Etzion DCL

Evidently, because of Ramadan, there were only three people at the DCO and all three needed the help of Sylvia and her team.

On the way back we decided to go into the area of North Efrat and coming back noticed an army post which we had  never seen before. Not surprising, as we normally do not go that way but we wanted to see how far Efrat stretched. When one sees the number of new homes and the imposing village which have been built for the settlers and think of the Palestinian homes which have been destroyed and which are still waiting to be destroyed so as  to build roads to ease the life of the settlers, one’s gorge rises.  

We called to the three soldiers, asking what the name of the village was; they said Khirbet Aliah. But some Palestinians whom we stopped said El Khader and asked if we needed help. Then the young woman soldier who was evidently in charge approached us and we were already prepared to be ordered off. But she was a really pleasant young woman who listened to us patiently as we explained that …no this was not really our land. We asked if she knew that settlers often attacked the Palestinians and she said that these attacks did happen and  she gave those under her command strict orders on how to behave. She told us that she was from Kiev and only two weeks before they had managed to bring her family over to Israel. We told her it had been a pleasure to meet her even in those circumstances and to hear her views.