Hebron - a local Palestinian: settler: This is our land. Go back to your own countries

"Return to your lands this is our land"

“We went to meet Ata at his house after he had told us that in the last three months there have been attempts to build  a house by the settlers on the hill above his house. It started about 3 months ago.  Suddenly settlers arrived at nine at night and started building a structure of blocks on the hill above the house. They  made a noise and stayed until 12 at night. We told B'Tselem and they put up cameras and we also reported this to the police and the army. After they  had left the owner of the land destroyed the structure. The settlers came back three of four times and each time they built and each time the owner destroyed the building. Then the settlers from Kiryat Arba arrived to shout and beat them,  saying……(can you imagine how sure of themselves settlers are?) "This is our land. Go back to your own countries. Why did you destroy the structure?” they asked. (And one asks oneself where some of these settlers came from, which countries).

On Purim they  came with costumes and masks,  dancing and singing that this is our land, etc. We explain the reason for their costumes and about Haman and his story and why they came to expel the Amalekites on this very day. (The Amalekites being the Palestinians).

One night the Palestinians woke up from a  noise and smelt fuel. They found someone wandering around with a can of gasoline. So they  caught him and took him to Kiryat Arba where they were told by the police that he was a madman and arrested him. Jihan’s wife says all the settlers are crazy.

Ata says that they have the law on their side and they are the conquerors. A few days ago they came with maps and marked the land. We think that they are settlers from Beit El. This is on top of all the destruction of the irrigation pipes in the orchards. The discussion between Palestinian Authority and Mekorot Water company about the  water supply is still under discussion,  The Palestinians say that Mekorot does not want to supply them water in an orderly manner and they are forced to buy from water sources by a contractor who oppresses them and they have to  pay 400 shekels for every 10 cubic meters.

This valley, which stretches out at the foot of Kiryat Arba and all of Hebron, is a vineyard of grapes and vegetables that the residents have been  farming and earning their living for generations. The State of Israel expropriated from the family the lands on which Kiryat Arba was built in 1968. “Since then they have been trying to bite more and more of our land . They want us to get tired of the continuous harassment and that we will go from here but we will not go,” says Ata. Due to the lack of water he no longer grows vegetables which he used to grow among the vines, like different types of beans or tomatoes and cucumbers. Now they  only have cabbage and cauliflower.

I remember some incidents of pipe destruction and irrigation pipes which we witnessed and always Israel’s claim was that the Palestinians were stealing water. Now the State of  Israel in the last months is harassing the Palestinians more and more 

We will continue to follow and report.