A visit to MasaferYatta

Place:

A-Tuwani

Masafer Yatta

Sansana (Meitar Crossing)

South Hebron Hills

Susiya

Zif Junction

Observers:

Smadar Becker (reporting) with Muhammad. Photo by Smadar and Muhammad; Translator: Natanya

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Jun-30-2022

Morning

Masafer Yatta - Abu Hani's house

Photo:

Smadar Becker

Masafer Yatta - Abu Hani's vegetable garder

Photo:

Smadar Becker

Masafer Yatta - inside Abu Hani's home

Photo:

Muhammad D

At the Meitar checkpoint, the parking lots are crowded. We made a round inside to see what the condition of the stalls was. There is a rather large fruit and vegetable stand and next to it drinks and pastries. According to Muhammad, more stalls are being set up in the afternoon.

In At-Tuwani we met Nasser Adara who accompanies us. As he gets in the car, he shows us an up-to-date report about the demolitions in Zif and Khalat el Maya.

On the way out of At-Tuwani in the direction of Mufakara, Nasser points to a house under construction. The owner has been given a warning to stop construction in another 21 days. In his opinion this is positive, because construction is allowed to continue and maybe there is a hope that it will not be demolished.

In Mufakara new plaster has been added on some houses. At the exit from the village, in front of Mitzpe Abigail, settlers have planted trees on the land of the a family from Rakiz. There were a number of attempts to plant that were stopped by the police, but the settlers came back at night and planted anyhow. The family is not going to remain silent about it and sued the settlers.

Nearby, a new post has been set up by the settlers. It is not known what its purpose is.

Nasser suggested we visit Abu Hani. He is the one to whom the demonstrators tried to bring a water tank. In the second demonstration, it succeeded. He, his wife and sister, live in a really small house, on the land of his family. (Belongs to Mufakara). It turns out that settlers grazed their flocks in this area and he decided in 2016 to build the house and also established a vegetable garden and a small vineyard that provide for them the basic food.

From the hill on which he sits there is a view of the desert and the villages scattered around.

There was a fascinating conversation with Nasser and Abu Hani about the daily life in which there is not one peaceful day. Now a military exercise is to be held for a month but in addition, demolitions and non-stop harassment.

On the way back we stopped in Susiya to hear from Nasser Nawaja’ who was present this morning during the demolitions in Zif and Khalat al Maya.

Location Description

Zif Junction

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Connects to Road 356 to Yata - the district city of the southern Hebron Mountains. Usually open to traffic and the nearby pillbox is unmanned. But the army and police are present from time to time, sometimes setting up a checkpoint and sometimes detaining residents of the big city. Sometimes the Israeli police inspects vehicles and distribute driving reports to Palestinian vehicles..

Yata / Southern Hebron hills

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Yatta is a city located in the South Hebron Hills region. It is located in the border zone between the fertile area of Hebron and its surroundings and the desert of the Hebron Hills. Yatta has about 64,000 inhabitants. The surrounding villages are called Masafar Yatta (Yatta's daughter villages). Their inhabitants subsist on livestock and agriculture. Agriculture is possible only in small plots, especially near streams. Most of the area consists of rocky terraces.

Since the beginning of the 1980s, a number of settlements have been established on the agricultural land cultivated by the Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills region: Carmel, Maon, Susia, Masadot Yehuda, Othniel, and more. Since the settlements were established and Palestinians cultivation areas have been reduced; the residents of the South Hebron Hills have been suffering from harassment by the settlers. Attempts to evict and demolish houses have continued, along with the withholding of water and electricity. The military and police usually refrain from intervening in violent incidents between settlers and Palestinians do not enforce the law when it comes to the investigation of extensive violent Jewish settlers. The harassment in the South Hebron Hills includes attacking and attempting to burn residential tents, harassing dogs, harming herds, and preventing access to pastures.

There are several checkpoints in the South Hebron Hills, on Routes 317 and 60. In most of them, no military presence is apparent, but rather an array of pillboxes monitor the villages. Road blocks are frequently set up according to the settlers and the army's needs. These are located at the Zif Junction, the Dura-al Fawwar crossing, and the Sheep Junction at the southern entrance to Hebron.

Updated April 2022

בדרך לרהווה - עם 2 הפועלים הפלסטינים שעובדים במפעל בשדרות

Apr-14-2024

Muhammad D.

On the way to Rahwe - With the 2 Palestinian workers who work at the factory in Sderot

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Meitar

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Susiya

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The Palestinian area lies between the settlement of Susya and a military base.
The residents began to settle in areas outside the villages in the 1830s and lived in caves, tents and sukkot. To this day they maintain a traditional lifestyle and their livelihood is based on agriculture and herding. Until the 1948 war, the farmers cultivated areas that extended to the Arad area. As a result of the war, a significant portion of their land left on the Israeli side was lost. After the 1967 war and the Israeli occupation, military camps were established in the area, fire zones and nature reserves were declared, and the land area was further reduced.

The Jewish settlement in Susya began in 1979. Since then, there has been a stubborn struggle to remove the remains of Palestinian residents who refuse to leave their place of birth and move to nearby town Yatta. With the development of a tourist site in Khirbet Susya in the late 1980s (an ancient synagogue), dozens of families living in caves in its vicinity were deported. In the second half of the 1990s, a new form of settlement developed in the area - shepherds' farms of individual settlers. This phenomenon increased the tension between the settlers and the original, Palestinian residents, and led to repeated harassment of the residents of the farms towards the Palestinians. At the same time, demolition of buildings and crop destruction by security forces continued, as well as water and electricity prevention. In the Palestinian Susya, as in a large part of the villages of the southern Hebron Mountains, there is no running water, but the water pipe that supplies water to the Susya Jewish settlement passes through it. Palestinians have to buy expensive water that comes in tankers. Solar electricity is provided by a collector system, installed with donation funds. But the frequent demolitions in the villages do not spare water cisterns or the solar panels and power poles designed to transfer solar electricity between the villages.

Updated April 2021, Anat T.

Sansana (Meitar Crossing)

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The checkpoint is located on the Green Line and serves as a border crossing between Israel and the West Bank. It is managed by the Border Crossing Authority of the Defense Ministry. It is comprised of sections for the transfer of goods as well as a vehicle checkpoint (intended for holders of blue identity cards, foreign nationals or diplomats and international organizations). Passing of Palestinians is prohibited, except for those with entry permits to Israel. Palestinians are permitted to cross on foot only. The crossing has a DCO (District Coordination Office), a customs unit, supervision, and a police unit.

In the last year, a breach has been opened in the fence, not far from the crossing. This breach is known to all, including the army. There does not appear to be any interest in blocking it, probably as it permits needed Palestinian workers without the bureaucratic permits to get to work in Israel. Food stalls and a parking area economy have been created, but incidents of violent abuse by border police have also been recorded.

Updated April 2022

At-Tuwani

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The locals came to At-Tuwani during the 20th century from the village of Yatta. They settled in abandoned ruins, utilizing the arable land, pastures for grazing sheep and the abundance of natural caves for habitation. The residents who settled in the caves came from families who could not purchase land for houses in the mother villages, as well as shepherds who did not have enough land to graze. They were joined by clan members who quarreled with other families in the mother locality.
Some of the residents today live in concrete buildings built above the caves. In the area of the village are several water cisterns and an ancient water well called Ein at-Tuwani. Local residents are forced to buy water in containers and transport them through many road blocks to the village. With the help of international organizations, an electrical system was installed in the village. In the late 90s of the 20th century, an elementary school was established in the serving several small villages in the area.
In 2004, MachsomWatch began visiting and reporting from the Khirbet Tuwani cave village, which suffers badly from the settlers of nearby outposts, and especially from the extremist Ma'on outpost. . The settlers contaminate cisterns, poison the flocks and uproot trees.

Particularly notable is the harassment of children from the surrounding villages on their way to school in at-Tuwani, so much so that military escort of children is required to separate them from the attackers (this was arranged following an initiative of the organization's members). In the past year, the escort has been without the vital presence of overseas volunteers.

Near at-Tuwani there are several families who have returned to the caves due to the incessant demolitions of the civil administration info-icon (as there is a total construction ban in all of area C). Destroyed are not only residential and agricultural buildings, but also water pipes, machinery. Even water cisterns are clogged up. at-Tuwani residents have created an association for non-violent demolition protests, but in the past year the army’s harsh harassment and settler violence have intensified and escalated. The incident of the small generator confiscation, which left a young man paralyzed, is one of many examples - any legitimate protection of property rights leads to violence and even shootings by the army and the civil administration.

Updated April 2022

Apr-14-2024

Muhammad D.

On the way to Rahwe - With the 2 Palestinian workers who work at the factory in Sderot

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