brothers. They took flashlights to look for him everywhere; there was a rumor the settlers had kidnapped him.
G. telephoned the police, which came, but they didn’t wait for the squad car and began walking to Havvat Ma’on. There was an argument, but no violence. They found the boy asleep under a boulder. He’d fled from the settlers and hid there. He was brought to the hospital for examination; other than a bruise from the boulder, he’s all right. The police wanted the boy’s father to file a complaint, but he didn’t want to.
Living for years under the threat of violence from the neighboring settlers gives rise to many fears and apprehensions which only seldom turn out to be unjustified.
The occupation routine. We didn’t make it to Hebron today.