South Hebron Hills, Susiya

We went straight to Umm El Kheir because of a report that a new fence is being built which blocks the passage of the herd  when they come back from the grazing.

'Id and his family are suffering in the last weeks from the  stones being thrown at night by the settlers of Carmel and the threat of demolition which is in the air. When we arrived we met people from Britain who had spent the night there so as to be present when stones are thrown.

We went to see the new fence. Suleiman is reaching the breaking point. They do not  understand why it is necessary to build such a cruel fence which will tear the flesh of the sheep. Id asks why it is necessary to make a new fence which will be like the previous one. I phoned the DCO. No one could tell me anything. I was told that they were at a meeting.

Later I phoned Ala Halabi who is responsible for the infrastructure in the Civil Adminustration and asked why they built this fence. I received the reply that this is not the way for the sheep that should not be on state land, and everything was done for security reasons. And the phone was slammed down.

'Id tells us and shows videos that indicate that the relationship with Ala Halabe is problematic. In the past, he violently attacked his elderly father when he came to one of the destruction rounds of their houses. We will have to follow this up as the bulldozers in the background are working  at building a new settlement in Carmel.

From there we went to Tuwani to see  the new kindergarten which is supported by Mira Balaban and who is accompanying Intisar in the effort to organize it. The building is good and suitable but has almost no equipment. Intesar keeps  the children for four hours a day in almost empty rooms. The children were in the sandbox in the yard.  The children turn to us with the V sign and make as if  they are shooting at us.

Hopefully we will be able to help Intisar and  Mira as much as we can.

We also visited Azam's family in Susiya. It is also quiet there for the moment.

There's a welcome in spite of  the harsh living conditions there, next to Susya  which surrounds it.

In general, the gap in the quality of life between the settlements and their Palestinian neighbor cries out to heaven. And the trend is clear ...