Dura-Al Fawwar Junction, Hebron, South Hebron Hills, Susiya
Road 60
Many soldiers at the crossroads. At the entrance to Samoa are soldiers with their vehicles. At the entrance to el Fawwar there are soldiers at the post and they are armed from head to foot. At the entrance to Bani Naim is a rolling checkpoint.
On the way we spoke to Farid Jabarin who tried to return to his lands in Susiya and was attacked by settlers. He was worried for his children and rented a home in Yatta
Hebron
Many soldiers guarding various workers working on the foundations in the area of the Route of the Worshippers
Next to the wholesale market …abandoned. Settlers renovate an area around an abandoned house.
When we stopped to photograph, a settler comes up to us and aggrersivelly bangs on the windshield and wants to know if we need help. He says that we are photographing and he needs to know what we want. We answered that we had photographed the house and not him or his friends. He mutters something in doubt but goes away.
At the area of Beit Hadassah Noam Arnon smiles a certain sort of smile and asks if we have photographed him and the settlers enough. He asks cynically. I said that it was impossible to forget him and he is known worldwise. He too mutters something about what we are and goes away.
At the end of the Kapisha neighborhood the checkpoint has again been moved and more and more cement fences and a yellow bar have been added. It is not clear why this work is being done but of course it adds to the despair.
We went to visit Ata Jabar who had gone through hell and back with no end in sight because the Civil Administration and the settlers have an eye on his land. The plan to create territorial continuity between all neighborhoods of Kiryat Arba is clear.
His face is creased with wrinkles, no teeth, seems 30 years older than he is and pets with love and affection his cat which had disappeared.
How much love does this man have despite his hard life, for his cats and dogs. He says that they have a better life than he has. He tells us that on the 15th of January he received a summons to court concerning his land for the January 28th. His lawyer who had been appointed by the Palestinian Authority accepted the invitation and did not go.
On February 22nd, people from the administration, the army, the police, and sources who claimed that he had stolen water came.They sealed the water cistern and broke the taps and drips on a 4 dunam plot of land which ishis by right. The whole orchard with the nuts, the almonds, the grapes, the plums the tomatoes, the cabbage, the turnips and the zucchini are dry. Now his house is surrounded only by dry vegetation and suddenly you can see it from afar.
Nothing is left.
He is waiting for the help of various legal entities who promised him assistance. His attorney appointed by the PA is not exactly functioning.
I wrote to Dov Hanin and am waiting for an answer. I will continue to try to connect him with whoever is possible, when I return from overseas in about ten days.
If anyone has an idea for assistance, I would be happy to receive it. When we left, people came from a European organization that helped them repair the water system and other needs.
Lucky for him and for our shame.